Systems and methods of controlling a clutch in a hybrid vehicle with a manual transmission, are provided. With the goal of enabling autonomous/assisted clutch control in a hybrid vehicle, while preserving the familiar mechanical feeling at the clutch pedal that driving enthusiasts prefer, embodiments of the disclosed technology use a shuttle valve to blend control of clutch engagement between a driver and an ECU. In these embodiments, a clutch pedal in the vehicle may be mechanically connected to a piston in a first hydraulic cylinder (just like in a traditional mechanical/hydraulic clutch actuation system), and an ECU may actuate a second hydraulic cylinder. Accordingly, a shuttle valve may be used to route the fluid coming from the cylinder with the greater pressure (i.e. the driver actuated cylinder or the ECU actuated cylinder), to a third hydraulic cylinder which adjusts engagement of a clutch by a mechanical linkage.

The invention relates to a method for determining a characteristic curve of a hybrid separating clutch of a hybrid vehicle without a test stand, wherein the hybrid separating clutch separates or connects an internal combustion engine and an electric motor and the hybrid separating clutch is slowly actuated on the basis of a position which the hybrid separating clutch assumes in an unactuated state, and a clutch characteristic curve is determined as a function of a clutch torque over a path of the hybrid separating clutch. In a method by which a characteristic curve of the hybrid separating clutch can be reliably defined without a test stand, a clutch torque which underlies the characteristic curve of the hybrid separating clutch is determined from the torque of the internal combustion engine in the case of a running internal combustion engine and a motion state of the electric motor which brakes the internal combustion engine while the hybrid separating clutch is moving.

A control apparatus for a hybrid electric vehicle that includes (i) an engine, (ii) a first electric motor, (iii) a second electric motor, (iv) first wheels, (v) second wheels and (vi) an engagement device disposed between the engine/first electric motor and the first wheels. The engagement device establishes and cuts off transmission of a power of the engine/first electric motor to the first wheels, by connecting and disconnecting between an input rotary member and an output rotary member. During running of the vehicle in a running mode in which the engagement device is released and the vehicle is caused to run by a power of the second electric motor, it is determined whether the engagement device is being released or not, based on (a) a rotational speed difference between the input and output rotary members and (b) a rotational state of the engine or the first electric motor.

Various disclosed embodiments include illustrative controller units, vehicles, and methods. In an illustrative embodiment, a controller unit includes a processor and a memory. The memory is configured to store computer-executable instructions configured to cause the processor to receive a request to perform a mechanical load transition between a motor and a mechanical load, send a torque request to the motor responsive to the received request, receive a motor speed value, determine status of the mechanical load transition responsive to the received request and the motor speed value, and output the determined status.

A vehicle driving device mounted on a hybrid vehicle includes an engine coupled to wheels of the vehicle via a power transmission path, a transmission mechanism disposed on the power transmission path, a motor generator, a first power transmission mechanism, and a second power transmission mechanism. The motor generator is disposed on a path coupling the engine and transmission mechanism, the first power transmission mechanism is disposed on a path coupling the engine and motor generator, the second power transmission mechanism is disposed on a path coupling the motor generator and transmission mechanism. These paths are included in the power transmission path. The first power transmission mechanism includes a large-diameter rotator and a small-diameter rotator coupled to the engine and the motor generator respectively. The second power transmission mechanism includes a small-diameter rotator and a large-diameter rotator coupled to the motor generator and the transmission mechanism respectively.

A control system of a hybrid vehicle, in which a driving power source for travel includes an engine that is started by cranking, a motor that can control a torque, and a clutch that is coupled with the motor and in which a transmission torque capacity continuously changes depending on a change of a control amount is configured to estimate a torque of the clutch based on the torque that the motor outputs, and change rates of the rotational speed of the motor and the clutch caused by changing the control amount, when the torque that the motor outputs is transmitted by the clutch that is in a slip state by changing the control amount.

A vehicle control device for controlling a vehicle with a frictional engagement element provided between a drive source and drive wheels includes a first determination unit configured to determine whether or not a signal of an inhibitor switch indicates a traveling position, a second determination unit configured to determine whether or not an oil path communicating with the frictional engagement element is in a drain state, a temperature estimation unit configured to estimate temperature of the frictional engagement element, and a temperature estimation prohibition unit configured to prohibit temperature estimation of the frictional engagement element by the temperature estimation unit when the signal of the inhibitor switch indicates the traveling position and the oil path is in the drain state.

A vehicle control system for preventing malfunction of the clutch for selectively connecting the engine with the power train. The vehicle control system is applied to a vehicle having an engine, a motor disposed on a power train, and a clutch interposed therebetween. In order to prevent a malfunction of the clutch, the vehicle control system is configured to engage the clutch while causing a slip but without starting the engine if the engine has not yet been started.

The present disclosure provides a clutch control method of a hybrid vehicle of the including an entering condition determining step in which a controller determines whether shifting is being performed during regenerative braking; an error calculating step in which the controller calculates a torque error by subtracting observer torque, which is clutch transfer torque calculated by a clutch torque estimator receiving transmission input torque and motor speed, from map torque, which is clutch transfer torque calculated based on a clutch transfer torque map for clutch actuator strokes learned in advance, when shifting is being performed during regenerative braking; a correcting step in which the controller corrects the clutch transfer torque map for the clutch actuator strokes using the torque error calculated in the error calculating step; and a clutch control step in which the controller controls a clutch using the map corrected in the correcting step.

A filtering pulley has a hub configured to be fixed to a shaft for rotation thereabout, a crown mounted coaxial and rotationally free on the hub, and a plurality of elastic groups arranged circumferentially with respect to the hub and to the crown and interposed, each, between a pair of first elements integral with the hub and between a pair of second elements integral with the crown. The first elements have at least two spokes, carried by an actuator that is made of two portions that can be selectively coupled based on angular position data between the crown and the hub and/or based on data of torque transmitted between the different elements of the system comprising this pulley.