Patents Examined by Edwin A. Young
  • Patent number: 11828360
    Abstract: An apparatus and a method for controlling a transmission of a vehicle include an agent that determines a gear stage of the vehicle based on driving information of the vehicle, shape information of a road, and/or operation information of a driver, and include a controller that performs a reward with respect to the determination of the agent and controls the transmission of the vehicle based on the gear stage determined by the agent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yong Uk Shin, Byeong Wook Jeon, Dong Hoon Jeong, Min Jae Chai
  • Patent number: 11828359
    Abstract: A system, method, and computer readable storage device are provided for providing a dynamic tachometer. Based on various signal inputs from a plurality of data sources, a tachometer may be dynamically modified to include visual information and assistance to the driver in relation to the vehicle's engine speed (i.e., revolution speed of the vehicle's crankshaft). The tachometer may include one or a combination of: dynamic shift point indicators, a target engine speed range indicator, an overspeed indicator, and a power take-off mode indicator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: PACCAR Inc.
    Inventors: Steven Karl Jahns, Ryan Anthony Reed, Jonathan Scott Duncan, Josef Lotz, Tristan Thomas Pyle, Derek Scott Sancer, Jon Forrest Acton, Jacob Michael White, Hervé Jen Raymond Cecchi, David Michael Gauch, Anna-Magdalena Schatz
  • Patent number: 11815177
    Abstract: The transmission controller is configured to, when the received range position signal indicates that the range position is switched from a travelling range to a neutral range during travelling, output an instruction to disengage all of friction elements that are in an engaged state in the travelling range, output an instruction to at least one friction element before the instruction to disengage all of the friction elements that are in the engaged state in the travelling range is output, confirm a change in a rotation speed of a transmission input shaft after the instruction to disengage is output to the at least one friction element, and when there is no change in the rotation speed, diagnose that the friction element instructed to be disengaged is in an erroneously engaged state in which the friction element is not able to be disengaged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignees: JATCO LTD, NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Norihira Amano, Masahiro Hamano
  • Patent number: 11815173
    Abstract: Methods and systems for operating a transmission that includes one or more dog clutches are described. In one example, a torque capacity of a gear is estimated from an engagement depth of the dog clutch, and the gear may be held or shifted according to the torque capacity of the gear and a commanded torque.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: DANA HEAVY VEHICLE SYSTEMS GROUP, LLC
    Inventors: James Allen, Jordan M. Houser, Nathan Smith
  • Patent number: 11808349
    Abstract: The control device is configured to supply an offset current value to disengagement solenoids of disengagement-side friction engaging elements among a plurality of shift solenoids that control respective shift oil pressures applied to the plurality of friction engaging elements, and when a current gear position is a first speed position or a reverse position, decrease a current value to be supplied to at least one of the disengagement solenoids that are supplied with the offset current value to be lower than the offset current value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignees: JATCO LTD, NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Takuya Takamura
  • Patent number: 11808348
    Abstract: A system and method for operating the same includes a drive sprocket assembly, a clutch lever, a user interface generating a reverse signal at a user interface, a wheel speed sensor generating a wheel speed signal, a transmission position sensor generating a transmission position signal and a vehicle control module receiving the reverse signal, the wheel speed signal and the transmission position signal. The vehicle control module engages a reverse gear at a drive sprocket in response to the reverse signal, the wheel speed and transmission gear position and controls the drive sprocket assembly in response to the clutch lever.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: Indian Motorcycle International, LLC
    Inventors: Corey A. Simonetta, Dustin D. Keller, Andrew J. Ellsworth
  • Patent number: 11807241
    Abstract: A system is provided for controlling engine fueling and includes an internal combustion engine, a fuel source, means for delivering fuel from the fuel source to the engine, and a controller configured to control the fuel delivering means according to a first operational mode so that, upon attaining a predetermined operational state of the engine, an amount of fuel delivered to the engine per unit time is kept constant. The system will typically but not necessarily be provided in a vehicle such as a truck or a passenger automobile. A method for controlling engine fueling is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: VOLVO TRUCK CORPORATION
    Inventor: Jan van den Berg
  • Patent number: 11808346
    Abstract: An ECU has a temperature detection unit that detects an actual temperature of the ECU, a temperature estimation unit that calculates an estimated temperature of the ECU, an abnormality determination unit for determining a presence or absence of a sign of abnormality, and a switching prohibition unit that prohibits the shift range switching in a predetermined case. The switching prohibition unit prohibits the shift range switching when there is no sign of abnormality in the temperature detection unit and the actual temperature is equal to or higher than a switching prohibition threshold, and prohibits the shift range switching when there is a sign of abnormality in the temperature detection unit and the estimated temperature is equal to or higher than a switching prohibition threshold. The temperature estimation unit calculates the estimated temperature based on a latest actual temperature in a normal period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yusaku Kawaguchi, Seiji Nakayama, Jun Yamada
  • Patent number: 11808333
    Abstract: A rotary machine employing a heterodyne transmission includes: a central axle; a planetary gear set comprising a sun gear journaling the central axle and a plurality of planet gears surrounding and intermeshed with the sun gear; and a plurality of rotating clusters, each of the rotating clusters comprising a rotating central body and a plurality of rotating eccentric bodies surrounding and intermeshed with the rotating central body, wherein the rotating central body is coupled to a respective one of the planet gears, and wherein each of the rotating eccentric bodies has a center of mass off-axis with respect to its axis of rotation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2023
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Inventor: Anthony A. Gallistel
  • Patent number: 11801840
    Abstract: A work vehicle includes an engine, a transmission to change a received rotational force to a rotational force at a gear ratio that corresponds to a desired vehicle speed and output the changed rotational force, a first operating tool to change the rotation speed of the engine and a deceleration rate of the transmission, a rotation speed controller to control the rotation speed of the engine based on an input provided to the first operating tool, and a second operating tool to receive a holding instruction to hold the rotation speed of the engine constant. In response to the holding instruction being inputted to the second operating tool, the rotation speed controller is configured or programmed to disable control of the rotation speed of the engine which control is based on the input provided to the first operating tool, and hold the rotation speed of the engine constant in accordance with the holding instruction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Assignee: KUBOTA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Keiji Takahashi, Tatsuya Sakai, Naoya Okamoto, Ryuji Kitagawa, Tsuyoshi Gono
  • Patent number: 11801837
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to the technical field of vehicles, and particularly to a vehicle control method and apparatus, a storage medium and a vehicle. The method includes: acquiring a pressure of a brake master cylinder and an opening degree of an accelerator pedal; when the pressure of the brake master cylinder is greater than a first preset pressure threshold, the opening degree of the accelerator pedal is no less than a first preset opening degree threshold, and a moment when the pressure of the brake master cylinder is greater than the first preset pressure threshold is earlier than a moment when the opening degree of the accelerator pedal is no less than the first preset opening degree threshold, controlling the vehicle to enter an activated state of a launch starting function; and when the vehicle is in the activated state, controlling an engine of the vehicle to output a target torque.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Assignee: GREAT WALL MOTOR COMPANY LIMITED
    Inventors: Yinlei Wang, Wei Pan, Tengfei Guo, Yushan Li, Xiu Liu, Weifeng Deng
  • Patent number: 11796057
    Abstract: The control method for the continuously variable transmission in the present invention detects a magnitude of an acceleration request, and when the acceleration request exceeds a preset threshold value, the control method controls a transmission ratio by switching from a first shift mode, in which a target transmission ratio is changed steplessly, to a second shift mode, which includes a stepwise change in the target transmission ratio. Then, when executing the second shift mode, a target engine rotation speed is set according to the magnitude of the acceleration request, and a step-down shift, in which the target transmission ratio is lowered stepwise according to the target engine rotation speed, is executed at an acceleration start time, and the target engine rotation speed after executing the step-down shift is retained for a predetermined period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Daigo Kishi, Toshiaki Motomura, Tetsuya Shimada
  • Patent number: 11794761
    Abstract: A user input signal management method for a vehicle provided with a prime mover having an output that rotates and an input for a user input signal that controls the rotating speed of the output of the prime mover. The method including the reception of a signal representative of the position of a user input of a vehicle, the reception of data representative of at least one condition of the vehicle, the modification of the received signal representative of the position of the user input as a function of the data received and the supply of the modified signal to the accelerator input of the prime mover.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: TRANSMISSION CVTCORP INC.
    Inventors: Jonathan Guérin, Daniel Girard
  • Patent number: 11794575
    Abstract: The invention relates to a motor vehicle transmission (6) having a drive input shaft (9), a drive output shaft (10), a first planetary gearset (P1), a second planetary gearset (P2), and a third planetary gearset (P3), where the drive input shaft (9) is provided for coupling to an electric machine (5). Furthermore, at least functionally a first shifting element (A), a second shifting element (B), and a third shifting element (C) are provided. In addition, the invention relates to a drive unit (4), a drive axle (3) and an electric vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2023
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
    Inventors: Johannes Glückler, Stefan Renner, David Rittler, Stefan Spühler
  • Patent number: 11796054
    Abstract: A storage device stores a mapping data entry that specifies a mapping and includes data learned through machine learning. A detection value of an oil temperature sensor is an oil temperature detection value. When oil temperature relation data, which is data corresponding to time series data of the oil temperature detection value, is input to the mapping as an input variable, the mapping outputs an output variable that determines whether a frictional engagement element has an anomaly. Processing circuitry executes an obtainment process that obtains the input variable and an anomaly determination process that determines whether the frictional engagement element has an anomaly based on the output variable that is output from the mapping as a result of inputting the input variable obtained in the obtainment process into the mapping.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hideaki Bunazawa, Tetsuya Yoshikawa, Kei Yuasa, Kenichi Yamaguchi
  • Patent number: 11796055
    Abstract: A monitoring method and device for determination of a gear-stick position, a vehicle control unit, and a vehicle. The monitoring method for determination of a gear-stick position includes: acquiring a first actual gear-stick position and a first acceptable gear-stick position calculated by a functional layer; calculating a second actual gear-stick position according to a gear-stick position signal; determining whether the first actual gear-stick position and the second actual gear-stick position are consistent; in case that the first actual gear-stick position and the second actual gear-stick position are consistent, determining whether the first acceptable gear-stick position is valid; and in case that the first actual gear-stick position and the second actual gear-stick position are inconsistent or the first acceptable gear-stick position is invalid, controlling the vehicle to enter a safe state. The present application can ensure safe driving of a vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: GREAT WALL MOTOR COMPANY LIMITED
    Inventors: Shaokai Wang, Gang Yan
  • Patent number: 11796051
    Abstract: A gearshift control apparatus of a vehicle includes: a sensor configured to measure a speed, a brake position sensor (BPS) value, and an accelerator position sensor (APS) value of the vehicle, and a controller configured to, in a gearshift section spaced apart by a preset distance from a speed bump located on a road on which the vehicle travels, (i) calculate a deceleration of the vehicle and a gradient of the road after the speed bump, (ii) determine a correction factor corresponding to the deceleration of the vehicle and the gradient of the road, and (iii) perform a gearshift to a shift stage corresponding to the correction factor and the speed of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Corporation
    Inventors: Min Jae Chai, Kwon Il Cho, Sang Jun Park
  • Patent number: 11796053
    Abstract: Methods for controlling a transmission of a vehicle are provided. Such methods include establishing a desired speed profile for the vehicle when travelling along a road segment, performing a plurality of simulations, each of a vehicle response, in the road segment, to a respective gear control action, wherein the gear control action differs from one simulation to another, wherein the simulations include an aim to keep the speed on the speed profile, or within one or more established limits of deviations from the speed profile, determining costs for the simulated vehicle responses, selecting, in dependence on the determined costs, one of the gear control actions, controlling the transmission with the selected gear control action.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: VOLVO TRUCK CORPORATION
    Inventors: Teodoro Bora, Johan Fries, Viktor Lägnert
  • Patent number: 11773799
    Abstract: A method, performed by a control device, for starting a combustion engine during free-wheeling with engine off is described. The method comprises a step of controlling the clutch to a partially closed state, thereby starting the combustion engine; a step of controlling the clutch to an open state when the combustion engine has started, but prior to the output shaft of the combustion engine has reached a rotational speed synchronized with the rotational speed of the input shaft of the gearbox; and a step of synchronizing the speed of the combustion engine to the speed of the input shaft of the gearbox through control of fuel injection to the combustion engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: Scania CV AB
    Inventors: Oscar Flärdh, Fredrik Roos, Mikael Zemowski, Georg Åhrberg
  • Patent number: 11772477
    Abstract: A drive unit for a hybrid vehicle that is downsized without reducing N.V. performance. The drive unit comprises: a geared transmission that transmits torque between a power split mechanism and a differential unit; and a reduction mechanism that multiplies torque of a second motor to be delivered to the differential unit. In the drive unit, an engine, a first motor, the power split mechanism, and a counter drive gear are arranged around a first rotational axis, the differential unit, the second motor, the reduction mechanism, driveshafts, and a differential ring gear are arranged around a second rotational axis, and a counter driven gear is arranged around a third rotational axis. The reduction mechanism is positioned without overlapping with the engine, the first motor, and the counter drive gear in an axial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Shibata, Hiroyuki Hattori, Akira Murakami