Patents by Inventor Takahiro Yonekura

Takahiro Yonekura 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: 6971461
    Abstract: A front and rear wheel drive vehicle having front and rear wheel pairs one of which is driven with an engine and the other of which is driven with an electric motor. The vehicle has a control device including a target drive-power unit which sets a target drive-power responsive to operating conditions of the vehicle and a motor-assist-mode drive-power distribution-ratio setting unit which sets a drive-power distribution-ratio between an engine drive-power and a motor drive-power according to an energy efficiency index value indicating the degree of contribution to fuel consumption based on the target drive-power and a vehicle speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2003
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2005
    Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Akihiro Yamamoto, Naoki Uchiyama, Takahiro Yonekura
  • Patent number: 6943460
    Abstract: A control device for a hybrid vehicle, the hybrid vehicle comprising an engine and a motor as power sources, the control device including: a battery device sending energy to and receiving energy from the motor, a temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the battery device; a control section which is adapted to execute a warming control operation for the battery device when the temperature of the battery device is low; and a determination section for determining whether a cylinder deactivation operation is permitted for the engine depending on the running state of the engine. The control section executes a vibration control operation for the engine by operating the motor so as to reduce vibration of the engine when it is determined by the determination section that the partial cylinder deactivation operation is permitted for the engine, and to perform the warming control operation for the battery device by executing a vibration control operation for the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2003
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2005
    Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Teruo Wakashiro, Kohei Hanada, Takahiro Yonekura, Makoto Kishida, Tomohiro Nishi, Kazuhiro Hara
  • Publication number: 20050150482
    Abstract: In a fuel pump control system for an internal combustion engine whose operation is switched between cut-off-cylinder operating mode during which some of the cylinders are non-operative and full-cylinder operating mode during which all of the cylinders are operative and having a fuel injector connected to the fuel supply line and supplied with fuel pressurized by the fuel pump, it is discriminated whether the operation of the engine is in the full-cylinder operating mode or in the cut-off-cylinder operating mode, the operation of the fuel pump is controlled based on the discriminated operating mode of the engine, i.e., is controlled such that the delivery flow rate of the fuel pump when the engine is discriminated to be in the cut-off-cylinder operating mode, is reduced relative to that when the engine is discriminated to be in the full-cylinder operating mode, thereby reducing the power consumption and operating noise of the fuel pump.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 6, 2005
    Publication date: July 14, 2005
    Inventors: Asao Ukai, Toshitaka Hachiro, Tomohiro Nishi, Takahiro Yonekura
  • Patent number: 6915782
    Abstract: A control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle which comprises an internal-combustion engine and a motor as a power source, and connects at least one of the internal-combustion engine and the motor to driving wheels of the vehicle through a transmission so as to transmit a driving force to the driving wheels, comprises: a target torque setting device which sets a target torque with respect to a crank end torque, which is a torque at the end of a crank shaft, of the power plant torque output from the power plant being the internal combustion engine and the motor, based on a change of accelerator pedal opening from fully opened to fully closed; and a torque allocation device which allocates the target torque corresponding to the accelerator pedal opening, to an engine torque instruction, being a required value with respect to the output torque from the internal combustion engine, and to a motor torque instruction, being a required value with respect to the output torque from the motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2004
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2005
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kohei Hanada, Manabu Niki, Masanobu Asakawa, Minoru Suzuki, Teruo Wakashiro, Tomohiro Nishi, Takahiro Yonekura
  • Patent number: 6886524
    Abstract: In order to improve the fuel consumption efficiency of a hybrid vehicle, a control apparatus 1 for a hybrid vehicle is provided, which comprises as a power source a motor M and an engine E capable of executing partial cylinder deactivation operation and the driving force of at least one of these is transmitted to wheels for running the vehicle. When the required output is larger than the output of the engine under partial cylinder deactivation operation, and is smaller than the total output of the engine and the motor, which is adjustable for assisting the engine, the control apparatus operates the engine under partial deactivation and adjusts the motor output so as to compensate the difference between the total output of the power source and the output of the partial cylinder deactivated engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2005
    Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kohei Hanada, Teruo Wakashiro, Shigetaka Kuroda, Takahiro Yonekura, Makoto Kishida, Tomohiro Nishi
  • Publication number: 20050003926
    Abstract: A control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle which comprises an internal-combustion engine and a motor as a power source, and connects at least one of the internal-combustion engine and the motor to driving wheels of the vehicle through a transmission so as to transmit a driving force to the driving wheels, comprises: a target torque setting device which sets a target torque with respect to a crank end torque, which is a torque at the end of a crank shaft, of the power plant torque output from the power plant being the internal combustion engine and the motor, based on a change of accelerator pedal opening from fully opened to fully closed; and a torque allocation device which allocates the target torque corresponding to the accelerator pedal opening, to an engine torque instruction, being a required value with respect to the output torque from the internal combustion engine, and to a motor torque instruction, being a required value with respect to the output torque from the motor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 23, 2004
    Publication date: January 6, 2005
    Inventors: Kohei Hanada, Manabu Niki, Masanobu Asakawa, Minoru Suzuki, Teruo Wakashiro, Tomohiro Nishi, Takahiro Yonekura
  • Publication number: 20050000479
    Abstract: An FI/AT/MGECU, in a cylinders deactivation operating state during cruise control where the vehicle speed follows a predetermined target speed, regulates renewal on an addition side of a power plant required torque final value TQPPRQF, and in a case where a flag value of a torque hold flag F_CCKTQS showing to hold the power plant required torque final value TQPPRQF to a predetermined torque value related to a cylinder deactivation upper limit torque TQACS is a “1” (YES side in step S33), when the vehicle speed VP is decreased less than a value obtained by subtracting from a set vehicle speed VC which it the target vehicle speed during cruise control, a predetermined vehicle speed #?V (for example, #?V=3 km/h or the like) (YES side in step S35), the internal-combustion engine E is switched from a cylinders deactivation operation to an all cylinders operation. The fuel consumption efficiency is thus improved while keeping occupants in the vehicle from feeling discomfort with respect to travelling behavior.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 2, 2004
    Publication date: January 6, 2005
    Inventors: Manabu Niki, Masanobu Asakawa, Kohei Hanada, Minoru Suzuki, Teruo Wakashiro, Takahiro Yonekura, Naoto Sen
  • Publication number: 20040104059
    Abstract: A front and rear wheel drive vehicle having front and rear wheel pairs one of which is driven with an engine and the other of which is driven with an electric motor. The vehicle has a control device including a target drive-power unit which sets a target drive-power responsive to operating conditions of the vehicle and a motor-assist-mode drive-power distribution-ratio setting unit which sets a drive-power distribution-ratio between an engine drive-power and a motor drive-power according to an energy efficiency index value indicating the degree of contribution to fuel consumption based on the target drive-power and a vehicle speed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 3, 2003
    Publication date: June 3, 2004
    Inventors: Akihiro Yamamoto, Naoki Uchiyama, Takahiro Yonekura
  • Publication number: 20040099459
    Abstract: A front and rear wheel drive vehicle having a front wheel pair and a rear wheel pair, one of which is driven with an engine and the other one of which is driven with a motor. The vehicle includes an engine driving force setting section which sets a target driving force of the engine based on driving conditions of the vehicle, a motor driving force setting section which sets a target driving force of the motor based on driving conditions of the vehicle and a control section of the motor in accordance with changes of the target engine driving force and the target motor driving force.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 29, 2003
    Publication date: May 27, 2004
    Applicant: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tooru Nakasako, Kazuhiko Kitano, Toshihiko Fukuda, Takahiro Yonekura
  • Patent number: 6726593
    Abstract: A vehicle control device for front and rear wheel drive vehicles, which have one wheel pair driven with an engine and the other pair driven with an electrical motor, and a torque converter with a lock-up mechanism controlling the engagement amount, has a lock-up control means changing the target slip amount to be set in accordance with driving conditions, a motor drive power setting means which sets the drive power distribution ratio of the motor and a compensation means which compensates the target slip amount according to the drive power distribution ratio set by the motor drive power setting means. The control device enables the setting of the optimum slip ratio of the torque converter to improve the fuel consumption, avoiding problems associated with: noise and vibration during the motor assisting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2004
    Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Akihiro Yamamoto, Takahiro Yonekura, Tomohiro Nishi, Tetsu Sugiyama, Yusuke Tatara
  • Publication number: 20040035113
    Abstract: In order to improve the fuel consumption efficiency of a hybrid vehicle, a control apparatus 1 for a hybrid vehicle is provided, which comprises as a power source a motor M and an engine E capable of executing partial cylinder deactivation operation and the driving force of at least one of these is transmitted to wheels for running the vehicle. When the required output is larger than the output of the engine under partial cylinder deactivation operation, and is smaller than the total output of the engine and the motor, which is adjustable for assisting the engine, the control apparatus operates the engine under partial deactivation and adjusts the motor output so as to compensate the difference between the total output of the power source and the output of the partial cylinder deactivated engine.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 5, 2003
    Publication date: February 26, 2004
    Applicant: HONDA GIKEN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kohei Hanada, Teruo Wakashiro, Shigetaka Kuroda, Takahiro Yonekura, Makoto Kishida, Tomohiro Nishi
  • Publication number: 20040012206
    Abstract: A control device for a hybrid vehicle, the hybrid vehicle comprising an engine and a motor as power sources, the control device including: a battery device sending energy to and receiving energy from the motor, a temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the battery device; a control section which is adapted to execute a warming control operation for the battery device when the temperature of the battery device is low; and a determination section for determining whether a cylinder deactivation operation is permitted for the engine depending on the running state of the engine. The control section executes a vibration control operation for the engine by operating the motor so as to reduce vibration of the engine when it is determined by the determination section that the partial cylinder deactivation operation is permitted for the engine, and to perform the warming control operation for the battery device by executing a vibration control operation for the engine.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 14, 2003
    Publication date: January 22, 2004
    Applicant: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Teruo Wakashiro, Kohei Hanada, Takahiro Yonekura, Makoto Kishida, Tomohiro Nishi, Kazuhiro Hara
  • Patent number: 6575870
    Abstract: A driving force control system for a front-and-rear wheel drive vehicle, which is capable of charging a battery based on a traveling condition of the vehicle. The front-and-rear wheel drive vehicle is driven while switching between a drive mode for driving front wheels by an engine and driving rear wheels by a motor, and a recharge mode for recovering running energy of the vehicle and charging the battery with the recovered running energy. Parameters (accelerator pedal opening &THgr;AP and a vehicle speed Vcar, or drive wheel speeds of the respective front and rear wheels) indicative of a driving condition of the vehicle are detected. A traveling condition of the vehicle is determined based on the parameters. It is determined, based on the traveling condition of the vehicle and the state of charge of the driving energy in the drive source, whether charging of the battery is to be executed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2003
    Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Kitano, Naoki Uchiyama, Akihiro Yamamoto, Tooru Nakasako, Takahiro Yonekura, Toshihiko Fukuda
  • Patent number: 6528959
    Abstract: There is provided a driving force control system for a front-and-rear wheel drive vehicle, which is capable maintaining an optimum slip condition of the drive wheels even on a low-friction road surface, ensuring a proper grip of rear wheels even on a low-friction road surface or a downhill slope, even when the driver operates the steering wheel while the vehicle is performing decelerating travel on such a road, and smoothly performing the assistance of an electric motor when the vehicle is accelerated without developing a torque step, thereby ensuring stable traveling and excellent acceleration and drivability. The front-and-rear wheel drive vehicle drives the front wheels by an engine, and rear wheels by an electric motor via an electromagnetic clutch. The target driving force for driving the vehicle is calculated based on at least a vehicle speed and an accelerator pedal opening. The present traveling condition of the vehicle is determined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2003
    Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Kitano, Toshihiko Fukuda, Takahiro Yonekura, Naoki Uchiyama, Kenji Honda, Tooru Nakasako
  • Publication number: 20020056584
    Abstract: A front and rear wheel drive vehicle 1 having a front wheel pair 7, 7 and a rear wheel pair 11, 11, one of which is driven with an engine 2 and the other one of which is driven with an motor 3, comprising: a target engine driving force setting means (an engine driving force setting section 12c) for obtaining a target driving force of the engine based on driving conditions of the vehicle; a target motor driving force setting means (a motor driving force setting section 12d) for obtaining a target driving force of the motor based on driving conditions of the vehicle; and a control means (a control section 12a) for controlling the driving force of the motor by way of modifying a change amount of a motor driving force command value associated with a change amount of the target motor driving force obtained by said target motor driving force setting means in accordance with an instance where the target driving force of the engine and the target driving force of the motor are both increasing or decreasing to thereby
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 13, 2001
    Publication date: May 16, 2002
    Applicant: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tooru Nakasako, Kazuhiko Kitano, Toshihiko Fukuda, Takahiro Yonekura
  • Publication number: 20020058564
    Abstract: A front and rear wheel drive vehicle (1) having front and rear wheel pairs one of which is driven with an engine (3) and the other one of which is driven with an electric motor (5), and a control device (6) for the same are disclosed as including a target drive-power setting means (62) which settles a target drive-power responsive to operating conditions of the vehicle, a motor- assist-mode drive-power distribution-ratio setting unit (distribution setting means) 63 which settles a drive-power distribution-ratio between an engine drive-power and a motor drive-power according to the degree of contribution to fuel consumption obtained from a first equation on the basis of the target drive-power and a vehicle speed, and an electric-power-generation running-mode drive-power distribution-ratio setting unit (charging-mode distribution-ratio setting means) 61 which settles a charging-mode description-ratio, between the engine drive-power and the motor drive-power, responsive to the degree of contribution to fuel cons
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 11, 2001
    Publication date: May 16, 2002
    Applicant: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Akihiro Yamamoto, Naoki Uchiyama, Takahiro Yonekura
  • Publication number: 20020058565
    Abstract: A control device for front and rear wheel drive vehicles, in which one of front and rear wheel pairs is driven with an engine and the other one of front and rear wheel pairs is driven with an electrical motor, and a torque converter with a lock-up mechanism capable of controlling the engagement amount is disposed between the engine and the one of wheel pairs, the control device comprising: a lock-up control means 68 and 69 for controlling the lock-up mechanism in such a manner that the engagement amount is changed to the target slip amount to be set in accordance with driving conditions of the front and rear wheel drive vehicle; a motor drive power setting means 61, 62 and 63 which sets the drive power of the motor; a compensation means (a target slip ratio setting unit) 67 which compensates the target slip amount according to the motor drive power set by the motor drive power setting means.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 6, 2001
    Publication date: May 16, 2002
    Applicant: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Akihiro Yamamoto, Takahiro Yonekura, Tomohiro Nishi, Tetsu Sugiyama, Yusuke Tatara
  • Publication number: 20020041167
    Abstract: There is provided a driving force control system for a front-and-rear wheel drive vehicle, which is capable maintaining an optimum slip condition of the drive wheels even on a low-friction road surface, ensuring a proper grip of rear wheels even on a low-friction road surface or a downhill slope, even when the driver operates the steering wheel while the vehicle is performing decelerating travel on such a road, and smoothly performing the assistance of an electric motor when the vehicle is accelerated without developing a torque step, thereby ensuring stable traveling and excellent acceleration and drivability. The front-and-rear wheel drive vehicle drives the front wheels by an engine, and rear wheels by an electric motor via an electromagnetic clutch. The target driving force for driving the vehicle is calculated based on at least a vehicle speed and an accelerator pedal opening. The present traveling condition of the vehicle is determined.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 17, 2001
    Publication date: April 11, 2002
    Applicant: HONDA GIKEN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Kitano, Toshihiko Fukuda, Takahiro Yonekura, Naoki Uchiyama, Kenji Honda, Tooru Nakasako
  • Publication number: 20020013194
    Abstract: There is provided a driving force control system for a front-and-rear wheel drive vehicle, which is capable of charging a battery properly and easily in dependence on a traveling condition of the vehicle and the intention of the driver, thereby improving fuel economy and drivability and ensuring traveling stability of the vehicle. The front-and-rear wheel drive vehicle is driven while switching between a drive mode for driving front wheels by an engine and driving rear wheels by a motor, and a recharge mode for recovering running energy of the vehicle and charging the battery with the recovered running energy. Parameters (accelerator pedal opening &thgr;AP and a vehicle speed Vcar, or drive wheel speeds of the respective front and rear wheels) indicative of a driving condition of the vehicle are detected. A traveling condition of the vehicle is determined based on the parameters.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 16, 2001
    Publication date: January 31, 2002
    Applicant: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Kitano, Naoki Uchiyama, Akihiro Yamamoto, Tooru Nakasako, Takahiro Yonekura, Toshihiko Fukuda
  • Patent number: 6326702
    Abstract: A system for controlling a series hybrid vehicle, having an internal combustion engine whose output is regulated by a throttle valve, a generator-motor connected to the engine to be rotated by the engine, an electric energy storage means connected to the first generator-motor to be charged by the first generator-motor, and a second generator-motor connected to at least one of the first generator-motor and the electric energy storage means to input an output of at least one of the first generator-motor and the electric energy storage means to drive wheels of the vehicle to propel the vehicle. In the system, a desired engine speed is determined to minimize fuel consumption, and a desired power generation amount of the first generator-motor is determined based on a determined desired power generation base value and the desired engine speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 1999
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2001
    Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takahiro Yonekura, Yusuke Hasegawa, Takashi Kakinuma, Hiroyuki Abe