| abstract |
A clutch control device for a four-wheel drive hybrid vehicle: having a dog clutch (8) and an electronically controlled coupling (16) in a system for transmitting drive to left and right rear wheels (19, 20); and being provided with a 4WD control unit (34) for engaging/disengaging control of the dog clutch (8) and engaging/disengaging control of the electronically controlled coupling (16), in order to achieve a balance between ensuring four-wheel drive performance during re-acceleration and reducing friction in a drive transmission system during braking when the foot is lifted off the accelerator in a low-speed region where a connected-four-wheel-drive mode has been selected, wherein: the four-wheel drive hybrid vehicle has a "disconnected two-wheel drive mode" and a "connected four-wheel drive mode"; and the 4WD control unit (34) maintains the "connected four-wheel drive mode" if the brakes are not pressed, and switches to the "disconnected two-wheel drive mode" if the brakes are pressed, when the foot is lifted off of the accelerator in the low-speed region where the "connected four-wheel drive mode" is selected. |