Sound and vibration enhancement in hybrid vehicles
AssigneeToyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
InventorAbril A. Galang
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method counters the “rubber band-like effect” in hybrid vehicles by introducing engine noise and/or vibration into a vehicle compartment when the engine reaches a threshold or maximum RPM, but the electric motor continues to provide additional power to increase vehicle speed. An acoustic tube coupling the engine to the passenger compartment is used to simulate the increased engine noise. Vibration mechanisms in the passenger compartment are used to simulate the engine vibration in the passenger compartment.
Claims20
A computer-implemented method for operating a hybrid vehicle having an internal combustion engine and electric motor, the method comprising:
- during operation of a hybrid vehicle, obtaining engine revolutions per minute (“RPM”) and vehicle speed data using a hybrid control unit;
- determining an engine RPM threshold has been met based on the obtained RPM or vehicle speed data;
- receiving a signal indicating a vehicle speed increase after the engine RPM threshold has been met, the increase in the vehicle speed being caused by the electric motor;
- and
- in response to the increase in vehicle speed beyond the engine RPM threshold, performing at least one of the following operations:
- introducing engine noise into a passenger compartment of the vehicle through an acoustic tube which acoustically couples the engine to the passenger compartment;
- or
- introducing vibration into the passenger compartment.
A system for operating a hybrid vehicle, the system comprising:
- an internal combustion engine and electric motor;
- a non-transitory memory;
- and
- one or more hardware processors coupled to the engine, electric motor, and non-transitory memory and configured to read instructions from the non-transitory memory to cause the system to perform operations comprising:
- during operation of the hybrid vehicle, obtaining engine revolutions per minute (“RPM”) and vehicle speed data;
- determining an engine RPM threshold has been met based on the obtained RPM or vehicle speed data;
- receiving a signal indicating a vehicle speed increase after the engine RPM threshold has been met, the increase in the vehicle speed being caused by the electric motor;
- and
- in response to the increase in vehicle speed beyond the engine RPM threshold, performing at least one of the following operations:
- introducing engine noise into a passenger compartment of the vehicle through an acoustic tube which acoustically couples the engine to the passenger compartment;
- or
- introducing vibration into the passenger compartment.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon machine-readable instructions executable to cause a machine to perform operations comprising:
- during operation of a hybrid vehicle, obtaining engine revolutions per minute (“RPM”) and vehicle speed data using a hybrid control unit;
- determining an engine RPM threshold has been met based on the obtained RPM data or vehicle speed data;
- receiving a signal indicating a vehicle speed increase after the engine RPM threshold has been met, the increase in the vehicle speed being caused by the electric motor;
- and
- in response to the increase in vehicle speed beyond the engine RPM threshold, performing at least one of the following operations:
- introducing engine noise into a passenger compartment of the vehicle through an acoustic tube which acoustically couples the engine to the passenger compartment;
- or
- introducing vibration into the passenger compartment.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.