Vehicle control device for controlling inertia operation of vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10457285-B2
Application number	US-201615553960-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 25, 2016
Priority date	Feb 25, 2015
Publication date	Oct 29, 2019
Grant date	Oct 29, 2019

Abstract

A vehicle control device turns off a clutch to put a vehicle into an inertia operation state in response to a predetermined executing condition being met, and turns on the clutch to terminate the inertia operation state in response to a predetermined terminating condition being met during the inertia operation. The vehicle control device includes a deceleration degree calculating device, a determination device, and an operation control device. The deceleration degree calculating device calculates an actual deceleration degree. The determination device determines whether the actual deceleration degree is greater than a threshold value defined on the basis of a deceleration degree of the vehicle in an accelerator-off and clutch-on state. The operation control device terminates or maintains the inertia operation depending on a condition of the actual deceleration degree.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle control device configured to be applied to a vehicle including an engine configured to serve as a motive power source and a clutch device provided on a power transmission path leading to an output shaft of the engine, wherein
the vehicle control device puts the clutch device into a shut-off state to put the vehicle into an inertia operation state in response to a predetermined executing condition being met, and puts the clutch device into a connection state to terminate the inertia operation state in response to a predetermined terminating condition being met during inertia operation, and
the vehicle control device comprises:
a deceleration degree calculating means configured to calculate an actual deceleration degree that is a deceleration degree of the vehicle in a vehicle deceleration state during the inertia operation;
a determination means configured to determine whether the actual deceleration degree calculated by the deceleration degree calculating means is greater than a threshold value defined on the basis of a deceleration degree of the vehicle in such a state that no accelerator operation is performed and the clutch device is connected; and
an operation control means configured to terminate the inertia operation if the actual deceleration degree is determined to be greater than the threshold value, and maintain the inertia operation if the actual deceleration degree is determined to be less than the threshold value.

2. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein
in the vehicle, correlation data indicating a correlation between a vehicle deceleration degree and a vehicle speed in such a state that no accelerator operation is performed and the clutch device is connected is defined in advance,
the vehicle control device includes a threshold value calculating means configured to calculate, as the threshold value in the vehicle deceleration state during the inertia operation, the vehicle deceleration degree correlated with a current vehicle speed, and
the determination means determines whether the actual deceleration degree is greater than the threshold value calculated by the threshold value calculating means.

3. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein
the deceleration degree calculating means calculates the actual deceleration degree based on an execution mode of brake operation when the vehicle is decelerated due to the brake operation during the inertia operation.

4. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , comprising:
an acquisition means configured to acquire an influence parameter corresponding to at least either a state of the vehicle or a running environment and exerting an influence on the vehicle deceleration degree in such a state that no accelerator operation is performed; and
a correction means configured to correct at least either the actual deceleration degree or the threshold value based on the influence parameter acquired by the acquisition means, wherein
the determination means compares the actual deceleration degree and the threshold value using the actual deceleration degree and the threshold value corrected by the correction means.

5. The vehicle control device according to claim 4 , wherein
the acquisition means acquires, as the influence parameter causing a decrease or increase in the vehicle deceleration degree, a deviation between a reference deceleration degree obtained on the basis of the amount of accelerator or brake operation and the vehicle speed and a measured deceleration degree obtained using information on a measured speed.

6. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , configured to be applied to the vehicle including a brake device configured to generate brake force in accordance with an amount of brake operation by a driver, wherein
the vehicle control device includes a brake control means configured to restrict the brake force of the brake device in the beginning of termination of the inertia operation in a case where the actual deceleration degree is determined to be greater than the threshold value during the inertia operation, and the inertia operation is terminated.

7. The vehicle control device according to claim 6 , configured to be applied to the vehicle including a driven device configured to be driven by rotation of the output shaft of the engine, wherein
the brake control means adjusts to what extent the brake force of the brake device is restricted based on a drive state of the driven device in the beginning of the termination of the inertia operation.

8. The vehicle control device according to claim 7 , wherein
the driven device includes an electricity generation device configured to generate electricity using the rotation of the output shaft of the engine, and
the brake control means adjusts to what extent the brake force of the brake device is restricted based on an electricity generation state of the electricity generation device in the beginning of the termination of the inertia operation.

9. A vehicle control device configured to be applied to a vehicle including an engine configured to serve as a motive power source and a clutch device provided on a power transmission path leading to an output shaft of the engine, wherein
the vehicle control device puts the clutch device into a shut-off state to put the vehicle into an inertia operation state in response to a predetermined executing condition being met, and puts the clutch device into a connection state to terminate the inertia operation state in response to a predetermined terminating condition being met during inertia operation, and
the vehicle control device comprises:
a deceleration degree calculating means configured to calculate an actual deceleration degree that is a deceleration degree of the vehicle in a vehicle deceleration state during non-inertia operation;
a determination means configured to determine whether the actual deceleration degree calculated by the deceleration degree calculating means is greater than a threshold value defined on the basis of a deceleration degree of the vehicle in such a state that no accelerator operation is performed and the clutch device is shut off; and
an operation control means configured to start the inertia operation if the actual deceleration degree is determined to be greater than the threshold value, and maintain the non-inertia operation if the actual deceleration degree is determined to be less than the threshold value.

10. The vehicle control device according to claim 9 , wherein
in the vehicle, correlation data indicating a correlation between a vehicle deceleration degree and a vehicle speed in such a state that no accelerator operation is performed and the clutch device is shut off is defined in advance,
the vehicle control device includes a threshold value calculating means configured to calculate, as the threshold value in the vehicle deceleration state during the non-inertia operation, the vehicle deceleration degree correlated with a current vehicle speed, and
the determination means determines whether the actual deceleration degree is greater than the threshold value calculated by the threshold value calculating means.

11. The vehicle control device according to claim 9 , wherein
the deceleration degree calculating means calculates the actual deceleration degree based on an execution mode of accelerator operation when the vehicle is decelerated due to a decrease in the accelerator operation during the non-inertia operation.

12. The vehicle control device according to claim 9 , comprising:
an acquisition means configured to acquire an influence parameter corresponding to at least either a state

Assignees

• Denso Corp

Inventors

• Maeda Shigeru
• Kato Akira

Classifications

• F16D2500/7041

  Position · CPC title

• F16D2500/5085

  Coasting · CPC title

• F16D2500/50224

  Drive-off · CPC title

• F16D2500/31446

  Accelerator pedal position change rate · CPC title

• F16D2500/3144

  Accelerator pedal position · CPC title