JP2012086655A - Steer-by-wire type steering device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a steer-by-wire type steering device having a compact structure in which the steering can be executed in the event of failure of a steering motor, and the safe drive can be executed by fixing a toe angle adjustment mechanism even when a toe angle adjustment motor is immobilized, and the capacity of the toe angle adjustment motor can be reduced.SOLUTION: The steer-by-wire type steering device includes a turning power transmission mechanism 18 for transmitting the rotation of a turning motor 6 to a steering rod 10, a toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism 30 for adjusting the toe angle by a toe angle adjusting motor 7, and a changing mechanism 17 for performing the turning by changing the power transmission path of the motors when the motors 6, 7 are immobilized. The steering rod 10 performs the screw-connection of a non-rotary split shaft 10A to a rotary split shaft 10B, and performs the turning by integrally moving both split shafts in the axial direction. The toe angle is adjusted by turning the rotary split shaft 10B and changing the length in the axial direction of a screw-coupling part 10C. The rotary split shaft 10B is connected to a tie-rod via an inner ball joint part using a rolling bearing.

Description

  The present invention relates to a steer-by-wire steering apparatus in which steering is performed with a steering wheel that is not mechanically connected to a steered turning shaft.

  In this type of steer-by-wire type steering device, there has been proposed a configuration in which a steered wheel is steered by an auxiliary motor even if a steered motor that steers the steered wheel fails (Patent Document 1). ).

JP-A-2005-349845

  The technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a fail-safe function that activates the auxiliary motor when the steering motor fails. However, when the steering motor is normal, the auxiliary motor does not function at all. It is not economical. The auxiliary motor rotates the steering rod to steer the steering wheel to the left and right. The inner ball joint that connects the steering rod and the tie rod is usually a sliding bearing type, so an axial load is applied. When rotating in a state, the friction torque increases, and the capacity of the auxiliary motor to be driven must be increased.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a fail-safe function capable of turning a toe angle adjusting motor as a driving source for turning even if the turning motor fails, and for toe angle adjustment. It is an object of the present invention to provide a steer-by-wire type steering apparatus that can safely run with a toe angle adjusting mechanism fixed even if a motor fails, can further reduce the capacity of a toe angle adjusting motor, and can have a compact configuration.

A steer-by-wire type steering apparatus according to the present invention includes a steering rod provided with tie rods at both left and right ends, a steering wheel that is not mechanically connected to the steering rod, and a steering angle sensor that detects a steering angle of the steering wheel. A steering motor that drives the steering rod left and right, a steering power transmission mechanism that transmits rotation of the steering motor to the steering rod, a toe angle adjustment motor that adjusts the span of the steering rod, A toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism for adjusting a toe angle by rotation of the toe angle adjusting motor, and a steering angle command signal and a toe angle command signal based on the steering angle detected by the steering angle sensor; Steering control for supplying these command signals to the steering motor and toe angle adjusting motor, respectively. And a stage.
In this steer-by-wire steering device, when the steering motor fails, the steering motor is disconnected from the steering power transmission mechanism, and the change in toe angle is stopped, so that the steering motor is Instead, the rotation of the toe angle adjusting motor is transmitted to the steered power transmission mechanism to enable the steering, and when the toe angle adjusting motor fails, the toe angle adjusting power transmitting mechanism cannot transmit power. A switching mechanism for performing only turning by the steering motor is provided as a state, and the steering rod is divided into two in the axial direction, a non-rotating divided shaft and a rotating divided shaft, and both the divided shafts are concentric with the axis center. These are shafts coupled to each other at the screw coupling portion, and the non-rotating split shaft and the rotating split shaft are integrally moved in the axial direction to steer the steered wheel and rotate the rotating split shaft with respect to the non-rotating split shaft. And said By adjusting the screwing length of the connecting portion, the distance between the left and right tie rods is changed to change the toe angle of the steered wheel, and the rotation division shaft can swing with respect to the tie rod. A ball bearing is connected to the ball joint, and a rolling bearing is applied to the ball joint. The turning power transmission mechanism is configured to rotate the steering motor to rotate the non-rotating divided shaft of the steering rod. And the toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism is a mechanism for rotating the rotating split shaft with respect to the non-rotating split shaft of the steering rod by the rotation of the toe angle adjusting motor. These steering power transmission mechanism and toe angle adjustment power transmission mechanism are such that the steering angle of the left and right steered wheels matches the target value by the control of the steering control means. Characterized in that it is operated in cooperation with each other in so that. Specifically, the ball joint portion includes an inner ball joint.

  According to this configuration, the toe angle adjusting motor is provided separately from the steering motor, and when the steering motor fails, the steering motor is separated from the device and can be steered by the toe angle adjusting motor. When the toe angle adjusting motor fails, the toe angle adjusting motor is fixed and only the turning is performed by the turning motor. Toe angle adjustment is performed by changing the screwing length by screwing the steering rod into a two-part structure. When adjusting the toe angle, one of the steering rods is rotated. Since a rolling bearing for rotation support is provided at the ball joint connected to the tie rod, the friction torque is reduced and the toe angle adjusting motor is provided. Can reduce the capacity. Thus, the toe angle adjustment and the fail-safe device can be added at the same time, and the toe angle adjusting motor can be reduced in size.

More specifically, the left and right tie rods are moved in the same direction by axially moving the non-rotating split shaft and the rotating split shaft of the steering rod through the turning power transmission mechanism by the rotation of the steering motor. To the same distance and steer the steered wheels. In addition, by rotating the toe angle adjusting motor, the screwing length of the screw coupling portion is adjusted by rotating the rotating split shaft with respect to the non-rotating split shaft of the steering rod via the toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism. Change the distance between the left and right tie rods to change the toe angle of the steered wheels. During the toe angle adjustment, the steered power transmission mechanism and the toe angle adjusted power transmission mechanism are operated in cooperation with each other so that the steered angles of the left and right steered wheels coincide with the target values under the control of the steering control means. It is done.
When the steering motor fails, the switching mechanism separates the steering motor from the steering power transmission mechanism and stops the change of the toe angle, and instead of the steering motor, the toe angle adjusting motor The rotation is transmitted to the turning power transmission mechanism to enable turning. As a result, a fail-safe function capable of steering even when the steering motor fails is provided. When the toe angle adjusting motor fails, the switching mechanism causes the toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism to be in a state where power cannot be transmitted, and only the turning by the steering motor is performed. As a result, when the toe angle adjusting motor fails, the toe angle adjusting mechanism is fixed and the vehicle can travel safely.

The steering rod is divided into a non-rotating split shaft and a rotary split shaft in the axial direction, and both split shafts are connected to each other by a screw connection portion concentric with the shaft center. The distance between the left and right tie rods can be changed by rotating the rotation division shaft. The left and right tie rods can be directly connected to the non-rotating split shaft and the rotating split shaft, respectively. For this reason, the steer-by-wire type steering apparatus of the present invention has a compact configuration and can shorten the entire axial length of the portion where the steering rod is provided, and is easy to mount on the vehicle. When the steering rod is not divided in the axial direction, the steering rod is provided with an advancing / retreating member at both ends of the steering rod in the axial direction according to the rotation of the steering rod, and the left and right tie rods are attached to these advancing / retreating members. There is a need. Therefore, the entire axial length of the portion where the steering rod is provided becomes long.
In addition, when adjusting the toe angle, the steering rod is rotated. The rotation division shaft is connected to the tie rod via a ball joint portion, and a rolling bearing is applied to the ball joint portion. Therefore, even when an axial load is applied, the friction torque between the rotary split shaft and the tie rod can be reduced, and the rotational torque during toe angle adjustment can be reduced. For this reason, the capacity | capacitance of the motor for toe angle adjustment which is a rotational drive source of a rotation division | segmentation axis | shaft can be made small, and the structure of a steer-by-wire type steering apparatus can be made more compact.

  In this invention, the rolling bearing applied to the ball joint portion on the rotation split shaft side of the steering rod rotated by the toe angle adjusting mechanism may be a rolling spherical bearing, or a ball bearing and a spherical sliding bearing. It may be a thing.

In the present invention, the toe angle adjusting motor may be a hollow motor, and the steering rod may be inserted into a hollow motor shaft of a toe angle adjusting motor comprising the hollow motor. Further, the steering motor may be a hollow motor, and the components of the switching mechanism may be inserted into the hollow motor shaft of the steering motor composed of the hollow motor.
If it is set as said each structure, the toe angle adjustment motor and the steering motor, the steering rod steering shaft, and the components of the switching mechanism can be arranged compactly.

In the present invention, a ball screw shaft portion is provided on a non-rotating split shaft of the steering rod, and a ball nut screwed into the ball screw shaft portion is provided only for rotation. The turning power transmission mechanism is provided for the turning. It is preferable that the ball nut is rotated by rotation of a motor to move the steering rod in the axial direction to perform turning.
According to this structure, since the operation | movement location of a turning power transmission mechanism can be made only into a ball nut at the minimum, the structure of a turning power transmission mechanism can be simplified.

The ball nut may be a top type ball circulation system, and the ball nut may be supported by a double-row angular ball bearing and a deep groove ball bearing.
The top-type ball nut can reduce the outer diameter and has a good rotational balance. When the double row angular contact ball bearing and the deep groove ball bearing are combined to support the ball nut, it is possible to receive both an axial load and a moment load acting on the ball nut.

It is preferable to support the outer diameter surface of the ball screw shaft portion of the non-rotating split shaft of the steering rod with a sliding bearing.
A steering rod having a structure divided into two in the axial direction has low rigidity in the vicinity of the joint between the two split shafts, and it is necessary to increase the support rigidity in the vicinity of the joint. In addition, it is necessary to avoid applying moment load to the ball screw shaft as much as possible. If the outer diameter surface of the ball screw shaft portion is supported by a slide bearing, the support rigidity in the vicinity of the coupling portion between the two split shafts can be improved and a moment load can be avoided from being applied to the ball screw shaft portion. It is effective if the axial direction position of the slide bearing is between the non-rotating split shaft and the coupling portion of the rotary split shaft and the ball nut.

Anti-rotation means for preventing the non-rotating split shaft of the steering rod from rotating about the axis is provided. In that case, the anti-rotation means is formed on the non-rotating split shaft of the steering rod, and is fixed to a non-concentric circle portion whose outer shape in cross section perpendicular to the axial direction is different from the concentric circle at the shaft center, and to the housing of the device. And a non-concentric circular portion that is slidably fitted in the axial direction.
The anti-rotation means has a simple configuration and can reliably prevent the non-rotating divided shaft of the steered shaft.

In the present invention, a spline shaft portion is provided on the rotation division shaft of the steering rod, and a spline nut that engages with the spline shaft portion so as to be relatively movable in the axial direction is rotatably provided. The toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism includes the toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism. By rotating the spline nut with an angle adjusting motor, rotating the rotating split shaft of the steering rod, and adjusting the screwing length of the screw coupling portion of the non-rotating split shaft and the rotary split shaft, It is preferable to change the toe angle of the steering wheel by changing the length of the steering rod.
According to this configuration, since the operating portion of the toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism can be at least the spline nut, the configuration of the toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism can be simplified.

  In the case of the above configuration, the spline teeth of the spline shaft portion of the steered shaft and the spline teeth of the spline nut may be in sliding contact or in rolling contact. In any case, the force can be satisfactorily transmitted from the spline nut to the spline shaft portion.

The screw coupling portion may be a square screw or a trapezoidal screw.
In the screw coupling portion in which the screw type is a square screw or a trapezoidal screw, the coupling between the non-rotating divided shaft and the rotating divided shaft is firm.

In the present invention, an inner diameter hole concentric with the center of the shaft is provided on the split shaft of the non-rotating split shaft and the rotating split shaft on which the female screw of the screw coupling portion is provided, and the male screw of the screw coupling portion is provided. A fitting shaft portion that fits into the inner diameter hole may be provided on the provided split shaft. In that case, it is desirable to provide a retaining means for restricting the relative axial positional relationship between the inner diameter hole and the fitting shaft portion so that the fitting shaft portion does not come off from the inner diameter hole.
By fitting the fitting shaft portion into the inner diameter hole, the coaxiality between the non-rotating divided shaft and the rotating divided shaft is maintained. Further, by providing the retaining means, it is possible to prevent the fitting shaft portion from being detached from the inner diameter hole, and to reliably maintain the coaxiality of the non-rotating divided shaft and the rotating divided shaft.

In the present invention, the toe angle adjusting motor may have a maximum generated torque smaller than a maximum generated torque of the steering motor.
The replacement of the toe angle adjustment by the toe angle adjustment motor during normal operation and the steering drive source when the steering motor fails is the operation that is performed when the vehicle is running. It is much smaller than the torque required for the steering motor. Therefore, the toe angle adjusting motor may be smaller than the steering motor.

  The steer-by-wire type steering device of the present invention includes a steering rod provided with tie rods at both left and right ends, a steering wheel that is not mechanically connected to the steering rod, a steering angle sensor that detects a steering angle of the steering wheel, A steering motor that drives the steering rod left and right, a steering power transmission mechanism that transmits rotation of the steering motor to the steering rod, a toe angle adjustment motor that adjusts the span of the steering rod, A toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism for adjusting a toe angle by rotation of the toe angle adjusting motor, and a steering angle command signal and a toe angle command signal based on the steering angle detected by the steering angle sensor; Steering control for supplying these command signals to the steering motor and toe angle adjusting motor, respectively. When the steering motor fails, the steering motor is disconnected from the steering power transmission mechanism, and the change of the toe angle is stopped, and the steering motor is replaced. The rotation of the toe angle adjusting motor is transmitted to the steered power transmission mechanism to enable the steering, and when the toe angle adjusting motor fails, the toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism is set in a power transmission disabled state. A fail-safe system that allows the steering angle adjustment motor to be diverted to the driving source of the steering even if the steering motor fails because the switching mechanism that allows only the steering by the steering motor is provided. Even if the toe angle adjusting motor fails, the toe angle adjusting mechanism is fixed and the vehicle can travel safely. The steering rod is divided into two in the axial direction, a non-rotating divided shaft and a rotating divided shaft, and the two divided shafts are coupled to each other by a screw coupling portion concentric with the shaft center. And the rotating split shaft is integrally moved in the axial direction to steer the steered wheel, and the rotary split shaft is rotated with respect to the non-rotating split shaft to adjust the screwing length of the screw coupling portion. The steering power transmission mechanism is configured to change a toe angle of a steered wheel by changing a distance between the left and right tie rods, and the turning power transmission mechanism is configured to rotate a non-rotation split shaft and a rotation split shaft of the steering rod by rotation of the steering motor. The toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism is a mechanism for rotating the rotary split shaft with respect to the non-rotating split shaft of the steering rod by rotation of the toe angle adjusting motor, and Steering power transmitting mechanism and the toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism, the control of the steering control means, the steering angle of the right and left steered wheels is operated in cooperation with each other to match the target value. In addition, since the rotary split shaft is connected to the tie rod via a ball joint portion that is swingably connected to each other, and a rolling bearing is applied to the ball joint portion, the capacity of the toe angle adjusting motor is Can be reduced. Thereby, a structure becomes compact and it is easy to mount in a vehicle.

1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a steer-by-wire steering device according to an embodiment of the present invention. (A) is a horizontal sectional view at the time of normal operation of the steering rod drive section in the steer-by-wire type steering apparatus, and (B) is an enlarged view of the IIB section. (A) is a horizontal sectional view at the time of failure of the toe angle adjusting motor in the steering rod driving section, and (B) is an enlarged view of the III-B section. (A) is a horizontal sectional view at the time when the steering motor in the steering rod drive section fails, and (B) is an enlarged view of the IVB section. (A), (B) is sectional drawing which shows each different state of the coupling thread part of the steering rod. It is VI-VI sectional drawing of FIG. It is a side view of the rotation control mechanism of the steering rod drive unit, and (A) and (B) show different states. It is explanatory drawing which shows the tooth tip shape of the spline tooth | gear of a normal spline shaft. (A) is a side view of an example of the intermediate shaft of the steering rod drive unit, and (B) is a front view of the same. (A) is a side view of another example of the intermediate shaft of the steering rod drive unit, and (B) is a front view of the same. (A) is a side view of still another example of the intermediate shaft of the steering rod drive unit, and (B) is a front view of the same. (A) is a side view of still another example of the intermediate shaft of the steering rod drive unit, and (B) is a front view of the same. It is an expanded sectional view of an example of the connection part of the rotation division | segmentation axis | shaft and a tie rod in the steer-by-wire type steering device. It is an expanded sectional view of the other example of the connection part.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown schematically in FIG. 1, the steer-by-wire steering device includes a steering wheel 1, a steering angle sensor 2, a steering torque sensor 3, a steering reaction force motor 4, and left and right steerings. A steered shaft 10 that is axially movable for steering and connected to a wheel 13 via a knuckle arm 12 and a tie rod 11, a steering rod drive unit 14 that drives the steering rod 10, a steering angle sensor 8, And an ECU (electric control unit) 5. The ECU 5 includes a steering control means 5a, a failure handling control means 5b, and a correction operation control means 5c. The ECU 5 and its respective control means 5a, 5b, 5c are constituted by a microcomputer and an electronic circuit including its control program.

  The steering wheel 1 is not mechanically connected to the steering rod 10 for turning. A steering angle sensor 2 and a steering torque sensor 3 are provided for the steering wheel 1 and a steering reaction force motor 4 is connected thereto. The steering angle sensor 2 is a sensor that detects the steering angle of the steering wheel 1. The steering torque sensor 3 is a sensor that detects a steering torque that acts on the steering wheel 1. The steering reaction force motor 4 is a motor that applies reaction force torque to the steering wheel 1.

  2 to 4 are horizontal sectional views showing different states of the steering rod drive unit 14. The steering rod drive unit 14 includes a steering rod 10, a steering mechanism 15 that steers the steered wheels 13 (FIG. 1), a toe angle adjustment mechanism 16 that adjusts a toe angle of the steered wheels 13, and a steering mechanism. 15 and a switching mechanism 17 for switching the power transmission mechanisms 18 and 30 of the toe angle adjusting mechanism 16 are provided.

  The steering rod 10 is an axis that is divided into two in the axial direction, a non-rotating divided shaft 10A and a rotating divided shaft 10B, and these divided shafts 10A and 10B are coupled to each other by a screw coupling portion 10C concentric with the axis center. The left and right tie rods 11 (FIG. 1) are connected to the tip portions of the non-rotating split shaft 10A and the rotating split shaft 10B protruding from the housing 19 of the steering rod drive unit 14, respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the screw coupling portion 10C includes a male screw 81 provided on the non-rotating divided shaft 10A and a female screw 82 provided on the rotating divided shaft 10B. The screw type is preferably a square screw or a trapezoidal screw. In the screw coupling portion 10C in which the screw type is a square screw or a trapezoidal screw, the coupling between the non-rotating divided shaft 10A and the rotating divided shaft 10B is firm.

  The male screw 81 is provided at the tip of a fitting shaft portion 83 that protrudes from the ball screw shaft portion 10a of the non-rotating divided shaft 10A toward the rotating divided shaft 10B. The female screw portion 82 is formed on the inner periphery of the cylindrical portion 84 of the rotary division shaft 10B. The rotating split shaft 10B is provided with an extended cylindrical portion 85 extending from the cylindrical portion 84 to the non-rotating split shaft 10A. The fitting shaft portion 83 is fitted into the inner diameter hole 86 of the extended cylindrical portion 85. Match. The inner diameter hole 86 is concentric with the axial center of the steering rod 10.

  The screw coupling portion 10 </ b> C is provided with a retaining means 88 that prevents the fitting shaft portion 83 from coming out of the inner diameter hole 86. The retaining means 88 includes a circlip 90 that fits in an annular outer circumferential groove 89 formed on the outer periphery of the fitting shaft portion 83, and an annular inner circumferential groove 91 formed in the inner diameter surface of the inner diameter hole 86. Become. As shown in the partially enlarged view of FIG. 5A, the step surface 91a on the opposite side of the non-rotating divided shaft 10A of the inner peripheral groove 91 is tapered so that the groove depth gradually decreases toward the outside.

  Normally, as shown in FIG. 5A, the circlip 90 and the inner circumferential groove 91 are displaced in the axial direction, and the circlip 90 is pressed by the inner diameter surface of the inner diameter hole 86 to be reduced in diameter. ing. In this state, when the rotation division shaft 10B is rotated with respect to the non-rotation division shaft 10A, the screwing length of the screw coupling portion 10C is adjusted. As shown in FIG. 5B, when the circlip 90 and the inner circumferential groove 91 are in the same position in the axial direction, the circlip 90 expands in diameter by its own elastic repulsive force and engages with the inner circumferential groove 91. Thereby, the operation in the direction of shortening the screwing length of the screw coupling portion 10 </ b> C is restricted, and the fitting shaft portion 83 cannot be removed from the inner diameter hole 86. Since the step surface 91a of the inner circumferential groove 91 has a tapered shape as described above, the operation in the direction of shortening the screwing length of the screw coupling portion 10C is not restricted.

  The non-rotating divided shaft 10 </ b> A can be moved forward and backward in the axial direction with respect to the housing 19 of the steering rod driving unit 14 and cannot be rotated around the shaft by the rotation preventing means 93. As shown in FIG. 6, the non-rotating means 93 is fixed to the non-concentric circular portion 10 b, which is a portion continuing to the outside of the ball screw shaft portion 10 a in the non-rotating divided shaft 10 A, and the housing 19. The part 10b is configured by a sliding bearing 94 that is slidably fitted in the axial direction. The shape of the cross section perpendicular to the axial direction of the non-concentric circular portion 10b is a shape whose outer shape is different from the concentric circle having the axial center. In this example, the non-concentric circular portion 10b has a cross-sectional shape obtained by cutting off a part of the circumference with a straight line, but may have another cross-sectional shape. The anti-rotation means 93 with this configuration is simple in configuration and can reliably prevent the non-rotating split shaft 10A of the steering rod 10 from rotating.

  The entire steering rod 10 is supported by the housing 19 as follows. That is, the non-rotating split shaft 10A is supported by the double-row angular ball bearing 29a and the deep groove ball bearing 29b via a ball nut 26, which will be described later, and is also supported by the slide bearing 94. . Further, the rotary split shaft 10B is supported by a rolling bearing 44 via a spline nut 40 described later that is spline-fitted to the outer periphery thereof. Further, the outer diameter surface of the ball screw shaft portion 10 a is supported by the slide bearing 95. The axial position of the slide bearing 95 is between the screw coupling portion 10 </ b> C and the ball nut 26.

  The steered mechanism 15 steers the steered wheels 13 by moving the non-rotating split shaft 10A and the rotating split shaft 10B of the steering rod 10 together in the axial direction. The steering mechanism 15 includes a steering motor 6 and a steering power transmission mechanism 18 that moves the steering rod 10 in the axial direction by the rotation of the steering motor 6.

  The steering motor 6 is attached to the housing 19 of the steering rod drive unit 14 in parallel with the steering rod 10. The steered motor 6 is a hollow motor and has a cylindrical hollow motor shaft 20. The hollow motor shaft 20 is rotatably supported on the housing 19 by a pair of bearings 23. A steering intermediate shaft 21 provided parallel to the steering rod 10 is supported in a hollow portion of the hollow motor shaft 20 via a needle roller bearing 22 so as to be rotatable and movable in the axial direction. The steered intermediate shaft 21 and the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 described later, together with the reference actuator position shown in FIG. 2 and the toe angle adjusting motor failure position shown in FIG. The position is switched in the axial direction to each position of the steering motor failure position shown in FIG.

  The steered power transmission mechanism 18 rotates through a key (not shown) on the outer periphery of the hollow motor shaft 20 of the steered motor 6, the steered intermediate shaft 21, and the steered intermediate shaft 21. An output gear 24 fitted so as to be able to transmit, an input gear 25 meshing with the output gear 24 via a counter gear 24a, and a ball screw shaft portion of the non-rotating split shaft 10A of the steering rod 10 fixed to the input gear 25 And a ball nut 26 which is screwed to 10a. The ball screw shaft portion 10a and the ball nut 26 constitute a ball screw mechanism A. As the ball nut 26, for example, a ball circulation system with a top type is used. The top-type ball nut 26 can reduce the outer diameter and has a good rotational balance.

  The input gear 24 is supported by the housing 19 via a rolling bearing 28. The ball nut 26 is rotatably supported by the housing 19 by double row angular ball bearings 29a and deep groove ball bearings 29b arranged on both sides in the axial direction. When the double row angular ball bearing 29 a and the deep groove ball bearing 29 b are combined to support the ball nut 26, both an axial load and a moment load acting on the ball nut 26 can be received. As described above, the turning intermediate shaft 21 is fitted to the hollow motor shaft 20 of the turning motor 6 via the needle roller bearing 22 and is fitted to the output gear 24 via the key. Therefore, movement in the axial direction is allowed.

  Spline teeth 20a made of inner teeth are formed on the inner periphery of the hollow motor shaft 20, and spline teeth 21a made of outer teeth are formed on the outer periphery of the steering intermediate shaft 21, respectively. The steering rod drive unit 14 is in a normal state (see FIG. In 2), the spline teeth 20a and 21a mesh with each other to form a spline fitting portion 27, whereby the hollow motor shaft 20 and the turning intermediate shaft 21 are coupled so as to be able to transmit rotation. The spline teeth 20a of the hollow motor shaft 20 are long in the axial direction, and the spline teeth 21a of the intermediate shaft 21 for steering can mesh with any axial position.

  When the steering rod drive unit 14 is in a normal state (FIG. 2), the rotational output of the steering motor 6 is transmitted to the ball nut 26 through the steering intermediate shaft 21, the output gear 24, the counter gear 124, and the input gear 25. Then, the rotation of the ball nut 26 is converted into the movement of the steering rod 10 in the axial direction, and the steering is performed.

  The toe angle adjusting mechanism 16 changes the distance between the left and right tie rods by rotating the rotary split shaft 10B relative to the non-rotating split shaft 10A and adjusting the screwing length of the screw coupling portion 10C. Change the toe angle of the wheel 13. The toe angle adjusting mechanism 16 includes a toe angle adjusting motor 7 and a toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism 30 for adjusting the toe angle by the rotation of the toe angle adjusting motor 7.

  The toe angle adjusting motor 7 is attached to the housing 19 of the steering rod drive unit 14 concentrically with the steering rod 10. The toe angle adjusting motor 7 is also a hollow motor, and its cylindrical hollow motor shaft 31 is provided on the outer periphery of the screw coupling portion 10 </ b> C in the steering rod 10.

  The toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism 30 includes an output gear 32 fixed to the hollow motor shaft 31, a first intermediate gear 33 that meshes with the output gear 32 via a counter gear 32a, and the first intermediate gear 33 and a spline. A toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 that meshes with the fitting portion 34, a second intermediate gear 37 that meshes with the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 and the spline fitting portion 36, and the second intermediate gear 37 and counter gear 39. The input gear 38 meshes with the input gear 38 and the spline nut 40 fixed to the input gear 38. The rotation division shaft 10B of the steering rod 10 is a spline shaft having a tooth groove formed on the outer periphery, and the spline nut 40 is spline-fitted to the rotation division shaft 10B. The rotary split shaft 10B and the spline nut 40 may be in sliding contact with each other, or may be in rolling contact with each other via a ball (not shown). In any case, rotation can be satisfactorily transmitted from the spline nut 40 to the rotary split shaft 10B.

  The first intermediate gear 33, the second intermediate gear 37, and the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 are connected to the spline teeth 33a, 37a formed by internal teeth formed on the intermediate gears 33, 37 and the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35, respectively. The spline fitting parts 34 and 36 are comprised by meshing with the spline teeth 35a and 35b which consist of the formed external tooth. The spline teeth 35b of the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 are long in the axial direction, and the spline teeth 37a of the second intermediate gear 37 can mesh with any axial direction portion.

  The hollow motor shaft 31 is provided via a rolling bearing 41, the first intermediate gear 33 is provided via a rolling bearing 42, the second intermediate gear 37 is provided via a rolling bearing 43, and the spline nut 40 is provided via a rolling bearing 44. It is supported by the housing 19. Further, a rolling bearing 45 is interposed between the first intermediate gear 33 and the second intermediate gear 37, and both the gears 33 and 37 are rotatable with respect to each other. As described above, since the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 is engaged with the second intermediate gear 37 by the spline fitting portion 36, movement in the axial direction is allowed. The steering intermediate shaft 21 and the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 are coaxially arranged adjacent to each other, and a thrust bearing 46 is interposed between the shaft ends of the intermediate shafts 21 and 35 facing each other. Thereby, both the intermediate shafts 21 and 35 can be rotated relative to each other.

  When the steering rod drive unit 14 is in a normal state (FIG. 2), the rotation output of the toe angle adjusting motor 7 is the hollow motor shaft 31, the output gear 32, the counter gear 32a, the first intermediate gear 33, and the toe angle adjusting intermediate. It is transmitted to the spline nut 40 through the shaft 35, the second intermediate gear 37, the counter gear 39, and the input gear 38, and the rotation split shaft 10B of the steering rod 10 is rotated by the rotation of the spline nut 40. By rotating the rotation division shaft 10B with respect to the non-rotation division shaft 10A, the screwing length of the screw coupling portion 10C is adjusted, and the steering rod 10 is expanded and contracted. Thereby, the distance between the left and right tie rods 11 is changed, and the toe angle of the steered wheels 13 (FIG. 1) is changed. During the toe angle adjustment, as will be described later, the turning power transmission mechanism 18 and the toe angle adjustment power transmission mechanism 30 are controlled by the steering control means 5a so that the turning angles of the left and right turning wheels 13 coincide with the target value. Are operated in cooperation with each other.

  As shown in the enlarged sectional view of FIG. 13, the rotation division shaft 10 </ b> B is connected to the tie rod 11 through the ball joint portion 96 so as to be relatively rotatable. The ball joint portion 96 is an inner ball joint portion to which a rolling bearing is applied. Here, a rolling spherical bearing 97 is used as the rolling bearing. Specifically, a concave spherical surface 98 serving as an outer ring raceway surface of a rolling spherical bearing 97 that is a rolling bearing is formed at the tip of the rotating split shaft 10B opposite to the screw coupling portion 10C side, and the inner ring of the rolling spherical bearing 97 is formed. The spherical surface portion 103 of the inner ball joint portion 96 serving as a raceway surface is fixed to the tie rod 11. The spherical surface portion 101 of the inner ball joint portion 96 is disposed concentrically with the concave spherical surface 98 so as to be surrounded by the concave spherical surface 98 with respect to the concave spherical surface 98, and the rolling spherical bearing 97 is interposed between the spherical surface portion 101 and the concave spherical surface 98. A rolling element 99 is held by a spherical cage 100 and interposed.

FIG. 14 shows another example of the inner ball joint portion 96. In this example, a ball bearing 102 and a spherical plain bearing 103 are used as rolling bearings. The spherical plain bearing 103 is composed of a bottom nut-like cylindrical member having a concave spherical surface 103 a that is in sliding contact with the spherical part 101 of the inner ball joint part 96. At the tip of the rotary split shaft 10B opposite to the screw coupling portion 10C side, a cap nut-like bottomed cylindrical portion 104 is provided. A rolling element 104 of a ball bearing 102 held by a cage 105 is interposed between the outer peripheral surface of the spherical plain bearing 103 and the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 104. The outer peripheral surface of the spherical plain bearing 103 is an inner ring raceway surface of the ball bearing 102, and the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 104 is an outer ring raceway surface of the ball bearing 102.
The tie rod 11 is directly connected to the non-rotating split shaft 10A that is not driven to rotate.

  Thus, since the tie rod 11 is connected via the inner ball joint portion 96 to which the rolling bearing is applied to the rotation division shaft 10B of the steered shaft 10 that is rotationally driven at the toe angle adjustment, the axial load Even in a state where the load is applied, the friction torque between the rotary split shaft 10B and the tie rod 11 can be reduced, and the rotational torque of the steering rod 10 during toe angle adjustment can be reduced. For this reason, the capacity | capacitance of the toe angle adjustment motor 7 which is a rotational drive source of the rotation division | segmentation shaft 10B can be made small.

  The switching mechanism 17 switches the power transmission system of the steering power transmission mechanism 18 and the toe angle adjustment power transmission mechanism 30 when the steering motor 6 fails and when the toe angle adjustment motor 7 fails. Is for. The switching mechanism 17 includes a steering intermediate shaft 21 and a toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35, a linear motion actuator 47 that moves the intermediate shafts 21 and 35 together in the axial direction, and both the intermediate shafts 21 and 35. Transmission of the transmission connecting portions of the pushing power transmission mechanism 18 and the toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism 30 by the movement of the intermediate shafts 21 and 35 by the pressing mechanism 48 that applies a pressing force so as to be maintained in contact with each other. A transmission engagement / disengagement mechanism 49 is provided.

  The linear actuator 47 includes a spring member 51 and a spring engagement / disengagement mechanism 52. Further, the spring engagement / disengagement mechanism 52 includes a linear / rotational motion conversion mechanism 53 that converts linear motion of the spring member 51 into rotational motion, and a rotation restriction mechanism 54 that regulates the rotational motion obtained by the linear / rotational motion conversion mechanism 53. And become.

  In this example, the spring member 51 is a compression coil spring and urges the support member 55 in the left direction in FIGS. That is, the end of the spring member 51 on the side in contact with the support member 55 linearly moves in the left-right direction. The support members 55 are provided adjacent to each other on the same axis as the steering intermediate shaft 21. A thrust bearing 56 is interposed between the support member 55 and the steering intermediate shaft 21, and a thrust roller bearing 57 is interposed between the support member 55 and the spring member 51, and the support member 55 is rotatable about the central axis.

  Further, in this example, the linear / rotational motion conversion mechanism 53 is a ball screw mechanism, and includes a ball screw shaft 58 that is integral with the support member 55 and a ball nut 59 that is screwed to the ball screw shaft 58. The linear / rotational motion conversion mechanism 53 may have a configuration other than the ball screw mechanism, for example, a combination of a rack and a pinion.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the rotation restricting mechanism 54 includes a protrusion 60 provided on a ball screw shaft 58 that is a rotation shaft, and a lever 61 that plays a role of stopping the rotation of the ball screw shaft 58 by being caught by the protrusion 60. And a rotation restricting drive source 62 for operating the lever 61. The protrusion 60 is a plate-like member in which a part of the outer periphery becomes a protrusion 60a that protrudes to the outer diameter side than the others, and a step surface 60b that the lever 61 hits on one end in the circumferential direction of the protrusion 60a. Is formed. Strictly speaking, the protrusion 60 a of the protrusion 60 is a protrusion on which the lever 61 is caught. The lever 61 is rotatably provided on a rotation center shaft 61 a parallel to the ball screw shaft 58, and has a pair of hook portions 61 b and 61 c that are hooked on the protrusion portion 60 a of the protrusion 60. The rotation restricting drive source 62 is composed of a direct acting actuator, for example, a linear solenoid. The rotation restricting drive source 62 includes an advance / retreat rod 62 a that moves forward and backward in one direction (vertical direction), and the advance / retreat rod 62 a is connected to the lever 61 via a connection link 63.

  FIG. 7A shows a state of the rotation restricting mechanism 54 when the steered shaft drive unit 14 is in a normal state. In this state, one catching portion 61b of the lever 61 is hooked on the projection 60a of the projection 60, thereby restricting the rotation of the projection 60 and the ball screw shaft 58 integral therewith. For this reason, the ball screw shaft 58 cannot be moved in the axial direction by the action of the linear / rotational motion converting mechanism 53 including the ball screw mechanism, and the spring member 51 (FIG. 2) is restricted from pushing the support member 55 (FIG. 2). Has been. That is, the spring member 51 is held in a compressed state, and is in an unbiased state in which it is impossible to bias both the intermediate shafts 21 and 35 (FIG. 2) in the axial direction.

  When the advance / retreat rod 62a of the rotation restricting drive source 62 is retracted from the state shown in FIG. 7A, the catch between the catch 61b of the lever 61 and the projection 60a of the projection 60 is released, and the ball screw shaft 58 can rotate. become. Thereby, the ball screw shaft 58 moves to the left in FIG. 2 while rotating with respect to the ball nut 59 by the elastic repulsive force of the spring member 51. That is, the spring member 51 is released from the compressed state and urges both the intermediate shafts 21 and 35 in the axial direction. When the protrusion 60 rotates by a predetermined phase, the protrusion 60a of the protrusion 60 is caught by the other hook 61c of the lever 61 as shown in FIG. 7B, and the protrusion 60 and the ball screw shaft 58 rotate. Is restrained. In the meantime, both the intermediate shafts 21 and 35 move in the axial direction to the left, and become the position when the toe angle adjusting motor fails in FIG.

  When the advance / retreat rod 62a of the rotation restricting drive source 62 is advanced from the state of FIG. 7B, the catch between the catch 61c of the lever 61 and the projection 60a of the projection 60 is released, and the ball screw shaft 58 can rotate. become. Accordingly, as described above, the spring member 51 biases the intermediate shafts 21 and 35 in the axial direction, and both the intermediate shafts 21 and 35 move in the axial direction to the left. Accordingly, the axial positions of the protrusion 60 and the lever 61 are deviated. Therefore, even if the protrusion 60 rotates, the protrusion 60a does not get caught by any of the hooks 61b and 61c of the lever 61, and the spring member 51 moves to the end of the linear motion range. The positions of the intermediate shafts 21 and 35 when the spring member 51 moves to the end of the linear motion range is the position at the time of the failure of the steering motor in FIG.

  The spring engagement / disengagement mechanism 52 can also be described as follows when viewed from the operational aspect. That is, the spring engagement / disengagement mechanism 52 is disposed within the linear motion range of the spring member 51 or within the motion range of the ball screw shaft 58 that is a member that linearly moves together with the spring member 51, and the obstacle that prevents the linear motion, The obstacle removing mechanism B opens the spring member 51 from the compressed state by removing the obstacle. In this case, the obstacle is a lever 61 that is caught by a protrusion 60 attached to the ball screw shaft 58 and prevents the linear motion of the ball screw shaft 58, and the obstacle removing mechanism B is within the movement range of the ball screw shaft 58. This is a mechanism that combines a rotation restricting drive source 62 and a connecting link 63 that act to remove the lever 61 as a protruding obstacle.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the pressing mechanism 48 is adjacent to the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 and is coaxially disposed with both the turning and toe angle adjusting intermediate shafts 21 and 35. And a coil spring 65 that elastically biases the pressing shaft 64 toward the side pressing the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35. The pressing shaft 64 and the coil spring 65 are accommodated in a pressing mechanism accommodating portion 19 a that is a part of the housing 19. A thrust bearing 66 is disposed between the opposite ends of the pressing shaft 64 and the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35, so that the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 is rotatable with respect to the pressing shaft 64. ing.

The transmission engagement / disengagement mechanism 49 includes first to third transmission engagement / disengagement mechanisms 71 to 73.
The first transmission engagement / disengagement mechanism 71 includes the hollow motor shaft 20 of the steering motor 6, the intermediate shaft 21 for steering, and the first intermediate gear 33 that is a drive side member for adjusting the toe angle. When both the intermediate shafts 21 and 35 are in the reference position of FIG. 2 and when the toe angle adjusting motor is in the failed position of FIG. 3, the spline teeth 20a of the hollow motor shaft 20 and the turning intermediate shaft 21 The spline teeth 21a mesh with each other to form the spline fitting portion 27, whereby the hollow motor shaft 20 and the turning intermediate shaft 21 are coupled. When both the intermediate shafts 21 and 35 are at the position where the steering motor fails in FIG. 4, the spline teeth 21 a of the steering intermediate shaft 21 are disengaged from the spline teeth 20 a of the hollow motor shaft 20. The teeth 21 a mesh with the spline teeth 33 a of the first intermediate gear 33 to form the spline fitting portion 74, whereby the turning intermediate shaft 21 is coupled to the first intermediate gear 33.

  The second transmission engagement / disengagement mechanism 72 includes a steering intermediate shaft 21, a first intermediate gear 33 that is a drive side member for toe angle adjustment, and an intermediate shaft 35 for toe angle adjustment. When both the intermediate shafts 21 and 35 are at the reference position in FIG. 2, the spline teeth 33 a of the first intermediate gear 33 and the spline teeth 35 a of the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 are engaged with each other to form the spline fitting portion 34. Thus, the first intermediate gear 33 and the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 are coupled. When the intermediate shafts 21 and 35 are at the toe angle adjusting motor failure position in FIG. 3 and at the steering motor failure position in FIG. 4, the spline fitting portion 34 is disengaged. Thus, the first intermediate gear 33 and the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 are disconnected.

  The third transmission engagement / disengagement mechanism 73 includes a toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35, a second intermediate gear 37 that is a toe angle adjusting driven member, and the housing 19. Spline teeth 75 a made of internal teeth are formed at the proximal end of the pressing mechanism housing portion 19 a of the housing 19. When both the intermediate shafts 21 and 35 are in the reference position of FIG. 2, the spline teeth 35 b of the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 and the spline teeth 37 a of the second intermediate gear 37 are engaged with each other to form the spline fitting portion 36. Thus, the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 and the second intermediate gear 37 are coupled. When the intermediate shafts 21 and 35 are at the toe angle adjusting motor failure position in FIG. 3 and at the steering motor failure position in FIG. 4, in addition to the spline fitting portion 36, The spline teeth 35b of the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 and the spline teeth 75a of the housing 19 mesh with each other to form a spline fitting portion 75. By this spline fitting portion 75, the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 is coupled to the housing 19 and its rotation is restricted.

  In the switching operation of the transmission engagement / disengagement mechanism 49, the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 is moved to the first intermediate gear 33 in the process in which both the intermediate shafts 21, 35 move in the axial direction from the reference position to the steering motor failure position. The positional relationship between the members is set so that the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 is coupled to the housing 19 prior to removal from the housing 19.

  In order to smoothly perform the switching operation of the transmission switching mechanism 49, the spline teeth 21a of the steering intermediate shaft 21 and the spline teeth 35a, 35b of the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 are formed of a normal spline shaft shown in FIG. It is desirable that the shape of the tooth tip is not flat like the spline tooth 80a in 80, and the shape of the tooth tip is an acute angle as shown in FIG. 9 or FIG. 10, for example. Alternatively, as another example, as shown in FIG. 11 or FIG. 12, it is desirable that the shape of the tooth tip of the spline teeth 21a, 35ab, 35b is a tapered shape without the tooth tip protrusion.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 10 or FIG. 12, a protruding portion 76 is protruded from the spline teeth 21a toward the end of the shaft on the side facing the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 of the turning intermediate shaft 21. It may be provided. The outer diameter of the protrusion 76 is set to be equal to or smaller than the root radius of the spline teeth 21a. If such a protruding portion 76 is provided at the tip of the steering intermediate shaft 21, the steering intermediate shaft 21 and the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 are positioned from the reference position to the position when the steering motor has failed. At the time of switching, the spline teeth 35a of the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 are first disengaged from the spline teeth 33a of the first intermediate gear 33 by the length of the protruding portion 76 in the axial direction. The spline teeth 21 a mesh with the spline teeth 33 a of the first intermediate gear 33. That is, after the dynamic coupling between the toe angle adjusting motor 7 and the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 is released, the toe angle adjusting motor 7 and the turning intermediate shaft 21 are dynamically coupled. 2 to 4 employs a steering shaft intermediate shaft 21 having a shaft end shape shown in FIG. 10 or 12.

  The steering control means 5a of the ECU 5 controls the steering reaction force motor 4, the steering motor 6, and the toe angle adjusting motor 7. That is, the steering control means 5a performs the target steering reaction based on the steering angle signal detected by the steering angle sensor 2, the steering wheel rotation speed signal detected by a vehicle speed sensor (not shown), and the signals of various sensors that detect driving conditions. The steering reaction force motor 4 is controlled by feeding back a steering torque signal detected by the steering torque sensor 3 so that the actual steering reaction force torque matches the target steering reaction force. Further, by selectively setting the rotation direction and the rotation amount of the steering motor 6 and the toe angle adjusting motor 7, the steering wheel 13 and the toe angle adjustment are selectively performed. When adjusting the toe angle, the steered power transmission mechanism 18 and the toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism 30 are operated in cooperation with each other so that the steered angles of the left and right steered wheels 13 coincide with the target value. This cooperative operation will be specifically described later.

  The failure handling control means 5 b controls the rotation restricting drive source 62 of the switching mechanism 17. That is, when the failure handling control means 5b detects a failure of the steering motor 6 and a failure of the toe angle adjusting motor 7, the rotation restricting drive source 62 is operated in response to the failure, and the steering is controlled. Both the intermediate shafts 21 and 35 for adjusting the toe angle and adjusting the toe angle are moved in the axial direction from the reference position to the position at the time of the failure of the steering motor or the position at the time of the toe angle adjusting motor failure.

  The correction operation control means 5c corrects the control for moving both the intermediate shafts 21 and 35 in the axial direction by the failure handling control means 5b. Specifically, when the spline teeth 35b of the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 and the spline teeth 75a of the housing 19 are spline-fitted 75 to restrict the rotation of the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35, the toe angle adjusting motor 7, the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 is rotated by one pitch or more of the spline teeth 35b, so that the phases of both the spline teeth 35b and 75a are aligned. By performing such a correction operation, the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 can be smoothly fixed to the housing 19 without malfunction.

  Next, the operation of the steering rod drive unit 14 of this steer-by-wire type steering device will be described. When the steered motor 6 and the toe angle adjusting motor 7 are normal, the rotation of the hollow motor shaft 20 of the steered motor 6 is rotated via the steered power transmission mechanism 18 as shown in FIG. The rotation of the hollow motor shaft 31 of the toe angle adjusting motor 7 is transmitted to the spline nut 40 through the toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism 30. The rotation of the ball nut 26 screwed into the ball screw shaft portion 10a of the non-rotating split shaft 10A of the steering rod 10 causes the non-rotating split shaft 10A and the rotary split shaft 10B to move together in the axial direction. Is steered. The rotation of the spline nut 40 that is spline-fitted to the rotary split shaft 10B of the steering rod 10 rotates the rotary split shaft 10B, and this rotation causes the tie rods 11 connected to both ends of the steered shaft 10 to advance and retract to adjust the toe angle. Is done.

  Specifically, the toe angle adjustment is performed by an operation in which the turning power transmission mechanism 18 and the toe angle adjustment power transmission mechanism 30 cooperate with each other as follows. That is, when the spline nut 40 is rotated by the toe angle adjusting motor 7, the rotary split shaft 10 </ b> B rotates together with the spline nut 40. Since the rotation division shaft 10B is screwed to the non-rotation division wheel 10A by a concentric screw coupling portion 10C and is movable in the axial direction with respect to the spline nut 40, the rotation division shaft 10B rotates. The rotation division shaft 10B moves in the axial direction with respect to the non-rotation division shaft 10A by an axial distance corresponding to the rotation amount in the screw coupling portion 10C. As a result, the length of the steering rod 10 composed of the non-rotating divided shaft 10A and the rotating divided shaft 10B changes, so the toe angle changes. However, if the rotation division shaft 10B is moved, the turning angle changes. Therefore, the ball nut 26 is rotated by the steering motor 6, and the non-rotating divided shaft 10A is moved in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the rotating divided shaft 10B. That is, the non-rotating divided shaft 10A is moved by the steering motor 6 by half the axial relative movement length of the rotating divided shaft 10B with respect to the non-rotating divided shaft 10A by the toe angle adjusting motor 7, and the steering rod 10 Maintain the center position of the overall length of. Thus, the toe angle adjustment is performed so that the turning angles of the left and right turning wheels 13 coincide with the target value, that is, without changing the turning angle. When the toe angle is adjusted, the steering control means 5a of the ECU 5 drives the steering motor 6 together with the toe angle adjusting motor 7 in this way, cancels the unbalanced movement of the rotary division shaft 10B, and changes the turning angle. Make toe angle adjustment without any problem.

  When the toe angle adjusting motor 7 has failed, the rotation restricting drive source 62 of the switching mechanism 17 is actuated by a command from the failure responding control means 5b of the ECU 5, so that the rotation restricting mechanism 54 is moved as shown in FIG. The state is switched to the state shown in FIG. As a result, due to the elastic repulsive force of the spring member 51 that constitutes the linear actuator 47, both the intermediate shafts 21 and 35 move axially to the position where the toe angle adjusting motor has failed in FIG.

  At the position of the toe angle adjusting motor failure, the first transmission engaging / disengaging mechanism 71 holds the steering intermediate shaft 21 while being coupled to the hollow motor shaft 20, and the second transmission engaging / disengaging mechanism 72 adjusts the toe angle. The intermediate shaft 35 is disconnected from the first intermediate gear 33, and the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 is connected to the housing 19 by the third transmission engagement / disengagement mechanism 73. That is, the toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism 30 becomes incapable of transmitting power and the rotation of the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 is restricted. As a result, only the turning by the turning motor 6 is performed. As described above, the steering rod driving unit 14 employs the shaft-end-shaped steering intermediate shaft 21 shown in FIG. 12 or FIG. 14, and the toe angle adjusting motor 7 and the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 21 are used. Since the toe angle adjusting motor 7 and the turning intermediate shaft 21 are dynamically coupled after the power coupling with the motor 35 is released, the switching operation of the transmission system can be performed smoothly.

  When the steering motor 6 has failed, the rotation restriction drive source 62 of the switching mechanism 17 is actuated by a command from the failure response control means 5b of the ECU 5, and the rotation restriction mechanism 54 is in the state shown in FIG. Then, after going through the state of FIG. 5B, the state of FIG. Thereby, the intermediate shafts 21 and 35 are moved in the axial direction by the elastic repulsive force of the spring member 51 to the steering motor failure position in FIG. 4 via the toe angle adjustment motor failure position. To do.

  At the time of the failure of the steering motor, the first transmission engagement / disengagement mechanism 71 and the second transmission engagement / disengagement mechanism 72 connect the steering intermediate shaft 21 and the hollow motor shaft 20, and the toe angle adjustment intermediate shaft 35. The first intermediate gear 33 is uncoupled, and the turning intermediate shaft 21 is newly coupled to the first intermediate gear 33, and the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 is coupled to the housing 19 by the third transmission engagement / disengagement mechanism 73. It becomes a state. That is, the steered motor 6 is disconnected from the steered power transmission mechanism 18 and the rotation of the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 is restricted, and the steered intermediate shaft 21 is connected to the toe angle adjusting power transmitting mechanism 30. Is done. Thereby, instead of the steering motor 6, the rotation of the toe angle adjusting motor 7 can be transmitted to the steering power transmission mechanism 18 to be steered.

  Thus, in this steer-by-wire type steering device, when the steering motor 6 fails by the switching mechanism 17, the steering motor 6 is disconnected from the steering power transmission mechanism 18 and the change in the toe angle is detected. By stopping and transmitting the rotation of the toe angle adjusting motor 7 to the steered power transmission mechanism 18 instead of the steered motor 6, the steerable can be steered even when the steered motor fails. A fail-safe function is provided. Further, when the toe angle adjusting motor 7 is lost by the switching mechanism 17, the toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism 30 is set in a power transmission disabled state so that only the turning by the steering motor 6 is performed, thereby adjusting the toe angle. The toe angle adjusting mechanism 16 can be fixed and the vehicle can travel safely when the motor fails. A series of operations for switching the power transmission system of the steering power transmission mechanism 18 and the toe angle adjustment power transmission mechanism 30 at the time of the failure of the steering motor and the toe angle adjustment motor is performed by the linear actuator 47. By moving the intermediate shafts 21 and 35 for adjusting the toe angle and adjusting the toe angle in the axial direction, the transmission engagement / disengagement mechanism 49 is surely performed.

Further, the steering rod 10 is divided into two in the axial direction, a non-rotating divided shaft 10A and a rotating divided shaft 10B, and these divided shafts 10A and 10B are shafts coupled to each other by a screw coupling portion 10C concentric with the shaft center. Thus, the distance between the left and right tie rods 11 can be changed by rotating the rotation division shaft 10B with respect to the non-rotation division shaft 10A. The left and right tie rods 11 can be directly connected to the non-rotating divided shaft 10A and the rotating divided shaft 10B, respectively. For this reason, this steer-by-wire type steering device has a compact configuration, can reduce the overall axial length of the portion where the steered shaft 10 is provided, and is easily mounted on a vehicle.
When the steering rod is not divided in the axial direction, the steering rod is provided with an advancing / retreating member at both ends of the steering rod in the axial direction according to the rotation of the steering rod, and the left and right tie rods are attached to these advancing / retreating members. There is a need. Therefore, the entire axial length of the portion where the steering rod is provided becomes long.

  In particular, since the tie rod 11 is connected to the rotary split shaft 10B of the steering rod 10 that is rotationally driven during toe angle adjustment via an inner ball joint portion 96 to which a rolling bearing is applied, an axial load is applied. Even in this state, the friction torque between the rotary split shaft 10B and the tie rod 11 can be reduced, and the capacity of the toe angle adjusting motor 7 which is the rotational drive source of the rotary split shaft 10B can be reduced. For this reason, the structure of a steer-by-wire type steering apparatus can be made further compact.

  Since the steering rod 10 having a structure divided into two in the axial direction has low rigidity in the vicinity of the screw coupling portion 10C of both the divided shafts 10A and 10B, it is necessary to increase the support rigidity in the vicinity of the screw coupling portion 10C. Further, it is necessary to avoid applying a moment load to the ball screw shaft portion 10a as much as possible. As in this embodiment, if the outer diameter surface of the ball screw shaft portion 10a close to the screw coupling portion 10C is supported by the slide bearing 95, the support rigidity in the vicinity of the screw coupling portion 10C is improved and the ball screw shaft portion 10a The moment load can be avoided. It is effective if the axial position of the slide bearing 95 is between the screw coupling portion 10 </ b> C and the ball nut 26.

  By using a hollow motor as the steering motor 6 and the toe angle adjusting motor 7, the steering intermediate shaft 21 and the steering rod 10 can be inserted into the hollow portions of the hollow motors 6 and 7, respectively. Therefore, each component of the steer-by-wire steering device can be arranged without difficulty in a narrow space, and the overall configuration can be made compact. The components of the switching mechanism 17 other than the steering intermediate shaft 21 may be disposed in the hollow portion of the steering motor 6. Only one of the steering motor 6 and the toe angle adjusting motor 7 may be a hollow motor. Further, the turning intermediate shaft 21 and the toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 35 are arranged coaxially and freely movable in the axial direction, and both the intermediate shafts 21 and 35 are moved together in the axial direction by the linear actuator 47. With the configuration, the switching mechanism 17 can be made compact.

  The ball screw shaft portion 10a is provided on the non-rotating split shaft 10A of the steering rod 10, and the ball nut 26 is screwed to the ball screw shaft portion 10a, so that the operation position of the steered power transmission mechanism 18 is minimized. 26, and the configuration of the steered power transmission mechanism 18 is simplified. Further, the rotation division shaft 10B of the steering rod 10 is used as a spline shaft portion, and the spline nut 40 is engaged with the rotation division shaft 10B, so that the operation position of the toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism 30 is at least the spline nut 40 only. Thus, the configuration of the toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism 30 is simplified.

  It should be noted that since the torsion angle adjustment by the toe angle adjustment motor 7 and the replacement as the steering drive source when the steering motor 6 fails is an operation performed when the vehicle is running, the maximum generated torque is This is much smaller than the torque required for the steering motor 6 during the cutting operation. Therefore, the toe angle adjusting motor 7 may be smaller than the steering motor 6.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Steering wheel 2 ... Steering angle sensor 5a ... Steering control means 6 ... Steering motor 7 ... Toe angle adjusting motor 10 ... Steering rod 10A ... Non-rotation division shaft 10B ... Rotation division shaft 10C ... Screw coupling part 10a ... Ball Screw shaft portion 10b ... Non-concentric circular portion 11 ... Tie rod 17 ... Switching mechanism 18 ... Steering power transmission mechanism 20 ... Hollow motor shaft 21 ... Steering intermediate shaft 26 ... Ball nut 30 ... Toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism 31 ... Hollow motor Shaft 35 ... Toe angle adjusting intermediate shaft 40 ... Spline nut 81 ... Male screw 82 ... Female screw 83 ... Fitting shaft portion 86 ... Inner diameter hole 88 ... Retaining means 93 ... Non-rotating means 94, 95 ... Slide bearing 96 ... Inner ball joint Part 97 ... Rolling spherical bearing 102 ... Ball bearing 103 ... Spherical plain bearing

Claims (17)

A steering rod provided with tie rods at both left and right ends, a steering wheel that is not mechanically connected to the steering rod, a steering angle sensor that detects the steering angle of the steering wheel, and a wheel that drives the steering rod to the left and right A steering motor, a steering power transmission mechanism that transmits the rotation of the steering motor to the steering rod, a toe angle adjustment motor that adjusts the span of the steering rod, and a toe angle adjustment motor that rotates by the rotation of the toe angle adjustment motor A toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism for adjusting an angle, a steering angle command signal and a toe angle command signal are generated based on a steering angle detected by the steering angle sensor, and these command signals are output to the steering motor and Steer-by-wire type steering device comprising steering control means for each toe angle adjusting motor Oite,
When the steered motor fails, the steered motor is disconnected from the steered power transmission mechanism and the change in toe angle is stopped, and the toe angle adjustment is performed instead of the steered motor. The rotation of the motor is transmitted to the turning power transmission mechanism to enable the turning, and when the toe angle adjustment motor fails, the toe angle adjustment power transmission mechanism is set in a power transmission disabled state by the turning motor. A switching mechanism that allows only turning is provided,
The steering rod is divided into two in the axial direction, a non-rotating split shaft and a rotary split shaft, and these split shafts are coupled to each other by a screw coupling portion concentric with the shaft center. The split shaft is integrally moved in the axial direction to steer the steered wheel, and the rotating split shaft is rotated with respect to the non-rotating split shaft to adjust the screwing length of the screw coupling portion. The rotating split shaft is connected to the tie rod through a ball joint portion that is swingably connected to the tie rod, and changes the distance between the left and right tie rods. Rolling bearings are applied to the joints,
The steering power transmission mechanism is a mechanism that integrally moves the non-rotating split shaft and the rotary split shaft of the steering rod in the axial direction by rotation of the steering motor,
The toe angle adjustment power transmission mechanism is a mechanism that rotates a rotation division shaft with respect to a non-rotation division shaft of the steering rod by rotation of the toe angle adjustment motor;
The steered power transmission mechanism and the toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism are operated in cooperation with each other so that the steered angles of the left and right steered wheels coincide with a target value under the control of the steering control means. Steer-by-wire steering device.   2. The steer-by-wire steering device according to claim 1, wherein the rolling bearing applied to the ball joint portion on the rotation division shaft side of the steering rod rotated by the toe angle adjusting mechanism is a rolling spherical bearing.   2. The steer-by-wire steering device according to claim 1, wherein the rolling bearing applied to the ball joint portion on the rotation division shaft side of the steering rod rotated by the toe angle adjusting mechanism is a ball bearing and a spherical plain bearing.   4. The steer-by-wire according to claim 1, wherein the toe angle adjusting motor is a hollow motor, and the steering rod is inserted into a hollow motor shaft of a toe angle adjusting motor comprising the hollow motor. Type steering device.   4. The steering mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the steering motor is a hollow motor, and the components of the switching mechanism are inserted into a hollow motor shaft of the steering motor including the hollow motor. Steer-by-wire steering device.   6. The ball screw shaft portion according to claim 1, wherein a ball screw shaft portion is provided on a non-rotating split shaft of the steering rod, and a ball nut that is screwed to the ball screw shaft portion is provided only for rotation. The steered power transmission mechanism is a steer-by-wire type steering device in which the ball nut is rotated by rotation of the steering motor to move the steered shaft in the axial direction for steering.   7. The steer-by-wire steering device according to claim 6, wherein the ball nut is a top-type ball circulation system, and the ball nut is supported by a double-row angular ball bearing and a deep groove ball bearing.   The steer-by-wire type steering apparatus according to claim 6, wherein an outer diameter surface of a ball screw shaft portion of the non-rotating split shaft of the steering rod is supported by a slide bearing.   9. The steer-by-wire steering apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a detent means for preventing the non-rotating divided shaft of the steering rod from rotating about the axis.   10. The non-concentric circle part according to claim 9, wherein the non-rotating means is formed on a non-rotating divided shaft of the steering rod, and has a non-concentric circular portion whose outer shape in a cross section perpendicular to the axial direction is different from a concentric circle at the shaft center, A steer-by-wire steering device comprising a sliding bearing provided so that the non-concentric circular portion is slidably fitted in the axial direction.   In any one of Claims 1 thru / or 10, A spline shaft part is provided in a rotation division axis of the steering rod, A spline nut which engages with this spline shaft part so that relative movement is possible in an axial direction is provided rotatably, The above-mentioned The toe angle adjusting power transmission mechanism rotates the rotating split shaft of the steering rod by rotating the spline nut with the toe angle adjusting motor, and rotates the screw split portion of the non-rotating split shaft and the rotary split shaft. A steer-by-wire steering device that changes the toe angle of the steered wheel by changing the length of the steering rod by adjusting the screwing length.   The steer-by-wire type steering apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the spline teeth of the spline shaft portion of the steering rod are in sliding contact with the spline teeth of the spline nut.   The steer-by-wire steering device according to claim 11, wherein the spline teeth of the spline shaft portion of the steering rod and the spline teeth of the spline nut are in rolling contact.   The steer-by-wire steering apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the screw coupling portion has a screw type of a square screw or a trapezoidal screw.   15. The inner diameter hole concentric with the shaft center is formed on the split shaft provided with the female screw of the screw coupling portion of the non-rotating split shaft and the rotating split shaft. A steer-by-wire steering apparatus in which a fitting shaft portion that fits into the inner diameter hole is provided on a split shaft provided with a male screw of the screw coupling portion.   The steer-by-wire steering apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising a retaining means for restricting a relative axial positional relationship between the inner diameter hole and the fitting shaft portion so that the fitting shaft portion is not detached from the inner diameter hole.   The steer-by-wire steering apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the toe angle adjusting motor has a maximum generated torque smaller than a maximum generated torque of the steering motor.

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