Patent ID: 9421964
Filing Date: 2016-08-23
CPC Classification: B60K,B60W,Y02T,Y10S

Claim Text:
1. A control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle provided with an engine, an electric motor, and a clutch disposed in a power transmitting path between the engine and the electric motor, the control apparatus comprising a processor and a non-transitory memory module, wherein the non-transitory memory module comprises a set of machine readable instructions that, when executed by the processor: determine a temperature of the clutch; determine a required drive force threshold for switching from a first drive mode to a second drive mode or for switching from the second drive mode to the first drive mode based on the temperature of the clutch, wherein in the first drive mode, the engine is placed in an operated state while the clutch is placed in an engaged state, and wherein in the second drive mode, the electric motor is exclusively used as a drive power source to run the hybrid vehicle while the engine is placed in a rest state and while the clutch is placed in a released state; determine a low temperature engine start drive force threshold for switching from the second drive mode to the first drive mode when the temperature of the clutch is a lower temperature; determine a high temperature engine start drive force threshold for switching from the second drive mode to the first drive mode when the temperature of the clutch is a higher temperature, wherein the higher temperature is higher than the lower temperature, and wherein the low temperature engine start drive force threshold is greater than the high temperature engine start drive force threshold; determine a required drive force of the hybrid vehicle; switch a drive mode of the hybrid vehicle from the first drive mode to the second drive mode or from the second drive mode to the first drive mode based on a comparison of the required drive force of the hybrid vehicle to the required drive force threshold; switch the drive mode of the hybrid vehicle from the second drive mode to the first drive mode when the required drive force of the hybrid vehicle is greater than the low temperature engine start drive force threshold and the temperature of the clutch is the lower temperature; and switch the drive mode of the hybrid vehicle from the second drive mode to the first drive mode when the required drive force of the hybrid vehicle is greater than the high temperature engine start drive force threshold and the temperature of the clutch is the higher temperature.