Wheel spin control apparatus for use in an automobile

Claim 2

A wheel spin control apparatus comprises: detector means (S R ,S L ) for detecting the occurrence of an excessive wheel spin in a driven wheel means; braking control means (BC R ,BC L ) for applying a braking force to said driven wheel means in response to the detection of said excessive wheel spin by said detecting means (S R ,S L ) to suppress said excessive wheel spin, and thereafter gradually weakening said braking force; and torque control means (E C ) for controlling an output power of an engine employed to drive said driven wheel means such that said engine output power is gradually decreased as the braking force is gradually weakened, whereby the sup­pression of said driven wheel effected by said braking control means is gradually taken over by said torque control means.

Claim 3

A wheel spin control apparatus for use in an automotive vehicle having first and second driven wheels comprises: first detector means (S R ) for detecting the occurrence of an excessive wheel spin in said first driven wheel; first braking control means (BC R ) for applying a first braking force to said first driven wheel in response to the detection of said excessive wheel spin by said first detect­ing means (S R ) to suppress said excessive wheel spin, and there­after gradually weakening said first braking force; second detector means (S L ) for detecting the occurrence of an excessive wheel spin in said second driven wheel; second braking control means (BC L ) for applying a second braking force to said second driven wheel in response to the detection of said excessive wheel spin by said second detecting means (S L ) to suppress said excessive wheel spin, and thereafter gradually weakening said second braking force; first selecting means (L) for selecting a smaller one of said first and second braking forces; and tonque control means (E C ;EC S ,EC B ) for controlling an output power of an engine employed to drive said first and second driven wheels such that said engine output power is gradual­ly decreased as the selected braking force is gradually weakened, whereby the suppression of said driven wheel effected by said braking control means (BC R ,BC L ) is gradually taken over by said torque control means (E C ).

Claim 4

A wheel spin control apparatus for use in an automotive vehicle having first and second driven wheels comprises: first detector means (S R ) for detecting the occurrence of an excessive wheel spin in said first driven wheel; first braking control means (BC R ) for applying a first braking force to said first driven wheel in response to the detection of said excessive wheel spin by said first detect­ing means (S R ) to suppress said excessive wheel spin, and there­after gradually weakening said first braking force; second detector means (S L ) for detecting the occurrence of an excessive wheel spin in said second driven wheel; second braking control means (BC L ) for applying a second braking force to said second driven wheel in response to the detection of said excessive wheel spin by said second detecting means (S L ) to suppress said excessive wheel spin, and thereafter gradually weakening said second braking force; first selecting means (L) for selecting a smaller one of said first and second braking forces; and tonque control means (E C ;EC S ,EC B ) for controlling an output power of an engine employed to drive said first and second driven wheels such that said engine output power is gradual­ly decreased as the selected braking force is gradually weakened, whereby the suppression of said driven wheel effected by said braking control means (BC R ,BC L ) is gradually taken over by said torque control means (E C ).

Claim 5

The control apparatus as claimed in Claim 2, further comprising means for measuring the magnitude of each of the braking forces (P R ,P L ).

Claim 6

The control apparatus as claimed in Claim 2, further comprising first calculating means (GP R ) and second calculating means (GP L ) for calculating, respectively, the magni­tude of the braking forces of said first and second driven 5 wheels in response to the output of a braking control command from said first and second braking control means (BC R ,BC L ).

Claim 7

The control apparatus as claimed in Claim 4, wherein each of said first and second calculating means (GP R ,GP L ) has a constant producing means for producing a predetermined constant representing a rate of change of the braking force corresponding to the braking command based on the calculated braking pressure then prevailing.

Claim 8

The control apparatus as claimed in Claim 2, wherein each of said first and second braking control means (BC R ,BC L ) reduces said first and second braking forces, respectively, after the amount of wheel spin has attained an optimum value.

Claim 9

The control apparatus as claimed in Claim 2, wherein said torque control means (E C ; EC S ,EC B ) has a control mode in which the rate of reduction of the engine power increases relatively to the magnitude of the braking force.

Claim 10

The control apparatus as claimed in Claim 2, wherein said torque control means (E C ;EC B ,EC S ) further controls the output power of said engine such that said engine power is gradually increased after said selected braking force becomes equal to or nearly equal to zero.

Claim 11

The control apparatus as claimed in Claim 2, wherein said torque control means (E C ;EC B ,EC S ) on only said braking forces.

Claim 12

The control apparatus as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the torque control means (E C ;EC B ,EC S ) comprises a first torque control unit (EC B ), which controls the engine based on the braking forces, and a second torque control unit (EC S ) which controls the engine based on an excessive wheel spin detected by at least one of said first and second detector means.

Claim 13

The control apparatus as claimed in Claim 10, further comprising a second selecting means (L) for selecting a smaller one of said excessive wheel spins detected by said first and second detector means (S R ,S L ) respectively.

Claim 14

The control apparatus as claimed in Claim 11, wherein said second torque control unit (EC S ) controls the engine based on an excessive wheel spin selected by said second selecting means (L).

Claim 15

The control apparatus as claimed in Claim 10, further comprising an averaging means for taking an average of the excessive wheel spins detected by said first and second detector means (S R ,S L ).

Claim 16

The control apparatus as claimed in Claim 13, wherein said second torque control unit (EC S ) controls the engine based on said average obtained from said averaging means.