CN113665667B

CN113665667B - Steering device and vehicle

Info

Publication number: CN113665667B
Application number: CN202110997960.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张学博; 王晓莲; 付盈
Original assignee: FAW Jiefang Automotive Co Ltd
Current assignee: FAW Jiefang Automotive Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-08-27
Filing date: 2021-08-27
Publication date: 2022-10-18
Anticipated expiration: 2041-08-27
Also published as: CN113665667A

Abstract

The application relates to a turn to device and vehicle, this turn to device and install on the frame for promote the directive wheel and deflect, include: a steering drive member; the steering pull rod is provided with a first end and a second end which are oppositely arranged, and the steering driving piece is in transmission connection with the first end; the steering knuckle arm is in transmission connection between the second end of the steering pull rod and the steering wheel; the first end can swing around a fulcrum along a first direction under the driving of a steering driving piece; the second end of the steering pull rod can swing around the fulcrum along a second direction intersecting with the first direction in response to the swing of the first end so as to drive the knuckle arm to rotate around an axis and push the steering wheel to deflect; the distance between the connecting point of the steering drive member and the first end and the fulcrum is smaller than the distance between the connecting point of the second end and the knuckle arm and the fulcrum. The steering driving piece of the steering device pushes the steering wheel to deflect by the lever principle, so that the power consumption of the steering driving piece is reduced, and the steering portability of the steering wheel is improved.

Description

Steering device and vehicle

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of vehicle steering, in particular to a steering device and a vehicle.

Background

An unmanned vehicle is also called an automatic driving vehicle, a computer driving vehicle or a wheeled mobile robot, and is an intelligent vehicle which realizes unmanned driving through a computer system. Decades of history have existed in the 20 th century, and the 21 st century shows a trend toward practical use.

The unmanned vehicle depends on the cooperation of artificial intelligence, visual calculation, radar, monitoring device and global positioning system, so that the computer can automatically and safely operate the motor vehicle without any active operation of human. Among them, the steering wheel of the unmanned vehicle is generally pushed to steer by a specially provided steering driving member.

However, the current steering mode of the unmanned vehicle has the problems of large power consumption of a steering driving piece and heavy steering feeling of a steering wheel.

Disclosure of Invention

Therefore, it is necessary to provide a steering device and a vehicle capable of reducing power consumption of a steering driving member and improving steering portability of a steering wheel, aiming at the problems of high power consumption of the steering driving member and heavy steering of the steering wheel in the conventional steering mode of an unmanned vehicle.

According to one aspect of the present application, there is provided a steering device mounted on a vehicle frame for steering a steered wheel, comprising:

a steering drive member;

the steering pull rod is provided with a first end and a second end which are oppositely arranged, and the steering driving piece is in transmission connection with the first end; and

the steering knuckle arm is in transmission connection between the second end and the steering wheel;

the first end can swing around a fulcrum along a first direction under the driving of the steering driving piece;

the second end of the steering pull rod can swing around the fulcrum in a second direction intersecting the first direction in response to the swing of the first end so as to drive the knuckle arm to rotate around an axis and push the steering wheel to deflect;

the distance between the connecting point of the steering drive member and the first end and the fulcrum is smaller than the distance between the connecting point of the second end and the knuckle arm and the fulcrum.

In one embodiment, the steering drive comprises:

a sliding part connected with the first end;

and the power unit is in transmission connection with the sliding part and is controlled to drive the sliding part to reciprocate in the first direction.

In one embodiment, the power unit comprises a motor and a gear part coupled to an output shaft of the motor, and the sliding part is provided with a transmission rack capable of being meshed with the gear part.

In one embodiment, the tie rod includes a ball cup portion disposed at the second end, and the track arm includes a ball stud rotatably coupled to the ball cup portion.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises the following steps:

the first fitting piece is connected to the frame in a matching mode;

the second fitting piece is arranged at the first end and is opposite to the steering driving piece, and the second fitting piece and the first fitting piece can attract or repel each other by virtue of magnetism.

In one embodiment, one of the first fitting member and the second fitting member includes a magnet portion, and the other includes an electromagnetic portion;

the steering device also comprises a steering controller electrically connected with the electromagnetic part and used for controlling the magnetic field generated by the electromagnetic part.

In one embodiment, the steering system further comprises a support member, one end of the support member is matched with the frame, and the steering pull rod is rotatably connected to the other end, away from the frame, of the support member;

the connecting point of the steering pull rod and the supporting piece is superposed with the fulcrum.

In one embodiment, the steering tie rod comprises a first tie rod and a second tie rod which are connected, the first end is positioned at one end of the first tie rod far away from the second tie rod, and the second end is positioned at one end of the second tie rod far away from the first tie rod;

the first pull rod extends along the second direction, and the second pull rod extends along the first direction.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises the following steps:

the camera is used for acquiring road condition information;

and the steering controller is in communication connection with the camera and the steering driving piece, and can acquire the road condition information and control the moving position of the steering driving piece according to the road condition information.

According to another aspect of the present application, there is also provided a vehicle including a frame and the steering apparatus described above, the steering apparatus being mounted on the frame.

According to the steering device, the first end can swing around the fulcrum along the first direction under the driving of the steering driving piece, and the second end of the steering pull rod can swing around the fulcrum along the second direction intersecting with the first direction in response to the swing of the first end, so that the steering knuckle arm is driven to rotate along the second direction, and the steering wheel is pushed to deflect. Further, the distance between the connecting point of the steering driving piece and the first end and the fulcrum is smaller than the distance between the connecting point of the second end and the knuckle arm and the fulcrum, namely, the steering driving piece pries the knuckle arm to rotate along the second direction through the steering pull rod by using the lever principle, and the rotation of the knuckle arm further pushes the steering wheel to deflect, so that the power consumption of the steering driving piece can be reduced, and the steering portability of the steering wheel is improved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a steering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application.

100. A steering device; 10. a steering drive member; 11. a sliding part; 13. a power unit; 20. a steering tie rod; 21. a first pull rod; 23. a second pull rod; 30. a knuckle arm; 41. a first mating member; 43. a second mating member; 50. a support member; 60. a frame; 70. and a steering wheel.

Detailed Description

In order to make the aforementioned objects, features and advantages of the present application more comprehensible, embodiments accompanying the present application are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present application. This application is capable of embodiments in many different forms than those described herein and that modifications may be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the application and it is therefore not intended to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed below.

In the description of the present application, it is to be understood that the terms "center," "longitudinal," "lateral," "length," "width," "thickness," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," "clockwise," "counterclockwise," "axial," "radial," "circumferential," and the like are used in the orientations and positional relationships indicated in the drawings for convenience in describing the present application and for simplicity in description, and are not intended to indicate or imply that the referenced devices or elements must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and are therefore not to be considered limiting of the present application.

Furthermore, the terms "first", "second" and "first" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In the description of the present application, "plurality" means at least two, e.g., two, three, etc., unless specifically limited otherwise.

In this application, unless expressly stated or limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," "secured," and the like are to be construed broadly and can include, for example, fixed connections, removable connections, or integral parts; can be mechanically or electrically connected; they may be directly connected or indirectly connected through intervening media, or they may be connected internally or in any other suitable relationship, unless expressly stated otherwise. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present application can be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art as appropriate.

In this application, unless expressly stated or limited otherwise, the first feature "on" or "under" the second feature may be directly contacting the first and second features or indirectly contacting the first and second features through intervening media. Also, a first feature "on," "over," and "above" a second feature may be directly or diagonally above the second feature, or may simply indicate that the first feature is at a higher level than the second feature. A first feature being "under," "below," and "beneath" a second feature may be directly under or obliquely under the first feature, or may simply mean that the first feature is at a lesser elevation than the second feature.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "secured to" or "disposed on" another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. When an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or intervening elements may also be present. The terms "vertical," "horizontal," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," and the like as used herein are for illustrative purposes only and do not denote a unique embodiment.

In order to facilitate understanding of the technical solution of the present invention, prior to the detailed description, a conventional steering apparatus and a vehicle will be described first.

At present, unmanned vehicles are gradually marketed, and electric control steering and electric control braking are gradually mature. The electric control steering of the unmanned vehicle is mainly directly controlled by a steering driving piece to realize steering.

Furthermore, the conventional manned vehicle has more power assisting devices for steering, while the unmanned vehicle is driven by a steering driving part and generally has no power assisting device, so that the steering force requirement can be met only by requiring that the output power consumption of the steering driving part is relatively high, and the steering precision is required. Thus, the power consumption of the steering drive for driving the unmanned vehicle is high, resulting in a larger requirement for an arrangement space for arranging the steering drive, which virtually increases the cost investment of the steering drive.

Accordingly, the present application provides a steering apparatus and a vehicle, which can preferably improve the above-described problems.

The steering device and the vehicle of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a steering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. For the purpose of illustration, only the structures described in connection with the present application are illustrated in the drawings.

The steering apparatus 100 disclosed in at least one embodiment of the present application is mounted on the frame 60, and includes a knuckle arm 30, a steering rod 20, and a steering driver 10, wherein the knuckle arm 30, the steering rod 20, and the steering driver 10 are connected in sequence for driving the steering wheel 70 to deflect.

In particular, in some embodiments, the steering apparatus 100 is disposed directly adjacent to the steering wheel 70, which not only saves the conventional steering wheel, steering shaft, etc. of the vehicle, but also shortens the length of the steering rod 20. Thus, the vehicle manufacturing cost can be reduced, and the vehicle arrangement space can be solved.

In some embodiments, the steering linkage 20 has a first end and a second end disposed opposite to each other, the steering driver 10 is drivingly connected to the first end, and the knuckle arm 30 is drivingly connected between the second end and the steerable wheel 70.

Further, the first end can swing around a fulcrum in a first direction under the driving of the steering driving member 10, and the second end of the steering linkage 20 can swing around the fulcrum in a second direction intersecting the first direction in response to the swing of the first end, so as to rotate the knuckle arm 30 around an axis and push the steering wheel 70 to deflect.

Further, the distance between the connecting point of the steering driver 10 and the first end and the fulcrum is smaller than the distance between the connecting point of the second end and the knuckle arm 30 and the fulcrum. In this way, the steering driver 10 can rotate the knuckle arm 30 around an axis by using the lever principle through the steering rod 20, and the knuckle arm 30 rotates to push the steering wheel 70 to deflect, so that the power consumption of the steering driver 10 can be reduced, and the steering convenience of the steering wheel 70 can be improved.

It will be appreciated that by changing the position of the fulcrum or adjusting the length of the steering link 20, on the one hand, a minimization of the output power consumption of the steering driver 10 can be achieved; on the other hand, the steering effect can be more accurately achieved. In particular, in some embodiments, the lengths of the knuckle arm 30 and the tie rod 20 should be set according to the actual steering situation, and the lengths of the two should be designed to match.

In some embodiments, the steering driver 10 includes a sliding part 11 and a power unit 13, the sliding part 11 is connected with a first end of the steering rod 20, and the power unit 13 is in transmission connection with the sliding part 11 and is controlled to drive the sliding part 11 to reciprocate in a first direction.

Specifically, in some embodiments, the power unit 13 includes a motor and a gear portion coupled to an output shaft of the motor, and the sliding portion 11 has a transmission rack capable of meshing with the gear portion. In practical application, the motor drives the output shaft to rotate, and the gear portion on the output shaft can be meshed with the transmission rack of the sliding portion 11 to form a gear transmission form so as to drive the sliding portion 11 to reciprocate along a first direction, and further drive the first end of the steering pull rod 20 to swing around the fulcrum along the first direction, so that the steering wheel 70 deflects towards different expected directions.

It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative only and is not intended to be limiting.

In some embodiments, the tie rod 20 includes a bowl portion at the second end and the track arm 30 includes a ball stud rotatably connected to the bowl portion. In this way, the knuckle arm 30 does not fall off the second end of the tie rod 20 and can rotate in a direction other than a single angle with respect to the second end of the tie rod 20. In particular, in practice, the swinging of the second end in the second direction about the fulcrum can be translated into a rotation of the knuckle arm 30 about an axis. Wherein the axial direction intersects the second direction.

In some embodiments, the steering apparatus 100 further includes a first fitting 41 and a second fitting 43, the first fitting 41 is coupled to the frame 60, the second fitting 43 is disposed at the first end of the steering rod 20 and is opposite to the steering driving member 10, and the second fitting 43 and the first fitting 41 can attract or repel each other by magnetism.

In practical applications, when the steering driving element 10 pushes the first end of the steering rod 20 to rotate around a fulcrum along a first direction toward a direction in which the first mating element 41 and the second mating element 43 approach each other, the first mating element 41 and the second mating element 43 can attract each other by virtue of magnetic opposite attraction; when the steering driving member 10 pushes the steering rod 20 to rotate around the first end thereof around a fulcrum in a first direction toward a direction in which the first mating member 41 and the second mating member 43 are away from each other, the first mating member 41 and the second mating member 43 can repel each other by magnetic polarities.

It can be understood that the first engaging element 41 and the second engaging element 43 can be adjusted to attract or repel each other according to the rotation direction of the first end of the steering linkage 20 pushed or pulled by the steering driving element 10 around a pivot point, so as to push or pull the steering linkage 20 to rotate together in cooperation with the steering driving element 10, that is, the power-assisted effect is achieved, the power consumption of the steering driving element 10 is effectively reduced, and the steering convenience of the steering wheel 70 is improved.

In some embodiments, one of the first fitting member 41 and the second fitting member 43 includes a magnet portion, and the other includes an electromagnetic portion. Further, the steering apparatus 100 further includes a steering controller electrically connected to the electromagnetic portion for controlling the magnetic field generated by the electromagnetic portion.

Specifically, in some embodiments, the electromagnetic portion may be formed by enclosing a plurality of turns of coils, and the presence or absence of magnetism of the electromagnetic portion may be achieved by controlling the current to be switched on or off through the steering controller. Furthermore, the magnetic strength of the electromagnetic part can be controlled by controlling the intensity of current or the number of the enclosed turns of the coil through a steering controller, and the magnetic strength can also be controlled by controlling the current strength through changing the resistance of the coil. Further, the magnetic poles of the electromagnet portion may be controlled by a steering controller to change the direction of the current in the coil. That is, the strength of magnetism, the presence or absence of magnetism, and the direction of the magnetic pole of the electromagnetic portion can be changed by the steering controller.

In practical applications, the steering controller may change the current direction in the electromagnetic portion according to the rotation direction of the steering rod 20, or may change the current intensity in the electromagnetic portion according to the required rotation force of the steering rod 20 to assist the steering rod 20 to rotate.

It is understood that the direction and intensity of the current in the electromagnetic portion can also be controlled by the steering controller so that the steering device 100 provides a non-linear torque. Therefore, by utilizing the high-precision and low-delay characteristics of the steering controller and matching the magnet part and the electromagnetic part, nonlinear operation curves can be respectively calibrated aiming at a motion mode, a comfort mode, an energy-saving mode and the like, and the driving comfort or the motion experience can be ensured while the best steering performance is realized.

In some embodiments, the steering apparatus 100 further comprises a support member 50, one end of the support member 50 is coupled to the frame 60, the steering linkage 20 is rotatably coupled to the other end of the support member 50 away from the frame 60, and the connection point of the steering linkage 20 to the support member 50 coincides with the pivot point.

In some embodiments, one end of the support member 50 is fastened to the frame 60, and the other end of the support member 50 away from the frame 60 is provided with a hinge hole to which the steering link 20 is hinged. Further, the fulcrum coincides with the center point of the hinge hole. In this way, the steering rod 20 is able to perform a rotational movement about the hinge hole in the support 50.

In some embodiments, the steering linkage 20 includes a first linkage 21 and a second linkage 23 connected, with a first end at an end of the first linkage 21 distal from the second linkage 23 and a second end at an end of the second linkage 23 distal from the first linkage 21. Further, the first pull rod 21 extends along the second direction, and the second pull rod 23 extends along the first direction.

In some embodiments, the first tie rod 21 is connected to the second tie rod 23 and extends along the first direction and the second direction, so that the steering tie rod 20 is "L" shaped as a whole. Further, the steering driver 10 is drivingly connected to a first end of a first tie rod 21 of the "L" shaped tie rod 20, and the knuckle arm 30 is movably connected to a second end of a second tie rod 23 of the "L" shaped tie rod 20. In this way, the steering wheel 70 can be steered lightly, and the power consumption of the steering drive 10 can be reduced.

In some embodiments, the first pull rod 21 and the second pull rod 23 may be integrally formed or assembled, and the application is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the steering apparatus 100 further includes a camera for collecting the traffic information, and a steering controller communicatively connected to the camera and the steering driving member 10, wherein the steering controller can obtain the traffic information and control the moving position of the steering driving member 10 according to the traffic information.

Specifically, in some embodiments, the road condition information obtained by the camera may include real-time road conditions such as obstacles, pedestrians, and surrounding vehicles, and the steering controller may calculate an optimal driving route of the vehicle according to the road condition information, and control the moving position of the steering driving member 10, so as to push the steering wheel 70 to deflect and change the driving direction of the vehicle. Due to the addition of the camera and the steering controller, the steering device 100 can realize the steer-by-wire execution and meet the requirements of L2-L5-level automatic driving working conditions.

As a similar concept of the present application, there is also provided a vehicle including a vehicle body frame 60 and the steering apparatus 100 described above, wherein the steering apparatus 100 is mounted on the vehicle body frame 60. The vehicle steering driving member 10 has a small power consumption, the steering wheel 70 is light to steer, and automatic steering can be achieved.

In the steering device 100 and the vehicle, the steering driver 10 rotates the knuckle arm 30 around an axis through the steering rod 20 by using the lever principle, and the knuckle arm 30 rotates to push the steering wheel 70 to deflect, so that the power consumption of the steering driver 10 can be reduced, and the steering convenience of the steering wheel 70 can be improved. In addition, the first engaging element 41 and the second engaging element 43 can be attracted to or repelled from each other by magnetism, thereby further reducing power consumption of the steering drive 10 and improving the steering convenience of the steered wheel 70.

The technical features of the embodiments described above may be arbitrarily combined, and for the sake of brevity, all possible combinations of the technical features in the embodiments described above are not described, but should be considered as being within the scope of the present specification as long as there is no contradiction between the combinations of the technical features.

The above-mentioned embodiments only express several embodiments of the present application, and the description thereof is more specific and detailed, but not construed as limiting the claims. It should be noted that, for a person skilled in the art, several variations and modifications can be made without departing from the concept of the present application, which falls within the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present patent shall be subject to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A steering device, which is arranged on a frame and used for pushing a steering wheel to deflect, is characterized by comprising:

a steering drive member;

the second end of the steering pull rod can swing around the fulcrum in a second direction intersecting the first direction in response to the swing of the first end so as to drive the knuckle arm to rotate on an axis and push the steering wheel to deflect;

the distance between the connecting point of the steering driving piece and the first end and the fulcrum is smaller than the distance between the connecting point of the second end and the knuckle arm and the fulcrum;

the steering device further comprises a first fitting piece and a second fitting piece, the first fitting piece is connected to the frame in a matching mode, and the second fitting piece is arranged at the first end and opposite to the steering driving piece; the second mating member and the first mating member can be magnetically attracted to or repelled from each other.

2. The steering device according to claim 1, wherein the steering drive includes:

a sliding portion connected to the first end;

3. The steering apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the power unit includes a motor and a gear portion coupled to an output shaft of the motor, and the sliding portion has a transmission rack engageable with the gear portion.

4. The steering assembly of claim 1, wherein said tie rod includes a ball cup portion disposed at said second end, and wherein said knuckle arm includes a ball stud rotatably connected to said ball cup portion.

5. The steering device according to claim 1, wherein one of the first fitting member and the second fitting member includes a magnet portion, and the other thereof includes an electromagnetic portion;

6. The steering apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a support member, one end of the support member being coupled to the frame, the steering tie rod being rotatably connected to the other end of the support member away from the frame;

7. The steering apparatus of claim 1, wherein the steering linkage includes a first linkage and a second linkage connected, the first end being located at an end of the first linkage remote from the second linkage, the second end being located at an end of the second linkage remote from the first linkage;

8. The steering device according to claim 1, characterized by further comprising:

the camera is used for acquiring road condition information;

9. A vehicle comprising a frame and a steering device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, said steering device being mounted to said frame.