Method of and apparatus for controlling engine speed of a vehicle engine

An apparatus for controlling the speed of an automotive internal combustion engine mounted on a vehicle in which an accelerator pedal mounted on said vehicle is connected to a throttle valve disposed within an air intake passage of said internal combustion engine, and in which the engine is coupled to a propulsion train of the vehicle by a multiple speed transmission, said apparatus comprising:

• an actuator means for moving said throttle valve from a closed position to an open position and vice versa;
• an accelerator pedal detecting means for detecting the displacement of said accelerator pedal when said pedal is displaced to command said internal combustion engine to operate at a desired engine speed;
• a desired engine speed determining means for determining the desired engine speed corresponding to said displacement of said accelerator pedal as detected by said accelerator pedal detecting means;
• an engine speed detecting means for detecting the actual engine speed of said internal combustion engine;
• a throttle valve opening calculating means for calculating the differential between the actual engine speed detected by said engine speed detecting means and the desired engine speed determined by said desired engine speed determining means, and calculating a desired opening for said throttle valve from the result of the calculated differential;
• a control means for controlling said actuator means to regulate the operation of said throttle valve according to the result of said calculated differential;
• a maximum desired engine speed setting means for setting a maximum desired engine speed that corresponds to a maximum running speed of said vehicle corresponding to the maximum displacement of said accelerator pedal;
• and
• a transmission speed detecting means for detecting whether the transmission is set at a low-speed position or a high-speed position;
• said control means comprising:
• a low-speed position control means for controlling said actuator means to regulate said throttle valve according to the result of said differential calculation when said transmission speed detecting means detects that said transmission is shifted to the low-speed position thereof;
• and
• a high-speed position control means for controlling said actuator means to regulate said throttle valve so that the maximum desired engine speed is an upper limit engine speed when said transmission speed detecting means determines that said transmission is shifted to the high-speed position thereof.

An apparatus for controlling the speed of an automotive internal combustion engine for driving a vehicle in which an accelerator pedal mounted on said vehicle is connected to a throttle valve disposed within an air intake passage of said automotive internal combustion engine, and in which the engine is coupled to the propulsion train of the vehicle by a multiple speed transmission, said apparatus comprising:

• an actuator means for operating said throttle valve;
• an accelerator pedal detecting means for detecting the displacement of said accelerator pedal when said pedal is displaced so as to command said internal combustion engine to operate at a desired engine speed;
• a desired engine speed determining means for determining the desired engine speed corresponding to the displacement of said accelerator pedal as detected by said accelerator pedal detecting means;
• an engine speed detecting means for detecting the actual engine speed of said internal combustion engine;
• a throttle valve opening calculating means for calculating the differential between the actual engine speed detected by said engine speed detecting means and the desired engine speed determined by the desired engine speed determining means, and calculating a desired opening of said throttle valve from said calculated differential;
• a maximum engine speed setting means for setting a maximum engine speed equivalent to a maximum running speed of said vehicle corresponding to the maximum displacement of said accelerator pedal;
• a transmission speed detecting means for detecting whether said transmission is shifted to a low-speed position or a high-speed position;
• a low-speed range control means for controlling said actuator means to position said throttle valve at said desired opening according to the result of the differential calculation when said transmission speed detecting means detects that said transmission is set at the low-speed position thereof;
• and
• a high-speed range control means for controlling said actuator means to position said throttle valve at said desired opening such that the maximum engine speed is limited to the maximum desired engine speed set by said maximum engine speed setting means when said transmission detecting means detects that said transmission is set at the high-speed position thereof.

An apparatus for controlling the speed of an engine for driving a vehicle in which an accelerator pedal mounted on said vehicle is connected to a throttle valve of said engine, said apparatus comprising:

• a running speed detecting means for detecting the running speed of said vehicle;
• an engine speed detecting means for detecting the engine speed of said engine;
• an actuator means for operating said throttle valve of said engine;
• an accelerator pedal detecting means for detecting the displacement of said accelerator pedal of said vehicle;
• a maximum running speed setting means for setting at least one maximum running speed for said vehicle;
• a storage means for storing an upper limit engine speed corresponding to said at least one maximum running speed, and for storing a plurality of desired engine speeds for the engine corresponding, respectively, to a plurality of angular displacements of the accelerator pedal;
• a first control means that reads the desired engine speed that corresponds to the angular displacement of the accelerator pedal detected by the accelerator pedal displacement detecting means from the storage means when the running speed of the vehicle detected by the running speed detecting means is not higher than the maximum running speed set by the maximum running speed setting means, said first control means controlling the actuator means for regulating the operation of the throttle valve for causing the engine speed to coincide with said desired engine speed read from the storage means;
• and
• a second control means that reads the upper limit engine speed corresponding to said maximum running speed set by the maximum running speed setting means from the storage means when the running speed of the vehicle detected by the running speed detecting means is as high as said maximum running speed set by the maximum running speed setting means, said second control means controlling the actuator means for regulating the operation of the throttle valve for causing the engine speed to coincide with said upper limit engine speed.