US 7,481,737 B2
Control apparatus for vehicular drive system, vehicle provided with the control apparatus, and method of controlling vehicular drive system
Atsushi Tabata, Okazaki (Japan); Yutaka Taga, Aichi-gun (Japan); Yuji Inoue, Nisshin (Japan); and Atsushi Kamada, Toyota (Japan)
Assigned to Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Toyota-shi (Japan)
Filed on Jun. 21, 2006, as Appl. No. 11/471,543.
Claims priority of application No. 2005-182398 (JP), filed on Jun. 22, 2005.
Prior Publication US 2007/0087893 A1, Apr. 19, 2007
Int. Cl. F16H 3/72 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 477—3  [475/149] 28 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A control apparatus for a vehicular drive system including: (i) a first transmission portion operable as an electrically controlled continuously variable transmission and having (i-1) a differential mechanism operable to distribute an output of an engine to a first electric motor and a power transmitting member, and (i-2) a second electric motor disposed in a power transmitting path between the power transmitting member and a drive wheel of a vehicle; and (ii) a second transmission portion constituting a part of the power transmitting path, said control apparatus comprising:
a differential-state switching device provided in the differential mechanism and operable to selectively place the first transmission portion in a continuously-variable shifting state in which the first transmission portion can be operated as the electrically controlled continuously variable transmission, and in a non-continuously-variable shifting state in which the first transmission portion is not operated as the electrically controlled continuously variable transmission; and
a transmission controller operable to change a speed ratio of the second transmission portion, concurrently with switching of the first transmission portion between the continuously-variable shifting state and the non-continuously-variable shifting state.