Patent ID: 7169079

Claim:
A control apparatus which controls a torque of an engine coupled to an input shaft of an automatic transmission during a shift by that automatic transmission, comprising: a controller which i) performs torque-down control by which the engine torque is decreased by a predetermined amount, ii) determines, during the torque-down control, a torque-restore control starting point at which time torque-restore control is to be started, and iii) starts the torque-restore control at the torque-restore control starting point so as to gradually restore the engine torque to a value before the torque-down control, wherein the controller is adapted to determine the torque-restore control starting point according to a dynamic model which simulates the behavior of the automatic transmission over time from the start of the torque-down control, and so that a rotational speed of the input shaft of the automatic transmission at a target point substantially matches a target speed, wherein the dynamic model correlates the rotational speed of the input shaft of the automatic transmission at the target point with the time elapsed after the start of the torque-down control, and the controller is adapted to estimate the point at which the rotational speed of the input shaft of the automatic transmission at the end of the shift will likely substantially match the target speed if the torque-restore control were started at that point using the dynamic model, and make that point the torque-restore control starting point.