Patents by Inventor Takehiro Komatsu

Takehiro Komatsu 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).

  • Publication number: 20240140394
    Abstract: A hybrid electric vehicle comprising: an engine; a filter for collecting particulate matter from the engine; a motor provided on a power transmission path between the engine and the drive wheels; a torque converter having a lock-up clutch provided on the power transmission path between the motor and the drive wheels; and a control device, wherein the control device includes: a first determination unit that determines whether there is a request for regeneration control of the filter by a fuel cut in the engine; a second determination unit that determines whether the lock-up clutch cannot be engaged; and a regeneration control unit that, when an affirmative determination is made in the first determination unit and a negative determination is made in the second determination unit, executes auxiliary regeneration control that assists the rotation of the engine by the motor while releasing the lock-up clutch and executing the fuel cut.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 14, 2023
    Publication date: May 2, 2024
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takehiro KOMATSU, Akihito HAYASAKA
  • Publication number: 20240141846
    Abstract: An engine having a throttle valve, a filter for collecting an exhaust particulate matter from the engine, and a control device are provided, and the control device includes an acquisition unit for acquiring a temperature of the engine, a regeneration control unit for increasing an opening degree of the throttle valve as the temperature increases, and executing a regeneration control of the filter by a fuel cut. A vehicle comprising: a retard amount control unit that increases a retard amount of an ignition timing at a time of returning from the fuel cut as the temperature increases.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 18, 2023
    Publication date: May 2, 2024
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Takehiro KOMATSU
  • Publication number: 20240141858
    Abstract: A vehicle comprising: an engine that is a driving power source; a filter that collects an exhaust particulate matter from the engine; and a control device, wherein the control device includes: a temperature raising control unit that raises the temperature of the filter by retard processing of the ignition timing of the engine; and a retard amount control unit that lowers the retard amount of the ignition timing at the time of cold start of the engine than the retard amount of the ignition timing at the time of warm start of the engine.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 30, 2023
    Publication date: May 2, 2024
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Takehiro KOMATSU
  • Patent number: 11933238
    Abstract: A controller and a control method for an internal combustion engine, and a memory medium are provided. In a first combustion cylinder, first combustion is caused by control circuitry when the engine is restarted from a state where fuel combustion in cylinders is suspended. An automatic stopping process suspends the fuel combustion in the cylinders and controls a throttle valve to a closed state when a predetermined condition is satisfied. A first calculation process calculates an amount of fuel injected into the first combustion cylinder based on a position of the piston in the first combustion cylinder in a case where a rotation speed of a crankshaft obtained when the restart was requested is zero. A second calculation process calculates the injection amount based on the rotation speed in a case where the rotation speed obtained when the restart was requested is higher than zero.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masahiro Kachi, Takehiro Komatsu, Masanao Idogawa, Takahiro Uchida, Machiko Takahashi
  • Patent number: 11828246
    Abstract: An internal combustion engine system includes an internal combustion engine including an in-cylinder injection valve and a fuel pressure adjustment mechanism, and a control device that executes fuel injection control at a time of automatic restart of the internal combustion engine that is automatically stopped, by controlling the in-cylinder injection valve and the fuel pressure adjustment mechanism, in which the control device includes a first controller that executes the compression stroke injection a first number of times after an automatic restart request is made and control the pressure of the fuel to a predetermined value, and a second controller that executes the intake stroke injection a second number of times after the compression stroke injection is executed the first number of times and make the pressure of the fuel lower than the predetermined value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takahiro Yoshida, Takehiro Komatsu
  • Publication number: 20230304255
    Abstract: A control system of a loading machine, having working equipment including a bucket, includes a control device. The control device detects a first surface of an excavated object excavated by the bucket during excavation work, calculates an under-excavation load angle indicating an angle of the first surface with respect to the horizontal plane on the basis of detection data of the first surface, and estimates the weight of the excavated object on the basis of the under-excavation load angle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 10, 2021
    Publication date: September 28, 2023
    Applicant: Komatsu Ltd.
    Inventors: Takahisa Oasa, Koji Aoshima, Yasuhiro Igarashi, Yoshitaka Onodera, Takehiro Komatsu, Shozo Kikuchi
  • Publication number: 20230294663
    Abstract: A hybrid electric vehicle includes an engine including a cylinder and a spark plug, a motor, a clutch provided between the engine and the motor, and a control device configured to start combustion in the engine by supplying electric power to the spark plug while cranking the engine via the clutch using the motor when a start request for the engine is issued. The control device includes a measuring unit configured to measure a power supply time of the spark plug in cranking of the engine, a count unit configured to count a long-time power supply number which is the number of times the power supply time is equal to or greater than a predetermined first time, and a correction unit configured to correct a cranking torque necessary for cranking the engine and required for the motor such that the cranking torque increases as the long-time power supply number increases.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 1, 2022
    Publication date: September 21, 2023
    Inventors: Takehiro KOMATSU, Masahiro NOGUCHI, Tomohiro NAKANO
  • Patent number: 11761400
    Abstract: A fuel injection timing is made later and/or a fuel injection amount is made larger in a target cylinder to be subjected to explosive combustion subsequently, when a required rotation time that is a time required for rotation of an output shaft by a predetermined rotational angle is equal to or longer than a time threshold than when the required rotation time is shorter than the time threshold, at the time of predetermined startup control in which an engine and a clutch are controlled such that fuel injection and ignition in the engine are resumed from a state where the supply of fuel to the engine is cut off and the clutch is released and that the clutch is then engaged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Takehiro Komatsu
  • Publication number: 20230265809
    Abstract: A vehicle controller includes processing circuitry configured to execute a counter updating process, first and second starting processes, and a resetting process. The resetting process includes resetting the crank counter when a crank counter has a value outside of a range corresponding to a tooth-missing portion in a case in which a magnitude of a difference obtained by subtracting a value of a pre-update crank counter from the value of the crank counter that was increased by receiving the pulse signal in the counter updating process is greater than a first threshold value corresponding to a specified angle. The resetting process further includes resetting the crank counter when the crank counter has a value within the range corresponding to the tooth-missing portion in a case in which the magnitude of the difference is greater than a second threshold value that is greater than the first threshold value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 13, 2023
    Publication date: August 24, 2023
    Inventors: Masahiro KACHI, Takehiro KOMATSU, Tomohiro NAKANO
  • Publication number: 20230250772
    Abstract: A controller and a control method for an internal combustion engine, and a memory medium are provided. In a first combustion cylinder, first combustion is caused by control circuitry when the engine is restarted from a state where fuel combustion in cylinders is suspended. An automatic stopping process suspends the fuel combustion in the cylinders and controls a throttle valve to a closed state when a predetermined condition is satisfied. A first calculation process calculates an amount of fuel injected into the first combustion cylinder based on a position of the piston in the first combustion cylinder in a case where a rotation speed of a crankshaft obtained when the restart was requested is zero. A second calculation process calculates the injection amount based on the rotation speed in a case where the rotation speed obtained when the restart was requested is higher than zero.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 6, 2023
    Publication date: August 10, 2023
    Inventors: Masahiro KACHI, Takehiro KOMATSU, Masanao IDOGAWA, Takahiro UCHIDA, Machiko TAKAHASHI
  • Publication number: 20230249669
    Abstract: A control device for a hybrid vehicle that includes an internal combustion engine, a motor, and a clutch provided between the internal combustion engine and the motor includes a first start control unit that starts the internal combustion engine by causing the motor to perform cranking, a second start control unit that starts the internal combustion engine without causing the motor to perform cranking, and a setting unit that sets a threshold for a rotational speed of the internal combustion engine according to a vehicle speed of the hybrid vehicle. When the rotational speed of the internal combustion engine is less than the threshold, the first start control unit starts the internal combustion engine. When the rotational speed of the internal combustion engine is equal to or higher than the threshold, the second start control unit starts the internal combustion engine.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 13, 2022
    Publication date: August 10, 2023
    Inventors: Takehiro KOMATSU, Masahiro KACHI
  • Publication number: 20230249666
    Abstract: A control device for a hybrid vehicle that includes an internal combustion engine, a motor, and a clutch provided between the internal combustion engine and the motor includes a first start control unit that starts the internal combustion engine without causing the motor to perform cranking, and a second start control unit that starts the internal combustion engine by causing the motor to perform cranking. After the first start control unit performs start control of the internal combustion engine, the second start control unit starts the internal combustion engine when a crank shall of the internal combustion engine stops for a predetermined time or longer or the crank shaft rotates in an opposite direction to the direction of the cranking.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 18, 2022
    Publication date: August 10, 2023
    Inventors: Takehiro KOMATSU, Masahiro KACHI
  • Publication number: 20230250770
    Abstract: When a start request for an internal combustion engine is made with 1) a clutch disconnected, 2) a crankshaft rotating at a specified rotation speed or greater, and 3) fuel injection by an injector stopped, a controller for a vehicle executes: a first process that identifies, from the cylinders, a target cylinder that is in a compression stroke when the request is made; a second process that calculates a requested injection position based on the rotation speed; a third process that calculates, as a start crank position, a rotation position of the crankshaft advanced from the requested injection position by a specified rotation amount; and a fourth process that outputs a command signal that instructs a target injector to inject fuel at the crank position only if the rotation position of the crankshaft obtained when the request is made is advanced from the crank position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 7, 2023
    Publication date: August 10, 2023
    Inventors: Masahiro KACHI, Takehiro KOMATSU, Masanao IDOGAWA
  • Publication number: 20230242091
    Abstract: A controller for a hybrid electric vehicle. The hybrid electric vehicle includes an engine, a motor generator, a clutch arranged between a crankshaft and the motor generator, and a catalyst arranged in an exhaust passage. The controller includes first processing circuitry that executes a catalyst warming process that warms the catalyst under a situation in which the hybrid electric vehicle is at a standstill and second processing circuitry configured to control the clutch and the motor generator. The first processing circuitry requests the second processing circuitry to prohibit disengagement of the clutch when the catalyst warming process is executed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 24, 2023
    Publication date: August 3, 2023
    Inventors: Hisashi ITO, Takehiro KOMATSU, Masanao IDOGAWA
  • Publication number: 20230243329
    Abstract: A controller executes a first restarting process when restarting of an engine is requested under a condition where an engine speed is less than a determination speed. In the first restarting process, cranking of the engine is performed by a motor generator in a state in which the motor generator is connected to a crankshaft through engagement of a clutch, and fuel injection and ignition are initiated in the engine when a combustion initiation condition is satisfied in this state. The controller executes a second restarting process when restarting of the engine is requested under a condition where the engine speed is greater than or equal to the determination speed. In the second restarting process, fuel injection and ignition are initiated in the engine, and the motor generator is connected to the crankshaft through engagement of the clutch after the engine has been restarted.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2023
    Publication date: August 3, 2023
    Inventors: Masahiro KACHI, Takehiro KOMATSU
  • Publication number: 20230227022
    Abstract: In start control for controlling an engine, a motor, and a clutch, a target throttle valve opening degree is set based on a rotational speed of the motor and a coolant temperature of the engine to control the engine such that the clutch is half-engaged to crank the engine by the motor, and fuel injection and ignition of the engine are started after a rotational speed difference between the rotational speed of the motor and a rotational speed of the engine becomes smaller than a threshold value and the clutch is engaged.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2022
    Publication date: July 20, 2023
    Inventors: Takehiro KOMATSU, Masahiro KACHI
  • Publication number: 20230220812
    Abstract: A fuel injection timing is made later and/or a fuel injection amount is made larger in a target cylinder to be subjected to explosive combustion subsequently, when a required rotation time that is a time required for rotation of an output shaft by a predetermined rotational angle is equal to or longer than a time threshold than when the required rotation time is shorter than the time threshold, at the time of predetermined startup control in which an engine and a clutch are controlled such that fuel injection and ignition in the engine are resumed from a state where the supply of fuel to the engine is cut off and the clutch is released and that the clutch is then engaged.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 14, 2022
    Publication date: July 13, 2023
    Inventor: Takehiro KOMATSU
  • Publication number: 20230184191
    Abstract: An internal combustion engine system includes an internal combustion engine including an in-cylinder injection valve and a fuel pressure adjustment mechanism, and a control device that executes fuel injection control at a time of automatic restart of the internal combustion engine that is automatically stopped, by controlling the in-cylinder injection valve and the fuel pressure adjustment mechanism, in which the control device includes a first controller that executes the compression stroke injection a first number of times after an automatic restart request is made and control the pressure of the fuel to a predetermined value, and a second controller that executes the intake stroke injection a second number of times after the compression stroke injection is executed the first number of times and make the pressure of the fuel lower than the predetermined value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 10, 2022
    Publication date: June 15, 2023
    Inventors: Takahiro YOSHIDA, Takehiro KOMATSU
  • Patent number: 11365787
    Abstract: A transmission includes an input shaft, an output shaft, a first planetary gear mechanism, a second planetary gear mechanism, and a first variable device. The first planetary gear mechanism includes a first carrier connected to the input shaft, a first planetary gear connected to the first carrier, a first sun gear connected to the first planetary gear, and a ring gear connected to the first planetary gear. The second planetary gear mechanism includes a second sun gear connected to the first carrier, a second planetary gear connected to the second sun gear, and a second ring gear connected to the second planetary gear and connected to the first ring gear. The first variable device is connected to the first ring gear and the second ring gear to continuously change a speed ratio of the output shaft to the input shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2022
    Assignee: KOMATSU LTD.
    Inventors: Shinichi Naito, Takehiro Komatsu, Shu Takeda, Kyousuke Moriguchi
  • Publication number: 20220010864
    Abstract: A transmission includes an input shaft, an output shaft, a first planetary gear mechanism, a second planetary gear mechanism, and a first variable device. The first planetary gear mechanism includes a first carrier connected to the input shaft, a first planetary gear connected to the first carrier, a first sun gear connected to the first planetary gear, and a ring gear connected to the first planetary gear. The second planetary gear mechanism includes a second sun gear connected to the first carrier, a second planetary gear connected to the second sun gear, and a second ring gear connected to the second planetary gear and connected to the first ring gear. The first variable device is connected to the first ring gear and the second ring gear to continuously change a speed ratio of the output shaft to the input shaft.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 17, 2020
    Publication date: January 13, 2022
    Inventors: Shinichi NAITO, Takehiro KOMATSU, Shu TAKEDA, Kyousuke MORIGUCHI