Patent ID: 8340850

Claim:
A mislocking preventing apparatus for preventing mislocking of one rotational element in a hybrid vehicle, the hybrid vehicle comprising: an internal combustion engine; a rotating electrical machine; a power dividing mechanism, which comprises a plurality of rotational elements capable of mutually differentially rotating and including rotational elements each of which is coupled with an output shaft of the internal combustion engine, an output shaft of the rotating electrical machine, and a drive shaft coupled with an axle, and which can supply at least one portion of power of the internal combustion engine to the drive shaft; and a locking device capable of changing a state of one rotational element of the plurality of rotational elements between a non-lock state in which the one rotational element is released from a fixed member and can rotate and a lock state in which the one rotational element is fixed to the fixed member and cannot rotate, the hybrid vehicle being configured to select between a stepless speed change mode, which corresponds to the non-lock state and in which a transmission gear ratio as a ratio between a rotational speed of the output shaft of the internal combustion engine and a rotational speed of the drive shaft is continuously variable, and a fixed speed change mode, which corresponds to the lock state in which the transmission gear ratio is fixed, said mislocking preventing apparatus comprising: a specifying device for specifying a rotational state of the one rotational element; and a controlling device for controlling the internal combustion engine or the rotating electrical machine to reduce a torque acting in a direction of promoting the mislocking in the one rotational element or to apply a torque in a direction opposite to the direction of promoting the mislocking on the basis of the specified rotational state.