Patent ID: 7670258

Claim:
A control device for vehicle drive apparatus, the vehicle drive apparatus having an engine, a continuously variable transmission including a differential mechanism, through which an output of the engine is distributed to a first electric motor and a transmitting member, and a second electric motor disposed in a power transmitting path between the transmitting member and drive wheels to be operative as an electrically controlled continuously variable transmission, and an automatic transmission forming a part of the power transmitting path and functioning as a shifting mechanism, the control device comprising: a differential state switching device provided in the differential mechanism and operative to be selectively switched to an uncoupling state to place the continuously variable transmission in a continuously variable shifting state to render the continuously variable transmission operative as an electrically controlled variable transmission, and to a coupling state to place the continuously variable transmission in a step-variable shifting state to render the continuously variable transmission inoperative as the electrically controlled variable transmission; switching control means operative to switch the differential state switching device based on a vehicle condition for selectively switching a shifting state of the continuously variable transmission into the continuously variable shifting state and the step-variable shifting state; engine starting and stopping control means for executing starting and stopping of the engine; and execution control means for executing either one of the switching of the shifting state and the starting or the stopping of the engine when overlapping phases occur between an operation of the switching control means for switching the shifting state and an operation of the engine starting and stopping control means for executing the starting or the stopping of the engine.