Abnormality detector for motor assisted steering apparatus
First Claim
1. An abnormality detector for detecting an abnormality in a motor assisted steering apparatus, the apparatus comprising:
- a steering mechanism for adjusting the orientation of wheels with respect to a car body;
an input means for manually inputting a steering force to adjust the wheels with respect to the car body;
an input detecting means for detecting steering force information indicative of the magnitude of the steering force manually input to the input means;
an motor producing a drive force;
an energization control means for controlling the energization or deenergization of the motor in accordance with at least the steering force information from the input detecting means;
a transmission mechanism for transmission to the steering mechanism the steering force manually input to the input means combined with the drive force produced by the motor;
an operation condition detecting means for detecting operation information indicative of an operational condition of the motor; and
an abnormality annunciator means for monitoring the steering force information and the operation information and for annunciating the existence of an abnormality in the event the operation information detected by the operating condition detecting means indicates the motor is developing the drive force and the steering force information from the input detecting means remains within a predetermined range.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A motor assisted steering apparatus has its wheels oriented with respect to a car body in response to a combination of a steering force which is supplied by a manual operation and a driving force developed by an electric motor which is energized in accordance with the steering force. The existence of an abnormality is annunciated when the relationship between the manual steering force and the operational condition of the motor deviates from a predetermined relationship. For example, the existence of an abnormality is annunciated when the motor is energized even though a steering wheel is not substantially operated, when the motor is energized for rotation in a direction which causes the wheels to be turned to the left even though the steering wheel is turned to the right or vice versa. The existence of such abnormality is detected by monitoring the manual steering force and the operational condition of the motor, without requiring any addition of sensors which have no direct connection with the operation of the apparatus.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An abnormality detector for detecting an abnormality in a motor assisted steering apparatus, the apparatus comprising:
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a steering mechanism for adjusting the orientation of wheels with respect to a car body; an input means for manually inputting a steering force to adjust the wheels with respect to the car body; an input detecting means for detecting steering force information indicative of the magnitude of the steering force manually input to the input means; an motor producing a drive force; an energization control means for controlling the energization or deenergization of the motor in accordance with at least the steering force information from the input detecting means; a transmission mechanism for transmission to the steering mechanism the steering force manually input to the input means combined with the drive force produced by the motor; an operation condition detecting means for detecting operation information indicative of an operational condition of the motor; and an abnormality annunciator means for monitoring the steering force information and the operation information and for annunciating the existence of an abnormality in the event the operation information detected by the operating condition detecting means indicates the motor is developing the drive force and the steering force information from the input detecting means remains within a predetermined range. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An abnormality detector for detecting an abnormality in a motor assisted steering apparatus, the apparatus comprising:
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a steering mechanism for adjusting the orientation of wheels with respect to a car body; an input means for manually inputting a steering force to adjust the wheels with respect to the car body; an input detecting means for detecting steering force information indicative of the magnitude of the steering force manually input to the input means; an electric motor producing a drive force; an energization control means for controlling the energization or deenergization of the electric motor in accordance with at least the steering force information from the input detecting means; a transmission mechanism for transmission to the steering mechanism the steering force manually input to the input means combined with the drive force produced by the electric motor; an operation condition detecting means for detecting operation information indicative of an operational condition of the electric motor; an abnormality annunciator means for annunciating the existence of an abnormality in the event a relationship between the steering force manually input to the input means, and the operation information detected by the operation condition detecting means deviates from the predetermined relationship; the energization control means energizing the electric motor for rotation in a forward direction when the steering force information from the input detecting means indicates the use of a steering force which turns the wheels to the right with respect to the car body, and energizing the electric motor for rotation in a reverse direction when the steering force information from the input detecting means indicates the use of a steering force which turns the wheels to the left with respect to the car body; and the abnormality annunciator means annunciating the existence of an abnormality when the steering force information from the input detecting means indicates the use of a steering force which turns the wheels to the right with respect to the car body and when the operation information from the operation condition detecting means indicates that the motor is energized for rotation in the forward direction, or annunciating the existence of an abnormality when the steering force information from the operation condition detecting means indicates the use of a steering force which turns the wheels to the left with respect to the car body and when the operation information from the operation condition detecting means indicates that the motor is energized for rotation in the reverse direction. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An abnormality detector for detecting an abnormality in a motor assisted steering apparatus, the apparatus comprising:
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a steering mechanism for adjusting the orientation of wheels with respect to a car body; an input means for manually inputting a steering force to adjust the wheels with respect to the car body; an input detecting means for detecting steering force information indicative of the magnitude of the steering force manually input to the input means; an electric motor producing a drive force; an energization control means for controlling the energization or deenergization of the electric motor in accordance with at least the steering force information from the input detecting means; a transmission mechanism for transmission to the steering mechanism the steering force manually input to the input means combined with the drive force produced by the electric motor; an operation condition detecting means for detecting operation information indicative of an operational condition of the electric motor; and an abnormality annunciator means for annunciating the existence of an abnormality in the event a relationship between the steering force manually input to the input means, and the operation information detected by the operation condition detecting means deviates from a predetermined relationship; the energization control means energizing the electric motor for rotation in a forward direction when the steering force information from the input detecting means indicates the use of a steering force which turns the wheels to the right with respect to the car body, and energizing the electric motor for rotation in a reverse direction when the steering force information from the input detecting means indicates the use of a steering force which turns the wheels to the left with respect to the car body; and the abnormality annunciator means annunciating the existence of an abnormality when the operation information from the operation condition detecting means indicates that the energization of the motor for rotation in the forward and the reverse direction occurs simultaneously.
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Specification