AUTOMATIC TILTING VEHICLE

• US 20190322271A1
• Filed: 04/22/2019
• Published: 10/24/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/23/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: ISHINO, Takahito
• Granted Patent: US 11,124,178 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2007/0038 the motor moving together with the wheel axle
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2007/0092 the motor axle being coaxial to the wheel axle
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 7/0007 the motor being electric
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2250/00 Monitoring, detecting, estimating vehicle conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2260/02 Active Steering, Steer-by-Wire
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2260/09 Complex systems; Conjoint control of two or more vehicle active control systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 8/17 Using electrical or electronic regulation means to control braking detecting or indicating faulty operation B60T8/885
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 8/17554 specially adapted for enhancing stability around the vehicles longitudinal axle, i.e. roll-over prevention road vehicle drive control systems for roll-over prevention otherwise than by controlling a particular sub-unit B60W30/04
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 8/241 Lateral vehicle inclination
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/04 including control of propulsion units
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/08 including control of electric propulsion units, e.g. motors or generators
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/184 with wheel brakes
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/20 including control of steering systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2300/367 Tricycles
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2300/50 Tilting frame vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/10 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/18 Roll
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/18 Steering angle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2710/207 Steering angle of wheels
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2720/18 Roll
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2720/406 : between left and right wheel
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/04 : related to roll-over prevention
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/045 : Improving turning performance
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 11/003 : Electric or electronic control systems
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 6/08 : responsive only to driver input torque
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 61/065 : with single rear wheel
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 9/002 : combined with means for differentially distributing power on the deflectable wheels during cornering
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 9/02 : combined with means for inwardly inclining vehicle body on bends

Abstract

An automatic tilting vehicle includes a pair of wheels that are non-steering driving wheels, a braking/driving device, a vehicle tilting device, and a control device, and the control unit calculates a target tilt angle of the vehicle for tilting the vehicle turning inward and controls the vehicle tilting device so that a tilt angle of the vehicle becomes the target tilt angle. The control unit calculates target braking/driving forces of the pair of wheels based on a braking/driving operation of a driver, corrects the target braking/driving forces so that a difference between vertical forces acting on the wheels caused by the braking/driving forces of the pair of wheels is reduced, and controls the braking/driving device such that braking/driving forces of the pair of wheels becomes the corrected target braking/driving forces.

Claims

1. An automatic tilting vehicle that includes a pair of wheels that are non-steering driving wheels laterally spaced, a braking/driving device for applying braking/driving forces to the pair of wheels, a vehicle tilting device that is configured to tilt the vehicle by displacing the pair of wheels in the vertical direction opposite to each other with respect to a vehicle body, and a control unit for controlling the braking/driving device and the vehicle tilting device, wherein

the control unit is configured to decreasingly correct a target braking/driving force of a turning outer wheel of the pair of wheels and increasingly correct a target braking/driving force of a turning inner wheel of the pair of wheels so that a difference in vertical forces acting on the pair of wheels due to the braking/driving forces of the pair of wheels is reduced.

2. The automatic tilting vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to calculate a reduction correction amount of the target braking/driving force of the turning outer wheel and an increase correction amount of the target braking/driving force of the turning inner wheel based on the tilt angle of the vehicle so that magnitudes of the target braking/driving force correction amounts increase as a tilt angle of the vehicle increases.

3. The automatic tilting vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the magnitude of the reduction correction amount of the target braking/driving force of the turning outer wheel and the magnitude of the increase correction amount of the target braking/driving force of the turning inner wheel are the same.

4. The automatic tilting vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle has at least one steering wheel spaced in the front-rear direction with respect to the pair of wheels, and the control unit is configured to calculate a target steered angle of the steered wheel based on a steering operation of a driver, correct the target steered angle so as to cancel at least a part of a yaw moment caused by the correction of the braking/driving forces of the pair of wheels, and control a steered angle of the steered wheels based on the corrected target steered angle.

5. The automatic tilting vehicle according to claim 4, wherein a magnitude of the correction amount of the target steered angle is variably set according to a vehicle speed so as to decrease as the vehicle speed increases.