Electric power steering system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9327760-B2
Application number	US-201414271973-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 7, 2014
Priority date	May 15, 2013
Publication date	May 3, 2016
Grant date	May 3, 2016

Abstract

There is provided an electric power steering system that makes it possible to improve the driver's steering feel, and that includes a controller that controls driving of a motor. The controller computes a first assist component based on a steering torque. The controller computes a torque command value based on a basic drive torque that is the sum of the steering torque and the first assist component, and computes an assist compensation component through feedback control based on the torque command value. The controller computes a steered angle command value based on a value obtained by adding the assist compensation component to the basic drive torque, and computes a second assist component through feedback control based on the steered angle command value. The controller controls driving of the motor based on an assist command value that is the sum of the first assist component and the second assist component.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electric power steering system comprising:
an assist mechanism that applies assist torque generated by a motor to a steering mechanism of a vehicle; and
a controller that controls driving of the motor based on an assist command value corresponding to a target value of the assist torque, wherein
the controller includes
a basic assist component computing unit that computes a first assist component that is a basic component of the assist torque based on steering torque that is applied to the steering mechanism in response to a steering operation of the vehicle,
a torque command value computing unit that computes a torque command value that is a target value of the steering torque,
a torque feedback control unit that computes an assist compensation component by executing torque feedback control of causing the steering torque to follow the torque command value,
a steered angle command value computing unit that computes a steered angle command value corresponding to a target value of a steered angle of steered wheels of the vehicle based on a sum of a basic drive torque and the assist compensation component,
a steered angle feedback control unit that computes a second assist component by executing steered angle feedback control of causing an actual steered angle of the steered wheels to follow the steered angle command value, and
an assist command value computing unit that computes the assist command value based on a sum of the first assist component and the second assist component.

2. The electric power steering system according to claim 1 , wherein the torque command value computing unit computes the torque command value that is the target value of the steering torque on the basis of the basic drive torque based on a sum of the steering torque and the first assist component.

3. The electric power steering system according to claim 2 , wherein:
the controller further includes a torque command value compensator that computes a compensation value of the torque command value based on a detected value detected by a detector mounted on the vehicle; and
the torque feedback control unit computes the assist compensation component by executing torque feedback control of causing the steering torque to follow the torque command value that is compensated for using the compensation value.

4. The electric power steering system according to claim 3 , wherein:
the detector is a road surface reaction force detector that detects a parameter corresponding to a road surface reaction force acting on the steered wheels; and
the torque command value compensator computes the compensation value based on the parameter corresponding to the road surface reaction force.

5. The electric power steering system according to claim 4 , wherein the road surface reaction force detector is an axial force sensor that detects a force acting on a rack shaft in an axial direction of the rack shaft due to the road surface reaction force.

6. The electric power steering system according to claim 1 , wherein the torque command value computing unit computes the torque command value that is the target value of the steering torque on the basis of a corrected basic drive torque based on a sum of the steering torque, the first assist component, and the assist compensating component.

7. The electric power steering system according to claim 3 , wherein:
the detector includes a torque sensor that detects the steering torque applied to the steering mechanism and a rotation angle sensor that detects a rotation angle of the motor,
the torque command value compensator includes
an angular velocity computing unit that computes an angular velocity of the motor based on a temporal variation of the rotation angle of the motor, and
a friction torque computing unit that computes a friction torque of the steering mechanism based on the angular velocity of the motor; and

the torque command value compensator computes the compensation value of the torque command value based on the steering torque, the assist command value, and the rotation angle of the motor.

Assignees

• Jtekt Corp

Inventors

• Tamaizumi Terutaka
• Eki Hirozumi
• Kita Masayuki
• Namikawa Isao
• Hasegawa Jun
• Nishimura Akihiko

Classifications

• B62D5/0463 Primary

  calculating assisting torque from the motor based on driver input · CPC title

• B62D6/008

  Control of feed-back to the steering input member, e.g. simulating road feel in steer-by-wire applications · CPC title

• B62D5/0472

  for damping vibrations · CPC title