← Back to Patent Explorer
US6009965A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Torque shock alleviating device in hybrid vehicle

Assignee: Honda Motor Co Ltd
•
Filing: 1998-08-24
•
Granted: 2000-01-04
•
Expires: 2018-08-24
📄 Original PDF 🌐 Google Patents 🔄 Sync Now

Abstract

Abstract A torque shock alleviating device in a hybrid vehicle utilizing both an engine and an electric motor as drive sources, whereby a torque shock is not generated when the rich-spiking of the air-fuel mixture is carried out in order to restore the adsorbing ability of an NOx adsorbing device in the hybrid vehicle. When an engine is operated in a lean burn manner, NOx in an exhaust gas is adsorbed to an NOx adsorbing device provided in an exhaust passage. When the adsorbing ability of the NOx adsorbing device reaches a saturated level, a rich-spiking for temporarily enrichening the air-fuel mixture of the engine is carried out to restore the adsorbing ability of the NOx adsorbing device. When the output torque from the engine is increased by the rich-spiking, a regenerative braking force is generated in a motor, thereby moderating the increase in output torque from the engine by such regenerative braking force to alleviate the torque shock. An electric power generated by the regenerative braking is supplied for the charging of a battery.

Inventors

  • 👤 Toshikatsu Takanohashi
  • 👤 Kazutomo Sawamura
  • 👤 Teruo Wakashiro
  • 👤 Hiroshi Ohno

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-04 00:14
CPC Classifications
B; B60; B60K; B60K6/00; B60K6/20; B60K6/42; B60K6/48; B60K6/485; B60W; B60W20/00; B60W20/10; B60W20/15; B60K6/50; B60K6/54; B60L; B60L50/00; B60L50/10; B60L50/15; B60W10/00; B60W10/04; B60W10/06; B60W10/08; B60W2710/00; B60W2710/06; B60W2710/0616; B60W2710/0622; F; F02; F02D; F02D41/00; F02D41/02; F02D41/021; F02D41/0235; F02D41/024; F02D2041/026; F02D41/027; F02D41/0275; Y; Y02; Y02T; Y02T10/00; Y02T10/10; Y02T10/40; Y02T10/60; Y02T10/62; Y02T10/70; Y02T10/7072; Y02T10/72; Y10; Y10S; Y10S903/00; Y10S903/902; Y10S903/903; Y10S903/904; Y10S903/905; Y10S903/915; Y10S903/917

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 3
Claim 1
Independent Claim 214 words
A torque shock alleviating device in a hybrid vehicle comprising: an engine which drives at least one wheel; a motor connected to said engine to generate an assisting driving force and a regenerative braking force; an accumulating device for supplying electric power to said motor the accumulating device being charged with electric power generated by said motor during regenerative braking operations, a motor control device for controlling the assisting driving force and the regenerative braking operations of the motor; an engine control device for controlling an air-fuel ratio of an air-fuel mixture supplied to said engine; and an NOx adsorbing device provided in an exhaust passage for adsorbing NOx generated when the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture supplied to said engine is controlled to a lean level by said engine controlling device, wherein when the adsorbing ability of the NOx adsorbing device reaches a saturated level, the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture is temporarily enrichened by the engine control device to release NOx adsorbed by said NOx adsorbing device, wherein said motor control device causes said motor to generate said regenerative braking force upon enrichening of the air-fuel mixture by said engine control device, thereby moderating the variation in output torque from said engine caused by the enrichening of the air-fuel mixture.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 214 words
A torque shock alleviating device in a hybrid vehicle comprising: an engine which drives at least one wheel; a motor connected to said engine to generate an assisting driving force and a regenerative braking force; an accumulating device for supplying electric power to said motor the accumulating device being charged with electric power generated by said motor during regenerative braking operations, a motor control device for controlling the assisting driving force and the regenerative braking operations of the motor; an engine control device for controlling an air-fuel ratio of an air-fuel mixture supplied to said engine; and an NOx adsorbing device provided in an exhaust passage for adsorbing NOx generated when the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture supplied to said engine is controlled to a lean level by said engine controlling device, wherein when the adsorbing ability of the NOx adsorbing device reaches a saturated level, the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture is temporarily enrichened by the engine control device to release NOx adsorbed by said NOx adsorbing device, wherein said motor control device causes said motor to generate said regenerative braking force upon enrichening of the air-fuel mixture by said engine control device, thereby moderating the variation in output torque from said engine caused by the enrichening of the air-fuel mixture.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 42 words
The torque shock alleviating device in a hybrid vehicle according to claim 1, wherein, said control device monitors the charged state of said accumulating device and prohibits the regenerative braking operation of said motor, whenever the charged state exceeds a predetermined level.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US5323868A Cited
JPH06108824A Cited
US5562565A Cited
US5842534A Cited
US5680764A Cited
US5862497A Cited
US5875864A Cited
US5848529A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 2003-01-03 2003-07-05 2004-01-04 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2007-01-03 2007-07-05 2008-01-04 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2011-01-03 2011-07-05 2012-01-04 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

Assigned Categories & Tags

No categories assigned to this patent yet.

Assign Category Tag