WHEEL VEHICLE STEERING COLUMN AND STEERING COLUMN CONTROL UNIT Russian patent published in 2005 - IPC

FIELD: transport engineering; automotive and tractor industry.

SUBSTANCE: proposed steering column includes steering wheel. Ignition lock, input shaft on which steering wheel is installed, output shaft mechanically connected with vehicle wheels and torsion bar arranged coaxially with input shaft and connected with input and output shafts and installed so that when torque is applied to input shaft, torsion bar is twisted. Column contains also electric motor coupled with output shaft and provided with rotor, stator and housing, and control unit generating and supplying control signals, depending of angle of twisting of torsion bar, to electric motor which conveys additional torque to output shaft. Rotor of electric metro is installed on output shaft, and housing of electric motor is made to provide coaxial arrangement of input and output shafts. Torsion bar is furnished with torsion bar twisting angle limiter. Control unit is made for generating control signals depending additional on temperature of electric motor stator. Control unit contains control device generating control signals of steering column electric motor furnished with steering column shaft torque pickup. Said control device is made in from of microcontroller furnished additionally with electric motor stator temperature pickup being connected with semiconductor electric energy converter forming steering column electric motor current whose value is determined by said motor control signals.

EFFECT: provision of compact power- saving steering column with increased service life.

30 cl, 6 dwg