JP2015085751A - Steering gear, steering gear control method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a steering gear, a steering gear control method, and a program capable of suppressing the influence of a dead zone on an electro-hydraulic hybrid mechanism, and improving response characteristics at a time of switching a rotational direction of a motor.SOLUTION: A steering gear 1 includes: a steering shaft 20; a hydraulic circuit 5 rotating the steering shaft 20; a main hydraulic pump 30 supplying an oil pressure to the hydraulic circuit 5; and an output converter generating a drive signal by multiplying an input manipulated variable signal by a predetermined output gain, and outputting the generated drive signal to the main hydraulic pump 30. If a range of the manipulated variable signal corresponding to a dead zone of the drive signal in which the main hydraulic pump 30 is not driven even if the drive signal is input is defined as a dead zone corresponding area, this output converter sets the output gain applied to a case in which a value of the input manipulated variable signal is within the dead zone corresponding area to be greater than the output gain applied to a case in which the value of the input manipulated variable signal is beyond the dead zone corresponding area.

Description

  The present invention relates to a steering apparatus that enables a ship to be steered using a hydraulic pump, a control method for the steering apparatus, and a program.

  2. Description of the Related Art A steering device mounted on a traveling body such as a ship has a mechanism for operating a steering handle by a flow rate or pressure of oil discharged from a hydraulic source (hydraulic pump). Such a steering device always operates an electric motor (motor) provided in a hydraulic pressure source and applies a desired flow rate or pressure to a desired location using a swash plate or the like while maintaining a state in which oil is circulated through a pipe. There are many things that are configured. However, in this case, even in a state where no rudder operation is required (standby state), the electric motor continues to rotate and oil continues to circulate through the piping, which is based on power consumption, equipment wear, and the like. There was a problem in terms of life.

  In order to solve such problems, a steering device using an electro-hydraulic hybrid mechanism in which the discharge amount and discharge direction of a hydraulic pressure source change according to the rotation amount and rotation direction of an electric motor has been proposed (for example, a patent) Reference 1). According to such an electro-hydraulic hybrid mechanism, the discharge amount and discharge direction of the hydraulic source are controlled by controlling the rotation amount and rotation direction of the electric motor by the input of an electric drive signal (for example, voltage and current). It becomes possible. Therefore, a steering apparatus equipped with an electro-oil hybrid mechanism can improve power consumption and the life of the apparatus by rotating the motor by a necessary amount and circulating oil when steering is necessary.

International Publication No. 2010/052777

However, the above-described electro-oil hybrid mechanism may have a “dead zone” with respect to an input drive signal. Here, the dead zone is a zone in which the linearity of the input drive signal (for example, voltage, current) and the rotation of the motor, and hence the oil discharge from the hydraulic source, cannot be obtained, and the rotation direction of the motor changes. It exists in the vicinity of the region (rotation speed zero). That is, in the electric oil hybrid mechanism, even if a drive signal belonging to the dead zone is input, oil is not discharged according to the drive signal.
Note that the dead zone may be caused by mechanical characteristics (such as a static friction coefficient) in the electric motor and the hydraulic pressure source.

  Therefore, in the above-described steering device, when the drive signal belongs to the dead zone, no control is performed on the steering wheel. Therefore, when a load such as a wave is applied to the steering wheel in such a state, the steering wheel There were problems such as being defeated and running unstable.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to suppress the influence of the dead zone in the electro-hydraulic hybrid mechanism and to improve the response characteristics when the rotation direction of the motor is switched. It is another object of the present invention to provide a steering apparatus control method and program.

  In order to solve the above problem, an aspect of the present invention includes a rudder shaft that turns a rudder by rotating, a fluid pressure circuit that rotates the rudder shaft by supplying fluid pressure, and an input. A fluid pressure supply unit for supplying the fluid pressure to the fluid pressure circuit by being driven according to the drive signal, and generating the drive signal by multiplying the input operation amount signal by a predetermined output gain, An output conversion unit that outputs the generated drive signal to the fluid pressure supply unit, and the output conversion unit is in a dead zone of the drive signal that does not drive the fluid pressure supply unit even when the drive signal is input. When the range of the corresponding operation amount signal is defined as a dead zone corresponding region, the output gain applied when the input value of the operation amount signal is within the dead zone corresponding region exceeds the dead zone corresponding region. Output to apply to A steering apparatus characterized by a greater than in.

  Further, according to an aspect of the present invention, in the steering apparatus described above, the output conversion unit may include a first coefficient in the operation amount signal when the input value of the operation amount signal exceeds the dead zone corresponding region. When the value of the input operation amount signal is within the dead zone corresponding region, the operation amount signal is multiplied by a second coefficient larger than the first coefficient. The second drive signal is output.

  Further, according to an aspect of the present invention, in the above-described steering apparatus, the fluid pressure circuit further includes an auxiliary fluid pressure supply unit that supplies a constant offset fluid pressure that does not contribute to the rotation of the rudder shaft. And

  Further, according to one aspect of the present invention, a rudder shaft that turns the rudder by rotating, a fluid pressure circuit that rotates the rudder shaft by supplying fluid pressure, and an input drive signal And a fluid pressure supply unit for supplying the fluid pressure to the fluid pressure circuit by being driven, wherein the output conversion unit supplies the fluid pressure even when the drive signal is input. Output gain applied when the value of the input operation amount signal is within the dead zone corresponding area when the range of the operation amount signal corresponding to the dead zone of the drive signal that is not driven is defined as the dead zone corresponding region Is set to be larger than the output gain applied when the dead zone corresponding region is exceeded, and is set in the input manipulated variable signal according to whether or not the value of the manipulated variable signal belongs to the dead zone corresponding region. The output gain Flip and generates the drive signal is a control method of the drive signals thus generated steering system and outputs to the fluid pressure supply unit.

  Further, according to one aspect of the present invention, a rudder shaft that turns the rudder by rotating, a fluid pressure circuit that rotates the rudder shaft by supplying fluid pressure, and an input drive signal A fluid pressure supply unit that is driven to supply the fluid pressure to the fluid pressure circuit; and a computer of the steering apparatus includes: a drive signal that does not drive the fluid pressure supply unit even when the drive signal is input. When the range of the operation amount signal corresponding to the dead zone is defined as the dead zone corresponding region, the output gain to be applied when the input value of the operation amount signal is within the dead zone corresponding region exceeds the dead zone corresponding region. The output gain to be applied in the case where the value of the operation amount signal is multiplied by the output gain set according to whether or not the value of the operation amount signal belongs to the dead zone corresponding region. Driving signal To generate a is a program for causing to function as an output converting means for outputting a drive signal thus generated to the fluid pressure supply unit.

  According to the above steering device, it is possible to suppress the influence of the dead zone in the electric oil hybrid mechanism and improve the response characteristics when the rotation direction of the electric motor is switched.

It is the schematic which shows the function structure of the steering device which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure explaining the characteristic of the main hydraulic pump and electric motor which concern on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the function structure of the controller which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure explaining the characteristic of the output conversion part which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is the schematic which shows the function structure of the steering device which concerns on 2nd Embodiment.

<First Embodiment>
Hereinafter, an example of the steering apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the steering apparatus according to the first embodiment.
The steering apparatus 1 includes a rudder shaft 20, a chiller 21, rams 221 and 222, and hydraulic cylinders 23A to 23D.
The rudder shaft 20 is provided in the traveling body and turns the rudder by rotating integrally with the chiller 21.
The chiller 21 is rotatable in conjunction with the movement of the rams 221 and 222.
Both ends of the ram 221 and the ram 222 are accommodated in the hydraulic cylinders 23A and 23B and the hydraulic cylinders 23C and 23D, respectively, and in the left-right direction (± X in FIG. 1) according to the pressurization from the hydraulic cylinders 23A to 23D. Direction).
The hydraulic cylinders 23 </ b> A to 23 </ b> D move the rams 221 and 222 in the left-right direction by the hydraulic pressure of the oil supplied via the hydraulic circuit 5.
As described above, the steering device 1 applies the desired hydraulic pressure to the hydraulic cylinders 23A to 23D, thereby rotating the chiller 21 and the rudder shaft 20 by a desired angle to perform the traveling control of the traveling body.

As shown in FIG. 1, the steering device 1 includes a main hydraulic pump 30, an electric motor 31, pressure control valves 32a and 32b, and check valves 33a and 33b.
As shown in FIG. 1, the hydraulic circuit 5 is a pipe that connects the main hydraulic pump 30, the pressure control valves 32a and 32b, the check valves 33a and 33b, and the hydraulic cylinders 23A to 23D. Although not shown in FIG. 1, the hydraulic circuit 5 branches from a connection point Pa with the hydraulic cylinder 23A and is further connected with a connection point Pd with the hydraulic cylinder 23D. The hydraulic circuit 5 branches from a connection point Pb with the hydraulic cylinder 23B, and is further connected with a connection point Pc with the hydraulic cylinder 23C.
The pipe 5a constituting the hydraulic circuit 5 guides the oil discharged from the port 30a to the hydraulic cylinders 23A and 23D through the connection points Pa and Pd, and guides a part thereof to the pressure control valve 32a. The pipe 5a guides the oil that passes through the pressure control valve 32a to the check valve 33a. Accordingly, the pipe 5a supplies a desired hydraulic pressure corresponding to the amount of oil discharged from the port 30a to the hydraulic cylinders 23A and 23D.
Similarly, the pipe 5b guides the oil discharged from the port 30b to the hydraulic cylinders 23B and 23C through the connection points Pb and Pc, and guides a part thereof to the pressure control valve 32b. Thereby, the pipe 5b supplies a desired hydraulic pressure corresponding to the amount of oil discharged from the port 30b to the hydraulic cylinders 23B and 23C.

  The main hydraulic pump 30 functions as a fluid pressure supply unit that supplies the pressure of the fluid (oil in the present embodiment) to the hydraulic circuit 5. Specifically, the main hydraulic pump 30 discharges oil from one side of the two ports 30a and 30b and sucks oil from the other side according to the rotational force supplied from the electric motor 31. Further, the discharge amount and the suction amount increase / decrease according to the rotation amount (rotation speed) per unit time in the electric motor 31. Furthermore, according to the rotation direction in the electric motor 31, the discharge side and the suction side in the two ports 30a and 30b are switched. For example, when the rotation of the electric motor 31 is “right rotation”, the main hydraulic pump 30 discharges oil from the port 30a and sucks it from the port 30b. On the other hand, when the rotation of the electric motor 31 is “left rotation”, the main hydraulic pump 30 discharges oil from the port 30b and sucks it from the port 30a.

The electric motor 31 generates a rotational force corresponding to an electric drive signal E supplied from the controller 10 described later, and transmits the rotational force to the main hydraulic pump 30. Here, the drive signal E is, for example, a voltage value, and the electric motor 31 rotates “right” when a positive voltage is applied as the drive signal E, and “rotates left” when a negative voltage is applied. . Further, the rotation amount of the electric motor 31 increases or decreases in proportion to the voltage value, for example.
In addition, the electric motor 31 may be capable of controlling the rotation amount and the rotation direction according to a predetermined current value input as the drive signal E.
The main hydraulic pump 30 and the electric motor 31 together constitute a so-called electric oil hybrid mechanism.

  The pressure control valves 32a and 32b keep the pressure corresponding to the installation position of the hydraulic circuit 5 constant. The check valves 33a and 33b rectify the oil flow in one direction.

The controller 10 outputs a drive signal E to the main hydraulic pump 30 according to the input operation amount signal S. The controller 10 performs PI (Proportional Integral) control based on a signal corresponding to the target direction indicated by the steering 11 and a signal indicating angle information detected from the angle sensor 12. Specifically, the steering 11 outputs a target angle to be achieved by the rudder axle 20 according to the operation of the driver, and the rudder angle sensor 12 outputs the current angle at the present time to the controller 10. Then, the controller 10 performs the PI control by outputting an appropriate drive signal E so that the current angle matches the target angle.
Other functions of the controller 10 will be described later.

The operation of the steering device 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be briefly described.
First, the controller 10 outputs a drive signal E based on PI control based on various signals from the steering 11 and the steering angle sensor 12 based on the operation of the driver. Then, the electric motor 31 generates a rotational force with the rotational direction and the rotational speed corresponding to the drive signal E, and transmits the rotational force to the main hydraulic pump 30. The main hydraulic pump 30 discharges and sucks oil through the ports 30a and 30b according to the rotational force.
Here, according to the rotational force from the electric motor 31, for example, when a predetermined flow rate of oil is discharged from the port 30a, the oil passes through the pipe 5a via the connection points Pa and Pd with the hydraulic cylinders 23A and 23D. A predetermined amount of pressure (hydraulic pressure) is applied to the hydraulic cylinder 23A and the hydraulic cylinder 23D. Then, the ram 221 moves in the left direction (−X direction) due to the pressure applied from the hydraulic cylinder 23A, and at the same time, the ram 222 moves in the right direction (+ X direction) due to the pressure applied from the hydraulic cylinder 23D. . Therefore, the chiller 21 that can rotate in conjunction with these rotates in the clockwise direction on the paper around the rudder shaft 20 to rotate the rudder shaft 20.
Part of the oil supplied from the port 30a through the pipe 5a reaches the pressure control valve 32a. When the oil pressure in the pressure control valve 32a reaches a certain value, the oil passes through the pressure control valve 32a and is further sucked from the port 30b through the check valve 33a.
On the other hand, when oil is discharged from the port 30b, the oil gives a predetermined amount of oil pressure to the hydraulic cylinder 23B and the hydraulic cylinder 23C through connection points Pb and Pc with the hydraulic cylinders 23B and 23C through the pipe 5b. Then, the ram 221 moves in the right direction (+ X direction) of the drawing sheet due to the pressure applied from the hydraulic cylinder 23B. At the same time, the ram 222 moves in the left direction (−X direction) of the drawing sheet due to the pressure applied from the hydraulic cylinder 23C. Therefore, the chiller 21 that can rotate in conjunction with these rotates in a counterclockwise direction on the paper surface to rotate the rudder shaft 20.
Part of the oil supplied from the port 30b through the pipe 5b reaches the pressure control valve 32b. When the oil pressure in the pressure control valve 32b reaches a certain value, the oil passes through the pressure control valve 32b and is sucked from the port 30a via the check valve 33b.

  As described above, the main hydraulic pump 30 supplies the hydraulic pressure corresponding to the drive signal E to the hydraulic circuit 5, and the hydraulic circuit 5 is supplied with hydraulic pressure from the main hydraulic pump 30, thereby hydraulic cylinders 23 </ b> A to 23 </ b> D. The rudder shaft 20 is rotated through the rams 221, 222 and the chiller 21.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating characteristics of the main hydraulic pump and the electric motor according to the first embodiment.
Next, characteristics of the main hydraulic pump 30 and the electric motor 31 constituting the electro-oil hybrid mechanism will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the main hydraulic pump 30 increases or decreases the flow rate to be discharged in accordance with a drive signal E (for example, a voltage value) through an electric motor 31. For example, the first quadrant of the graph shown in FIG. 2 shows a change in flow rate with respect to the drive signal E when discharging from the port 30a and sucking into the port 30b. In the second quadrant, the change in flow rate with respect to the drive signal E when discharging from the port 30b and sucking into the port 30a is shown. As described above, the electro-hydraulic hybrid mechanism including the electric motor 31 and the main hydraulic pump 30 has a characteristic that the direction in which the oil is circulated and the flow rate thereof change in accordance with the increase or decrease of the input drive signal E (voltage value). ing.

However, as shown in FIG. 2, the main hydraulic pump 30 and the electric motor 31 have a dead zone N that is not driven even when the drive signal E is input. This dead zone N is generated in a region where the oil circulation direction (that is, the rotation direction of the electric motor 31) is switched due to mechanical characteristics (such as a static friction coefficient) in the electric motor 31 and the main hydraulic pump 30. Therefore, even if a drive signal E belonging to the dead zone N (for example, a voltage value within the range of Vth1 to Vth2 (FIG. 2)) is input to the electric motor 31, the main hydraulic pump 30 supplies the oil corresponding to the drive signal E. No discharge is made. Therefore, if the controller 10 merely performs normal PI control, no control is performed on the steering wheel in the dead zone N, and if a load such as a wave is applied to the steering wheel in such a state, the vehicle travels. May become unstable.
Therefore, the controller 10 according to the present embodiment inputs the drive signal obtained according to the normal PI control as the operation amount signal S, multiplies the input operation amount signal S by a predetermined output gain, and performs the electric motor 31. Output converter 103 (described later) for outputting a new drive signal E.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the controller according to the first embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 3, the controller 10 includes a proportional control unit 100, an integration control unit 101, an integration limit unit 102, and an output conversion unit 103.
As described above, the controller 10 inputs the target angle specified from the state of the steering 11 based on the operation of the driver and the current angle acquired from the steering angle sensor 12 as signals.
The proportional control unit 100 performs proportional control (P control) based on the input target angle and current angle. Similarly, the integration control unit 101 performs integration control (I control) based on the input target angle and current angle. Further, when the operation amount signal S output from the integration control unit 101 is out of the predetermined range, the integration limit unit 102 limits the output so as to be within the predetermined range. Thereby, it is possible to prevent hunting that may occur due to an increase in the response speed of the I control.
In the controller 10, normal PI control is realized according to the output signal (operation amount signal S) via the proportional control unit 100, the integration control unit 101, and the integration limit unit 102 described above.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the controller 10 inputs an operation amount signal S that is a normal drive signal obtained through the proportional control unit 100, the integration control unit 101, and the integration limit unit 102, and the operation amount signal The output conversion unit 103 that outputs a new drive signal E to the electric motor 31 according to S is provided. The output conversion unit 103 outputs the drive signal E to the electric motor 31.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the characteristics of the output conversion unit according to the first embodiment.
As described above, the output conversion unit 103 performs conversion by multiplying the input operation amount signal S by a predetermined output gain (coefficient), and outputs a predetermined drive signal E corresponding thereto. Here, the output conversion unit 103 has conversion characteristics as shown in FIG. 4, for example.

As shown in FIG. 4, the output conversion unit 103 corresponds to the dead band that is in the range (Vth2 ′ to Vth1 ′) of the operation amount signal S corresponding to the dead band N (Vth2 to Vth1 (see FIG. 2)) of the drive signal E in advance. Area M is set. When the value of the input operation amount signal S exceeds the dead zone corresponding region, the output conversion unit 103 generates a first drive signal E1 obtained by multiplying the operation amount signal S by the first coefficient α. To 31. On the other hand, when the value of the input manipulated variable signal S is in the dead zone corresponding region M, the second value obtained by multiplying the manipulated variable signal S by a second coefficient β (β> α) larger than the first coefficient α. The drive signal E2 is output.
As described above, the output conversion unit 103 sets the output gain to be applied when the value of the input operation amount signal S is within the dead zone corresponding region M to be higher than the output gain to be applied when the dead zone corresponding region M is exceeded. Set larger.

According to the output conversion unit 103 having the conversion characteristics shown in FIG. 4, the output gain is set to be large only in the dead zone corresponding region M of the operation amount signal S. That is, when the operation amount signal S is to output the drive signal E belonging to the dead zone N, the output conversion unit 103 multiplies the operation amount signal S by a large output gain (second coefficient β) to obtain a drive signal. Control is performed so that E rapidly exceeds the threshold value Vth1 (or falls below the threshold value Vth2). As a result, the output conversion unit 103 can substantially narrow the range corresponding to the dead zone N of the operation amount signal S. Therefore, the steering device 1 has a response characteristic of switching the rotation direction of the electric motor 31 with respect to the operation amount signal S. In addition, the response characteristics of the main hydraulic pump 30 in changing the discharge direction can be improved.
Further, the output conversion unit 103 adjusts the output gain (first coefficient α) so that the operation amount signal S is output as the drive signal E as it is and the normal PI control is performed outside the range of the dead zone corresponding region M. Has been. As a result, the rudder can drive the traveling body by performing a steering operation in the same sense as before.

  As described above, according to the steering device 1 according to the first embodiment, it is possible to suppress the influence of the dead zone in the electric oil hybrid mechanism and improve the response characteristics when the rotation direction of the electric motor (the oil circulation direction) is switched. .

  In the steering apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the output conversion unit 103 indicates that the relationship of the drive signal E with respect to the operation amount signal S has two types of coefficients (first coefficient α and second coefficient as shown in FIG. 4). Although it has been described that it is determined based on β), the steering device 1 according to another embodiment is not limited to this. For example, in the steering device 1 according to the modification of the present embodiment, three types are satisfied while satisfying the condition that the output gain in the dead zone corresponding region M is larger than the output gain when the dead zone corresponding region M is exceeded. It may be determined based on the above coefficients, or may be determined by a predetermined nonlinear function.

<Second Embodiment>
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the steering apparatus according to the second embodiment. Note that, among the functional configurations of the steering apparatus according to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the same functional configurations as those of the steering apparatus according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. To do.
As shown in FIG. 5, in addition to the functional configuration of the steering device 1 according to the first embodiment (FIG. 1), the steering device 1A according to the second embodiment further includes an auxiliary hydraulic pump 30c, a pressure control valve 32c, A check valve 33c is provided. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, in the steering device 1 </ b> A, pipes 6 a, 6 b, and 6 c are further arranged in the hydraulic circuit 5.

The auxiliary hydraulic pump 30c discharges oil toward the pipes 6a and 6b via the check valve 33c. The oil that has passed through the check valve 33c branches and flows through the pipe 6a and the pipe 6b. The pipe 6a supplies the oil supplied from the auxiliary hydraulic pump 30c to the pipe 5a via the check valve 33b. At the same time, the pipe 6b supplies the oil supplied from the auxiliary hydraulic pump 30c to the pipe 5b via the check valve 33a (see FIG. 5).
The pipe 5a guides oil supplied from the auxiliary hydraulic pump 30c through the pipe 6a and the check valve 33b to the hydraulic cylinders 23A and 23D. Similarly, the pipe 5b guides oil supplied from the auxiliary hydraulic pump 30c to the hydraulic cylinders 23B and 23C through the pipe 6b and the check valve 33a. As a result, the auxiliary hydraulic pump 30c applies a constant offset hydraulic pressure to the hydraulic cylinders 23A to 23D at all times.
For example, when the main hydraulic pump 30 is discharging oil from the port 30a, the auxiliary hydraulic pump 30c is offset via the pipe 6a with respect to the hydraulic cylinders 23A and 23D to which the hydraulic pressure corresponding to the control signal E is applied. Apply more hydraulic pressure. In this case, the offset hydraulic pressure is also applied to the hydraulic cylinders 23B and 23C to which no hydraulic pressure is applied by the main hydraulic pump 30 via the pipe 6b. Thus, since the auxiliary hydraulic pump 30c applies offset hydraulic pressure equally to the hydraulic cylinders 23A to 23D on both sides of the rams 221, 222, these cancel each other and do not contribute to the rotation of the rudder shaft 20, and drive The control by the signal E itself is not affected. However, the auxiliary hydraulic pump 30c applies the minimum offset hydraulic pressure on the side where the hydraulic pressure is not applied by the main hydraulic pump 30.
In order to prevent the offset hydraulic pressure from being applied more than necessary, a part of the oil discharged from the auxiliary hydraulic pump 30c is returned to the auxiliary hydraulic pump 30c via the pressure control valve 32c (see FIG. 5).

Here, in a system in which no hydraulic pressure is applied by the main hydraulic pump 30 (for example, the hydraulic cylinders 23B and 23C and the piping 5b on the low pressure side when oil is discharged from the port 30a), air is mixed. There is a problem that it is easy. When air is mixed into oil, which is a pressure transmission medium (fluid), the bulk modulus of the hydraulic system as a whole decreases, thereby reducing the response characteristics of the hydraulic cylinders 23A to 23D, and the main hydraulic pressure according to the drive signal E The width of the dead zone where the pump 30 does not operate also changes.
In the first embodiment, the width of the dead zone N is grasped in advance, and the output conversion unit 103 has been described as setting the dead zone corresponding region M based on the dead zone N. However, when air is mixed with the driving of the steering device 1 and the width of the dead zone N is changed afterwards, the correspondence relationship between the dead zone corresponding area M set in the output conversion unit 103 and the dead zone N is shifted. As a result, the response characteristic improvement effect is reduced.

  With respect to this problem, the steering apparatus 1A according to the present embodiment maintains a state in which the offset hydraulic pressure from the auxiliary hydraulic pump 30c is applied at a minimum even in a system to which no hydraulic pressure is applied by the main hydraulic pump 30. For example, as described above, when the main hydraulic pump 30 is discharging oil from the port 30a, the main hydraulic pump 30 does not apply hydraulic pressure to the hydraulic cylinders 23B and 23C and the pipe 5b, but the auxiliary hydraulic pump 30c. Continues to apply the minimum offset hydraulic pressure to the hydraulic cylinders 23B and 23C via the pipe 6b. Thereby, the auxiliary hydraulic pump 30c can suppress the mixing of air in the low-pressure side hydraulic cylinders 23B and 23C and the pipe 5b.

As described above, according to the steering device 1A according to the second embodiment, a constant offset hydraulic pressure is always applied even in the system on the low pressure side according to the discharge direction of the main hydraulic pump 30, so that air is mixed into the hydraulic system. Can be suppressed. Thereby, the width of the dead zone N of the drive signal E in the main hydraulic pump 30 and the electric motor 31 can be stabilized. Then, the deviation between the dead zone corresponding region M set in advance in the output conversion unit 103 and the dead zone N can be suppressed, and the improvement effect of the response characteristics of the main hydraulic pump 30 and the electric motor 31 obtained by the output conversion unit 103 can be maintained. it can.
In addition, since a constant pressure is applied to the oil of the entire system by the auxiliary hydraulic pump 30c, the spring constant of the oil that is the pressure transmission medium can be reduced as a whole, and the control of the steering device can be made more responsive. it can.

  Note that the steering apparatus 1A according to the present embodiment has been described as using the auxiliary hydraulic pump 30c as an example of the auxiliary fluid pressure supply unit as described above. However, in the steering apparatus according to another embodiment, this aspect is used. It is not limited. For example, the steering apparatus 1A according to the modification of the present embodiment may employ an accumulator that maintains application of a predetermined constant hydraulic pressure (offset hydraulic pressure) to the pipes 5a and 5b as the auxiliary fluid pressure supply unit.

  In the above-described embodiment, the fluid that is a pressure transmission medium is described as “oil”. However, in other embodiments, the fluid is not “oil” but may be water, other liquids, or gases. Good.

  Further, the controller 10 described above may have a computer system inside. Each process of the controller 10 described above is stored in a computer-readable recording medium in the form of a program, and the above process is performed by the computer reading and executing the program. Here, the computer-readable recording medium refers to a magnetic disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory), a semiconductor memory, or the like. Alternatively, the computer program may be distributed to the computer via a communication line, and the computer that has received the distribution may execute the program.

  As mentioned above, although some embodiment of this invention was described, these embodiment is shown as an example and is not intending limiting the range of invention. These embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the invention described in the claims and equivalents thereof, as long as they are included in the scope and gist of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1A ... Steering device 10 ... Controller 100 ... Proportional control part 101 ... Integration control part 102 ... Integration limit part 103 ... Output conversion part 11 ... Steering 12 ... Rudder angle sensor 20 ... steering shaft 21 ... chiller 221,222 ... ram 23A, 23B, 23C, 23D ... hydraulic cylinder 30 ... main hydraulic pump 30a, 30b ... port 30c ... Auxiliary hydraulic pump 31 ... Electric motors 32a, 32b, 32c ... Pressure control valves 33a, 33b, 33c ... Check valves 5 ... Hydraulic circuit

Claims (5)

A rudder axle that turns the rudder by rotating;
A fluid pressure circuit for rotating the rudder shaft by being supplied with fluid pressure;
A fluid pressure supply unit configured to supply the fluid pressure to the fluid pressure circuit by being driven according to an input drive signal;
An output conversion unit that multiplies an input operation amount signal by a predetermined output gain to generate the drive signal, and outputs the generated drive signal to the fluid pressure supply unit;
With
The output converter is
When the range of the operation amount signal corresponding to the dead zone of the drive signal that is not driven by the fluid pressure supply unit even when the drive signal is input is defined as a dead zone corresponding region, the value of the input operation amount signal is A steering apparatus, wherein an output gain applied when the dead zone is in the dead zone corresponding region is larger than an output gain applied when the dead zone corresponding region is exceeded. The output converter is
When the input value of the manipulated variable signal exceeds the dead zone corresponding area, the first drive signal obtained by multiplying the manipulated variable signal by a first coefficient is output, and the input value of the manipulated variable signal is 2. The steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when in the dead zone corresponding region, a second drive signal obtained by multiplying the operation amount signal by a second coefficient larger than the first coefficient is output. The steering apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising an auxiliary fluid pressure supply unit that supplies a constant offset fluid pressure that does not contribute to the rotation of the rudder shaft to the fluid pressure circuit. A rudder shaft that turns the rudder by rotating, a fluid pressure circuit that rotates the rudder shaft by supplying fluid pressure, and a fluid pressure circuit that is driven according to an input drive signal. A control method of a steering apparatus comprising: a fluid pressure supply unit that supplies the fluid pressure;
The input operation amount when the output conversion unit defines the range of the operation amount signal corresponding to the dead zone of the drive signal that is not driven by the fluid pressure supply unit even when the drive signal is input as the dead zone corresponding region. The output gain to be applied when the value of the signal is within the dead zone corresponding region is set to be larger than the output gain to be applied when the dead zone corresponding region is exceeded, and the input operation amount signal includes the operation amount. The drive signal is generated by multiplying the output gain set in accordance with whether or not the value of the signal belongs to the dead zone corresponding region, and the generated drive signal is output to the fluid pressure supply unit. A control method for a steering device. A rudder shaft that turns the rudder by rotating, a fluid pressure circuit that rotates the rudder shaft by supplying fluid pressure, and a fluid pressure circuit that is driven according to an input drive signal. A fluid pressure supply unit for supplying the fluid pressure;
When the range of the operation amount signal corresponding to the dead zone of the drive signal that is not driven by the fluid pressure supply unit even if the drive signal is input is defined as the dead zone corresponding region, the value of the input operation amount signal is The output gain to be applied when the dead zone corresponds region is larger than the output gain to be applied when the dead zone corresponding region is exceeded, and the value of the manipulated variable signal is included in the input manipulated variable signal. The drive signal is generated by multiplying the output gain set in accordance with whether or not it belongs to the dead zone corresponding region, and the generated drive signal is functioned as an output conversion unit that outputs the fluid pressure supply unit. Program.

Images