Automatic countersteering system for motor vehicles
First Claim
1. An automatic countersteering system for providing corrective movement of a road vehicle having a pair of steerable wheels and steering linkage associated therewith, in response to changes in the texture of a road, comprisingat least one vehicle speed sensor sensitive to the speed of the steerable wheels for producing a first input signal in response to sudden deviations in wheel speed from reference values,at least one wheel position detecting sensor for detecting the lateral wheel movement of the steerable wheels and to produce a second input signal in response to lateral wheel movements, such as movements being indicative of skid movement and/or changes in the texture of the road surface,at least one steering wheel position detecting sensor for sensing the rotational motion of the steering wheel and to produce a third input signal indicative of movement thereof,at least one force producing mechanism for actuating the steerable wheels in accordance with a control signal applied to said mechanism, anda control system connected to said vehicle wheel speed sensor, said wheel position detecting sensor, said steering wheel detection sensor, and said force producing mechanism, said control system being adapted to receive said input signals, to differentiate time lags between occurrances of repetitive signals of at least one of said signals, to produce said control signal in accordance therewith as a corrective routine, and to impress the same on said force producing mechanism thereby actuating the steerable wheels as a corrective turning movement.
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Abstract
A countersteering system is disclosed for a road vehicle including sensors arranged to sense the speed of steerable wheels in response to changes in road surface texture, the lateral movement of the wheels in response to skid movement, and the rotational motion of the steering wheel for the vehicle, and to produce respective signals according therewith. A control system is devised to receive these signals and to produce a control signal in accordance therewith as a corrective routine and to impress this control signal in a force producing mechanism to impart movement of the steerable wheels for corrective purposes. The control system is devised to differentiate time lags between occurrances of repetitive sequences of at least one of the signal in its production of the control signal.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. An automatic countersteering system for providing corrective movement of a road vehicle having a pair of steerable wheels and steering linkage associated therewith, in response to changes in the texture of a road, comprising
at least one vehicle speed sensor sensitive to the speed of the steerable wheels for producing a first input signal in response to sudden deviations in wheel speed from reference values, at least one wheel position detecting sensor for detecting the lateral wheel movement of the steerable wheels and to produce a second input signal in response to lateral wheel movements, such as movements being indicative of skid movement and/or changes in the texture of the road surface, at least one steering wheel position detecting sensor for sensing the rotational motion of the steering wheel and to produce a third input signal indicative of movement thereof, at least one force producing mechanism for actuating the steerable wheels in accordance with a control signal applied to said mechanism, and a control system connected to said vehicle wheel speed sensor, said wheel position detecting sensor, said steering wheel detection sensor, and said force producing mechanism, said control system being adapted to receive said input signals, to differentiate time lags between occurrances of repetitive signals of at least one of said signals, to produce said control signal in accordance therewith as a corrective routine, and to impress the same on said force producing mechanism thereby actuating the steerable wheels as a corrective turning movement.
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12. An automatic countersteering system for providing corrective movement of a road vehicle having a pair of steerable wheels and steering linkage associated therewith, in response to changes in the texture of a road surface, comprising
at least one vehicle speed sensor sensitive to the speed of the steerable wheels for producing a first input signal in response to sudden deviations in wheel speed from references values, at least one wheel position detecting sensor for detecting the lateral wheel movement of the steerable wheels and to produce a second input signal in response to lateral wheel movements, such movements being indicative of skid movement and/or changes in the texture of the road surface, at least one steering wheel position detecting sensor for sensing the rotational motion of the steering wheel and to produce a third input signal indicative of movement thereof, at least one force producing mechanism for actuating the steerable wheels in accordance with a control signal applied to said mechanism, and a control system connected to said vehicle wheel speed sensor, said wheel position detecting sensor, said steering wheel detection sensor, and said force producing mechanism, said control system being adapted to receive said input signals and in response thereto to distinguish between the detection of changes in the texture of the road surface during straying of the vehicle off the road and the detection of the degradation of friction between a wheel and the road surface during skidding movement.
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13. An automatic countersteering system for providing corrective vehicle movement to a road vehicle having a vehicular engine regulating computer, an antilock braking system computer, an automatic throttle control computer, and a pair of steerable wheels and steering linkages connected therewith, along curves in a roadway in response to changes in road texture, comprising
means for sensing the position of the steerable wheels and producing a first signal in accordance therewith, means for sensing the position of the steerable wheels for producing a second signal indicative of the lateral movement thereof, means for sensing the wheel position of the steering wheel for producing a third signal indicative of the movement thereof, and a control system connected to said computers and arranged to receive said signals for effecting downward revision of the speed of the vehicle in conjunction with corrective turning movement thereof.
Specification