Patents by Inventor Seiji Masunaga

Seiji Masunaga 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: 9371905
    Abstract: A torque sharing rate is set as a constraint of a motion equation of an automatic transmission by using a gear shift model in which gear shift target values are set by two values of a torque on a rotating member on an output shaft side and a rotation speed variation of a rotating member on an input shaft side. In addition, a first gear shift according to the gear shift control and a second gear shift that uses a gear shift model in which the gear shift target value is set using only the velocity variation of the rotating member on the input shaft side to enable a speedier gear shift than the first gear shift are selectively executed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2016
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Keisuke Ota, Yoshio Hasegawa, Seiji Masunaga
  • Patent number: 9333973
    Abstract: A speed change control system for reducing shift shocks of clutch-to-clutch shifting is provided. The control system is applied to a vehicle in which a transmission having engagement devices is connected to an output side of a prime mover, and in which a gear stage of the transmission is shifted among a plurality of stages by changing engagement states of the engagement devices. The speed change control system carries out a clutch-to-clutch shifting from a predetermined gear stage to another gear stage by reducing a torque capacity of the predetermined engagement device to be disengaged while increasing a torque capacity of another engagement device to be engaged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2016
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Seiji Masunaga, Yoshio Hasegawa, Seiji Kuwahara, Nobufusa Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 9315193
    Abstract: A speed change control system for reducing shift shocks of clutch-to-clutch shifting is provided. The control system is applied to a vehicle in which a transmission having a plurality of engagement devices is connected to an output side of a prime mover, and in which a gear stage of the transmission is shifted among a plurality of stages by changing engagement states of the engagement devices. The speed change control system is configured to carry out a clutch-to-clutch shifting of the gear stage from a predetermined gear stage to another gear stage by gradually reducing a torque capacity of the predetermined engagement device to be disengaged while gradually increasing a torque capacity of another engagement device to be engaged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Seiji Masunaga, Yoshio Hasegawa, Seiji Kuwahara, Nobufusa Kobayashi
  • Publication number: 20150369362
    Abstract: With a hydraulic control operation amount generation apparatus for an automatic transmission and a control apparatus for an automatic transmission, a control operation amount at which any desired target packing control execution time can be realized is generated on a hydraulic model by determining formulae of the 2n?2 constraint conditions corresponding to the n hydraulic control phases relating to the packing control of the engagement devices.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 18, 2015
    Publication date: December 24, 2015
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takayuki ANDO, Masami KONDO, Seiji MASUNAGA, Shogo TSUGE
  • Patent number: 9188220
    Abstract: In a gear shift control apparatus for a vehicle, since a torque sharing rate is set as a constraint for a motion equation for an automatic transmission, suitable control in torque delivery, which is considered difficult in gear shift control, can be implemented and also the motion equation can be solved. Furthermore, when at least four control operation amounts must be determined in order to achieve two gear shift target values, another engaging device is classified into any of an engaging-side clutch and a releasing-side clutch depending on how another clutch torque acts on progress of a gear shift, hence in addition to achieving torque sharing in accordance with a torque sharing rate between the engaging-side clutch and the releasing-side clutch, torque sharing among a plurality of engaging devices classified into a same side can be arbitrarily set. As a result, the respective control operation amounts can be determined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2015
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Seiji Masunaga, Yoshio Hasegawa, Keisuke Ota
  • Publication number: 20150276051
    Abstract: An automatic transmission shifting control including: a shifting target value calculating portion setting shifting target values, torque of a rotary-member on the output shaft side, and rate of change of rotating speed of a rotary-member on the input shaft side; a manipulated calculating portion setting manipulated amounts, a torque of the rotary-member on the input shaft side, a torque capacity of one coupling device engaging for a transmission shifting-action, and torque capacity of other coupling devices releasing the shifting-action; a torque assignment ratio calculating portion setting torque assignment ratios to transfer through the respective coupling devices to engage and release the shifting-action; when a second-shifting-action is required during a preceding first-shifting-action according to a first-shifting-model, the manipulated calculating portion switching the first-shifting-model corresponding to the first-shifting-action to a second-shifting-model corresponding to the second-shifting-action,
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 16, 2012
    Publication date: October 1, 2015
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shogo Tsuge, Seiji Masunaga, Yoshio Hasegawa, Keisuke Ota
  • Publication number: 20150260280
    Abstract: Torque shares that express an exchange of torque are set as a constraint condition of an equation of motion of an automatic transmission, so it is suitable to control an exchange of torque between engagement devices, which is difficult in shift control, and it is possible to solve the equation of motion. In other words, it is possible to handle any shift pattern with the use of a predetermined shift model. Furthermore, at the time of a shift in which two elements are released and two elements are engaged, a first shift and a second shift in each of which one element is released and one element is engaged are carried out, so three control operation amounts are used in each of the first shift and the second shift, with the result that it is possible to solve the equation of motion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 3, 2014
    Publication date: September 17, 2015
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Seiji MASUNAGA, Yoshio HASEGAWA, Keisuke OTA
  • Publication number: 20150252891
    Abstract: In a gear shift control apparatus for a vehicle, since a torque sharing rate is set as a constraint for a motion equation for an automatic transmission, suitable control in torque delivery, which is considered difficult in gear shift control, can be implemented and also the motion equation can be solved. Furthermore, when at least four control operation amounts must be determined in order to achieve two gear shift target values, another engaging device is classified into any of an engaging-side clutch and a releasing-side clutch depending on how another clutch torque acts on progress of a gear shift, hence in addition to achieving torque sharing in accordance with a torque sharing rate between the engaging-side clutch and the releasing-side clutch, torque sharing among a plurality of engaging devices classified into a same side can be arbitrarily set. As a result, the respective control operation amounts can be determined.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 3, 2014
    Publication date: September 10, 2015
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Seiji Masunaga, Yoshio Hasegawa, Keisuke Ota
  • Publication number: 20150184740
    Abstract: The present invention executes a desired gear shift of an automatic transmission using gear shift modeling even when there are three control inputs to two target gear shift values. Setting torque share ratio as a constraint on the equation of motion for the automatic transmission is suitable for controlling the transfer of engaging unit torque, which is considered to be difficult in variable speed control, and allows solving of the equation of motion. Viewed from a different angle, because the torque share ratio, which represents the torque transfer, has been set as a constraint, any gear shift pattern can be handled with a single gear shift model.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 31, 2012
    Publication date: July 2, 2015
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Seiji Masunaga, Yoshio Hasegawa, Keisuke Ota
  • Publication number: 20150120155
    Abstract: A speed change control system for reducing shift shocks of clutch-to-clutch shifting is provided. The control system is applied to a vehicle in which a transmission having engagement devices is connected to an output side of a prime mover, and in which a gear stage of the transmission is shifted among a plurality of stages by changing engagement states of the engagement devices. The speed change control system carries out a clutch-to-clutch shifting from a predetermined gear stage to another gear stage by reducing a torque capacity of the predetermined engagement device to be disengaged while increasing a torque capacity of another engagement device to be engaged.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 8, 2012
    Publication date: April 30, 2015
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Seiji Masunaga, Yoshio Hasegawa, Seiji Kuwahara, Nobufusa Kobayashi
  • Publication number: 20150120154
    Abstract: A speed change control system for reducing shift shocks of clutch-to-clutch shifting is provided. The control system is applied to a vehicle in which a transmission having a plurality of engagement devices is connected to an output side of a prime mover, and in which a gear stage of the transmission is shifted among a plurality of stages by changing engagement states of the engagement devices. The speed change control system is configured to carry out a clutch-to-clutch shifting of the gear stage from a predetermined gear stage to another gear stage by gradually reducing a torque capacity of the predetermined engagement device to be disengaged while gradually increasing a torque capacity of another engagement device to be engaged.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 8, 2012
    Publication date: April 30, 2015
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Seiji Masunaga, Yoshio Hasefawa, Seiji Kuwahara, Nobufusa Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 8977452
    Abstract: In a vehicle control, an automatic transmission is shifted using a predetermined shift model, which determines control operation amounts for achieving shift target values, by setting the shift target values on the basis of a torque on an output shaft-side rotating member and a speed variation amount of an input shaft-side rotating member, setting the control operation amounts on the basis of a torque on the input shaft-side rotating member, a torque capacity of an engaged-side engagement device during shifting and a torque capacity of a released-side engagement device during shifting and setting torque shares of a transmission torque between the engaged-side engagement device and the released-side engagement device during shifting when the transmission torque is converted to the torque on the input shaft-side rotating member, and timing at which the torque shares are varied is changed on the basis of a shift pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Seiji Masunaga, Yoshio Hasegawa, Keisuke Ota
  • Publication number: 20150012159
    Abstract: A speed change control system for a hybrid vehicle comprised of a first motor-generator, a differential mechanism that distributes a power of an engine to the first motor-generator and to an output member and that changes an engine speed in accordance with a speed of the first motor-generator, and a second motor-generator that exchanges a torque with any of wheels.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 7, 2012
    Publication date: January 8, 2015
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tomoyuki Honda, Hitoshi Matsunaga, Souitirou Shimura, Seiji Masunaga, Munehiro Katsumata
  • Patent number: 8784245
    Abstract: A drive system includes a transmission mechanism that establishes a plurality of gear positions comprising a first-speed through sixth-speed gear positions and a reverse-drive gear position, by switching among change gear trains and coupling a first driveshaft to an output member, and also includes a lock clutch that switches a power distribution mechanism between a locked state in which a ring gear and a carrier are coupled to each other and are inhibited from rotating in a differential fashion, and a released state in which the inhibition of the differential rotation is cancelled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yukihiko Ideshio, Shigeru Okuwaki, Hiroyuki Shibata, Tomohito Ono, Seiji Masunaga, Makoto Funahashi
  • Publication number: 20140200778
    Abstract: A torque sharing rate is set as a constraint of a motion equation of an automatic transmission by using a gear shift model in which gear shift target values are set by two values of a torque on a rotating member on an output shaft side and a rotation speed variation of a rotating member on an input shaft side. In addition, a first gear shift according to the gear shift control and a second gear shift that uses a gear shift model in which the gear shift target value is set using only the velocity variation of the rotating member on the input shaft side to enable a speedier gear shift than the first gear shift are selectively executed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 13, 2014
    Publication date: July 17, 2014
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Keisuke OTA, Yoshio HASEGAWA, Seiji MASUNAGA
  • Publication number: 20140046560
    Abstract: In a vehicle control, an automatic transmission is shifted using a predetermined shift model, which determines control operation amounts for achieving shift target values, by setting the shift target values on the basis of a torque on an output shaft-side rotating member and a speed variation amount of an input shaft-side rotating member, setting the control operation amounts on the basis of a torque on the input shaft-side rotating member, a torque capacity of an engaged-side engagement device during shifting and a torque capacity of a released-side engagement device during shifting and setting torque shares of a transmission torque between the engaged-side engagement device and the released-side engagement device during shifting when the transmission torque is converted to the torque on the input shaft-side rotating member, and timing at which the torque shares are varied is changed on the basis of a shift pattern.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 5, 2013
    Publication date: February 13, 2014
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Seiji MASUNAGA, Yoshio HASEGAWA, Keisuke OTA
  • Publication number: 20110111910
    Abstract: A drive system includes a transmission mechanism that establishes a plurality of gear positions comprising a first-speed through sixth-speed gear positions and a reverse-drive gear position, by switching among change gear trains and coupling a first driveshaft to an output member, and also includes a lock clutch that switches a power distribution mechanism between a locked state in which a ring gear and a carrier are coupled to each other and are inhibited from rotating in a differential fashion, and a released state in which the inhibition of the differential rotation is cancelled.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 2, 2009
    Publication date: May 12, 2011
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yukihiko Ideshio, Shigeru Okuwaki, Hiroyuki Shibata, Tomohito Ono, Seiji Masunaga, Makoto Funahashi