Control apparatus for hybrid vehicle

• US 8,594,877 B2
• Filed: 06/07/2012
• Issued: 11/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/12/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Goto, Keisuke, Fukuda, Toshihiko, Okagawa, Yohei, Ito, Hiroshi
• Primary Examiner(s): MARC-COLEMAN, MARTHE Y
• Application Number:
  US13/491,341
• Publication Number:
  US 20120245777A1
• Time in Patent Office: 537 Days
• Field of Search: 701/22, 701/54, 180/65.265, 180/65.29, 180/65.285, 180/165, 903/903
• US Class Current: 701/22
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 6/28 characterised by the electric energy storing means, e.g. batteries or capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 6/485 Motor-assist type
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2200/26 Rail vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/441 Speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/642 Slope of road
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2250/28 Accelerator pedal thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/16 with provision for separate direct mechanical propulsion
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/11 DC charging controlled by the charging station, e.g. mode 4
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/12 responding to state of charge [SoC]
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/08 including control of electric propulsion units, e.g. motors or generators
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/26 for electrical energy, e.g. batteries or capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 20/00 Control systems specially adapted for hybrid vehicles hybrid vehicle design, B60K6/00; electric vehicles B60L
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 20/12 using control strategies taking into account route information estimation or calculation of non-directly measurable driving parameters B60W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/0638 Engine speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/244 Charge state
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/10 Accelerator pedal position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/103 Accelerator thresholds, e.g. kickdown
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/15 Road slope, i.e. the inclination of a road segment in the longitudinal direction
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2710/0644 Engine speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2710/065 Idle condition
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/18127 : Regenerative braking
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/076 : Slope angle of the road
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/0097 : Predicting future conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2400/112 : Batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/40 : Engine management systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/62 : Hybrid vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 : Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 : Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/72 : Electric energy management in electromobility
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/84 : Data processing systems or methods, management, administration
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/12 : Electric charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 : Plug-in electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 : Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles

Abstract

A control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle includes an internal combustion engine and a generator motor, a capacitor, and a driving force assisting unit. Further, the control device includes a switching unit that selects an appropriate traveling range from a plurality of traveling ranges including at least a normal traveling range and a charging priority range for preferentially charging the capacitor and switches the range, and a threshold value increasing unit that increases, when the charging priority range is selected by the switching unit, the predetermined determination threshold value as compared to when the normal traveling range is selected by the switching unit.

Claims

1. A control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle including an internal combustion engine and a generator motor that are used as power sources of a vehicle, a capacitor that supplies and receives electrical energy to and from the generator motor, and a driving force assisting unit that assists a driving force of the internal combustion engine by a driving force of the generator motor when a driving force command of the vehicle is larger than a predetermined determination threshold value, the control device comprising:

a switching unit that selects an appropriate traveling range from a plurality of traveling ranges including at least a normal traveling range and a charging priority range for preferentially charging the capacitor, and switches the range; and

a generated power increasing unit that increases the amount of power generated by the generator motor while the idle operation of the internal combustion engine is performed during the stop of the vehicle when the charging priority range is selected by the switching unit as compared when the normal traveling range is selected by the switching unit.

2. The control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising:

a residual capacity acquisition unit that acquires the residual capacity of the capacitor; and

an idle speed setting unit that sets an idle speed, while the idle operation of the internal combustion engine is performed during the stop of the vehicle, according to the residual capacity acquired by the residual capacity acquisition unit, when the charging priority range is selected by the switching unit,

wherein when the residual capacity is a predetermined residual capacity or less, the idle speed setting unit increases e idle speed as compared to when the residual capacity is larger than a predetermined residual capacity.

3. The control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising:

a residual capacity acquisition unit that acquires the residual capacity of the capacitor; and

an idle speed setting unit that sets an idle speed, while the idle operation of the internal combustion engine is performed during the stop of the vehicle, according to the residual capacity acquired by the residual capacity acquisition unit, when the charging priority range is selected by the switching unit,

wherein the idle speed setting unit sets the idle speed so that the idle speed is increased with the decrease of the residual capacity.

4. The control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising:

a residual capacity acquisition unit that acquires the residual capacity of the capacitor;

a determination unit for determining whether a power generating operation is performed by the generator motor during the idle operation, according to the determination result of whether the residual capacity acquired by the residual capacity acquisition unit, while the idle operation of the internal combustion engine is performed during the during the stop of the vehicle, is a predetermined threshold residual capacity or less; and

a threshold residual capacity increasing unit that increases the predetermined threshold residual capacity when the charging priority range is selected by the switching unit as compared to when the normal traveling range is selected by the switching unit.

5. The control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising

an idle stop prohibiting unit that prohibits the stop of the idle operation of the internal combustion engine during the stop of the vehicle when the charging priority range is selected by the switching unit.