Ford Motor Co., which manufactures the Fusion hybrid car, has reached a settlement with Paice LLC’s drivetrain technology over a patent-infringement case, by agreeing to license Paice LLC’s patent .The settlement terms are not disclosed.
Paice LLC, won in 2005 a patent-infringement case against Toyota over an older hybrid models and has further open pending patent infringement cases relating newer models
The patent dispute relate to US patent NO. 5,343,9730, filed on September 1992. The patent first claim discloses a hybrid electrical vehicle control mechanism enabling to shift between an internal combustion engine and an electric motor, controlling the relative contributions of the internal combustion engine and electric motor to the torque driving the wheels and maintaining fixed ratio between relative ratio of both engines rotation.
Patent link:
Patent first claim:
1. A hybrid electric vehicle, comprising:
two or more drive wheels receiving torque for propelling said vehicle from an output shaft, and a power unit supplying drive torque to said output shaft, said power unit comprising:
a controllable torque transfer unit adapted to receive torque from two sources via first and second input shafts and transmit said torque to said output shaft;
an engine adapted to consume combustible fuel and supply torque to said torque transfer unit;
an electric motor adapted to receive electricity from a battery and supply torque to said torque transfer unit, said motor also being adapted to be operated as a generator, whereupon said motor receives torque and generates electric energy;
a battery for supply of stored electric energy to said motor, and for receiving and storing electric energy from said motor when operated as a generator; and
a controller for controlling the operation of said engine, said electric motor, and said torque transfer unit, such that said torque transfer unit receives torque from either or both of said internal combustion engine and said electric motor via said first and second input shafts and transmits torque therefrom to said drive wheels by way of said output shaft, and for controlling the relative contributions of the internal combustion engine and electric motor to the torque driving the wheels;
wherein the relative ratios of the rates of rotation of said engine and said electric motor to said input shafts, and the relative ratio of the rate of rotation of an output member of said torque transfer unit to the rate of rotation of said driven wheels, are fixed.