Title of Invention

CLUTCH CONTROLLER, METHOD FOR CONTROLLING CLUTCH, AND STRADDLE-TYPE VEHICLE

Abstract A clutch controller performs request follow-up control under which a clutch actuator is actuated based on a difference between actual transmission torque Tac, which is transmitted from a drive-side member to a driven-side member of a clutch, and request transmission torque Treq, which is determined based on rider"s accelerator operation, such that the actual transmission torque Tac approximates the request transmission torque Treq. If an engine operates in a predetermined operation condition, the clutch controller performs rotational speed maintaining control under which the clutch actuator is actuated such that the actual transmission torque Tac approximates engine torque TEac, in place of the request follow-up control.
Full Text CLUTCH CONTROLLER, METHOD FOR CONTROLLING CLUTCH, AND
STRADDLE-TYPE VEHICLE
This application claims priority from Japanese
Patent Application No. 2007-043645 filed on February 23,
2007 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-231131
filed on September 6, 2007.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for
engaging or disengaging a clutch by an actuator.
2. Description of the Related Art
Related semi-automatic vehicles, which actuate an
actuator to engage or disengage a clutch, use a
technology for controlling relative positions of a drive-
side member and a driven-side member of the clutch (the
degree of engagement of the clutch) based on a difference
in rotational speed between these members during engaging
operation of the clutch (for example, JP-A-2001-146930).
The technology is designed to control the degree of
engagement of the clutch based on the difference in
rotational speed between the drive-side member and the
driven-side member. This, however, can prevent
appropriate torque from being constantly transmitted via
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the clutch, and thus can impair riding comfort. For
example, in case where the timing of discontinuing a
half-clutch state is too early, the torque transmitted
from the drive-side member to the driven-side member
sharply increases. This can cause the rider to feel
shocks. An additional technology is also proposed, in
which a half-clutch state is maintained until the
difference in rotational speed is almost zero. However,
this results in excessively low torque being continuously
transmitted to the driven-side member for a long time
period. Thus, the rider can perceive that the vehicle
decelerates excessively.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is made in view of the
foregoing problems, and an object of the invention is to
provide a clutch controller, a method for controlling a
clutch, and a straddle-type vehicle which allow
appropriate torque to be transmitted to the downstream
side via the clutch and which prevent an engine speed
from excessively increasing or decreasing during engaging
operation of the clutch.
In order to solve the foregoing problems, the present
invention is directed to a clutch controller including:
an actuator for changing the degree of engagement between
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a drive-side member and a driven-side member of a clutch,
the members being located downstream of an engine in a
torque transmission path; an actual torque obtaining
section for obtaining torque transmitted from the drive-
side member to a downstream mechanism of the torque
transmission path as actual transmission torque, the
downstream mechanism including the driven-side member; a
request torque obtaining section for obtaining torque
determined based on rider's accelerator operation as
request transmission torque; an engine torque obtaining
section for obtaining torque outputted from the engine as
engine torque; and a control unit for performing a first
control under which the actuator is actuated based on a
difference between the actual transmission torque and the
request transmission torque, such that the actual
transmission torque approximates the request transmission
torque. The control unit determines whether or not the
engine operates in a predetermined operation range, and
depending on the determination result, performs a second
control under which the actuator is actuated such that
the actual transmission torque approximates the engine
torque, in place of the first control.
In addition, the present invention is directed to a
straddle-type vehicle including the clutch controller.
Further, the present invention is directed to a
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method of controlling a clutch including the steps of:
obtaining torque transmitted from a drive-side member of
the clutch to a downstream mechanism of a torque
transmission path as actual transmission torque, the
downstream mechanism including a driven-side member of
the clutch; obtaining torque determined based on rider's
accelerator operation as request transmission torque;
obtaining engine torque outputted from an engine;
performing a first control under which an actuator, which
changes the degree of engagement between the drive-side
member and the driven-side member, is actuated based on a
difference between the actual transmission torque and the
request transmission torque, such that the actual
transmission torque approximates the request transmission
torque; determining whether or not the engine operates in
a predetermined operation range; and performing a second
control under which the actuator is actuated such that
the actual transmission torque approximates the engine
torque, in place of the first control step, depending on
the result from the determination step.
The present invention allows appropriate torque to
be transmitted to the downstream side via the clutch
during engaging operation of the clutch. According to
the present invention, if the engine operates in the
predetermined operation range, the actual transmission
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torque approximates the engine torque. This prevents an
excessive increase or decrease in engine speed. That is,
if the actual transmission torque is higher than the
engine torque, the engine speed decreases, and if the
actual transmission torque is lower than the engine
torque, the engine speed increases. Also, for example,
if the engine operates in an operation range in which the
engine torque increases as the engine speed increases, an
increase or a decrease in engine speed due to a
difference between the actual transmission torque and the
engine torque causes the difference between the actual
transmission torque and the engine torque to be greater,
and therefore, the engine speed further increases or
decreases. According to the present invention, if the
engine operates in the predetermined operation range, the
actuator is actuated such that the actual transmission
torque approximates the engine torque. This prevents
such an excessive increase or decrease in engine speed.
The straddle-type vehicle may be a motorcycle (including
a scooter), a four-wheeled buggy or a snowmobile, for
example.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side view of a motorcycle provided with
a clutch controller according to an embodiment of the
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present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a mechanism provided
on a torque transmission path of the motorcycle;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a
configuration of the clutch controller;
FIG. 4 illustrates an operation range of an engine;
FIGs. 5(a) to 5(c) are time charts respectively
showing examples of changes in degree of engagement of a
clutch, target transmission torque Ttg, actual
transmission torque Tac, and EG torque TEac in the case
when the request follow-up control is performed;
FIG. 6 illustrates changes in engine speed and EG
torque TEac in the case when the request follow-up
control is performed;
FIG. 7 illustrates changes in engine speed and
engine torque in the case when the control is performed
such that the actual transmission torque approximates the
request transmission torque in the operation range in
which the engine torque (EG torque) increases as the
engine speed increases;
FIGs. 8(a) to 8(c) are time charts respectively
showing examples of changes in degree of engagement of
the clutch, target transmission torque Ttg, actual
transmission torque Tac, and EG torque TEac in the case
when the rotational speed maintaining control is
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performed;
FIG. 9 illustrates changes in engine speed and EG
torque TEac in the case when the rotational speed
maintaining control is performed;
FIGs. 10(a) to 10(c) are time charts respectively
showing examples of changes in degree of engagement of
the clutch, target transmission torque Ttg, actual
transmission torque Tac, and EG torque TEac in the case
when the rotational speed induction control is performed;
FIG. 11 illustrates changes in engine speed and EG
torque TEac in the case when the rotational speed
induction control is performed;
FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating the
processing functions of the control unit;
FIG. 13 is a graph showing an example of the
relationship between the request transmission torque Treq
and the accelerator displacement;
FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a range
determining table;
FIG. 15 illustrates an example of an EG torque
table;
FIG. 16 is a graph showing an example of the
relationship between the command actuation amount and the
torque deviation;
FIG. 17 is a graph showing another example of the
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relationship between the command actuation amount and the
torque deviation;
FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing an example of the
processing steps executed by the control unit; and
FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing another example of
the processing steps executed by the control unit.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
An embodiment of the present invention is described
below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side
view of a motorcycle 1 provided with a clutch controller
10 as an example of the embodiment of the invention. FIG
2 is a schematic view of a mechanism provided on a torque
transmission path of the motorcycle 1.
As shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, the motorcycle 1 is
provided not only with the clutch controller 10, but also
with an engine 30, a primary deceleration mechanism 36, a
clutch 40, a secondary deceleration mechanism 50, a front
wheel 2, and a rear wheel 3.
As shown in FIG. 1, the front wheel 2 is located at
a front part of a vehicle body, and supported by a lower
end of a front fork 4. Handlebars 5 are connected to the
top of the front fork 4. An acceleration grip 5a to be
gripped by a rider is mounted to the right end of the
handlebars 5. The acceleration grip 5a is connected to a
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throttle valve 37a provided in a throttle body 37 (see
FIG. 2). The throttle valve 37a is opened according to
rider's accelerator operation, and a certain amount of
air, which depends on the opening of the throttle valve
37a, is delivered to the engine 30. The motorcycle 1 may
be provided with an electronically-controlled throttle
device. In this case, a sensor for detecting the rider's
accelerator operation and an actuator for opening the
throttle valve 37a according to the accelerator operation
detected by the sensor are provided.
As shown in FIG. 2, the engine 30 has a cylinder 31,
a piston 32, an intake port 33, and a crankshaft 34. The
throttle body 37 is connected to the intake port 33 via
an intake pipe 35.
The throttle valve 37a is placed in an intake
passage of the throttle body 37. Mixture of air, which
flows through the intake passage of the throttle body 37,
and fuel, which is supplied from a fuel supplier (not
shown, for example, injector or carburetor), is delivered
to an interior of the cylinder 31. An ignition plug (not
shown) faces the interior of the cylinder 31 and ignites
the air-fuel mixture within the cylinder 31. Burning the
air-fuel mixture causes the piston 32 to reciprocate
within the cylinder 31. The reciprocating motion of the
piston 32 is converted into rotating motion by the
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crankshaft 34, thereby outputting torque from the engine
30.
The primary deceleration mechanism 36 includes: a
drive-side primary deceleration gear 36a, which operates
in conjunction with the crankshaft 34; and a driven-side
primary deceleration gear 36b, which meshes with the
primary deceleration gear 36a. The primary deceleration
mechanism 36 decelerates the rotation of the crankshaft
34 according to a gear ratio between these gears.
The clutch 40 transmits and shuts off torque output
from the engine 30 to the downstream side of the torque
transmission path. The clutch 40 is a friction clutch,
for example, and is provided with a drive-side member 41
and a driven-side member 42. The drive-side member 41
includes a friction disk, for example, and rotates
together with the primary deceleration gear 36b. The
driven-side member 42 includes a clutch disk, for example,
and rotates together with a main shaft 52. The drive-
side member 41 and the driven-side member 42 are pressed
against each other by elastic force of a clutch spring 44
at the time of engaging the clutch 40, so that the torque
of the engine 30 is transmitted from the drive-side
member 41 to the driven-side member 42. In turn, at the
time of disengaging the clutch 4 0, the driven-side member
42 is moved away from the drive-side member 41, so that
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torque transmission from the drive-side member 41 is
interrupted. The clutch controller 10 is provided with a
clutch actuator 14 as will be discussed later. The
clutch actuator 14 performs engaging operation of the
clutch 40 (switching from the disengaged state to the
engaged state) and disengaging operation thereof
(switching from the engaged state to the disengaged
state) .
The secondary deceleration mechanism 50 is designed
to decelerate the rotation of the main shaft 52 and
transmit the decelerated rotation to an axle 3a of the
rear wheel 3. The secondary deceleration mechanism 50 is
provided with a gearbox 51 and a transmission mechanism
57. The gearbox 51 is a mechanism to change deceleration
ratios, such as a constant-mesh gearbox and a selective-
sliding gearbox.
The gearbox 51 has on the main shaft 52 plural
shift gears 53a (for example, first-speed gear, second-
speed gear, third/fourth-speed gear) and shift gears 53b
(for example, fifth-speed gear and six-speed gear). Also,
the gearbox 51 has on the countershaft 55 plural shift
gears 54a (for example, first-speed gear, second-speed
gear, third/fourth-speed gear) and shift gears 54b (for
example, fifth-speed gear and six-speed gear). The shift
gears 53a are spline-connected to the main shaft 52 and
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operates in conjunction with the main shaft 52. The
shift gears 54a are provided such that they run idle to
the countershaft 55, and mesh with the shift gears 53a,
respectively. The shift gears 53b are provided such that
they run idle to the main shaft 52. The shift gears 54b
mesh with the corresponding shift gears 53b respectively,
while being spline-connected to the countershaft 55 to
operate in conjunction with the countershaft 55.
The gearbox 51 is also provided with a gearshift
mechanism 56. The gearshift mechanism 56 includes a
shift fork and a shift drum, for example, and selectively
moves the shift gears 53a, 53b, 54a, 54b in the axial
direction of the main shaft 52 or the countershaft 55.
Then, the gearshift mechanism 56 causes the shift gears
53b, 54a, which are provided to turn free to the
corresponding shafts, to connect with the adjacent shift
gears 53a, 54b, which operate in conjunction with the
corresponding shafts. This changes the shift gears 53a,
54b, 54a, 54b to transmit torque from the main shaft 52
to the countershaft 55. The gearshift mechanism 56 is
actuated by receiving power from a shift actuator 16 to
be discussed later.
The transmission mechanism 57 is designed to
decelerate the rotation of the countershaft 55 and
transmit the decelerated rotation to the axle 3a of the
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rear wheel 3. In this example, the transmission
mechanism 57 includes: a drive-side member 57a (for
example, drive-side sprocket), which operates in
conjunction with the countershaft 55; a driven-side
member 57b (for example, driven-side sprocket), which
operates in conjunction with the axle 3a; and a
transmission member 57c (for example, chain), which
transmits torque from the drive-side member 57a to the
driven-side member 57b.
Torque outputted from the engine 30 is transmitted
to the drive-side member 41 of the clutch 40 via the
primary deceleration mechanism 36. The torque
transmitted to the drive-side member 41 is transmitted to
the axle 3a of the rear wheel 3 via the driven-side
member 42, the gearbox 51, and the transmission mechanism
57, in the case that the clutch 40 is engaged or the
drive-side member 41 and the driven-side member 42
contact each other, that is, the clutch 40 is in a half-
clutch state.
Now, a configuration of the clutch controller 10 is
described. The motorcycle 1 is a semi-automatic vehicle
which changes the shift gears of the gearbox 51 without
the need for the rider to operate the clutch. The clutch
controller 10 controls the degree of engagement of the
clutch 40 (relative positions of the drive-side member 41
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and the driven-side member 42) , and changes the shift
gears 53a, 53a, 54a, 54b. FIG. 3 is a block diagram
illustrating a configuration of the clutch controller 10.
As shown in FIG. 3, the clutch controller 10 is provided
with a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, a clutch
actuator drive circuit 13, a clutch actuator 14, a shift
actuator drive circuit 15, a shift actuator 16, an
accelerator operation detector 17, an engine speed
detector 18, a vehicle speed detector 19, a gear position
detector 21, a clutch position detector 22, and clutch
rotational speed detectors 23a, 23b. The control unit 11
is connected to a shift-up switch 9a and a shift-down
switch 9b.
The control unit 11 includes a central processing
unit (CPU) and operates in accordance with programs
stored in the storage unit 12. Specifically, the control
unit 11 changes the shift gears 53a, 53a, 54a, 54b of the
gearbox 51 according to the rider's gearshift operation
(in this example, switching the shift-up switch 9a or the
shift-down switch 9b ON), while controlling the degree of
engagement of the clutch 40 during engaging operation
thereof. The processing executed by the control unit 11
will be discussed in detail later.
The storage unit 12 includes a nonvolatile memory
and a volatile memory. The storage unit 12 stores in
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advance programs executed by the control unit 11 and
tables or expressions used for the processing in the
control unit 11. These tables and expressions will be
discussed in details later.
The clutch actuator drive circuit 13 supplies drive
voltage or drive current the clutch actuator 14 in
accordance with a control signal inputted from the
control unit 11. The clutch actuator 14 includes, for
example, a motor and a power transmission mechanism (such
as hydraulic path and wire) , and is driven by receiving
the electric power supplied by the clutch actuator drive
circuit 13. In this example, the clutch actuator 14
presses a push rod 43 or releases the pressed push rod 43.
When the push rod 43 is pressed by the clutch actuator 14,
it moves the drive-side member 41 and the driven-side
member 42 away from each other against the elastic force
of the clutch spring 44, so that the clutch 40 is
disengaged. In contrast, when the pressed push rod 43 is
released by the clutch actuator 14, it returns to its
original position (the position at the time when the
clutch 40 is engaged) using the elastic force of the
clutch spring 44. Thus, the drive-side member 41 and the
driven-side member 42 approach each other, so that the
clutch 40 is engaged. In addition, the clutch actuator
14 puts the clutch 40 to be in a half-clutch state during
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engaging operation of the clutch 40. When the clutch 40
is in a half-clutch state, only part of torque of the
engine 30 is transmitted from the drive-side member 41 to
the driven-side member 42.
The shift actuator drive circuit 15 supplies drive
voltage or drive current to the shift actuator 16 in
accordance with a control signal inputted from the
control unit 11. The shift actuator 16 includes, for
example, a motor and a power transmission mechanism (such
as hydraulic path and wire) , and is driven by receiving
the electric power supplied from the shift actuator drive
circuit 15. The shift actuator 16 actuates the gearshift
mechanism 56 to change the shift gears 53a, 53b, 54a, 54b
to transmit torque from the main shaft 52 to the
countershaft 55, in order to change the deceleration
ratios.
The accelerator operation detector 17 is designed
to detect an amount of the accelerator operation by the
rider (hereinafter referred to as accelerator
displacement) . Examples of the accelerator operation
detector 17 are a throttle position sensor for detecting
a throttle opening and an accelerator position sensor
mounted to the accelerator grip 5a to detect a rotation
angle of the accelerator grip 5a. Based on the signal
outputted from the accelerator operation detector 17, the
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control unit 11 detects the accelerator displacement by
the rider.
The engine speed detector 18 is designed to detect
a rotational speed of the engine 30 (hereinafter referred
to as engine speed). Example of the engine speed
detector 18 are a crank angle sensor for outputting a
pulse signal with a frequency according to the rotational
speed of the crankshaft 43 or the primary deceleration
gears 36a, 36b and a tachogenerator for outputting a
voltage signal according to the rotational speed thereof.
The control unit 11 calculates the engine speed based on
the signal inputted from the engine speed detector 18.
The vehicle speed detector 19 is designed to detect
a vehicle speed and outputs a signal to the control unit
11 according to, for example, the rotational speed of the
axle 3a of the rear wheel 3 or that of the countershaft
55. The control unit 11 calculates the vehicle speed
based on the signal. The vehicle speed detector 19 may
output a signal to the control unit 11 according to the
rotational speed of the main shaft 52. In this case, the
control unit 11 calculates the vehicle speed not only
based on the input signal, but also based on the
deceleration ratio of the gearbox 51 and that of the
transmission mechanism 57.
The gear position detector 21 is designed to detect
17

positions of the shift gears 53a, 53b, 54a, 54b provided
movably in the axial direction of the countershaft 55 or
the main shaft 52. An example of the gear position
detector 21 is a potentiometer mounted to the gearshift
mechanism 56 or the shift actuator 16. The gear position
detector 21 outputs a signal to the control unit 11
according to the positions of the shift gears 53a, 53b,
54a, 54b. Based on the input signal, the control unit 11
detects that movements of the shift gears 53a, 53b, 54a,
54b, which are associated with the gear shifting, have
been completed.
The clutch position detector 22 is designed to
detect the degree of engagement of the clutch 40.
Examples of the clutch position detector 22 are a
potentiometer for outputting a signal according to the
position of the push rod 43 and a potentiometer for
outputting a signal according to the position or the
rotation angle of the output shaft of the clutch actuator
14. Based on the signal inputted from the clutch
position detector 22, the control unit 11 detects the
degree of engagement of the clutch 40.
The clutch rotational speed detector 23a is
designed to detect the rotational speed of the drive-side
member 41 (hereinafter referred to as rotational speed of
the drive-side member 41). Examples of the clutch
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rotational speed detector 23a are a rotary encoder for
outputting a pulse signal with a frequency according to
the rotational speed of the drive-side member 41 and a
tachogenerator for outputting a voltage signal according
to the rotational speed of the drive-side member 41. In
turn, the clutch rotational speed detector 23b is
designed to detect the rotational speed of the driven-
side member 42 (hereinafter referred to as rotational
speed of the driven-side member 42). Examples of the
clutch rotational speed detector 23b are a rotary encoder
and a tachogenerator, as described for the clutch
rotational speed detector 23a.
The shift-up switch 9a and the shift-down switch 9b
are designed for the rider to provide instructions to
change the shift gears 53a, 53b, 54a, 54b to the clutch
controller 11. These switches 9a, 9b output a signal to
the control unit 11 according to the gear shift
instructions. The control unit 11 actuates the shift
actuator 16 according to the input signal to change the
shift gears 53a, 53b, 54a, 54b to transmit torque from
the main shaft 52 to the countershaft 55. The shift-up
switch 9a and the shift-down switch 9b are provided
adjacent to the accelerator grip 5a, for example.
Now, description is made of the processing executed
by the control unit 11. The control unit 11 obtains
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torque Tac transmitted from the drive-side member 41 to
the downstream mechanism (such as the driven-side member
42, or the countershaft 55 and the axle 3a located
downstream of the driven-side member 42) in the torque
transmission path including the driven-side member 42
(hereinafter the torque is referred to as actual
transmission torque). In addition, the control unit 11
obtains torque Treq, which is requested by the rider,
according to the accelerator displacement detected by the
accelerator operation detector 17 (hereinafter the torque
is referred to as request transmission torque). Further,
the control unit 11 obtains torque Ttg which is supposed
to be transmitted from the drive-side member 41 to the
downstream mechanism (hereinafter the torque is referred
target transmission torque). Then, in an operation range
in which the torque outputted from the engine 30
decreases as the engine speed increases (hereinafter the
operation range is referred to as torque-decreasing
operation range), the control unit 11 sets the target
transmission torque Ttg at the request transmission
torque Treq, and actuates the clutch actuator 14
according a difference between the actual transmission
torque Tac and the target transmission torque Ttg, such
that Tac approximates Ttg (hereinafter this control is
referred to as request follow-up control (first control)).
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First, the operation range of the engine 30 is
described. FIG. 4 is a graph illustrating the operation
range of the engine 30. In FIG. 4, the horizontal axis
represents engine speed, and the vertical axis represents
torque TEac produced by the engine 30 (hereinafter
referred to as EG torque). The graph illustrates torque
curves LI to L3 representing output characteristics of
the engine 30. The torque curve LI shows the
relationship between the engine speed and the EG torque
TEac, if the accelerator displacement is large or the
accelerator grip 5a is operated greatly. In turn, the
torque curve L3 shows the relationship between the engine
speed and the EG torque TEac, if the accelerator
displacement is small. The torque curve L2 shows the
relationship between the engine speed and the EG torque
TEac, if the accelerator displacement is moderate.
If the accelerator displacement is large, the
torque curve LI shows the maximum EG torque TEac at the
engine speed of a value Rpeak. In the operation range in
which the engine speed is lower than the value Rpeak, the
EG torque TEac increases as the engine speed increases.
In contrast, in the operation range in which the engine
speed is higher than the value Rpeak, the EG torque TEac
decreases as the engine speed increases. In turn, in the
operation range in which the accelerator displacement is
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small and in the operation range in which the accelerator
displacement is moderate, the torque curves L2 and L3
show at any engine speed that the engine torque TEac
decreases as the engine speed increases.
Now, overview of the request follow-up control is
described. FIG. 5(a) to 5(c) illustrate the overview of
the request follow-up control, and are time charts
respectively showing examples of changes in degree of
engagement of the clutch 40, target transmission torque
Ttg, actual transmission torque Tac, and EG torque TEac
in the case the request follow-up control is performed in
the torque-decreasing operation range. FIG. 5(a) shows
the degree of engagement of the clutch 40. FIG. 5(b)
shows the target transmission torque Ttg. FIG. 5(c)
shows the actual transmission torque Tac and the EG
torque TEac. FIG. 6 illustrates changes in engine speed
and EG torque TEac in the case when the request follow-up
control is performed in the torque-decreasing operation
range. In FIG. 6, the horizontal axis represents engine
speed, and the vertical axis represents EG torque. In
addition, a line L2 shown in FIG. 6 is a torque curve in
the case of the aforementioned medium accelerator
displacement. FIG. 6 shows the EG torque TEac obtained
at the point in time immediately before the time t2 in
FIG. 5, and so forth. Hereinafter, the EG torque TEac is
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described as a value obtained by multiplying the torque
on the drive-side member 41 or the torque outputted from
the engine 30 by the gear ratio of the primary
deceleration mechanism 36 (the number of teeth of the
driven-side primary deceleration gear 36b / the number of
teeth of the drive-side primary deceleration gear 36a) .
In turn, the actual transmission torque Tac is described
as torque transmitted to the driven-side member 42 in the
mechanism downstream of the drive-side member 41.
At tl, when the rider operates the accelerator grip
5a and thus the start-up conditions, to be discussed
later, are satisfied, the control unit 11 sets the target
transmission torque Ttg as the request transmission
torque Treq, which is determined according to the
accelerator displacement by the rider, as shown in FIG.
5(b). As shown in FIG. 5(c), at this time when the
accelerator grip 5a is operated, the EG torque TEac
increases. After that, as shown in FIGs. 5(a) and 5(c),
the control unit 11 actuates the clutch actuator 14
according to the difference between the target
transmission torque Ttg and the actual transmission
torque Tac in order to gradually enhance the degree of
engagement of the clutch 40. Thereby, the control unit
11 allows the actual transmission torque Tac to
approximate the target transmission torque Ttg (the
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request transmission torque Treq under this control).
Then, at t2, the actual transmission torque Tac reaches
the target transmission torque Ttg. After that, because
the difference between the actual transmission torque Tac
and the target transmission torque Ttg is almost
eliminated, the control unit 11 keeps the degree of
engagement of the clutch 40 approximately constant.
After that, at t3, when the difference between the
rotational speed of the drive-side member 41 and the
rotational speed of the driven-side member 42
(hereinafter referred to as clutch rotational speed
difference) falls below a predetermined value
(hereinafter referred to as rotational speed difference
for discontinuing half-clutch (for example, a value 0 or
a value close to 0)), the control unit 11 allows the
clutch 40 to be completely engaged.
As shown in FIG. 5 (c), generally there is a
difference between the EG torque TEac and the actual
transmission torque Tac when the clutch 40 is in a half-
clutch state. If the EG torque TEac is higher than the
actual transmission torque Tac, the difference
therebetween contributes to an increase in engine speed;
therefore, the engine speed increases at a rate according
to the difference. Thus, as shown in FIG. 5(c), when the
EG torque TEac increases at tl and becomes higher than
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the actual transmission torque Tac, the engine speed
increases. Then, as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 5(c), the
EG torque TEac outputted from the engine 30 decreases as
the engine speed increases. Then, as shown in FIG. 5(c),
at t3, the EG torque TEac corresponds with the actual
transmission torque Tac that has already reached the
target transmission torque Ttg. In other words, the EG
torque TEac, the actual transmission torque Tac, and the
request transmission torque Treq correspond with each
other. Up to this point, the discussion has been made
with its focus on the overview of the request follow-up
control and the changes in degree of engagement of the
clutch 40 and so forth with respect to time in the case
when the request follow-up control is performed.
If the EG torque TEac is lower than the actual
transmission torque Tac, torque produced by the inertia
of the internal mechanism of the engine 30 such as the
crankshaft 34 (hereinafter referred to as inertia torque
TIac) is transmitted as part of the actual transmission
torque Tac via the clutch 40. Therefore, the engine
speed decreases. Thus, under this control, when the EG
torque TEac falls below the actual transmission torque
Tac, the engine speed switches from increasing to
decreasing, and the EG torque TEac thus starts increasing,
thereby approaching the actual transmission torque Tac.
25

Consequently, in this operation range, when the control
is performed such that the actual transmission torque Tac
approximates the target transmission torque Ttg, which is
set at the request transmission torque Treq, the engine
speed converges to an engine speed Rreq at which torque
equal to the request transmission torque Treq is
outputted as the EG torque TEac (hereinafter the engine
speed is referred to as request torque rotational speed)
(see FIG. 6).
However, as under the request follow-up control
described above, the target transmission torque Ttg is
set on the request transmission torque Treq, and the
clutch actuator 14 is actuated according to the
difference between the target transmission torque Ttg and
the actual transmission torque Tac, such control,
depending on the operation range of the engine 30, can
cause the engine speed to continue to increase or
decrease without converging to a constant value or can
require a long time period for the engine speed to
converge to a constant value. For example, the engine
speed continues to increase or decrease in the operation
range in which the EG torque TEac increases, following
the increase in the engine speed (in the example of FIG.
4, this operation range is shown in a part of the torque
curve LI where the engine speed is lower than the value
26

Rpeak, and is hereinafter referred to as torque-
increasing operation range) . The reasons for this event
are described below.
FIG. 7 illustrates changes in engine speed in the
case when the aforementioned control is performed in the
torque-increasing operation range. In FIG. 7, the
horizontal axis represents engine speed, and the vertical
axis represents EG torque TEac. The LI in FIG. 7 is a
part of the torque curve LI shown in FIG. 4, where the
engine speed is lower than Rpeak. Also, in FIG. 7, the
point El represents the EG torque TEac that is higher
than the actual transmission torque Tac, and the point E2
represents the EG torque TEac that is lower than the
actual transmission torque Tac.
As described above, if the EG torque TEac is higher
than the actual transmission torque Tac, the engine speed
increases. Thus, in this case, as shown the point El in
FIG. 7, the EG torque TEac further deviates from the
actual transmission torque Tac as the engine speed
increases so that the engine speed continues to increase.
Also as described above, if the EG torque TEac is lower
than the actual transmission torque Tac, the engine speed
decreases. Thus, in this case, as shown the point E2 in
FIG. 7, the EG torque TEac further deviates from the
actual transmission torque Tac as the engine speed
27

decreases so that the engine speed continues to decrease.
Thus, in the case where the clutch 40 is controlled such
that the actual transmission torque Tac approximates the
request transmission torque Treq in the torque-increasing
operation range, the engine speed could become
excessively high or low without converging to the request
torque rotational speed Rreq in this operation range,
even if the actual transmission torque Tac has reached
the request transmission torque Treq.
Therefore, in the torque-increasing operation range,
the control unit 11 performs to prevent the engine speed
from excessively increasing or decreasing, instead of the
request follow-up control. Specifically, if the EG
torque TEac is higher than the request transmission
torque Treq, the control unit 11 actuates the clutch
actuator 14 such that the actual transmission torque Tac
approximates the EG torque TEac (hereinafter this control
is referred to as rotational speed maintaining control
(the second control)). For example, under the rotational
speed maintaining control, the control unit 11 sets the
target transmission torque Ttg at the EG torque TEac and
actuates the clutch actuator 14 according to the
difference between the target transmission torque Ttg and
the actual transmission torque Tac, such that Tac
approximates Ttg.
28

FIGs. 8(a) to 8(c) are time charts respectively
showing examples of changes in degree of engagement of
the clutch 40, target transmission torque Ttg, actual
transmission torque Tac, and of EG torque TEac when the
rotational speed maintaining control is performed. FIG.
8(a) shows the degree of engagement of the clutch 40.
FIG. 8(b) shows the target transmission torque Ttg. FIG.
8 (c) shows the actual transmission torque Tac and the EG
torque TEac. In FIG. 8(b), the request transmission
torque Treq is shown by a broken line. FIG. 9
illustrates changes in engine speed and EG torque TEac
when the rotational speed maintaining control is
performed. In FIG. 9, the horizontal axis represents
engine speed, and the vertical axis represents EG torque.
The Ll in FIG. 9 is a part of the torque curve LI shown
in FIG. 4, where the engine speed is lower than Rpeak.
FIG. 9 shows the EG torque TEac at the point immediately
before t2 in FIG. 8, and so forth.
At tl, when the rider operates the accelerator grip
5a, and thus, the vehicle start-up conditions are
satisfied, the EG torque TEac increases as shown in FIG.
8 (c) . Then, if the EG torque TEac exceeds the request
transmission torque Treq determined according to the
accelerator displacement, the control unit 11 sets the
target transmission torque Ttg not at the request
29

transmission torque Treq but at the EG torque TEac, as
shown in FIG. 8(b). After that, as shown in FIGs. 8(a)
and 8(c), the control unit 11 actuates the clutch
actuator 14 according to the difference between the
target transmission torque Ttg (EG torque TEac in this
example) and the actual transmission torque Tac in order
to gradually enhance the degree of engagement of the
clutch 40. Thereby, the control unit 11 allows the
actual transmission torque Tac to approximate the EG
torque TEac. Consequently, as shown in FIG. 8(c), the
actual transmission torque Tac reaches the EG torque TEac
at t2. After that, at t3, when the clutch rotational
speed difference falls below the rotational speed
difference for discontinuing half-clutch, the control
unit 11 allows the clutch 40 to be completely engaged.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 8 (c) , the EG torque
TEac increases at tl and is thus higher than the actual
transmission torque Tac. Therefore, the engine speed
keeps increasing from tl onwards. Then, as shown in FIG.
9 and FIG. 8(c), in the torque-increasing operation range,
the EG torque TEac increases as the engine speed
increases. However, control by the control unit 11
allows the difference between the actual transmission
torque Tac and the EG torque TEac to be eliminated at the
30

point (t2) where the actual transmission torque Tac
reaches the target transmission torque Ttg, and thus, the
engine speed stops increasing. Up to this point, the
discussion has focused on the overview of the rotational
speed maintaining control.
Now, description is made of the control to be
performed if the engine 30 operates in the torque-
increasing operation range, and if the EG torque TEac is
lower than the request transmission torque Treq. In this
case, the control unit 11 actuates the clutch actuator 14
such that the engine speed increases to a predetermined
engine speed (hereinafter this control is referred to as
rotational speed induction control). Specifically, the
control unit 11 actuates the clutch actuator 14 such that
the engine speed increases or decreases to an engine
speed determined according to the request transmission
torque Treq. For example, the control unit 11 sets the
target transmission torque Ttg such that either one of
the target transmission torque Ttg and the request
transmission torque Treq is higher than the EG torque
TEac while the other is lower than the EG torque TEac.
More specifically, if the EG torque TEac is lower than
the request transmission torque Treq, the control unit 11
sets the target transmission torque Ttg at a value lower
than the EG torque TEac. In addition, the control unit
31

11 allows the target transmission torque Ttg to gradually-
approximate the request transmission torque Treq during
engaging operation of the clutch 40.
FIGs. 10(a) to 10(c) are time charts respectively-
showing examples of changes in degree of engagement of
the clutch 40, target transmission torque Ttg, request
transmission torque Treq, EG torque TEac, and actual
transmission torque Tac in the case when the rotational
speed induction control is performed. FIG. 10(a) shows
the degree of engagement of the clutch 40. FIG. 10(b)
shows the target transmission torque Ttg, the request
transmission torque Treq and the EG torque TEac. FIG.
10(c) shows the actual transmission torque Tac and the EG
torque TEac. FIG. 11 is a graph illustrating changes in
engine speed and EG torque in the case when the
rotational speed induction control is performed. In FIG.
11, the horizontal axis represents engine speed, and the
vertical axis represents EG torque. The Ll in FIG. 11 is
a part of the torque curve Ll shown in FIG. 4, where the
engine speed is lower than Rpeak. In addition, FIG. 11
shows the EG torque TEac and so forth from t2 onwards in
FIGs. 10(a) to 10 (c) .
At tl, when the rider operates the accelerator grip
5a and thus the vehicle start-up conditions are satisfied,
the EG torque TEac increases as shown in FIG. 10(c).
32

Then, as shown in FIG. 10(b), unless the EG torque TEac
exceeds the request transmission torque Treq determined
according to the accelerator displacement, the control
unit 11 performs the rotational speed induction control.
Specifically, the control unit 11 sets the target
transmission torque Ttg at a value lower than the EG
torque TEac. Then, the control unit 11 actuates the
clutch actuator 14 according to the difference between
the target transmission torque Ttg and the actual
transmission torque Tac. Thereby, as shown in FIGs.
10(a) and 10(c), the control unit 11 enhances the degree
of engagement of the clutch 40 gradually in order to
allow the actual transmission torque Tac to approximate
the target transmission torque T+g. Then, at t2, the
actual transmission torque Tac reaches the target
transmission torque Ttg.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 10(c), the EG torque
TEac increases at the time tl and becomes higher than the
actual transmission torque Tac, and thus, the engine
speed increases. Then, as shown in FIG. 11 and FIG.
10(c), in the torque-increasing operation range, the EG
torque TEac increases as the engine speed increases.
Under this control, the control unit 11 sets the target
transmission torque Ttg at a value lower than the EG
torque TEac, while gradually increasing the target
33

transmission torque Ttg to the request transmission
torque Treq. Thus, from t2 onwards, the actual
transmission torque Tac follows the target transmission
torque Ttg, approximating the request transmission torque
Treq. Consequently, as shown in FIG. 10(b), at t3, the
request transmission torque Treq, the target transmission
torque Ttg, and the EG torque TEac are equal to each
other, and thus the difference is eliminated between the
actual transmission torque Tac and the EG torque TEac.
Thereby, the engine speed converges to an engine speed
that is determined according to the request transmission
torque Treq (in this example, engine speed Rreq at which
the EG torque TEac equals to the request transmission
torque is outputted) . Up to this point, the discussion
has focused on the overview of the rotational speed
induction control.
The processing executed by the control unit 11 is
discussed in detail. FIG. 12 is a block diagram
illustrating the processing functions of the control unit
11. As shown in FIG. 12, the control unit 11 includes an
EG torque obtaining section 11a, an actual torque
obtaining section lib, a request torque obtaining section
lid, a range determining section lie, a target torque
setting section llf, a clutch actuator control section
llg, and a shift actuator control section llh. The
34

actual torque obtaining section lib includes an inertia
torque obtaining section lie.
Description is first made of the processing
executed by the EG torque obtaining section 11a. The EG
torque obtaining section 11a executes the processing for
obtaining the EG torque TEac currently outputted from the
engine 30. For example, the storage unit 12 stores in
advance a table that establishes the correspondence
between the EG torque TEac, and the engine speed and the
accelerator displacement (hereinafter the table is
referred to as EG torque table). Then, the EG torque
obtaining section 11a detects the accelerator
displacement based on the signal inputted from the
accelerator operation detector 17, while detecting the
engine speed based on the signal inputted from the engine
speed detector 18. Then, the EG torque obtaining section
11a refers to the EG torque table to obtain the EG torque
TEac that corresponds to the detected accelerator
displacement and engine speed. As mentioned above, the
EG torque TEac is defined herein as a value obtained by
multiplying the torque outputted from the engine 30 by
the gear ratio of the primary deceleration mechanism 36.
In place of the EG torque table, the storage unit
12 may store in advance an expression that represents the
relationship between the engine speed, the accelerator
35

displacement and the EG torque TEac (hereinafter the
expression is referred to as EG torque relational
expression). In this case, the EG torque obtaining
section 11a substitutes the detected engine speed and
accelerator displacement into the EG torque relational
expression in order to calculate the current EG torque
TEac.
Alternatively, the EG torque obtaining section 11a
may obtain the EG torque TEac based on pressure of air
flowing through the interior of the intake pipe 35
(hereinafter the pressure is referred to as intake
pressure). For example, the storage unit 12 may store in
advance a table that establishes the correspondence
between the EG torque TEac, and the intake pressure and
the engine speed. In addition, a pressure sensor for
outputting a signal according to the intake pressure is
disposed in the intake pipe 35. In this case, the EG
torque obtaining section 11a detects the engine speed at
the time when the crank angle is a predetermined value
(for example, at the end of intake stroke), while
detecting the intake pressure based on the signal
inputted from the pressure sensor. Then, the EG torque
obtaining section 11a refers to the table stored in the
storage unit 12 to obtain the EG torque TEac that
corresponds to the detected intake pressure and engine
36

speed.
Now, description is made of the processing executed
by the actual torque obtaining section lib. The actual
torque obtaining section lib executes the processing for
obtaining the actual transmission torque Tac in a
predetermined cycle (for example, several milliseconds)
during engaging operation of the clutch 40. Specifically,
the actual torque obtaining section lib calculates the
actual transmission torque Tac based on the EG torque
TEac obtained by the EG torque obtaining section 11a and
based on the torque produced due to the inertia of the
mechanism (such as the crankshaft 34, the piston 32 and
the primary deceleration mechanism 36) located upstream
of the drive-side member 41 in the torque transmission
path (i.e. inertia torque TIac).
Description is first made of the processing for
obtaining the inertia torque TIac. The inertia torque
TIac is a value determined according to the variation in
engine speed Qe per unit time (d Q e / dt, hereinafter
referred to as rate-of-change of EG speed) . The storage
unit 12 stores in advance an expression that associates
the inertia torque TIac with the rate-of-change of EG
speed (dQe / dt) . Specifically, the storage unit 12
stores in advance an expression, in which the inertia
torque Tia is equal to a value (I x (dQe / dt)) obtained
37

by multiplying the inertial moment I on the mechanism
upstream of the drive-side member 41 by the rate-of-
change of EG speed (dQe / dt) . In this case, the inertia
torque obtaining section lie, included in the actual
torque obtaining section lib, calculates the rate-of-
change of EG speed (dQe / dt) based on the signal
inputted from the engine speed detector 18. Then, the
inertia torque obtaining section lie multiplies the rate-
of-change of EG speed (dQe / dt) by the inertial moment I,
and defines the multiplication result (I x (dQe / dt)) as
inertia torque TIac. The storage unit 12 may store in
advance a table that establishes the correspondence
between the rate-of-change of EG speed (dQe / dt) and the
inertia torque TIac. In this case, the inertia torque
obtaining section lie refers to the table to obtain the
inertia torque TIac that corresponds to the rate-of-
change of EG speed (dQe / dt) .
The actual torque obtaining section 11a assigns the
EG torque TEac and the inertia torque TIac, which are
obtained from the aforementioned processing, to the
expression that is stored in the storage unit 12 in
advance and represents the relationship between the EG
torque TEac, the inertia torque TIac and the actual
transmission torque Tac in order to calculate the actual
transmission torque Tac. For example, the actual torque
38

obtaining section lib assigns the inertia torque TIac and
the EG torque TEac to the following expression (1) , and
defines the obtained value as actual transmission torque
Tac.
Tac = TEac - Tiac (1)
The actual transmission torque Tac is described
herein as torque transmitted to the driven-side member 42.
However, for example, the actual torque obtaining section
lib may calculate torque transmitted to the countershaft
55 or the mechanism downstream of the countershaft 55 as
actual transmission torque Tac. In this case, the actual
torque obtaining section lib obtains torque by-
multiplying the value, which is obtained from the
aforementioned expression (1), by the deceleration ratio
of the gearbox 51 (the gear ratio of the shift gears
after shifted-up or shifted-down operation (after the
clutch 40 is completely engaged)) and by the deceleration
ratio of the transmission mechanism 57, and defines the
obtained torque as actual transmission torque Tac.
In addition, when the torque produced on the
mechanism upstream of the primary deceleration mechanism
36 is stored as EG torque TEac in the aforementioned EG
torque table, the actual torque obtaining section lib
multiplies the EG torque TEac, which is obtained from the
aforementioned processing, by the deceleration ratio of
39

the primary deceleration mechanism 36 (the number of
teeth of the driven-side primary deceleration gear 36b /
the number of teeth of the drive-side primary
deceleration gear 36a) in order to calculate the actual
transmission torque Tac.
The processing for calculating the actual
transmission torque Tac is not limited to the
aforementioned processes. For example, the storage unit
12 may store in advance a table or an expression that
establishes the correspondence between the actual
transmission torque Tac, and the engine speed, the
accelerator displacement and the rate-of-change of EG
speed. In this case, the actual torque obtaining section
lib uses the table or the expression to directly obtain
the actual transmission torque Tac from the engine speed,
the rate-of-change of EG speed and the accelerator
displacement.
Now, description is made of the processing executed
by the request torque obtaining section lid. The request
torque obtaining section lid executes the processing for
obtaining the request transmission torque Treq based on
the accelerator displacement detected by the accelerator
operation detector 17. For example, the storage unit 12
stores in advance a table that establishes the
correspondence between the accelerator displacement by
40

the rider and the request transmission torque Treq
(hereinafter the table is referred to as request torque
table). Then, the request torque obtaining section lid
refers to the request torque table to obtain the request
transmission torque Treq that corresponds to the
accelerator displacement detected by the accelerator
operation detector 17. Alternatively, the storage unit
12 may store an expression that represents the
relationship between the accelerator displacement and the
request transmission torque Treq. In this case, the
request torque obtaining section lid assigns the
accelerator displacement detected by the accelerator
operation detector 17 to the expression in order to
calculate the request transmission torque Treq.
FIG. 13 is a graph that indicates an example of the
relationship between the request transmission torque Treq
and the accelerator displacement. On the graph, the
horizontal axis represents accelerator displacement, and
the vertical axis represents request transmission torque
Treq. As shown in FIG. 13, as the accelerator
displacement becomes larger, the request transmission
torque Treq increases. In addition, in the example shown
in FIG. 13, when the accelerator displacement is 0, the
request transmission torque Treq is a negative value.
Now, description is made of the processing executed
41

by the range determining section lie. The range
determining section lie determines whether or not the
engine 30 operates in the torque-decreasing operation
range or in the torque-increasing operation range. The
range determining section lie executes this processing as
below, for example.
The storage unit 12 stores in advance an operation
range information correspondence table showing that each
operation range, which is specified by the accelerator
displacement and the engine speed, is either the torque-
increasing operation range or the information indicative
of the torque-decreasing operation range (hereinafter the
table is referred to as range determining table). FIG.
14 shows an example of the range determining table. The
range determining table stores the engine speed on the
top row and the accelerator displacement on the leftmost
column, both of which specify the operation range. In
addition, the range determining table stores, for each
operation range specified by the accelerator displacement
and the engine speed, the information indicating that the
operation range is either the torque-increasing operation
range or the torque-decreasing operation range. In FIG.
14, for example, in the operation range with 3000rpm
engine speed and 100% accelerator displacement, the
information indicating that this operation range is the
42

torque-increasing operation range ("increase" in FIG. 14)
is stored. In turn, in the operation range with 9000rpm
engine speed and 5% accelerator displacement, the
information indicating that this operation range is the
torque-decreasing operation range ("decrease" in FIG. 14)
is stored. In the case where the storage unit 12 stores
such a range determining table, the range determining
section lie refers to the range determining table to
determine whether the operation range that corresponds to
the accelerator displacement and the engine speed
detected by the respective detectors is the torque-
increasing operation range or the torque-decreasing
operation range. Alternatively, before or during the
engaging operation of the clutch 40, the range
determining section lie may estimate whether or not the
EG torque TEac approximates the request transmission
torque Treq in the case where the aforementioned request
follow-up control is performed, and determine the current
operation range based on the estimation result.
Specifically, if the EG torque TEac is estimated to
approximate the request transmission torque Treq, the
range determining section lie determines that the current
operation range is the torque-decreasing operation range.
In contrast, if the EG torque TEac is estimated to
deviate from the request transmission torque Treq, the
43

range determining section lie determines that the current
operation range is the torque-increasing operation range.
This processing is executed as follows, for example.
The range determining section lie refers to the EG
torque table to obtain the engine speed, at which the
torque that equals to the request transmission torque is
outputted as the EG torque TEac, that is, the request
torque rotational speed Rreq. FIG. 15 shows an example
of the EG torque table. In this table, the engine speed
is listed on the top row and the accelerator displacement
is listed in the leftmost column. The table also
establishes the correspondence between each engine speed
and accelerator displacement, and the EG torque TEac. In
the case where the storage unit 12 stores such an EG
torque table and for example, the accelerator
displacement is 75% and the request transmission torque
Treq is 1.00, the range determining section lie refers to
this EG Torque table and obtains the request torque
rotational speed Rreq of 6050rpm.
In addition, the range determining section lie
estimates the tendency of changes in the engine speed
when the request follow-up control is performed.
Specifically, if the request transmission torque Treq is
higher than the EG torque TEac, the actual transmission
torque Tac made higher than the EG torque TEac
44

accordingly by the request follow-up control. Therefore,
the range determining section lie estimates that the
engine speed decreases. In contrast, if the request
transmission torque Treq is lower than the EG torque .TEac,
the range determining section lie estimates that the
engine speed increases under the request follow-up
control.
Then, if the current engine speed increases or
decreases as estimated, the range determining section lie
determines whether or not the current engine speed
approximates the request torque rotational speed Rreq.
For example, if the current engine speed is 5000rpm and
is estimated to increase, this engine speed approximates
the request torque rotational speed Rreq (6050rpm in the
aforementioned example) (see FIG. 15). In this case,
because the EG torque TEac also approximates the request
transmission torque Treq (1.00 in the aforementioned
example) accordingly, the range determining section lie
determines that the engine 30 currently operates in the
torque-decreasing operation range. In contrast, if the
engine speed is estimated to decrease, the engine speed
deviates from the request torque rotational speed Rreq
(6050rpm in the aforementioned example), and accordingly,
the EG torque TEac deviates from the request transmission
torque Treq (see FIG. 15) . In this case, the range
45

determining section lie determines that the engine 30
operates in the torque-increasing operation range.
Now, description is made of the target torque
setting section llf. The target torque setting section
llf sets the target transmission torque according to the
determination result made by the range determination
section lie. Specifically, if the engine 30 operates in
the torque-decreasing operation range, the target torque
setting section llf regards the request transmission
torque Treq obtained by the processing of the request
torque obtaining section lid as the target transmission
torque Ttg.
In turn, if the engine 30 operates in the torque-
increasing operation range, the target torque setting
section llf sets the target transmission torque Ttg
depending on a positive or negative value of the
difference between the EG torque TEac and the request
transmission torque Treq. Specifically, if the EG torque
TEac is higher than the request transmission torque Treq,
the target torque setting section llf sets the target
transmission torque Ttg as the EG torque TEac.
In contrast, if the EG torque TEac is lower than
the request transmission torque Treq, the target torque
setting section llf sets a value lower than the EG torque
Teac as the target transmission torque Ttg. In addition,
46

the target torque setting section llf gradually reduces
the difference between the target transmission torque Ttg
and the request transmission torque Treq during engaging
operation of the clutch 40. Specifically, the target
torque setting section llf determines the difference
between the target transmission torque Ttg and the EG
torque TEac according to that between the EG torque TEac
and the request transmission torque Treq. For example,
the target torque setting section llf calculates the
target transmission torque Ttg by assigning the EG torque
TEac, which is obtained by the processing of the EG
torque obtaining section 11a, and the request
transmission torque Treq, which is obtained by the
processing of the request torque obtaining section lid,
to the following expression (2) stored in the storage
unit 12 in advance.
Ttg = TEac - (Treq - TEac)(2)
When the target transmission torque Ttg is set in
this manner, the target transmission torque Ttg
approximates the request transmission torque Treq
gradually during engaging operation of the clutch 40. In
other words, as described by referring to FIGs. 10(a) to
10(c) and 11, the actual transmission torque Tac reaches
the target transmission torque Ttg during engaging
operation of the clutch 40. Therefore, when the target
47

transmission torque Ttg is lower than the EG torque TEac,
the actual transmission torque Tac also turns out to be
lower than the EG torque TEac. Thus, the engine speed
increases. In the torque-increasing operation range, the
EG torque TEac increases as the engine speed increases.
Thus, the difference between the EG torque TEac and the
request transmission torque Treq is gradually reduced
during engaging operation of the clutch 40; therefore,
the target transmission torque Ttg also gradually
approximates the request transmission torque Treq.
The processing executed by the target torque
setting section llf is not limited to this. For example,
a maximum value ATmax of the difference between the EG
torque TEac and the target transmission torque Ttg may be
given. Thus, if the difference between the request
transmission torque Treq and the EG torque TEac exceeds
the maximum value ATmax, the target torque setting
section llf does not necessarily set the target
transmission torque Ttg by assigning the EG torque TEac
and the request transmission torque Treq to the
expression (2). Alternatively, the target torque setting
section llf may set a value obtained by subtracting the
maximum value ATmax from the EG torque TEac (TEac
ATmax) as the target transmission torque Ttg.
Now, description is made of the processing executed
48

by the clutch actuator control section llg. During
engaging operation of the clutch 40, the clutch actuator
control section llg actuates the clutch actuator 14 in a
predetermined cycle based on the difference between the
actual transmission torque Tac and the target
transmission torque Ttg (hereinafter referred to as
torque deviation). Specifically, the clutch actuator
control section llg actuates the clutch actuator 14 by an
amount according to the torque deviation to allow the
actual transmission torque Tac to approximate the target
transmission torque Ttg. The clutch actuator control
section llg executes the following processing, for
example.
The storage unit 12 stores in advance an expression
that represents the relationship between the torque
deviation (Ttg - Tac) and the amount by which the clutch
actuator 14 is actuated (hereinafter the amount is
referred to as command actuation amount) (hereinafter the
expression is referred to as actuation amount relational
expression). The clutch actuator control section llg
calculates the torque deviation (Ttg - Tac) in a
predetermined cycle during engaging operation of the
clutch 40. Then, the clutch actuator control section llg
substitutes the torque deviation (Ttg - Tac) into the
actuation amount relational expression in order to
49

calculate the command actuation amount, and outputs a
control signal to the clutch actuator drive circuit 13
according to the calculated command actuation amount.
The clutch actuator drive circuit 13 outputs electric
power to drive the clutch actuator 14 according to the
control signal.
FIG. 16 is a graph showing the relationship between
the torque deviation (Ttg - Tac) and the command
actuation amount obtained from the actuation amount
relational expression. In an example shown in FIG. 16,
the actuation amount relational expression is established
such that if the torque deviation (Ttg - Tac) is positive,
the clutch actuator 14 is actuated in the direction to
engage the clutch 40. In turn, the actuation amount
relational expression is established such that if the
torque deviation (Ttg - Tac) is negative, the clutch
actuator 14 is actuated in the direction to disengage the
clutch 40. In addition, the actuation amount relational
expression is established such that the command actuation
amount increases in proportion to the torque deviation
(Ttg - Tac).
The storage unit 12 stores the actuation amount
relational expressions; the one expression is to actuate
the clutch actuator 14 in the direction to engage the
clutch 40 when the torque deviation (Ttg - Tac) is
50

positive as shown in FIG. 16 (hereinafter the expression
is referred to as engagement actuation amount relational
expression) and the other expression is to actuate the
clutch actuator 14 in the opposite direction from or the
direction to disengage the clutch 40 (hereinafter the
expression is referred to as disengagement actuation
amount relational expression). FIG. 17 is a graph
showing the relationship between the torque deviation
(Ttg - Tac) and the command actuation amount obtained
from the disengagement actuation amount relational
expression. In the graph shown in FIG. 17, the actuation
amount relational expression is established such that if
the torque deviation (Ttg - Tac) is positive, the clutch
actuator 14 is actuated in the direction to disengage the
clutch 40, in contrast to the graph shown in FIG. 16.
The clutch actuator control section llg selects
either the engagement actuation amount relational
expression or the disengagement actuation amount
relational expression depending on a positive or negative
value of the difference in clutch rotational speed
(rotational speed of the drive-side member 41 - rotational
speed of the driven-side member 42) . Specifically, if
the difference in clutch rotational speed is positive,
the clutch actuator control section llg assigns the
torque deviation (Ttg - Tac) to the engagement actuation
51

amount relational expression. In contrast, if the
difference in clutch rotational speed is negative, the
clutch actuator control section llg assigns the torque
deviation (Ttg - Tac) to the disengagement actuation
amount relational expression.
Alternatively, in place of the engagement actuation
amount relational expression and the disengagement
actuation amount relational expression, the storage unit
12 may store a table that establishes the correspondence
between the command actuation amount, and the target
transmission torque Ttg and the actual transmission
torque Tac. In this case, the clutch actuator control
section llg refers to the table to directly obtain the
command actuation amount that corresponds to the target
transmission torque Ttg and the actual transmission
torque Tac, rather than calculating the difference
between the target transmission torque Ttg and the actual
transmission torque Tac.
When the difference in clutch rotational speed is
below the rotational speed difference for discontinuing
half-clutch as a result of the aforementioned control
based on the torque deviation, the clutch actuator
control section llg further actuates the clutch actuator
14 to completely engage the clutch 40.
Now, description is made of the processing executed
52

by the shift actuator control section llh. When the
rider operates the shift-up switch 9a or the shift-down
switch 9b to input a gear shift command from the switch
button, the shift actuator control section llh actuates
the shift actuator 16 to change the shift gears 53a, 53b,
54a, 54b. In the example described herein, when the
shift-up switch 9a or the shift-down switch 9b is turned
ON, the shift actuator control section llh outputs a
control signal to the shift actuator drive circuit 15 at
start-up of the motorcycle 1 and in the state where the
clutch 40 is disengaged and the gearbox 51 is set in the
neutral position. The shift actuator 16 is actuated by
the driving power supplied from the shift actuator drive
circuit 15 in order to move some of the shift gears 53a,
53b, 54a, 54b.
Now, description is made of a flow of the
processing executed by the control unit 11. FIG. 18 is a
flowchart showing an example of the processing executed
by the control unit 11 at start-up of the motorcycle 1.
The processing described herein starts when the vehicle
start-up conditions are satisfied. The vehicle start-up
conditions are that: for example, the clutch 40 is
disengaged with the gearbox 51 set in a position other
than neutral position; and the engine speed and the
accelerator displacement are equal to or greater than
53

their respective predetermined values. Alternatively,
the start-up conditions may be that: the clutch 40 is
disengaged with the gearbox 51 set in a position other
than neutral position; and a value, which is obtained by
subtracting the driven-side member 42 from the drive-side
member 41 of the clutch 40, is a negative value.
If the vehicle start-up conditions are satisfied,
the request torque obtaining section lid first detects
the accelerator displacement, and then refers to the
request torque table (see FIG. 13) to obtain the request
transmission torque Treq that corresponds to the detected
accelerator displacement (step S101). In addition, the
EG torque obtaining section 11a detects the engine speed
and obtains the EG torque TEac based on the detected
engine speed and accelerator displacement (step S102).
After that, the range determining section lie
estimates whether or not the EG torque TEac approximates
the request transmission torque Treq in the case when the
aforementioned request follow-up control is performed,
and according to the estimation result, determines the
current operation range of the engine 30 (steps S103 to
S105). Specifically, the range determining section lie
determines whether or not the engine speed increases in
the case when the request follow-up control is performed
(step S103). In other words, the range determining
54

section lie determines whether or not the difference
between the EG torque TEac and the request transmission
torque Treq (TEac - Treq) is greater than 0. In this
step, if the difference is greater than 0, the range
determining section lie determines that the engine speed
increases and whether or not the request torque
rotational speed Rreq is higher than the current engine
speed (step S104). In this step, if the request torque
rotational speed Rreq is higher than the current engine
speed, the EG torque TEac should approximate the request
transmission torque Treq due to the action of the
aforementioned request follow-up control. Therefore, the
range determining section lie determines that the engine
30 operates currently in the torque-decreasing operation
range. In this case, the processing of the control unit
11 continues to the step S106. In contrast, in the step
S104, if the request torque rotational speed Rreq is
lower than the current engine speed, the EG torque TEac
deviates from the request transmission torque Treq due to
the action of the request follow-up control. Therefore,
the range determining section lie determines that the
engine 30 operates currently in the torque-increasing
operation range. In this case, the processing of the
control unit 11 continues to the step S107.
In addition, in the step S103, if the engine speed
55

is determined to decrease in the case when the request
follow-up control is performed (if the difference (TEac -
Treq) is smaller than 0), the range determining section
lie determines whether or not the request torque
rotational speed Rreq is lower than the current engine
speed (step S105) . In this step, if the request torque
rotational speed Rreq is lower than the current engine
speed, the EG torque TEac should naturally approximate
the request transmission torque Treq due to the action of
the request follow-up control. Therefore, the range
determining section lie determines that the engine 30
operates currently in the torque-decreasing operation
range. Also in this case, the control unit 11 goes to
the step S106 to continue the processing. In contrast,
in the step S105, if the request torque rotational speed
Rreq is determined to be higher than the current engine
speed, the EG torque TEac deviates from the request
transmission torque Treq due to the action of the request
follow-up control. Therefore, the range determining
section lie determines that the engine 30 operates in the
torque-increasing operation range. In this case, the
control unit 11 goes to the step S107 to continue the
processing.
As a result of the determinations of the processing
steps S104 and S105, if the range determining section lie
56

determines that the current operating condition of the
engine 30 falls within the torque-decreasing operation
range, the target torque setting section llf sets the
target transmission torque Ttg as the request
transmission torque Treq obtained in the step S101 (step
S106) . Thereby, the request follow-up control is
performed under which the actual transmission torque Tac
follows the request transmission torque Treq.
In contrast, if the range determining section lie
in the processing steps S104 and S105 determines that the
current operating condition of the engine 30 falls within
the torque-increasing operation range, the target torque
setting section llf determines whether or not the EG
torque TEac obtained in the step S102 is higher than the
request transmission torque Treq obtained in the step
S101 (step S107). In this step, if the EG torque TEac is
higher than the request transmission torque Treq, the
target torque setting section llf sets the target
transmission torque Ttg as the EG torque TEac obtained in
the step S102 (step S108). Thereby, the rotational speed
maintaining control is performed in which the actual
transmission torque Tac follows the EG torque TEac.
In contrast, if the EG torque TEac is not higher than
the request transmission torque Treq in the processing
step S107, the target torque setting section llf executes
57

the following processing, for example, in order to
perform the rotational speed induction control. More
specifically, the target torque setting section llf
determines whether or not the difference between the EG
torque TEac and the request transmission torque Treq
(Treq - TEac) is higher than the aforementioned maximum
value ATmax (step S109) . In this step, if the difference
(Treq - TEac) is larger than the maximum value ATmax, the
target torque setting section llf subtracts the maximum
value ATmax from the EG torque TEac and sets the obtained
value as the target transmission torque Ttg (TEac
ATmax) (step Sill). In contrast, if the difference (Treq
- TEac) is not larger than the maximum value ATmax, the
target torque setting section llf assigns the EG torque
TEac, which is obtained in the step S102, and the request
transmission torque Treq, which is obtained in the step
S101, to the aforementioned expression (2) in order to
calculate the target transmission torque Ttg (step S110).
When the target transmission torque Ttg is set in
the processing step S106, S108, S110 or Sill, the actual
transmission torque obtaining section lib calculates the
actual transmission torque Tac (step S112). Then, the
clutch actuator control section llg determines whether or
not the clutch rotational speed difference is a positive
value, based on the determination result, selects either
58

then the aforementioned engagement actuation amount
relational expression or disengagement actuation amount
relational expression (step S113). Then, the clutch
actuator control section llg calculates the command
actuation amount based on the difference between the
target transmission torque Ttg and the actual
transmission torque Tac (that is, the torque deviation)
(step S114). Specifically, if the clutch rotational
speed difference is negative, the clutch actuator control
section llg assigns the torque deviation (Ttg - Tac) to
the disengagement actuation amount relational expression
in order to calculate the command actuation amount. In
contrast, if the clutch rotational speed difference is
positive, the clutch actuator control section llg assigns
the torque deviation to the engagement actuation amount
relational expression in order to calculate the command
actuation amount. Then, the clutch actuator control
section llg outputs a control signal to the clutch
actuator drive circuit 13 according to the command
actuation amount (step S115). Thereby, the clutch
actuator 14 is actuated for the amount according to the
command actuation amount, so that the degree of
engagement of the clutch 40 changes.
After that, the clutch actuator control section llg
recalculates the clutch rotational speed difference, and
59

determines whether or not the recalculated clutch
rotational speed difference is smaller than the
rotational speed difference for discontinuing half-clutch
(step S116) . In this step, if the clutch rotational
speed difference is smaller than the rotational speed
difference for discontinuing half-clutch, the clutch
actuator control section llg allows the clutch 40 to be
completely engaged (step S117). In contrast, if the
clutch rotational speed difference has not been smaller
than the rotational speed difference for discontinuing
half-clutch, the control unit 11 returns to the step S101
to repeat the subsequent steps in a predetermined cycle
(for example, several milliseconds) until the clutch 40
is completely engaged in the step S117. The
aforementioned processing is an example of the processing
executed by the control unit 11 at vehicle start-up.
Under the request follow-up control of the above-
mentioned clutch controller 10, the control unit 11
actuates the clutch actuator 14 based on the difference
between the actual transmission torque Tac and the
request transmission torque Treq, such that Tac
approximates Treq. This allows appropriate torque to be
transmitted to the downstream side via the clutch 40
during engaging operation of the clutch 40. In addition,
if the engine 30 operates in a predetermined operation
60

range (the torque-increasing operation range in the above
description), the control unit 11 performs the rotational
speed maintaining control and makes the clutch actuator
14 actuate such that the actual transmission torque Tac
approximates the EG torque TEac. This prevents the
engine speed from excessive increase or decrease.
Further, in the clutch controller 10, the actual
torque obtaining section lib calculates the actual
transmission torque Tac based on the EG torque TEac and
the inertia torque TIac generated by the inertia of the
mechanism (such as the crankshaft 34, the piston 32 the
primary deceleration mechanism 36, and the like in the
above description) located upstream of the drive-side
member 41 in the torque transmission path. The actual
transmission torque Tac is thus obtained without
providing any specific sensor for outputting an electric
signal according to the actual transmission torque Tac.
Still further, in the clutch controller 10, the
control unit 11 performs the rotational speed maintaining
control in place of the request follow-up control, if the
engine 30 operates in the operation range in which the EG
torque TEac increases along with the increase in the
engine speed (that is, the torque-increasing operation
range) . This suppresses of the engine speed the
excessive increase or decrease when the engine 30
61

operates in the torque-increasing operation range.
Still further, in the clutch controller 10, under
the rotational speed maintaining control, the control
unit 11 actuates the clutch actuator 14 based on the
difference between the actual transmission torque Tac and
the EG torque TEac, such that Tac approximates TEac. As
described above, under the request follow-up control, the
control unit 11 actuates the clutch actuator 14 based on
the difference between the actual transmission torque Tac
and the request transmission torque Treq. Therefore,
under the rotational speed maintaining control, by
actuating the clutch actuator 14 based on the difference
between the actual transmission torque Tac and the EG
torque Teac, it is possible to approximate the processing
of the request follow-up control and of the rotational
speed maintaining control, and thus to simplify the
processing for controlling the clutch.
Still further, in the clutch controller 10, the
control unit 11 includes the target torque setting
section llf for setting the torque that is supposed to be
transmitted from the drive-side member 41 to the driven-
side member 42 or the mechanism located downstream of the
driven-side member 42 as the target transmission torque
Ttg. Then, the control unit 11 actuates the clutch
actuator 14 according to the difference between the
62

target transmission torque Ttg and the actual
transmission torque Tac. Further, the target torque
setting section llf sets the target transmission torque
Ttg at the request transmission torque Treq under the
request follow-up control, while setting the target
transmission torque Ttg at the EG torque TEac under the
rotational speed maintaining control. In this manner, by
selectively setting the request transmission torque Treq
and the EG torque Teac setting to the target transmission
torque Ttg, it is possible to switch between the request
follow-up control and the rotational speed maintaining
control, and thus, to simplify the processing for
controlling the clutch.
The present invention is not limited to the above-
mentioned clutch controller 10 and can have various
alternatives. For example, in the above description, if
the current operating condition of the engine 30 falls
within the torque-increasing operation range, and the
detected EG torque TEac is higher than the request
transmission torque Treq, the control unit 11 performs
the rotational speed maintaining control in which the
target transmission torque Ttg is set at the detected EG
torque TEac. However, if the current operating condition
of the engine 30 falls within the torque-increasing
operation range, and the engine speed falls outside a
63

predetermined range, the target torque setting section
llf may perform the rotational speed maintaining control.
In addition, the target torque setting section llf may
set the target transmission torque Ttg by means of the
similar processing under the aforementioned rotational
speed induction control, unless the engine speed falls
outside the predetermined range.
FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing an example of the
processing executed by the control unit 11 according to
the embodiment of the invention. In FIG. 19, the same
processing steps as those shown in FIG. 18 are designated
by the same numerals, and the description thereof is not
repeated.
In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 19, if the
determination results in the steps S103 to S105 show that
the current operating condition of the engine 30 falls
within the torque-increasing operation range, the target
torque setting section llf calculates the engine speed
Rac based on the signal of the engine speed detector 18.
Then, the target torque setting section llf determines
whether or not the calculated engine speed Rac is higher
than a predetermined minimum value Rmin and also is lower
than a predetermined maximum value Rmax (step S118). In
this step, the minimum value Rmin and the maximum value
Rmax are referred to as engine speed in the torque-
64

increasing operation range and are stored in the storage
unit 12 in advance.
If the determination result in the step S118 shows
that the engine speed is either equal to or higher than
the maximum value Rmax or equal to or lower than the
minimum value Rmin, the target torque setting section llf
sets the target transmission torque Ttg at the EG torque
TEac (step S108). Thereby, the rotational speed
maintaining control is performed. In contrast, if the
engine speed Rac is higher than the minimum value Rmin
and lower than the maximum value Rmax, the target torque
setting section llf determines whether or not the
difference between the EG torque TEac and the request
transmission torque Treq (Treq - TEac) is larger than the
aforementioned maximum value ATmax (step S109), and then
performs the subsequent process. Thereby, the rotational
speed induction control is performed.
In this embodiment, the request follow-up control
is replaced with the rotational speed maintaining control,
if the engine 30 operates in an operation range in which
the engine speed exceeds a predetermined value (the
maximum value Rmax or the minimum value Rmin). This also
makes it possible to prevent the engine speed from
excessively increasing or decreasing even when the engine
30 operates in the torque-increasing operation range.
65

In turn, if the current operating condition of the
engine 30 falls within the torque-decreasing operation
range, and the engine speed exceeds a predetermined
maximum value Rmax2 or a predetermined minimum value
Rmin2, the control unit 11 may perform the rotational
speed maintaining control. This prevents the engine
speed from excessively increasing or decreasing during
engaging operation of the clutch 40, even if the current
operating condition of the engine 30 falls within the
torque-decreasing operation range.
In addition, under the above-mentioned rotational
speed induction control, the target torque setting
section llf controls the clutch actuator 14 by setting
the target transmission torque Ttg in accordance with the
request transmission torque Treq in order for the engine
speed to reach the request torque rotational speed Rreq.
In other words, the target torque setting section llf
assigns the request transmission torque Treq and the EG
torque TEac to the aforementioned expression (2) in order
to calculate the target transmission torque Ttg. However,
under the rotational speed induction control, the target
torque setting section llf may set the target
transmission torque Ttg according to a predetermined
value (hereinafter referred to as fixed transmission
torque) in place of the request transmission torque Treq.
66

For example, the target torque setting section llf may-
assign the fixed transmission torque, in place of the
request transmission torque Treq, to the aforementioned
expression (2) in order to calculate the target
transmission torque Ttg. This allows the control unit 11
to actuate the clutch actuator 14 such that the engine
speed approximates at which the EG torque TEac equal to
the fixed transmission torque is outputted.
In addition, under the above-mentioned rotational
speed maintaining control, the control unit 11 sets the
target transmission torque Ttg at the EG torque TEac, and
actuates the clutch actuator 14 according to the
difference between the target transmission torque Ttg and
the actual transmission torque Tac, thereby suppressing
the changes in engine speed. However, the control unit
11 may perform the rotational speed maintaining control
based on the engine speed rather than that based on the
above torque difference. Such control is executed as
follows, for example.
The storage unit 12 stores in advance a table that
establishes the correspondence between the command
actuation amount of the clutch actuator 14, and the rate-
of-change of engine speed Q e (the rate-of-change of EG
speed (d Q e / dt)) and the clutch rotational speed
difference. For example, this table is established such
67

that as the rate-of-change of EG speed (d Q e / dt)
increases, the command actuation amount increases. For
example, this table is also established such that as the
clutch rotational speed difference increases, the command
actuation amount decreases. In the case where the
storage unit 12 stores such a table, during engaging
operation of the clutch 40, the control unit 11
calculates the rate-of-change of EG speed (dQe / dt) in a
predetermined cycle based on the signal inputted from the
engine speed detector 18, while calculating the clutch
rotational speed difference based on the signals inputted
from the clutch rotational speed detectors 23a, 23b.
Then, the control unit 11 refers to the aforementioned
table to obtain the command actuation amount that
corresponds to the calculated rate-of-change of EG speed
(d Q e / dt) and clutch rotational speed difference, and
outputs a control signal to the clutch actuator 14
according to the obtained command actuation amount. Due
to the execution of such rotational speed maintaining
control, the rate-of-change of EG speed (d Q e / dt)
gradually decreases during the engaging operation of the
clutch 40, and consequently, the actual transmission
torque Tac approximates the EG torque TEac. Thus, the
engine speed is prevented from excessively increasing or
decreasing.
68

In turn, the control unit 11 may perform the
rotational speed induction control based on the engine
speed, rather than that based on the torque difference.
Such control is executed as follows, for example.
The storage unit 12 stores in advance a table that
establishes the correspondence between the command
actuation amount, and the clutch rotational speed
difference and the rate-of-change of the difference (Rreq
- Q e) between the request torque rotational speed Rreq
and the current engine speed Q e (d (Rreq - Q e) / dt) .
For example, this table is established such that as the
rate-of-change (d (Rreq Q e) / dt) increases, the
command actuation amount increases. For example, this
table is also established such that as the clutch
rotational speed difference increases, the command
actuation amount decreases. In the case when the storage
unit 12 stores such a table, the control unit 11 obtains
the request transmission torque Treq during the engaging
operation of the clutch and refers to the aforementioned
EG torque table to obtain the request torque rotational
speed Rreq that corresponds to the obtained request
transmission torque Treq. Then, the control unit 11
obtains the engine speed Qe based on the signal inputted
from the engine speed detector 18 and calculates the
rate-of-change (d (Rreq - Qe) / dt). The control unit 11
69

also calculates the clutch rotational speed difference
based on the signals inputted from the clutch rotational
speed detectors 23a, 23b. Then, referring to the
aforementioned command actuation amount correspondence
table, the control unit 11 obtains the command actuation
amount that corresponds to the rate-of-change (d (Rreq -
Qe) / dt) and the clutch rotational speed difference, and
outputs a control signal to the clutch actuator 14
according to the obtained command actuation amount. Due
to the execution of such rotational speed induction
control, the engine speed increases or decreases to the
request torque rotational speed Rreq determined according
toward the request transmission torque Treq, thereby
preventing the engine speed from excessively increasing
or decreasing.
70

WE CLAIM:
1. A clutch controller comprising:
an actuator for changing the degree of engagement
between a drive-side member and a driven-side member of a
clutch, the members being located downstream of an engine
in a torque transmission path;
an actual torque obtaining section for obtaining
torque transmitted from the drive-side member to a
downstream mechanism of the torque transmission path as
actual transmission torque, the downstream mechanism
including the driven-side member;
a request torque obtaining section for obtaining
torque determined based on rider's accelerator operation
as request transmission torque;
an engine torque obtaining section for obtaining
torque outputted from the engine as engine torque; and
a control unit for performing a first control under
which the actuator is actuated based on a difference
between the actual transmission torque and the request
transmission torque, such that the actual transmission
torque approximates the request transmission torque,
wherein the control unit determines whether or not
the engine operates in a predetermined operation range,
and depending on the determination result, performs a
second control under which the actuator is actuated such
71

that the actual transmission torque approximates the
engine torque, in place of the first control.
2. The clutch controller as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the actual torque obtaining section calculates
the actual transmission torque based on the engine torque
and inertia torque produced due to inertia of a mechanism
upstream of the drive-side member in the torque
transmission path.
3. The clutch controller as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the control unit performs the second control in
place of the first control, if the engine operates in an
operation range in which the engine torque increases as
the engine speed increases.
4. The clutch controller as claimed in claim 3,
wherein the control unit performs the second control in
place of the first control, if the engine operates in an
operation range in which the engine speed exceeds a
predetermined value.
5. The clutch controller as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the control unit actuates the actuator based on
the difference between the actual transmission torque and
72

the engine torque, such that the actual transmission
torque approximates the engine torque, under the second
control.
6. The clutch controller as claimed in claim 1,
wherein
' the control unit includes a target torque setting
section for setting a target transmission torque at
torque, which is supposed to be transmitted from the
drive-side member to the downstream mechanism, and
actuates the actuator according to a difference between
the target transmission torque and the actual
transmission torque, and
the target torque setting section sets the target
transmission torque at the request transmission torque
under the first control, while setting the target
transmission torque at the engine torque under the second
control.
7. A straddle-type vehicle comprising the clutch
controller as claimed in claim 1.
8. A method of controlling a clutch comprising the
steps of:
obtaining torque transmitted from a drive-side
73

member of the clutch to a downstream mechanism of a
torque transmission path as actual transmission torque,
the downstream mechanism including a driven-side member
of the clutch;
obtaining torque determined based on rider's
accelerator operation as request transmission torque;
obtaining engine torque outputted from an engine;
performing a first control under which an actuator,
which changes the degree of engagement between the drive-
side member and the driven-side member, is actuated based
on a difference between the actual transmission torque
and the request transmission torque, such that the actual
transmission torque approximates the request transmission
torque;
determining whether or not the engine operates in a
predetermined operation range; and
performing a second control under which the
actuator is actuated such that the actual transmission
torque approximates the engine torque, in place of the
first control step, depending on the result from the
determination step.


74

A clutch controller performs request follow-up
control under which a clutch actuator is actuated based
on a difference between actual transmission torque Tac,
which is transmitted from a drive-side member to a
driven-side member of a clutch, and request transmission
torque Treq, which is determined based on rider's
accelerator operation, such that the actual transmission
torque Tac approximates the request transmission torque
Treq. If an engine operates in a predetermined operation
condition, the clutch controller performs rotational
speed maintaining control under which the clutch actuator
is actuated such that the actual transmission torque Tac
approximates engine torque TEac, in place of the request
follow-up control.

Documents:

http://ipindiaonline.gov.in/patentsearch/GrantedSearch/viewdoc.aspx?id=axzgfnGLml4VQtSoTnOzZA==&loc=wDBSZCsAt7zoiVrqcFJsRw==


Patent Number 271100
Indian Patent Application Number 328/KOL/2008
PG Journal Number 06/2016
Publication Date 05-Feb-2016
Grant Date 02-Feb-2016
Date of Filing 22-Feb-2008
Name of Patentee YAMAHA HATSUDOKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Applicant Address 2500 SHINGAI, IWATA-SHI, SHIZUOKA
Inventors:
# Inventor's Name Inventor's Address
1 KENGO MINAMI C/O. YAMAHA HATSUDOKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA 2500 SHINGAI, IWATA-SHI, SHIZUOKA 438-8501
PCT International Classification Number G06F17/00; B60W10/06; B62K11/00
PCT International Application Number N/A
PCT International Filing date
PCT Conventions:
# PCT Application Number Date of Convention Priority Country
1 2007-043645 2007-02-23 Japan
2 2007-231131 2007-09-06 Japan