Patents by Inventor Katsuhiro Hatta

Katsuhiro Hatta has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 5882276
    Abstract: A shift control method for an automotive automatic transmission is provided, which reduces a shift shock particularly at the time of a skip down-shift, and shortens a required shifting time period. An electronic control unit of a shift control apparatus releases the engagement of a clutch of a subsidiary transmission mechanism and engages a one-way clutch so as to establish a gear position not used in the normal speed change when a shift command from the fifth shift position to the third shift position is issued, gradually decreasing a valve opening duty ratio of an electromagnetic valve associated with a brake of a main transmission mechanism from an initial value D.sub.HLi before this gear position is established, determines an average turbine rotation speed changing rate dD.sub.TAVE /dt from the detected turbine rotation speed (S203), and learning correction of the initial value D.sub.HLi is made if the changing rate deviates from a target range (S204-S208).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 1997
    Date of Patent: March 16, 1999
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Katsutoshi Usuki, Kenjiro Fujita, Katsuhiro Hatta
  • Patent number: 5743826
    Abstract: A speed change control apparatus for an automatic transmission includes a transmission control unit for controlling gear-changing. The control unit discriminates a fluid temperature/rotational speed zone based on the hydraulic fluid temperature and the engine speed at the start of gear-changing, and detects a time period from the end of dead-stroke elimination of an engagement-side hydraulic clutch to the start of actual gear-changing. In the case that a condition for executing learning correction is satisfied and if a time period from the end of the dead-stroke elimination to the start of the actual gear-changing is longer than an upper limit, the control unit increases a learning-correction time with which a dead-stroke-elimination time for the discriminated temperature/speed zone is calculated. The learning-correction time is decreased if such a time period is shorter than a lower limit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 1996
    Date of Patent: April 28, 1998
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Katsutoshi Usuki, Kenjiro Fujita, Katsuhiro Hatta
  • Patent number: 5624351
    Abstract: A speed change control method for an automatic transmission, which can achieve a smooth skip downshifting even when a driver depresses an accelerator pedal slowly in kickdown. An electronic control unit 6 calculates, at the time when a predetermined time period elapses from the time when a downshifting command from a fourth speed to a third speed is outputted, a difference between the throttle valve opening degree .theta..sub.t1 at that time and the throttle valve opening degree .theta..sub.ts at the time when the downshifting command is outputted, and a change rate (.dwnarw..sub.t1)' of the throttle valve opening degree at the time when the predetermined time period elapses. If the calculated difference is larger than the threshold value .DELTA..theta. and the calculated change rate is higher than the threshold value .DELTA.(.theta.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 1995
    Date of Patent: April 29, 1997
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kenjiro Fujita, Katsuhiro Hatta, Katsutoshi Usuki
  • Patent number: 5609549
    Abstract: A speed change control apparatus of an automatic transmission has a transmission control unit. When determining a fault of a power-on/off determining section on the basis of engine load information from an engine control unit, the transmission control unit controls an oil pressure controller by regarding an engine as being in a power-on state in upshifting and by regarding the engine as being in a power-off state in downshifting. As a result, in either of upshifting and downshifting, the moment when a disengagement-side friction element of the transmission begins to slip and the moment when an engagement-side friction element is engaged are made proper. This makes it possible to surely prevent undesired rise in the engine rotation during the speed change in upshifting and inability in speed change in downshifting, which are caused by a fault of the power-on/off determining section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 1995
    Date of Patent: March 11, 1997
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Katsutoshi Usuki, Kenjiro Fujita, Katsuhiro Hatta
  • Patent number: 5445577
    Abstract: During downshift operation of an automotive automatic transmission in which a lower-speed clutch for establishing a lower-speed gear is engaged while a higher-speed clutch, which has established a higher-speed gear, is disengaged, to increase the turbine rotational speed Nt toward a synchronous rotation speed Ntj associated with the lower-speed gear, speed change control is carried out according to the same control method regardless of whether the engine is in a power-on or power-off state. A target change rate (Nir)' of turbine rotational speed associated with the higher-speed clutch and a target change rate (Nia)' of turbine rotational speed associated with the lower-speed clutch are set, and a change rate (Nt)' of the turbine rotational speed is detected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 1993
    Date of Patent: August 29, 1995
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kenjiro Fujita, Katsutoshi Usuki, Katsuhiro Hatta
  • Patent number: 5443432
    Abstract: During downshift operation of an automotive automatic transmission in which a lower-speed clutch for establishing a lower-speed gear is engaged while a higher-speed clutch, which has established a higher-speed gear, is disengaged, to increase the turbine rotational speed Nt toward a synchronous rotation speed Ntj associated with the lower-speed gear, speed change control is carried out according to the same control method regardless of whether the engine is in a power-on or power-off state. A target change rate (Nir)' of turbine rotational speed associated with the higher-speed clutch and a target change rate (Nia)' of turbine rotational speed associated with the lower-speed clutch are set, and a change rate (Nt)' of the turbine rotational speed is detected. The transmission torque through the higher-speed clutch is controlled in a feedback manner such that the detected change rate (Nt)' coincides with the change rate (Nir)'.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 1994
    Date of Patent: August 22, 1995
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kenjiro Fujita, Katsutoshi Usuki, Katsuhiro Hatta
  • Patent number: 5435796
    Abstract: During downshift operation of an automotive automatic transmission in which a lower-speed clutch for establishing a lower-speed gear is engaged while higher-speed clutch, which has established a higher-speed gear, is disengaged, to increase the turbine rotational speed Nt toward a synchronous rotation speed Ntj associated with the lower-speed gear, speed change control is carried out according to the same control method regardless of whether the engine is in a power-on or power-off state. A target change rate (Nir)' of turbine rotational speed associated with the higher-speed clutch and a target change rate (Nia)' of turbine rotational speed associated with the lower-speed clutch are set, and a change rate (Nia)' of the turbine rotational speed is detected. The transmission torque through the higher-speed clutch is controlled in a feedback manner such that the detected change rate (Nt)' coincides with the change rate (Nir)'.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 1994
    Date of Patent: July 25, 1995
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kenjiro Fujita, Katsutoshi Usuki, Katsuhiro Hatta
  • Patent number: 5370016
    Abstract: A speed change control and apparatus of an automotive automatic transmission causes a turbine rotational speed to change toward a synchronous rotational speed associated with a desired gear stage by engaging a connection-side clutch while disengaging a release-side clutch, to thereby carry out gear-changing. To reduce a speed change shock, a speed change time is rendered stabilized irrespective of vehicle running state, by carrying out feedback control such that the time-dependent change rate (Ns)' of a rotational speed difference between clutch plates and clutch discs of the connection-side clutch becomes equal to a target slip rotational speed change rate (Ni)'.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 1993
    Date of Patent: December 6, 1994
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kenjiro Fujita, Katsutoshi Usuki, Katsuhiro Hatta, Takeo Hiramatsu
  • Patent number: 5301572
    Abstract: A shift control method for an automatic transmission of an automotive vehicle comprises a preliminary stage which is executed for eliminating the play in mechanism of a low/reverse brake of the automatic transmission at a shifting, particularly at a shifting of the transmission from the neutral position to a running position when the vehicle is at rest, and an engagement stage which is executed subsequently to the preliminary stage for operating the brake substantially. In the preliminary and engagement stages, the fluid pressure supplied to the brake is controlled in accordance with the precontrol pattern and the main control pattern, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 1993
    Date of Patent: April 12, 1994
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yuichi Tanaka, Yasuhiro Nakajima, Toshitaka Naruse, Katsuhiro Hatta
  • Patent number: 5235875
    Abstract: A gear shift control system according to this invention includes a throttle opening sensor, a vehicle speed sensor and a controller for delivering a shift command signal to an automatic transmission. The controller is previously stored with shift lines, which divide the respective regions of gear-shift stages, on the basis of the throttle opening and the vehicle speed. The controller delivers the shift command signal to the transmission when any of the shift lines is crossed by a shift point which is defined by the throttle opening and the vehicle speed. Taking account of the changing rate of the throttle opening, the past throttle opening, and the acceleration of the vehicle, however, the controller calculates a decision value which is indicative of the running state of the vehicle, on the basis of the fuzzy theory. When the decision value exceeds a predetermined value, the controller corrects the shift lines depending on the running state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 1992
    Date of Patent: August 17, 1993
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shigeyuki Yoshida, Katsuhiro Hatta, Toshitaka Naruse