Industrial vehicle

{
  "publication_number": "US9567919B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Industrial vehicle",
  "abstract": "An industrial vehicle which is equipped with an engine and having an Eco-mode in which torque of the engine is restricted includes an accelerator, an accelerator opening detector that detects an opening of the accelerator, a vehicle speed detector that detects a speed of the vehicle, an engine speed detector that detects a speed of the engine, and a torque restriction releasing unit which, when the torque of the engine is restricted, if conditions that the opening of the accelerator detected by the accelerator opening detector is a first predetermined value or greater, that the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detector is a second predetermined value or smaller and that the engine speed detected by the engine speed detector is a third predetermined value or smaller are satisfied, releases the torque restriction.",
  "claims": [
    "1. An industrial vehicle which is equipped with an engine and has an Eco-mode in which torque of the engine is restricted, comprising: an accelerator; an accelerator opening detector that detects an opening of the accelerator; a vehicle speed detector that detects a speed of the vehicle; an engine speed detector that detects a speed of the engine; and a torque restriction releasing unit which, when the Eco-mode is ON, turns OFF the Eco-mode to release the restriction of the torque of the engine temporarily, based upon all of the following conditions being satisfied; (i) the opening of the accelerator detected by the accelerator opening detector is a first predetermined value or greater; (ii) the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detector is a second predetermined value or smaller; and (iii) the engine speed detected by the engine speed detector is a third predetermined value or smaller.",
    "2. The industrial vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a torque restriction resuming unit which, after the Eco-mode is turned OFF by the torque restriction releasing unit, turns ON the Eco-mode, based upon one of the following conditions being satisfied; (i) the opening of the accelerator detected by the accelerator opening detector is a fourth predetermined value or smaller; and (ii) the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detector once reaches or exceeds a fifth predetermined value and then decreases to or below the second predetermined value.",
    "3. The industrial vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the torque restriction releasing unit further requires, as the conditions for turning OFF the Eco-mode, that (iv) the industrial vehicle is not in a loading operation.",
    "4. The industrial vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the engine speed is set to the third predetermined value or smaller, the third predetermined value being determined based on a maximum speed of the engine operating under no load.",
    "5. The industrial vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the torque restriction releasing unit gradually reduces the torque restriction when the Eco-mode is turned OFF."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The present invention relates to an engine-powered industrial vehicle.\n\nA hybrid vehicle equipped with an Eco-mode (an economy mode) for the purpose of improving fuel efficiency has been proposed. By pressing the Eco-mode button, the vehicle is placed in the Eco-mode in which the output torque of the vehicle is restricted for energy saving, which leads to an efficient driving of an engine. Such vehicle is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-105532.\n\nThis Publication discloses a hybrid vehicle in which, in the economy mode, torque is supplemented by the motor while the engine is being driven efficiently so as to maintain the vehicle performance for improvement of fuel efficiency. Unlike such a hybrid vehicle, in an engine type industrial vehicle having no traction motor, specifically in a forklift truck, simply operating the forklift truck in the Eco-mode so as to improve the fuel efficiency by restricting the torque may cause some troubles to some operations of the forklift trucks due to shortage of torque. For example, an industrial vehicle carrying a heavy load may not be able to climb a slope in a working site, which is supposed to be climbable, due to insufficient hill-climbing performance or insufficient engine torque.\n\nThe present invention is directed to providing an industrial vehicle capable of providing a torque restriction control in an Eco-mode that permits both improvement of fuel efficiency and maximization of vehicle performance.",
  "cpc": [
    "F02D 28/00",
    "B60W 10/06",
    "B60W 2300/121",
    "B60W 2300/154",
    "B60W 2300/17",
    "B60W 2510/0638",
    "B60W 2520/10",
    "B60W 2540/10",
    "B60W 2540/215",
    "B60W 2710/0666",
    "B60W 30/1882",
    "B66F 9/07572",
    "B66F 9/20",
    "F02D 2250/26"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "B60W 10/06",
    "B66F 9/075",
    "B66F 9/20",
    "F02D 28/00"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "Toyota Industries Corp"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Yukikazu Koide",
    "Norihiko Kato"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2014-09-26",
  "publication_date": "2017-02-14",
  "grant_date": "2017-02-14",
  "priority_date": "2013-09-27",
  "application_number": "US-201414497432-A",
  "family_id": "51655555",
  "cited_by_count": 0,
  "citations": [
    "EP1666711A1",
    "US20080076623A1",
    "JP2008105532A",
    "US20110308879A1",
    "WO2011115290A1",
    "US20130041561A1",
    "EP2568148A1",
    "WO2012086684A1",
    "US20120296533A1"
  ]
}