Engine control apparatus

An engine control apparatus which obtains a target engine torque based on an accelerator operation amount and performs engine control such that an output torque of an engine becomes equal to the target engine torque, comprising:

• a nominal calculating portion that calculates a nominal maximum engine torque, a nominal minimum engine torque and a nominal target engine torque based on characteristics of engine torque with respect to an engine speed and the accelerator operation amount obtained in advance under a predetermined environmental condition;
• an estimating portion that estimates a maximum engine torque and a minimum engine torque based on the environmental condition;
• a smoothing portion which smoothes out a change over time in the estimated maximum engine torque to obtain a smoothed maximum engine torque, and sets an environmentally corrected maximum engine torque based on the smoothed maximum engine torque;
• and
• a setting portion that sets the target engine torque by interpolating the target engine torque between the environmentally corrected maximum engine torque and the estimated minimum engine torque such that the ratio of the nominal target engine torque between the nominal maximum engine torque and the nominal minimum engine torque becomes essentially equal to the ratio of the target engine torque between the environmentally corrected maximum engine torque and the estimated minimum engine torque.

An engine control apparatus which obtains a target engine torque based on an accelerator operation amount and performs engine control such that an output torque of an engine becomes equal to the target engine torque, comprising:

• a nominal calculating portion that calculates a nominal maximum engine torque, a nominal minimum engine torque and a nominal target engine torque based on characteristics of engine torque with respect to an engine speed and the accelerator operation amount obtained in advance under a predetermined environmental condition;
• an estimating portion that estimates a maximum engine torque and a minimum engine torque based on the environmental condition;
• a smoothing portion which smoothes out a change over time in the estimated maximum engine torque and the estimated minimum engine torque to obtain a smoothed maximum engine torque and a smoothed minimum engine torque, respectively, and sets an environmentally corrected maximum engine torque and an environmentally corrected minimum engine torque based on the smoothed maximum engine torque and the smoothed minimum engine torque, respectively;
• and
• a setting portion that sets the target engine torque by interpolating the target engine torque between the environmentally corrected maximum engine torque and the environmentally corrected minimum engine torque such that the ratio of the nominal target engine torque between the nominal maximum engine torque and the nominal minimum engine torque becomes essentially equal to the ratio of the target engine torque between the environmentally corrected maximum engine torque and the environmentally corrected minimum engine torque.

An engine control apparatus which obtains a target engine torque based on an accelerator operation amount and performs engine control such that an output torque of an engine becomes equal to the target engine torque, comprising:

• nominal calculating means for calculating a nominal maximum engine torque, a nominal minimum engine torque and a nominal target engine torque based on characteristics of engine torque with respect to an engine speed and the accelerator operation amount obtained in advance under a predetermined environmental condition;
• estimating means for estimating a maximum engine torque and a minimum engine torque based on the environmental condition;
• smoothing means for smoothing out a change over time in the estimated minimum engine torque to obtain a smoothed minimum engine torque, and setting an environmentally corrected minimum engine torque based on the smoothed minimum engine torque;
• and
• setting means for setting the target engine torque by interpolating the target engine torque between the estimated maximum engine torque and the environmentally corrected minimum engine torque such that the ratio of the nominal target engine torque between the nominal maximum engine torque and the nominal minimum engine torque becomes essentially equal to the ratio of the target engine torque between the estimated maximum engine torque and the environmentally corrected minimum engine torque.

An engine control apparatus which obtains a target engine torque based on an accelerator operation amount and performs engine control such that an output torque of an engine becomes equal to the target engine torque, comprising:

• nominal calculating means for calculating a nominal maximum engine torque, a nominal minimum engine torque and a nominal target engine torque based on characteristics of engine torque with respect to an engine speed and the accelerator operation amount obtained in advance under a predetermined environmental condition;
• estimating means for estimating a maximum engine torque and a minimum engine torque based on the environmental condition;
• smoothing means for smoothing out a change over time in the estimated maximum engine torque to obtain a smoothed maximum engine torque, and setting an environmentally corrected maximum engine torque based on the smoothed maximum engine torque;
• and
• setting means for setting the target engine torque by interpolating the target engine torque between the environmentally corrected maximum engine torque and the estimated minimum engine torque such that the ratio of the nominal target engine torque between the nominal maximum engine torque and the nominal minimum engine torque becomes essentially equal to the ratio of the target engine torque between the environmentally corrected maximum engine torque and the estimated minimum engine torque.

An engine control apparatus which obtains a target engine torque based on an accelerator operation amount and performs engine control such that an output torque of an engine becomes equal to the target engine torque, comprising:

• nominal calculating means for calculating a nominal maximum engine torque, a nominal minimum engine torque and a nominal target engine torque based on characteristics of engine torque with respect to an engine speed and the accelerator operation amount obtained in advance under a predetermined environmental condition;
• estimating means for estimating a maximum engine torque and a minimum engine torque based on the environmental condition;
• smoothing means for smoothing out a change over time in the estimated maximum engine torque and the estimated minimum engine torque to obtain a smoothed maximum engine torque and a smoothed minimum engine torque, respectively, and setting an environmentally corrected maximum engine torque and an environmentally corrected minimum engine torque based on the smoothed maximum engine torque and the smoothed minimum engine torque, respectively;
• and
• setting means for setting the target engine torque by interpolating the target engine torque between the environmentally corrected maximum engine torque and the environmentally corrected minimum engine torque such that the ratio of the nominal target engine torque between the nominal maximum engine torque and the nominal minimum engine torque becomes essentially equal to the ratio of the target engine torque between the environmentally corrected maximum engine torque and the environmentally corrected minimum engine torque.