Vehicle steering system

• US 11,072,362 B2
• Filed: 04/08/2019
• Issued: 07/27/2021
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jtekt Corporation (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Jtekt Corporation (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Shirauchi, Yousuke
• Primary Examiner(s): Seoh, Minnah L
• Assistant Examiner(s): Stabley, Michael R
• Application Number:
  US16/377,295
• Publication Number:
  US 20190315390A1
• Time in Patent Office: 841 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 5/0406 including housing for electronic control unit
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 5/0424 the axes of motor and final driven element of steering gear, e.g. rack, being parallel
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 5/0448 Ball nuts
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 5/0481 monitoring the steering system, e.g. failures

Abstract

The vehicle steering system includes a rack shaft and a conversion mechanism that converts rotation of a rotating shaft of the motor into reciprocating motion of the rack shaft. The conversion mechanism includes a drive pulley that rotates with the rotating shaft, a driven pulley rotatable about an axis of the rack shaft and a toothed belt extending around the drive pulley and the driven pulley, and converts rotation of the rotating shaft into reciprocating motion of the rack shaft when rotation of the drive pulley is transmitted to the driven pulley via the toothed belt. The vehicle steering system further includes a determination circuit that determines tooth skipping that is a change in meshing position between the drive pulley and the toothed belt, and a calculation circuit that calculates an integrated value obtained by integrating a prescribed value indicating that tooth skipping is determined by the determination circuit.

Claims

1. A vehicle steering system comprising:

a steered shaft that reciprocates in an axial direction to steer steered wheels;

a motor that generates power for reciprocating the steered shaft;

a conversion mechanism that converts rotation of a rotating shaft of the motor into reciprocating motion of the steered shaft, the conversion mechanism including a drive pulley that rotates with the rotating shaft, a driven pulley rotatable about an axis of the steered shaft, and a toothed belt extending around the drive pulley and the driven pulley, and the conversion mechanism converts rotation of the rotating shaft into reciprocating motion of the steered shaft when rotation of the drive pulley is transmitted to the driven pulley via the toothed belt;

a control circuit that controls power supply to the motor, the control circuit comprising;

a determination circuit; and

a calculation circuit,

wherein the determination circuit determines whether tooth skipping that is a change in meshing position between the drive pulley and the toothed belt occurs, and

the calculation circuit calculates an integrated value obtained by integrating a prescribed value indicating that the tooth skipping that is determined by the determination circuit occurs, and

a threshold that is set for the integrated value and that indicates a degree of deterioration of the conversion mechanism is preset in a storage of the control circuit.

2. The vehicle steering system according to claim 1, wherein the prescribed value is a fixed value indicating a number of times tooth skipping is determined by the determination circuit.

3. The vehicle steering system according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit further includes a notification instruction circuit that instructs a notification device mounted on a vehicle to notify that the integrated value is greater than the threshold.

4. The vehicle steering system according to claim 1, wherein the tooth skipping is determined based on a rotational speed of the rotating shaft and a rotational acceleration of the rotating shaft.

5. The vehicle steering system according to claim 1, wherein the calculation circuit calculates the integrated value only when the determination circuit determines tooth skipping occurs two or more times.

6. The vehicle steering system according to claim 1, wherein the prescribed value is a fixed value other than 0.

7. The vehicle steering system according to claim 1, further comprising a sensor that detects displacement of the rotating shaft, and the determination circuit determines whether the tooth skipping occurs based on output from the sensor.

8. A vehicle steering system comprising:

a steered shaft that reciprocates in an axial direction to steer steered wheels;

a motor that generates power for reciprocating the steered shaft;

a conversion mechanism that converts rotation of a rotating shaft of the motor into reciprocating motion of the steered shaft, the conversion mechanism including a drive pulley that rotates with the rotating shaft, a driven pulley rotatable about an axis of the steered shaft, and a toothed belt extending around the drive pulley and the driven pulley, and the conversion mechanism converts rotation of the rotating shaft into reciprocating motion of the steered shaft when rotation of the drive pulley is transmitted to the driven pulley via the toothed belt;

a control circuit that controls power supply to the motor, the control circuit comprising;

a determination circuit; and

a calculation circuit,

wherein the determination circuit determines whether tooth skipping that is a change in meshing position between the drive pulley and the toothed belt occurs, and

the calculation circuit calculates an integrated value obtained by integrating a prescribed value indicating that the tooth skipping that is determined by the determination circuit occurs, and

the prescribed value is a variable that is set in accordance with a rotational speed of the rotating shaft and that indicates a load applied to the conversion mechanism when tooth skipping is determined by the determination circuit.

9. The vehicle steering system according to claim 8, wherein the tooth skipping is determined based on a rotational speed of the rotating shaft and a rotational acceleration of the rotating shaft.

10. The vehicle steering system according to claim 8, wherein the calculation circuit calculates the integrated value only when the determination circuit determines tooth skipping occurs two or more times.

11. The vehicle steering system according to claim 8, wherein the prescribed value is a fixed value other than 0.

12. The vehicle steering system according to claim 8, further comprising a sensor that detects displacement of the rotating shaft, and the determination circuit determines whether the tooth skipping occurs based on output from the sensor.