发布时间 : 星期三 文章汽车电子动力转向系统中英文对照外文翻译文献更新完毕开始阅读
greater potential comes from designing the system into an all-new platform.\all three designs under consideration,\of steering systems division at ZF in Schwaebisch Gmuend, Germany. \market and OEMs which version finally will be used and manufactured.\manufacturers have all grabbed hold of what they consider a core technology,\explains James Handysides, TRW vice president, electrically assisted steering in Sterling Heights, Mich. His company offers a portfolio of electric steering systems (hybrid electric, rack-, pinion-, and column-drive). TRW originally concentrated on what it still believes is the purest engineering solution for electric steering--the rack-drive system. The system is sometimes refered to as direct drive or ball/nut drive.Still, this winter TRW hedged its bet, forming a joint venture with LucasVarity. The British supplier received $50 million in exchange for its electric column-drive steering technology and as sets. Initial production of the column and pinion drive electric steering systems is expected to begin in Birmingham, England, in 2000.
\we lack is the credibility in the steering market,\says Brendan Conner, managing director, TRW/LucasVarity Electric Steering Ltd. \combination with TRW provides us with a good opportunity for us to bridge that gap.\LucasVarity currently has experimental systems on 11 different vehicle types, mostly European. TRW is currently supplying its EAS systems for Ford and Chrysler EVs in North America and for GM's new Opel Astra.
In 1995, according to Delphi, traditional hydraulic power steering systems were on 7596 of all vehicles sold globally. That 37-million vehicle pool consumes about 10 million gallons in hydraulic fluid that could be superfluous, if electric steering really takes off.
The present invention relates to an electrically powered drive mechamsm for providing powered assistance to a vehicle steering mechanism. According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electrically powered driven mechanism for providing powered assistance to a vehicle steering mechanism having a manually rotatable member for operating the steering mechanism, the drive mechanism including a torque sensor operable to sense torque being manually applied to the rotatable member, an electrically powered drive motor drivingly connected to the rotatable member and a controller which is arranged to control the speed and direction of rotation of the drive motor in response to signals received from the torque sensor, the torque sensor including a sensor shaft adapted for connection to the rotatable member to form an extension thereof so that torque is transmitted through said sensor shaft when the rotatable member is manually rotated and a strain gauge mounted on the sensor shaft for producing a signal indicative of the amount of torque being transmitted through said shaft.Preferably the sensor shaft is non-rotatably mounted at one axial end in a first coupling member and is non-rotatably mounted at its opposite axial end in a second coupling member, the first and second coupling members being inter-engaged to permit limited rotation therebetween so that torque under a predetermined limit is transmitted by the sensor shaft only and so that torque above said predetermined limit is transmitted through the first and second coupling members.The first and second coupling members are preferably arranged to act as a
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bridge for drivingly connecting first and second portions of the rotating member to one another.Preferably the sensor shaft is of generally rectangular cross-section throughout the majority of its length.Preferably the strain gauge includes one or more SAW resonators secured to the sensor shaft.Preferably the motor is drivingly connected to the rotatable member via a clutch.Preferably the motor includes a gear box and is concentrically arranged relative to the rotatable member.Various aspects of the present invention will hereafter be described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a vehicle steering mechanism including an electrically powered drive mechanism according to the present invention,Figure 2 is a flow diagram illustrating interaction between various components of the drive mechanism shown in Figure 1 ,Figure 3 is an axial section through the drive mechanism shown in Figure 1, Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along lines IV-IV in Figure 3,Figure 5 is a more detailed exploded view of the input drives coupling shown in Figure 3, andFigure 6 is a more detailed exploded view of the clutch showing in Figure 3. Referring initially to Figure 1 , there is shown a vehicle steering mechanism 10 drivingly connected to a pair of steerable road wheels The steering mechanism 10 shown includes a rack and pinion assembly 14 connected to the road wheels 12 via joints 15. The pinion(not shown) of assembly 14 is rotatably driven by a manually rotatable member in the form of a steering column 18 which is manually rotated by a steering wheel 19.The steering column 18 includes an electric powered drive mechanism 30 which includes an electric drive motor (not shown in Figure 1) for driving the pinion in response to torque loadings in the steering column 18 in order to provide power assistance for the operative when rotating the steering wheel 19.As schematically illustrated in Figure 2, the electric powered drive mechanism includes a torque sensor20 which measures the torque applied by the steering column 18 when driving the pinion and supplies a signal to a controller 40. The controller 40 is connected to a drive motor 50 and controls the electric current supplied to the motor 50 to control the amount of torque generated by the motor 50 and the direction of its rotation.The motor 50 is drivingly connected to the steering column 18 preferably via a gear box 60, preferably an epicyclic gear box, and a clutch 70. The clutch 70 is preferably permanently engaged during normal operation and is operative under certain conditions to isolate drive from the motor 50 to enable the pinion to be driven manually through the drive mechanism 30. This is a safety feature to enable the mechanism to function in the event of the motor 50 attempting to drive the steering column too fast and/or in the wrong direction or in the case where the motor and/or gear box have seized.
The torque sensor 20 is preferably an assembly including a short sensor shaft on which is mounted a strain gauge capable of accurately measuring strain in the sensor shaft brought about by the application of torque within a predetermined range.Preferably the predetermined range of torque which is measured is 0-lONm; more preferably is about l-5Nm.Preferably the range of measured torque corresponds to about 0-1000 microstrain and the construction of the sensor shaft is chosen such that a torque of 5Nm will result in a twist of less than 2° in the shaft, more preferably less than 1 ° .Preferably the strain gauge is a SAW resonator, a suitable SAW
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resonator being described in WO91/13832. Preferably a configuration similar to that shown in Figure 3 of WO91/13832 is utilised wherein twoSAW resonators are arranged at 45° to the shaft axis and at 90° to one another.Preferably the resonators operate with a resonance frequency of between 200-400 MHz and are arranged to produce a signal to the controller 40 of 1 MHz ± 500 KHz depending upon the direction of rotation of the sensor shaft. Thus, when the sensor shaft is not being twisted due to the absence of torque, it produces a 1 MHz signal.When the sensor shaft is twisted in one direction it produces a signal between 1.0 to 1.5 MHz. When the sensor shaft is twisted in the opposite direction it produces a signal between 1.0 to 0.5 MHz. Thus the same sensor is able to produce a signal indicative of the degree of torque and also the direction of rotation of the sensor shaft.Preferably the amount of torque generated by the motor in response to a measured torque of between 0-10Nm is 0-40Nm and for a measured torque of between l-5Nm is 0-25Nm.Preferably a feed back circuit is provided whereby the electric current being used by the motor is measured and compared by the controller 40 to ensure that the motor is running in the correct direction and providing the desired amount of power assistance. Preferably the controller acts to reduce the measured torque to zero and so controls the motor to increase its torque output to reduce the measured torque.A vehicle speed sensor (not shown) is preferably provided which sends a signal indicative of vehicle speed to the controller. The controller uses this signal to modify the degree of power assistance provided in response to the measured torque.Thus at low vehicle speeds maximum power assistance will be provided and a high vehicle speeds minimum power assistance will be provided.The controller is preferably a logic sequencer having a field programmable gate array for example a XC 4005 as supplied by Xilinx. Such a controller does not rely upon software and so is able to function more reliably in a car vehicle environment. It is envisaged that a logic sequence not having a field programmable array may be used.
Electronic power steering system (English as EPS), and hydraulic power steering system (HPS) compared to, EPS has many advantages.
The advantage is that the EPS:
1) high efficiency. HPS efficiency is very low, generally 60% to 70%, while EPS and electrical connections, high efficiency, and some can be as high as 90 percent.
2) less energy consumption. Automobile traffic in the actual process, at the time to about 5 percent of the time travelling, the HPS system, engine running, the pumps will always be in working condition, the oil pipeline has been in circulation, so that vehicle fuel consumption rate by 4 % To 6%, while EPS only when needed for energy, vehicle fuel consumption rates only increased by 0.5 percent.
3) \be controlled by software, and can be used in accordance with the operation of the driver to adjust.
4) back to being good. EPS simple structure of small internal resistance, is a good back, get back to being the best characteristics, improve vehicle handling and stability.
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5) little environmental pollution. HPS hydraulic circuit in the hydraulic hoses and connectors, the existence of oil leaking, but hydraulic hoses can not be recovered, the environmental pollution are to a certain extent, while EPS almost no pollution to the environment.
6) can be independent of the engines work. EPS for battery powered devices, as long as sufficient battery power, no matter what the condition for the engine, can produce power role.
7) should have a wide range.
8) easy to assemble and good layout.
Now, power steering systems of some cars have become the standard-setting, the whole world about half of the cars used to power steering. With the development of automotive electronics technology, some cars have been using electric power steering gear, the car of the economy, power and mobility has improved. Electric power steering device on the car is a new power steering system device, developed rapidly in recent years both at home and abroad, because of its use of programmable electronic control devices, the flexibility in the same time there are also potential safety problems. In the analysis This unique product on the basis of the author of the characteristics of electronic control devices, security clearance just that the factors that deal with security measures, and discussed a number of concerns the safety of specific issues. The results show that : Existing standards can not meet the electric power steering device security needs and made the electric power steering device safety evaluation of the idea. Research work on the electric power steering device development and evaluation of reference value.
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