Patents by Inventor Koichiro Muta
Koichiro Muta 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).
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Patent number: 9046046Abstract: A brake ECU executes a program including: the step of executing a first brake hydraulic pressure control for preventing decrease of brake hydraulic pressure regardless of decrease in an amount of operation of a brake pedal, if position is at a P position and the amount of operation of the brake pedal is determined to be decreasing; and the step of executing a normal, second hydraulic pressure control if the position is not the P position and the amount of operation of the brake pedal is not determined to be decreasing.Type: GrantFiled: June 2, 2010Date of Patent: June 2, 2015Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventor: Koichiro Muta
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Patent number: 8892280Abstract: A sprung mass damping control system of a vehicle, which aims to suppress sprung mass vibration generated in a vehicle body of a vehicle provided with at least a motor-generator (first and second motor-generators) as a drive source, includes a sprung mass damping control amount calculating device that sets a sprung mass damping control amount for suppressing the sprung mass vibration, and a drive source control device (a motor-generator control device) that executes sprung mass damping control by controlling a motor-generator control amount of the motor-generator to realize the sprung mass damping control amount.Type: GrantFiled: May 11, 2010Date of Patent: November 18, 2014Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Gohki Kinoshita, Koichiro Muta, Toshiya Hashimoto, Eiji Fukushiro, Takanori Aoki, Akihiro Kimura, Shunsuke Oyama, Masaya Yamamoto, Kaiji Itabashi, Yoshitaka Oikawa, Takashi Saito
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Patent number: 8656889Abstract: The control apparatus for a vehicle having a prime mover is applied to a vehicle having an air conditioning mechanism which performs the air conditioning in the vehicle interior by using the cooling water of the internal combustion engine. The engine stop permitting unit permits stopping the internal combustion engine based on the requested load of the internal combustion engine, when the cooling water temperature becomes equal to or higher than the engine stop permitting water temperature. The engine activating unit activates the internal combustion engine when the cooling water temperature becomes lower than the engine activation requesting water temperature, which is set to be lower than the engine stop permitting water temperature. The correcting unit corrects the engine stop permitting water temperature to be higher in the case that the vehicle speed is high, than in the case that the vehicle speed is low.Type: GrantFiled: June 25, 2009Date of Patent: February 25, 2014Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventor: Koichiro Muta
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Patent number: 8577532Abstract: A hybrid vehicle includes an engine, a second MG provided such that torque is transmitted between the second MG and a wheel, a brake system that applies braking force to the vehicle via friction force, and a control unit that controls the engine, the electric motor and the braking device. The control unit executes control for decelerating the vehicle through regenerative braking by the electric motor and braking by the braking device, executes control for either starting or stopping the engine, and due to execution of one control, restricts execution of the other control.Type: GrantFiled: January 28, 2010Date of Patent: November 5, 2013Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventor: Koichiro Muta
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Patent number: 8562482Abstract: A control device for a vehicular drive system is disclosed as including reverse drive for suppression means operative to preclude output member, such as an output shaft and drive wheels, of an automatic transmission portion from inputting a reverse drive force to a differential portion. This prevents a power transmitting member from rotating in a direction opposite to a rotational direction of the same with a running position being set. This suppresses a first electric-motor rotation speed, determined with an engine rotation speed and a power transmitting member rotation speed based on the relationship on mutually relative rotation speeds in the differential portion, from increasing to a high level. This results in improved durability of a first electric-motor.Type: GrantFiled: November 30, 2011Date of Patent: October 22, 2013Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Hiroyuki Shibata, Tooru Matsubara, Atsushi Tabata, Koichiro Muta
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Publication number: 20130079965Abstract: An operation line is set on the basis of a shift position and a brake pedal position, from among a plurality of operation lines in which a degree of avoidance of an abnormal noise generation region from a fuel-economy optimal operation line becomes smaller as a degree to which travel of the vehicle is restricted becomes greater. An engine and a motor are controlled by setting a target operation point of the engine using the set operation line, and by setting a torque instruction of the motor.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 14, 2012Publication date: March 28, 2013Applicant: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Koichiro Muta, Michio Nakamura
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Publication number: 20130073133Abstract: A brake ECU executes a program including: the step of executing a first brake hydraulic pressure control for preventing decrease of brake hydraulic pressure regardless of decrease in an amount of operation of a brake pedal, if position is at a P position and the amount of operation of the brake pedal is determined to be decreasing; and the step of executing a normal, second hydraulic pressure control if the position is not the P position and the amount of operation of the brake pedal is not determined to be decreasing.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 2, 2010Publication date: March 21, 2013Inventor: Koichiro Muta
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Patent number: 8340850Abstract: In a hybrid vehicle in which a fixed speed change mode can be realized by the locking of a rotational element, the mislocking of the rotational element is prevented. A hybrid drive apparatus which has an engine, a MG1 and a MG2 and which functions as a power unit of a hybrid vehicle is provided with a brake mechanism of a cam-lock type which can control the MG1 in a lock state and a non-lock state by changing the state of a sun gear between the lock state and the non-lock state. In mislocking prevention control, an ECU calculates MG1 angular acceleration D?g, which is the absolute value of angular acceleration of the motor generator MG1, on the basis of a MG1 rotational speed Ngm1 and judges that the sun gear S1 is in a mislocking state if the MG1 angular acceleration D?g is greater than a criterion value D?gth.Type: GrantFiled: March 12, 2009Date of Patent: December 25, 2012Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Koichiro Muta, Hiroyuki Ogura, Naofumi Magarida
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Publication number: 20120303194Abstract: A hybrid vehicle includes an engine, a second MG provided such that torque is transmitted between the second MG and a wheel, a brake system that applies braking force to the vehicle via friction force, and a control unit that controls the engine, the electric motor and the braking device. The control unit executes control for decelerating the vehicle through regenerative braking by the electric motor and braking by the braking device, executes control for either starting or stopping the engine, and due to execution of one control, restricts execution of the other control.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 28, 2010Publication date: November 29, 2012Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventor: Koichiro Muta
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Patent number: 8170736Abstract: A control device includes a target rotation speed determination unit that determines a target rotation speed of an engine, a filtering process unit that receives an output of the target rotation speed determination unit, changes the received output such that the target rotation speed changes gently, and outputs the changed output, a property switching control unit that switches properties of the filtering process unit in accordance with a vehicle state, and a first torque value calculation unit that calculates a target torque of a motor generator in accordance with a difference between the output of the filtering process unit and an actual rotation speed of the engine. Preferably, the property switching control unit increases a time constant of the filtering process in accordance with a shift switch instruction to switch a vehicle state from a traveling state to a neutral state.Type: GrantFiled: July 10, 2007Date of Patent: May 1, 2012Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventor: Koichiro Muta
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Patent number: 8160797Abstract: An HV_ECU executes a program including a step of calculating an estimated gradient, a step of performing rate limit processing on a change in the estimated gradient when on a hill and an absolute value of the vehicle speed is equal to or below V(0), a step of performing hysteresis processing, a step of calculating a creep increase coefficient, and a step of calculating a creep increase torque.Type: GrantFiled: January 3, 2007Date of Patent: April 17, 2012Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Sumiko Amamiya, Koichiro Muta, Yuichiro Kitamura
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Patent number: 8152667Abstract: A control device for a vehicular drive system is disclosed as including reverse drive for suppression means operative to preclude output member, such as an output shaft and drive wheels, of an automatic transmission portion from inputting a reverse drive force to a differential portion. This prevents a power transmitting member from rotating in a direction opposite to a rotational direction of the same with a running position being set. This suppresses a first electric-motor rotation speed, determined with an engine rotation speed and a power transmitting member rotation speed based on the relationship on mutually relative rotation speeds in the differential portion, from increasing to a high level. This results in improved durability of a first electric-motor.Type: GrantFiled: December 26, 2007Date of Patent: April 10, 2012Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Hiroyuki Shibata, Tooru Matsubara, Atsushi Tabata, Koichiro Muta
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Publication number: 20120077639Abstract: A control device for a vehicular drive system is disclosed as including reverse drive for suppression means operative to preclude output member, such as an output shaft and drive wheels, of an automatic transmission portion from inputting a reverse drive force to a differential portion. This prevents a power transmitting member from rotating in a direction opposite to a rotational direction of the same with a running position being set. This suppresses a first electric-motor rotation speed, determined with an engine rotation speed and a power transmitting member rotation speed based on the relationship on mutually relative rotation speeds in the differential portion, from increasing to a high level. This results in improved durability of a first electric-motor.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 30, 2011Publication date: March 29, 2012Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Hiroyuki SHIBATA, Tooru MATSUBARA, Atsushi TABATA, Koichiro MUTA
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Publication number: 20120065826Abstract: A sprung vibration damping for suppressing sprung vibration which is generated to a vehicle by an input from a road surface to wheels provided with the vehicle by controlling a torque of a motor, and the sprung vibration damping is subjected to a restriction including a prohibition in response to a state of) battery, which supplies power to the motor, such as a voltage and a temperature of the battery or a state of a control, which affects the power of the battery, such as a charge/discharge amount feedback control and the like.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 13, 2009Publication date: March 15, 2012Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Gohki Kinoshita, Koichiro Muta, Masaya Yamamoto, Eiji Fukushiro, Shunsuke Oyama, Toshiya Hashimoto, Takanori Aoki, Akihiro Kimura
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Publication number: 20120059544Abstract: A sprung mass damping control system of a vehicle, which aims to suppress sprung mass vibration generated in a vehicle body of a vehicle provided with at least a motor-generator (first and second motor-generators) as a drive source, includes a sprung mass damping control amount calculating device that sets a sprung mass damping control amount for suppressing the sprung mass vibration, and a drive source control device (a motor-generator control device) that executes sprung mass damping control by controlling a motor-generator control amount of the motor-generator to realize the sprung mass damping control amount.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 11, 2010Publication date: March 8, 2012Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Gohki Kinoshita, Koichiro Muta, Toshiya Hashimoto, Eiji Fukushiro, Takanori Aoki, Akihiro Kimura, Shunsuke Oyama, Masaya Yamamoto, Kaiji Itabashi, Yoshitaka Oikawa, Takashi Saito
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Publication number: 20110320084Abstract: In a hybrid vehicle in which a fixed speed change mode can be realized by the locking of a rotational element, the mislocking of the rotational element is prevented. A hybrid drive apparatus which has an engine, a MG1 and a MG2 and which functions as a power unit of a hybrid vehicle is provided with a brake mechanism of a cam-lock type which can control the MG1 in a lock state and a non-lock state by changing the state of a sun gear between the lock state and the non-lock state. In mislocking prevention control, an ECU calculates MG1 angular acceleration D?g, which is the absolute value of angular acceleration of the motor generator MG1, on the basis of a MG1 rotational speed Ngm1 and judges that the sun gear S1 is in a mislocking state if the MG1 angular acceleration D?g is greater than a criterion value D?gth.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 12, 2009Publication date: December 29, 2011Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Koichiro Muta, Hiroyuki Ogura, Naofumi Magarida
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Patent number: 8046124Abstract: A control apparatus for an electric vehicle includes a road surface condition detection portion, a slip determination portion, a torque reduction device, and a voltage control device. The electric vehicle includes a motor that generates drive power for the electric vehicle, and a drive device that drives the motor. The road surface condition detection portion detects the condition of a road surface on which the electric vehicle is driven. The slip determination portion determines whether the electric vehicle is slipping. The torque reduction device reduces the torque of the motor when the slip determination portion determines that the electric vehicle is slipping. The voltage control device controls a voltage input to the drive device to reduce the voltage when the road surface condition detection portion determines that the road surface has a friction coefficient lower than a predetermined value.Type: GrantFiled: February 15, 2007Date of Patent: October 25, 2011Assignees: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Denso CorporationInventors: Koichiro Muta, Ippei Nagao
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Patent number: 8040084Abstract: During braking, lower limits are set based on an input limit of a battery and a brake pedal position, and the set lower limits limit regenerative torques output from motors. This prevents an output of an excessive braking force and torque shock caused by a hydraulic brake being not able to follow sudden changes in the regenerative torques output from the motors when the vehicle speed is reduced.Type: GrantFiled: January 10, 2007Date of Patent: October 18, 2011Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventor: Koichiro Muta
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Patent number: 7997365Abstract: The power output apparatus of the invention increases a tentative engine power demand Petmp required for an engine, during a catalyst degradation detection time when degradation detection of an emission control catalyst is performed according to a variation in output of an oxygen sensor provided downstream of the emission control catalyst. The smaller between an increased power demand Peu by increasing the tentative engine power demand Petmp and an upper limit of a chargeable range of a battery is set to an engine power demand Pe* of the engine. Upon satisfaction of an auto engine stop condition that the engine power demand Pe* decreases below a preset reference power Pref, the engine is controlled to be driven at idle.Type: GrantFiled: January 17, 2007Date of Patent: August 16, 2011Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventor: Koichiro Muta
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Patent number: 7974747Abstract: When a system stop instruction is issued in the middle of the operation of an engine to stop the engine, the engagement of the gears in a gear mechanism is pressed toward one side. After the engine has stopped, a torque command for a motor connected to a drive shaft is gradually reduced. When the torque command decreases below a threshold value, the system is stopped. In this way, it is possible to prevent generation of vibration of the drive shaft when the system is stopped.Type: GrantFiled: May 23, 2007Date of Patent: July 5, 2011Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventor: Koichiro Muta