An internal combustion engine has one or more combustion chambers defined by one of more cylinders, corresponding pistons, and a cylinder head. A crankshaft is operatively connected to the pistons and to an electric turning machine. To start the engine, the electric turning machine rotates the crankshaft in a first direction toward a reversal point corresponding to a local maximum drag torque of the internal combustion engine, this rotation being made without rotating the crankshaft beyond the reversal point. The electric turning machine then rotates the crankshaft in a second direction opposite from the first direction, a momentum impressed on the crankshaft by compression obtained when rotating in the first direction increasing a speed of the crankshaft in the second direction. Thereafter, fuel is injected in one of the combustion chambers in which the corresponding piston first reaches a top dead center position and the fuel is ignited.

A starter assembly includes a housing defining an interior, a rotatable pinion gear wherein the rotatable pinion gear extends exteriorly of the housing and operably coupling to a combustion engine, a torque sensor providing a torque output indicative of a torque experienced by the pinion gear, and a controller module configured operate a starting sequence for the starter assembly.

A control unit is provided for a vehicle having an internal combustion engine with a shaft, which can be coupled to an electric machine or decoupled from the electric machine. The control unit is designed to couple the electric machine to the internal combustion engine during an engine stop of the internal combustion engine. The control unit causes the electric machine to guide the shaft of the internal combustion engine. The control unit determines that a speed of the guided shaft is equal to or less than a speed threshold value and, in response thereto, decouples the electric machine from the internal combustion engine, such that the internal combustion engine stops without being guided by the electric machine.

An engine including an engine block having a cylinder defining a front of the engine, a blower housing coupled to the engine block and defining a hot half positioned adjacent the front of the engine and a cool half opposite the hot half, and an electric starter system positioned within the blower housing. The electric starting system includes a starter mount assembly coupled to the blower housing, an electric starter motor retained by the starter mount assembly and positioned in the cool half, and a battery mounted to the blower housing and positioned in the cool half. The battery is electrically coupled to the electric starter motor.

In an engine starting system, a first controller activates, in response to a driver's starting request, a first starting device to rotate the rotating shaft of an engine. A second controller is communicably connected to the first controller. The second controller recognizes rotation of the rotor of a second starting device resulting from an activation of the first starting device. The second controller starts a power running operation of the second starting device based on the recognition of the rotation of the rotor. The first controller determines whether the power running operation of the second starting device has been started. The first controller deactivates, when it is determined that the power running operation has been started, the first starting device before a rotational angular position of the rotating shaft of the engine arrives at a compression top dead center of the engine.

In a system for controlling rotation of torque applied to a rotating shaft of an engine of a vehicle that uses the engine as a drive source thereof, a motor is provided. A main controller controls the engine and the motor. The main controller selectably activates the motor that applies first torque to the rotating shaft of the engine, and deactivates the motor. A rotary electric machine includes a rotor connected to the rotating shaft of the engine. A rotation parameter detector measures a rotation parameter associated with rotation of the rotor of the rotary electric machine. A sequence controller performs, in response to an occurrence of a trigger situation, a control sequence that controls, independently of the main controller, the rotary electric machine based on the rotation parameter measured by the rotation parameter detector, thus applying second torque to the rotating shaft of the engine.

An interior permanent magnet electric machine includes a stator having a plurality of teeth disposed around a circumference oriented radially towards a center defining slots interposed between each of the teeth, and a conductive winding wrapped around at least one of the teeth of the stator to receive an electrical current. The electric machine also includes a rotor which is rotatable relative to the stator. The rotor defines a plurality of openings configured to hold permanent magnets near an outer portion of the rotor and a number of spokes interposed between mass reduction cutouts located closer to a center of the rotor relative to the permanent magnets. Each of the permanent magnets defines a magnetic pole and each of the spokes is circumferentially aligned with one of the magnetic poles.

A vehicle propulsion system includes an engine and a first electric machine each configured to selectively provide torque to propel the vehicle. The propulsion system also includes a second electric machine coupled to the engine and configured to start the engine from an inactive state. A controller is programmed to execute a first control algorithm while output speed of the second electric machine is less than a first speed threshold. The controller is also programmed to execute a second control algorithm while output speed of the second electric machine is greater than the first speed threshold and less than a second speed threshold.

An interior permanent magnet electric machine includes a stator having a plurality of teeth disposed around a circumference oriented radially towards a center defining slots interposed between each of the teeth, and a conductive winding wrapped around each of the teeth of the stator to receive an electrical current. The electric machine also includes a rotor which is rotatable relative to the stator. The rotor defines a plurality of openings to receive permanent magnets near an outer portion of the rotor and a number of spokes interposed between mass reduction cutouts located closer to the center relative to the permanent magnets. Each of the permanent magnets defines a magnetic pole and each of the spokes is circumferentially aligned with one of the magnetic poles.

The invention relates to a method for starting an internal combustion engine of a hybrid vehicle, where an electric motor of the hybrid vehicle is accelerated to a predetermined engine speed and a hybrid disconnect clutch, which is arranged between the internal combustion engine and the electric motor, is moved in the closing direction depending on the set-point clutch torque. In a method which safeguards a high reproducibility of the restart operation, the set-point clutch torque for restarting the internal combustion engine is determined depending on an engine switch-off position of the internal combustion engine in a first phase in which the internal combustion engine is not running.