JPS58136559A - Power steering gear - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To aim at energy-saving promotion, by detecting the fact that the amount of rotation of a steering shaft exceeds the setting value and thereby operating a contactor, while driving a power steering motor only in time of necessity by the contactor operation. CONSTITUTION:A detector 13 is connected to an upper shaft 2 to be secured to a steering wheel 1 while a torque generator 5 is connected to the lower part of the shaft 2 via an intermediate shaft 4. The lower part of the said generator 5 is, in turn, connected to a steering wheel 8 via transmission gearing. The detector 3, as A output and B output, transmits an output signal to discriminators 101 and 102 inside a control unit 10. The output discriminated by each discriminator is transmitted to a contactor 11 to operate a motor 13 with a lag of constant time by a timer 103. That is to say, if the amount of rotation of the steering wheel 1 comes beyond the setting value, the control unit 10 generates power, turning on the contactor. When the contactor is turned on like this, the motor 13 starts operation, transmitting oil 16 to the torque generator 5 via a pump; thus steering takes place.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a power steering device that takes small energy measures. Generally speaking, in power steering systems for industrial vehicles and automobiles, when the key switch (or ignition switch) on the driver's seat is turned on, the hydraulic drive motor for the power steering also starts at the same time. Ideally, it should not be activated, but only when a certain level of resistance is applied to the steering wheel.

However, in the conventional power steering device, when the key switch is turned on, the drive motor starts rotating at the same time, which causes waste and is not preferable especially from the viewpoint of energy saving.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a power steering device that saves energy by driving a power steering motor only when the power steering device is desired to operate.

That is, the present invention connects a detection section having an elastic body interposed between a lower end of an upper shaft extending from a steering wheel and an upper end of an intermediate shaft, and a torque generator provided at the lower end of the intermediate shaft via a transmission mechanism. a lower shaft connected to a steering wheel, a control unit connected to the detection unit and having a discriminator and a timer for determining the torsion status of the upper shaft and the intermediate shaft; one end connected to a power source and the other end connected to the The contactor is connected to the power steering device and is turned on and off by the output from the control section.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. A steering wheel 1 in FIG. 1 is installed in the driver's seat of an industrial vehicle or an automobile, and a detection section 3 (details will be described later) is connected to an upper shaft 2 extending downward from the steering wheel 1. A torque generator 5 such as a hydraulic motor, a hydraulic cylinder, etc. is connected to the lower part thereof via an intermediate shaft 4. The lower part of the torque generator 5 is connected to a steered wheel 8, which is a front wheel or a rear wheel, via a lower shaft 6 and a transmission mechanism such as a sprocket or a chain.

The detection section 3 is constructed as shown in FIG.

That is, an elastic body 301 is interposed and fixed between the upper shaft 2 located above and the intermediate shaft 4 located at the end. As this elastic body 301, a magnetically permeable rubber member is used. At the lower end of the upper shaft 2 and at the upper end of the intermediate shaft 4 are disks 302 and 303 of varying thickness.
are fixed to each shaft. Further, below the disk 303, a disk 304 having a constant thickness is fixed to the intermediate shaft 4. On the other hand, a convex portion 307,
308, 309 are formed, and detecting elements 310,
311 and a permanent magnet 312 are each fixed.

The outer circumferential portions of the disks 302 and 303 are positioned close to the detection elements 310 and 311, respectively, and the outer circumferential portion of the disk 304 is positioned close to the permanent magnet 312. has been done. Because of this configuration, two magnetic paths 313 passing through the permanent magnet 312.
314 is formed. The detection elements 310 and 311 installed in each of these magnetic paths 313 and 314 sense the magnetic flux that appears when the discs 302 and 303 rotate, respectively, and output them to the υ control unit 10 as B output.
The data is sent to the discriminators 101 and 102 within. These discriminators 10
The output determined by 1 and 102 is sent to the contactor 11 with a certain time delay by passing through a timer 103 installed in the control unit 10. One of the two terminals of the -1 contactor 11 is connected to a battery (electronic II) 12, and the other is connected to a power steering drive motor 13. When the contactor 11 is attracted by the output from the timer 103, current from the battery 12 flows to the motor 13, so the hydraulic pump 14 connected to the motor 13 is driven, and the A
16 is sent to the torque generator 5.

When the driver rotates the steering wheel 1 to change the direction of the vehicle, a torque difference is generated between the upper shafts 2 and 4 due to the resistance of the steering wheels 8 that are in contact with the ground.

For this reason, a twisting force acts on the elastic body 301, and the two discs 302 and 303, whose thicknesses are not constant, rotate by different amounts, causing the magnetic flux passing through the magnetic paths 313 and 314 to disappear. It will change. When these change points become equal to or higher than the set value, an output is output from the discriminator 101 to attract the contactor 11 and the motor 13 is turned on.

In addition, when the magnetic flux passing through the magnetic paths 313 and 314 changes as described above, the difference between the A output and the 8 output output from the detection elements 310 and 311 is considered, and the discriminator 1
02, it is determined whether this difference is less than a set value F or not. When the difference is greater than the set value, an output is output from the discriminator 102, the contactor 11 is attracted, and the motor 13 is turned on.
It becomes N.

In order to detect that the driver has steered the vehicle in this way, it is possible to detect how much the steering wheel 1 has been rotated within a unit time by detecting the amount of change in magnetic flux due to the rotation of a disk whose thickness is not constant, as described in L. In other words, since the angular velocity of the steering wheel 1 can be detected, the steering by the driver can be detected. However, if the steering wheel 1 is not steered by the driver, for example, the steering wheel 1 may rotate due to vibrations when driving on a bumpy road. In other words, there are cases where the angular velocity is so small that it cannot be detected. In other words, as shown in Fig. 3, the horizontal axis is time opening t1, and the vertical axis is A.
When expressed as the output voltage value V, the steering wheel 1
If you turn 1 quickly, it will look like a polygonal line P, but
If it is rotated slowly, it will look like a polygonal line Q.

When this situation is displayed as a differential output, it becomes as shown in FIG. The polygonal line P-Q- in FIG. 4 corresponds to the polygonal lines P and Q in FIG. 3, respectively. In other words, if the steering wheel 1 is rotated quickly, since a timer 103 is installed in the control unit 10, if the timer 103 is within the set time, the timer 103 will generate enough output to activate the contactor 11. ]” does not appear and the motor 13 remains stopped. In the latter case, that is, when the steering wheel 1 is rotated slowly, the shaft 2.49
1 torque difference can be detected, and as mentioned above, the difference between A output and 8 output can be detected, so even if the steering wheel 1 is rotated slowly, if there is a torque difference, the motor 1
3 rotates.

Figure 5 shows the A output from the detection elements 310 and 311, respectively.
In the diagram showing the difference (A-8) between the output and the 8th output as a voltage value V, if the voltage value (including 10-) exceeds the dead zone of the S section, the output from the discriminator 102 is sent via the timer 103. After setting W8, contactor 11 is attracted and motor 1
3 rotates.

FIG. 6 shows a modification example 3a of the detection unit 3 in FIGS. 1 and 2.
The same parts as in FIG. 2 are designated by the same numbers. This modification is an example in which the plate thicknesses of the disks 302a and 303a are both constant, and their axis 320 is offset from the common axis 321 of the shaft 2.4 by a constant distance 1g+r. Since they are eccentric in this way, when both discs 302a and 303a rotate due to rotation of the steering wheel 1, the detection element 310, 311 and both discs 302a and 303a are rotated.
Since the distance from the outer circumferential surface of the magnetic field to the outer peripheral surface changes, the magnetic flux of the magnetic paths 313 and 314 formed in the same manner as in FIG. 2 changes.

In this modification, compared to FIG. 2, the disks 302a, 3
03a has the advantage of being easy to manufacture.

As described above, the present invention includes a detection section having an elastic body interposed between the lower end of the upper shaft extending from the power steering and the upper end of the intermediate shaft, and a dork generator provided at the lower end of the intermediate shaft. an upper shaft connected to a steering wheel via a motor; a control unit connected to the detection unit and having a discriminator and a timer for determining the torsion status of the upper shaft and the intermediate shaft; one end connected to the steering wheel; and a contactor whose other end is connected to the power steering motor and turns on when the output from the control section is output from the control section. Compared to conventional systems where the motor is always on, the motor can be turned on only when the power steering device is desired to operate, thereby extending the life of the motor and battery. Yes, it is preferable from the viewpoint of energy saving. Furthermore, since the detection section in the present invention is of a so-called non-contact type in which the detection terminal does not come into contact with the disk, the detection terminal will not be damaged.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and as other application examples, for example, the input to the discriminator 101 may be only the A output from the detection probe 310, or the output from the discriminator 102 may be input to the timer 103. It is conceivable to input the signal directly to the contactor 11 without going through it. Furthermore, by adding a timer that keeps the contactor 11 turned on for a certain period of time, for example, several seconds, the power steering can be operated reliably during the steering operation.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an overall view showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
3 to 5 are graphs showing the operating status of the device of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a modified example of the detection section similar to FIG. 2. ... Upper shaft 3 ... Detection section 4 ... Intermediate shaft 5 ... Dorkuji 1 nerator 6
・・・・・・Lower shaft 1o・・・・m
Part 11 Old...Contactor 13...
・Motor patent applicant Toyota Industries Corporation Junsakusho Representative Patent attorney Hiroshi Okawa Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 6 Procedural amendments (Method) August 76, 1980 Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office Haruki Shimada 1 , Indication of the case 1988 Patent Application No. 018578 2 Name of the invention Power steering device 3 Person making the amendment Relationship to the case Patent applicant Toyota Automobile Co., Ltd., 2-1 Toyotacho, Kariya City, Aichi Prefecture (321) Loom Factory Representative Yutaka 1
) Yoshitoshi 4, Agent: 3-3-4 Meieki, Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture 450
Sentama Bill (Delivery date: May 250, 1982) (Procedure amendment submitted on June 11, 1980 was not accepted (July 21, 1981, Sent date: August 3, 1982)
6. Application and specification to be amended - 7. Submit the application and specification clearly written with type print (black) of the content of the amendment. 8. Attached documents (1) Application form, original and copy (1 copy each) (2) Details - 1 copy or more

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A detection section having an elastic body interposed between the lower end of the upper shaft extending from the steering wheel and the upper end of the intermediate shaft, and a torque generator provided at the lower end of the intermediate shaft are steered via a transmission mechanism. A lower shaft connected to the ring, a III control part connected to the detection part and having a discriminator and a timer for determining the torsion status of the upper shaft and the intermediate shaft, one end of which is connected to a power source and the other end of which is connected to a power source. A power steering device comprising a contactor connected to a steering motor and turned on and off by an output from the i control section. (2) The detection unit includes a first disk whose thickness is not constant and which is fixed to the lower end of the upper shaft, a second disk whose thickness is not constant which is fixed to the upper end of the intermediate shaft, and a second disk whose thickness is not constant and which is fixed to the upper end of the intermediate shaft. a third disc with a constant thickness fixed to the intermediate shaft below the second disc; and a third disc fixed to the vehicle body at a position close to the outer periphery of each of the first to third discs. The power steering device according to claim 1, comprising first and second detecting elements and a magnet. (3) The detection unit is configured such that a common axis □ center of a first disk having a constant thickness fixed to the lower end of the upper shaft and the first disk fixed to the upper end of the intermediate shaft is a second disk with a constant thickness that is eccentric by a certain distance from the common axis of the upper shaft and the intermediate shut; and a second disk with a constant thickness that is below the second disk and fixed to the intermediate shaft. 3, and first and second detection elements and magnets that are fixedly disposed on the vehicle body side at positions close to the outer peripheries of each of the first to third disks. The power steering device according to item 1.