Electrical steering assist for material handling vehicles
First Claim
1. A system for providing an electrical steering assist for material handling vehicles comprising:
- a drive housing;
a steerable wheel coupled to said drive housing;
a steering arm pivotally mounted to said drive housing, said steering arm operatively configured to determine a steering direction of said steerable wheel by moving said steering arm from side to side in a generally horizontal plane;
a steer drive unit coupled to said steerable wheel;
an input sensing device arranged to detect a turning force applied to said steering arm by an operator, wherein said turning force is provided to change the direction of travel of said vehicle; and
a controller operatively configured to control said steer drive unit to turn said steerable wheel based upon a signal from said input sensing device.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Electrical steering assist systems reduce the operator applied steering effort necessary to operate material handling vehicles. A steer drive unit including a motor is coupled to a steerable wheel for providing steering assist. The amount of steering assist provided by the steer drive unit is determined by a controller that receives input from one or more input sensing devices. The input sensing device(s) may include force sensors that detect an operator applied turning force. The input sensing device(s) may also detect the movement of one steering component relative to another. Further, the input sensing device(s) may include operator activated controls such as a joystick, potentiometer, switches and voice initiated commands. Input sensing device(s) may additionally be provided to detect operational parameters such as the load on the material handling vehicle, vehicle speed, or environmental conditions such as travel path obstruction detection, homing and proximity sensing.
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Citations
52 Claims
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1. A system for providing an electrical steering assist for material handling vehicles comprising:
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a drive housing; a steerable wheel coupled to said drive housing; a steering arm pivotally mounted to said drive housing, said steering arm operatively configured to determine a steering direction of said steerable wheel by moving said steering arm from side to side in a generally horizontal plane; a steer drive unit coupled to said steerable wheel; an input sensing device arranged to detect a turning force applied to said steering arm by an operator, wherein said turning force is provided to change the direction of travel of said vehicle; and a controller operatively configured to control said steer drive unit to turn said steerable wheel based upon a signal from said input sensing device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A system for providing an electrical steering assist for material handling vehicles comprising:
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a drive housing; a steerable wheel coupled to said drive housing; a steering arm pivotally mounted to said drive housing, said steering arm operatively configured to determine a steering direction of said steerable wheel; a steer drive unit coupled to said steerable wheel; an input sensing device arranged to detect a turning force applied to said steering arm by an operator, wherein said turning force is provided to change the direction of travel of said vehicle; and a controller operatively configured to control said steer drive unit to turn said steerable wheel based upon a signal from said input sensing device, wherein said steering arm comprises a strain sensitive region and said input sensing device comprises a force sensor mounted so as to measure force within said strain sensitive region.
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6. A system for providing an electrical steering assist for material handling vehicles comprising:
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a drive housing; a steerable wheel coupled to said drive housing; a steering arm pivotally mounted to said drive housing, said steering arm operatively configured to determine a steering direction of said steerable wheel; a steer drive unit coupled to said steerable wheel; an input sensing device arranged to detect a turning force applied to said steering arm by an operator, wherein said turning force is provided to change the direction of travel of said vehicle; and a controller operatively configured to control said steer drive unit to turn said steerable wheel based upon a signal from said input sensing device, wherein said steering arm comprises a two piece arm including an upper steering arm and a lower steering arm, wherein said input sensing device comprises; a first anchor secured to said upper arm; a second anchor secured to said lower arm; a member coupled between said first and second anchors; and one or more strain gauges coupled to said member.
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7. A system for providing an electrical steering assist for material handling vehicles comprising:
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a drive housing; a steerable wheel coupled to said drive housing; a steering arm pivotally mounted to said drive housing, said steering arm operatively configure to determine a steering direction of said steerable wheel; a steer drive unit coupled to said steerable wheel; an input sensing device arranged to detect a turning force applied to said steering arm by an operator, wherein said turning force is provided to change the direction of travel of said vehicle; and a controller operatively configured to control said steer drive unit to turn said steerable wheel based upon a said from said input sensing device wherein said controller further receives a secondary input, and control of said steer drive unit by said controller is based upon at least one of said input sensing device and said secondary input. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A system for providing an electrical steering assist for material handling vehicles comprising:
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a drive housing; a steerable wheel coupled to said drive housing; a steering arm pivotally mounted to said drive housing, said steering arm operatively configured to determine a steering direction of said steerable wheel; a steer drive unit coupled to said steerable wheel; an input sensing device arranged to detect a pivoting motion of a first steering member relative to a second pivoting member; and a controller operatively configured to control said steer drive unit to turn said steerable wheel based upon a signal from said input sensing device. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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Specification