Rollover prevention apparatus
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. A steering apparatus having a steering input device, an actuator, at least one sensor, and an electronic control unit, wherein said steering input device is adapted such that an input to said steering input device causes a corresponding change to a turn angle of a vehicle, and wherein said actuator is operatively adapted to actuate upon receipt of an actuation signal, and wherein said sensor is adapted to sense the magnitude of at least one driving parameter, and wherein said electronic control unit is adapted to send an actuation signal to said actuator when a sensed driving parameter exceeds a predetermined magnitude, and wherein said steering apparatus is adapted to allow a vehicle to be steered within a non-rollover steering range of motion of said vehicle but said steering apparatus is adapted to prevent said vehicle from being steered beyond a rollover threshold of said vehicle.
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Litigations
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Accused Products
Abstract
The rollover prevention apparatus defines an adaptive steering range limiting device comprising a control unit and a pair of opposing unidirectional brake assemblies mounted to a steering column position detection disc. The rollover prevention apparatus prevents the steering wheel of the vehicle from being turned beyond the threshold of vehicle rollover, but otherwise does not restrict the rotational range of motion of the steering wheel of a vehicle.
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Citations
23 Claims
- 1. A steering apparatus having a steering input device, an actuator, at least one sensor, and an electronic control unit, wherein said steering input device is adapted such that an input to said steering input device causes a corresponding change to a turn angle of a vehicle, and wherein said actuator is operatively adapted to actuate upon receipt of an actuation signal, and wherein said sensor is adapted to sense the magnitude of at least one driving parameter, and wherein said electronic control unit is adapted to send an actuation signal to said actuator when a sensed driving parameter exceeds a predetermined magnitude, and wherein said steering apparatus is adapted to allow a vehicle to be steered within a non-rollover steering range of motion of said vehicle but said steering apparatus is adapted to prevent said vehicle from being steered beyond a rollover threshold of said vehicle.
- 8. A steering apparatus having a steering input device, an actuator, at least one sensor, and an electronic control unit, wherein said steering input device is adapted such that an input to said steering input device causes a corresponding change to a turn angle of a vehicle, and wherein said actuator is operatively adapted to actuate upon receipt of an actuation signal, and wherein said sensor is adapted to sense the magnitude of at least one driving parameter, and wherein said electronic control unit is adapted to send an actuation signal to said actuator when a sensed driving parameter exceeds a predetermined magnitude, and wherein said steering apparatus is adapted to allow a vehicle to be steered within a non-rollover steering range of motion of said vehicle but said steering apparatus is adapted to prevent said vehicle from being steered such that said vehicle would roll over when rounding a curve of such a magnitude and at such a speed that said vehicle would roll over if the turn angle of said vehicle were to exceed a rollover threshold of said vehicle.
- 15. A vehicle having steering apparatus comprising a steering wheel, an actuator, at least one sensor, and an electronic control unit, wherein said steering wheel is adapted such that an input to said steering wheel causes a corresponding change to a turn angle of said vehicle, and wherein said actuator is operatively adapted to actuate upon receipt of an actuation signal, and wherein said sensor is adapted to sense the magnitude of at least one driving parameter, and wherein said electronic control unit is adapted to send an actuation signal to said actuator when a sensed driving parameter exceeds a predetermined magnitude, and wherein said vehicle is adapted to be steerable within a non-rollover steering range of motion of said vehicle but said steering apparatus is adapted to prevent said steering wheel from being rotated to the point that said vehicle would roll over when rounding a curve of such a magnitude and at such a speed that said vehicle would roll over if said steering wheel were rotated beyond said point.
- 21. A steering apparatus configured to allow a vehicle to be steered out of an SOA path but not to the extent of vehicle rollover.
Specification