Interrelated power delivery controls – including engine control – Transmission control – Engine controlled by transmission
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-17
2001-02-20
Marmor, Charles A. (Department: 3681)
Interrelated power delivery controls, including engine control
Transmission control
Engine controlled by transmission
C477S112000, C123S179400
Reexamination Certificate
active
06190284
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an engine stop control system for a vehicle in which when a predetermined condition is established during an idling operation, an engine is stopped to reduce the amount of fuel consumed.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional vehicle using an engine as a traveling drive source suffers from a problem in that the engine once started is not stopped unless a driver turns an ignition switch off and for this reason, the wasteful idling operation of the engine is continued for a signal-waiting period, for example, thereby consuming fuel wastefully. To avoid this, the driver may turn the ignition switch off to stop the engine every time the vehicle is stopped. In this case, however, the driver must repeatedly carry out the starting and the stopping of the engine and hence, such operation is extremely troublesome.
Therefore, in a commercially available vehicle including a manual transmission mounted therein, an engine is stopped automatically after a lapse of 1 to 2 seconds from the stoppage of the vehicle. If the depression of a clutch pedal from this state is detected, the engine is restarted automatically, thereby providing a reduction in the amount of fuel consumed.
In the conventional vehicle, however, the engine is stopped only for a period from a time point after the lapse of 1 to 2 seconds from the stopping of the vehicle to a time point of the depression of the clutch pedal. Therefore, to further reduce the amount of fuel consumed, it is desired that the time of stoppage of the engine is prolonged as much as possible in a range in which the operability of the vehicle is not diminished.
If the engine is turned off upon stopping of the vehicle and then restarted upon starting of the vehicle, as described above, the following problem is encountered: When the stopping and starting of the vehicle are repeatedly carried out at short time intervals on a road in which there is a traffic jam, the stopping and restarting of the engine are carried out frequently and hence, the driver may become irritated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a first object of the present invention to ensure that in a vehicle including an automatic transmission, the time of stoppage of the engine is prolonged as much as possible in the range in which the operability of the vehicle is not diminished, thereby providing a reduction in the amount of fuel consumed.
It is a second object of the present invention to ensure that in a vehicle including a manual transmission, the time of stoppage of the engine is prolonged as much as possible to provide a reduction in amount of fuel consumed, while the stopping and restarting of the engine are prevented from being carried out frequently in a traffic jam.
To achieve the above first object, according to a first aspect and feature of the present invention, there is provided an engine stop control system for a vehicle, comprising an engine, an automatic transmission for transmitting a driving force of the engine to driven wheels, a shift position detecting means for detecting a shift position of the automatic transmission, a braking operation detecting means for detecting a braking operation provided by a driver, a fuel supply control means for controlling the supply of fuel to the engine, a decelerated-state detecting means for detecting a decelerated state of the vehicle, and an engine output control means including a means for cutting off the supplying of fuel to the engine by the fuel supply control means, when the decelerated state of the vehicle is detected by the decelerated-state detecting means, and for restarting the supplying of fuel to start the engine, when the number of revolutions of the engine is equal to or less than a threshold value, the engine output control means operating, after cutting-off of the supply of fuel by the fuel supply control means during deceleration of the vehicle, to restart the supplying of fuel, if the number of revolutions of the engine becomes equal to or less than the threshold value, when the shift position detected by the shift position detecting means is a travel position and the braking operation is not detected by the braking operation detecting means after and stop the engine without restarting of the supply of fuel even if the number of revolutions of the engine becomes equal to or less than the threshold value, when the shift position detected by the shift position detecting means is a non-travel position, or when the shift position detected by the shift position detecting means is a travel position and the braking operation is detected by the braking operation detecting means.
With the above arrangement, when the shift position is the travel position and the braking operation is not detected, the driving of the engine is maintained. Therefore, the undesirable stopping of the engine can be avoided, and the necessary idling operation of the engine can be carried out. When the shift position is the non-travel position, or when the shift position is the travel position and the braking operation is detected, the engine is stopped. Therefore, the engine can be stopped for a maximum amount of time without carrying-out of the unnecessary idling operation, thereby reducing the amount of fuel consumed.
The non-travel position used herein corresponds to a neutral position and a parking position in one embodiment, and the travel position corresponds to a forward travel position and a backward travel position in the embodiment.
To achieve the above second object, according to a second aspect and feature of the present invention, there is provided an engine stop control system for a vehicle, comprising an engine, a manual transmission for transmitting a driving force of the engine to driven wheels, a shift position detecting means for detecting a shift position of the manual transmission, a clutch operation detecting means for detecting the engaging/disengaging operation of a clutch pedal to carry out the cut-off and coupling of a driving force between the engine and the manual transmission, a vehicle speed detecting means for detecting a vehicle speed, a throttle opening degree detecting means for detecting a throttle opening degree, a decelerated-state detecting means for detecting a decelerated state of the vehicle, and an engine output control means including a means for cutting off the supplying of fuel to the engine by the fuel supply control means, when a decelerated state of the vehicle is detected by a decelerated-state detecting means, and for restarting the supplying of fuel to start the engine, when the number of revolutions of the engine becomes equal to or less than a threshold value, the engine output control means continuing the cutting-off of the supplying of fuel, if the throttle opening degree detected by the throttle opening degree detecting means is a fully-closed throttle opening degree, when the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting means reaches a predetermined vehicle speed; and when the clutch-disengaging operation is detected by the clutch operation detecting means, and the shift position detected by the shift position detecting means is a non-travel position, after cutting-off of the supplying of fuel by the fuel supply control means during deceleration of the vehicle, and restarting the supplying of fuel, if the throttle opening degree detected by the throttle opening degree detecting means is not the fully-closed throttle opening degree.
With the above arrangement, after the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting means reaches the predetermined vehicle speed after starting of the vehicle, the engine is stopped if the throttle opening degree is the fully-closed opening degree, when the clutch-disengaging operation is detected and the shift position is the non-travel position. Therefore, the engine can be stopped to the maximum without carrying-out of the unnecessary idling operation to reduce the amount of fuel consumed. Moreover, if the throttle opening degree is not t
Iwata Youichi
Kuroda Shigetaka
Nakano Kenji
Takahashi Hideyuki
Wakashiro Teruo
Armstrong, Westerman Hattori, McLeland & Naughton
Ho Ha
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Marmor Charles A.
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