Power transmitting apparatus for a hybrid vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9302576-B2
Application number	US-201113104868-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 10, 2011
Priority date	Nov 11, 2008
Publication date	Apr 5, 2016
Grant date	Apr 5, 2016

Abstract

A power transmitting apparatus for a hybrid vehicle can transmit the driving force of engine E to the motor M or reversely the driving force of motor M to the engine E when the vehicle is stopped while avoiding transmission of the driving force of either of them to the driving wheels D such that the vehicle remains stopped. In some embodiments, a power transmitting apparatus for a hybrid vehicle can comprise a first clutch operatively posited between an engine mounted on a vehicle to driving wheels in a power transmission system and configured to transmit or cutoff driving force of the engine to or from the driving wheels; a second clutch operatively positioned between a motor mounted on a vehicle to the driving wheels in a power transmission system and configured to transmit or cut off driving force of the motor to or from the driving wheels. The first and second clutches can operated based on the vehicle operating conditions such that power can be transmitted from one of the engine and the motor to the other of them by connecting them to each other while cutting off power transmission from the engine and the motor to the driving wheels.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A power transmitting apparatus for a hybrid vehicle, comprising:
a first clutch operatively positioned in a power transmission system between an engine mounted on a vehicle and driving wheels and configured to transmit or cut off driving force of the engine to or from the driving wheels;
a second clutch operatively positioned in a power transmission system between a motor mounted on a vehicle to the driving wheels and configured to transmit or cut off driving force of the motor to or from the driving wheels, the first and second clutches being operated based on vehicle operating conditions to connect the engine and the motor to transmit power from one of the engine and the motor to the other while cutting off power transmission from the engine and the motor to the driving wheels;
a third clutch operatively positioned between an output side of the first and second clutches and a transmission having gears and mounted on the hybrid vehicle and configured to transmit or cut-off the driving force between the engine or the motor and the transmission, the third clutch including an odd clutch configured to transmit or cut-off power to odd numbered gears of the transmission and an even clutch configured to transmit or cut-off power to even numbered gears of the transmission;
a selecting device for transitioning the power transmitting apparatus between a hybrid mode and an engine mode; and
a return spring configured to bias both the first and second clutches to a disconnected state;
wherein the power transmitting apparatus operates the first clutch, the second clutch, the odd clutch, and the even clutch when the power transmitting apparatus changes a gear ratio of the transmission while operating in the hybrid mode;
wherein the second clutch cuts off the motor from the driving wheels and the power transmitting apparatus operates the first clutch, the odd clutch, and the even clutch when the power transmitting apparatus changes the gear ratio of the transmission while operating in the engine mode;
wherein the third clutch transmits or cuts off all driving force from the first and second clutches to the transmission;
wherein the first clutch, the second clutch and hydraulic pistons corresponding to each of the first and second clutch are arranged within a same housing, and wherein the first and second clutch can be operated in a selective manner by controlling a hydraulic pressure for actuating the hydraulic pistons; and
wherein the first and second clutches each include driven-side clutch discs mounted on the same housing.

2. The power transmitting apparatus for a hybrid vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising an additional clutch operatively positioned between the engine and the motor such that the first and second clutches are bypassed and configured to transmit or cut off the driving force from one of the engine and the motor to the other of them.

3. The power transmitting apparatus for a hybrid vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the additional clutch is arranged at a radially inner side of a rotor of the motor.

4. The power transmitting apparatus for a hybrid vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising yet another clutch operatively positioned between the output side of the first and second clutch and the driving wheels to bypass the transmission mounted on the vehicle and configured to transmit or cut off the driving force of the engine or the motor to or from the driving wheels without passing through the transmission.

5. The power transmitting apparatus for a hybrid vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the second clutch is activated to transmit the driving force of the motor to the driving wheels and simultaneously the first clutch is deactivated to cut-off the driving force of the engine to the driving wheels on start-up and operation of the vehicle driven by the motor.

6. The power transmitting apparatus for a hybrid vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the motor is reversed on reverse start-up and reverse-direction operation of the vehicle driven by the motor.

7. The power transmitting apparatus for a hybrid vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising a battery for driving the motor and a detector for determining a remaining electric charge of the battery, and wherein both the driving force of the engine and that of the motor are simultaneously transmitted to the driving wheels with both the first and second clutch being activated so long as the remaining electric charge of the battery determined by the detector is within an particular range.

8. The power transmitting apparatus for a hybrid vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising a battery for driving the motor and a detector for determining a remaining electric charge of the battery, and wherein the driving force of the engine is transmitted both to the driving wheels and the motor such that the motor generates electricity when the remaining electric charge of the battery determined by the detector during vehicle movement is less than the predetermined value.

9. The power transmitting apparatus for a hybrid vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising a battery for driving the motor and a detector for determining a remaining electric charge of the battery, and wherein the driving force of the engine to the driving wheels is cut off and simultaneously the driving force of the engine is transmitted to the motor such that the motor generates electricity when the remaining electric charge of the battery determined by the detector while the vehicle is stopped is less than the predetermined value.

10. The power transmitting apparatus for a hybrid vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the driving force of the engine is transmitted to the driving wheels and the driving force of the motor to the driving wheels is simultaneously cut off on start-up under a low environmental temperature or during operation of the vehicle at high speed.

11. The power transmitting apparatus for a hybrid vehicle of claim 1 , wherein an automatic transmission is operatively positioned in the power transmitting system between the first and second clutches and the driving wheels and vehicle speed can be changed by the automatic transmission.

12. The power transmitting apparatus for a hybrid vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the automatic transmission is a continuously variable transmission.

13. The power transmitting apparatus for a hybrid vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the automatic transmission is a double-clutch-type transmission.

14. The power transmitting apparatus for a hybrid vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the automatic transmission is a single-clutch-type transmission.

15. The power transmitting apparatus for a hybrid vehicle of claim 1 , wherein a damper mechanism for damping a torque variation is operatively connected in the power transmitting system between the engine and the first clutch.

16. The power transmitting apparatus for a hybrid vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising an electrically driven oil pump, and wherein the first and second clutches are activated by hydraulic pressure generated by the electrically driven oil pump.

17. The power transmitting apparatus for a hybrid vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the odd numbered gears of the transmission comprise a plurality of forward gears.

18. The power transmitting apparatus for a hybrid vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the even numbered gears of the transmission comprise a plurality of forward gears.

19. A power transmitting apparatus for a hybrid vehicle, comprising:
a first clutch means operatively positioned in a power transmission system between an engine mounted on a vehicle and driving w

Assignees

• Ohashi Tatsuyuki
• Asatsuke Shouji
• Oishi Akio
• Chiba Ryouhei
• Ishimura Jun
• Ishikawa Keiichi
• Fcc Kk

Inventors

• Ohashi Tatsuyuki
• Asatsuke Shouji
• Oishi Akio
• Chiba Ryouhei
• Ishimura Jun
• Ishikawa Keiichi

Classifications

• Y10T477/26

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• B60L2210/20

  AC to AC converters · CPC title

• B60W10/08

  including control of electric propulsion units, e.g. motors or generators · CPC title

• Y02T10/6221

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• B60L2260/22

  Standstill, e.g. zero speed · CPC title