Patent ID: 7963267
Filing Date: 2011-06-21
Classification: B60W,F02B,F02D,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A method of operating a vehicle propulsion system, said vehicle propulsion system including an internal combustion engine coupled to one or more drive wheels of the vehicle via a transmission, the method comprising: operating the engine to produce an engine output; transferring the engine output to said one or more drive wheels via the transmission; responsive to a first condition, varying torque supplied to said one or more drive wheels by adjusting a relative number of combusting cylinders and deactivated cylinders of the engine; and responsive to a second condition, varying the torque supplied to said one or more drive wheels by transitioning the combusting cylinders from a four stroke cycle to a two stroke cycle to increase engine output while maintaining the deactivated cylinders in a deactivated state and while shifting the transmission between different gear ratios.