Wide open throttle guard for a vehicle for high elevation changes
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system for adjusting a gear ratio limit of a vehicle comprising:
- a transmission configured to shift gear ratios;
an engine coupled to the transmission and having an engine speed and an engine power;
an altitude sensor configured to detect an altitude of the vehicle;
a memory configured to store the gear ratio limit based on the engine speed and the engine power, and to store a predetermined altitude corresponding to an altitude above which an engine performance of the engine is reduced; and
a processor coupled to the altitude sensor, the memory and the transmission, and that lowers the gear ratio limit based on the altitude when the altitude of the vehicle exceeds the predetermined altitude such that the transmission can stay in a lower gear for a longer period of time than if the gear ratio limit was not lowered.
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Abstract
A system for improving performance of a hybrid vehicle at higher elevations. The system includes a plurality of wheels, an engine, an altitude sensor, a transmission, a memory for storing target engine speeds, and a processor. The engine provides a torque to the plurality of wheels through the transmission, based on gear ratios limited by a wide open throttle (WOT) guard. The altitude sensor determines an elevation of the vehicle. Above a certain threshold elevation, the processor changes the WOT guard to improve performance at lower gears, such as standing start performance.
16 Citations
43 Claims
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1. A system for adjusting a gear ratio limit of a vehicle comprising:
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a transmission configured to shift gear ratios; an engine coupled to the transmission and having an engine speed and an engine power; an altitude sensor configured to detect an altitude of the vehicle; a memory configured to store the gear ratio limit based on the engine speed and the engine power, and to store a predetermined altitude corresponding to an altitude above which an engine performance of the engine is reduced; and a processor coupled to the altitude sensor, the memory and the transmission, and that lowers the gear ratio limit based on the altitude when the altitude of the vehicle exceeds the predetermined altitude such that the transmission can stay in a lower gear for a longer period of time than if the gear ratio limit was not lowered. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A system for adjusting a gear ratio limit of a vehicle comprising:
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a transmission configured to shift gear ratios; an engine coupled to the transmission and having an engine speed, an engine power, and an air-fuel ratio; a sensor configured to detect the air-fuel ratio of the vehicle; a memory configured to store a gear ratio limit based on the engine speed and the engine power, and to store an air-fuel ratio threshold which corresponds to an air-fuel ratio value below which an engine performance of the engine is reduced; and a processor coupled to the sensor, the memory and the transmission and that lowers the gear ratio limit based on the air-fuel ratio when the air-fuel ratio of the vehicle reaches the air-fuel ratio threshold such that the transmission can stay in a lower gear for a longer period of time than if the gear ratio limit was not lowered. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for adjusting a gear ratio limit of a vehicle comprising:
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storing, in a memory, a sensor value threshold that corresponds to a reduction in an engine performance of an engine; storing, in the memory, the gear ratio limit for limiting a transmission of the vehicle based on an engine speed and an engine power of the engine of the vehicle; receiving a sensor value from a sensor of the vehicle; comparing the sensor value to the sensor value threshold; and lowering the gear ratio limit based on the sensor value when the sensor value of the vehicle reaches the sensor value threshold such that the transmission can stay in a lower gear for a longer period of time than if the gear ratio limit was not lowered. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A system for adjusting a gear ratio limit of a vehicle comprising:
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a transmission configured to shift gear ratios; an engine coupled to the transmission and having an engine speed and an engine power; an altitude sensor configured to detect an altitude of the vehicle; a memory configured to; store the gear ratio limit in a table having gear ratio limit values, engine speed values and engine power values, the gear ratio limit being based on the engine speed and the engine power, and store a predetermined altitude corresponding to an altitude above which an engine performance of the engine is reduced; and a processor coupled to the altitude sensor, the memory and the transmission, and that adjusts the gear ratio limit based on the altitude when the altitude of the vehicle exceeds the predetermined altitude. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A system for adjusting a gear ratio limit of a vehicle comprising:
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a transmission configured to shift gear ratios; an engine coupled to the transmission and having an engine speed, an engine power, and an air-fuel ratio; a sensor configured to detect the air-fuel ratio of the vehicle; a memory configured to; store the gear ratio limit in a table having gear ratio limit values, engine speed values and engine power values, the gear ratio limit being based on the engine speed and the engine power, and store an air-fuel ratio threshold which corresponds to an air-fuel ratio value below which an engine performance of the engine is reduced; and a processor coupled to the sensor, the memory and the transmission and that adjusts the gear ratio limit based on the air-fuel ratio when the air-fuel ratio of the vehicle reaches the air-fuel ratio threshold. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method for adjusting a gear ratio limit of a vehicle comprising:
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storing, in a memory, a sensor value threshold that corresponds to a reduction in an engine performance of an engine; storing, in the memory, the gear ratio limit for limiting a transmission of the vehicle based on an engine speed and an engine power of the engine of the vehicle, the gear ratio limit being stored in a table having gear ratio limit values, engine speed values and engine power values; receiving a sensor value from a sensor of the vehicle; comparing the sensor value to the sensor value threshold; and adjusting the gear ratio limit based on the sensor value when the sensor value of the vehicle reaches the sensor value threshold, the gear ratio limit being adjusted by adjusting the gear ratio limit values and the engine power values in the table. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A method for adjusting a gear ratio limit of a vehicle comprising:
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storing, in a memory, a sensor value threshold that corresponds to a reduction in an engine performance of an engine; storing, in the memory, the gear ratio limit for limiting a transmission of the vehicle based on an engine speed and an engine power of the engine of the vehicle; receiving a sensor value from a sensor of the vehicle; comparing the sensor value to the sensor value threshold; and adjusting the gear ratio limit based on the sensor value and a driving history when the sensor value of the vehicle reaches the sensor value threshold. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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Specification