Patent ID: 7374000
Filing Date: 2008-05-20
Classification: B60K,B60L,B60W,Y02T,Y10S

Abstract:
1. Driving apparatus for a vehicle having front and rear pairs of wheels, one of said pairs of wheels being driven by an internal combustion engine which also drives an ancillary generator for generating electric power to operate ancillary components of said vehicle, and the other of said pairs of wheels being driven by an electric motor during a time period from a starting movement of said vehicle until it reaches a running speed at which said internal combustion engine takes over as a sole source of driving force, said driving apparatus comprising: a high output driving generator which is driven by said internal combustion engine and has a generating output capacity greater than that of said ancillary generator, a generating output of said driving generator being supplied to an armature winding of said electric motor as a sole supply of electric power to said armature winding of said electric motor; and first control means for controlling and varying said generating output of said driving generator by controlling a magnetic field current supplied to said driving generator, based on information detected by sensors of said vehicle, thereby controlling a driving force of said electric motor; wherein said driving generator receives said magnetic field current which is controlled in accordance with said information detected by said sensors of said vehicle, and supplies said generating output to said electric motor; said armature winding of said electric motor receives as an input only said generating output from said driving generator, and generates said driving force directly by receiving said generating output of said driving generator, during said time period from said starting movement of said vehicle until it reaches said running speed at which said internal combustion engine takes over as a sole source of driving force; and said first control means controls said magnetic field current supplied to said driving generator, such that i) an output voltage of said driving generator at said starting time of said vehicle is smaller than said output voltage of said driving generator at a running time of said vehicle at which vehicle speed is larger than at said starting time of said vehicle, and ii) an output current of said driving generator at said starting time of said vehicle is larger than an output current of said driving generator at said running time of said vehicle, whereby driving force of said electric motor at said starting time of said vehicle is larger than said driving force of said electric motor at said running time of said vehicle.