LOCK-UP CONTROL DEVICE

• Main Authors: MASAMITSU FUKUCHI, YOSHIHARU SAITO, YASUSHI INAGAWA, TAKANORI KON
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 30.08.2005
• Subjects: BLASTING; CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TOTRANSPORTATION; CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE ORDIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GEARING; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVEFUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; HEATING; LIGHTING; MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TOTHE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS; TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINSTCLIMATE CHANGE; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL; TRANSPORTING; VEHICLES IN GENERAL; WEAPONS

A LOCK-UP CONTROL DEVICE (20) CONTROLS AN ENGAGING FORCE OF A LOCK-UP CLUTCH (18) WHICH SHARES ENGINE OUTPUT WITH A TORQUE CONVERTER (16) TO TRANSMIT IT TOWARD AN INPUT SHAFT (14) OF A TRANSMISSION OF A CAR. FIRST, TARGET DRIVING FORCE IS PRODUCED BASED ON ACCELERATOR PEDAL OPENING AND CAR VELOCITY. THEN, REQUIRED TORQUE IS PRODUCED BASED ON A GEAR RATIO AND THE TARGET DRIVING FORCE. TARGET ENGINE SPEED IS PRODUCED BASED ON THE REQUIRED TORQUE, WHEREIN THE TARGET ENGINE SPEED IS SET TO AVOID OCCURRENCE OF ABNORMAL SOUNDS AND ABNORMAL VIBRATION. THUS, THE LOCK-UP CLUTCH (18) IS CONTROLLED IN SUCH A WAY THAT REAL ENGINE SPEED DOES NOT BECOME LESS THAN THE TARGET ENGINE SPEED IN CASE OF A GEAR CHANGE CORRESPONDING TO A SHIFT-UP OPERATION, FOR EXAMPLE. BASICALLY, THE LOCK-UP CLUTCH (18) IS CONTROLLED TO HAVE ENGAGING FORCE, WHICH IS MADE AS MAXIMAL AS POSSIBLE TO IMPROVE FUEL EFFICIENCY. IN OTHER WORDS, THE LOCK-UP CLUTCH (18) IS CONTROLLED TO BE AS TIGHTLY AS POSSIBLE. OR, THE LOCK-UP CLUTCH (18) WHICH IS INITIALLY SET AT A TIGHT STATE IS TURNED OFF JUST AFTER THE GEAR CHANGE START TIMING IF IT IS PREDICTED THAT THE REAL ENGINE SPEED AFTER THE GEAR CHANGE WILL BECOME LOWER THAN THE TARGET ENGINE SPEED.