Electonic power steering system Research and Design电子动力转向系统的研究与设计
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, and Figure 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 resonator