Patent Grant
11186309
This application claims the benefit of priority from Chinese Patent Application No. CN 201810470674.6, filed on May 17, 2018. The content of the aforementioned application, including any intervening amendments thereto, is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The present invention relates to automobile active steering system, and more particularly to an active steering system using planetary gear set with less tooth difference and a control method thereof.
The performance of an automobile steering system has a great influence on the safety, handling stability of the automobile and driving pleasure. The performance of the automobile steering system is becoming increasingly excellent as the automobile steering system has evolved from the original mechanical steering system to the modern-day steering system, but it basically fails to combine “handiness” and “dexterity” and generally adopts a relatively suitable fixed transmission ratio as trade-off. Although there are some steering gears with variable transmission ratios in the prior arts, for example, with variable-pitch racks, the transmission ratios vary little and cannot be changed after manufactured, as well as its manufacturing process is a little hard to accomplish.
The automobile active steering system can effectively solve this problem, such as the AFS system (BMW auto company). By arranging a 2K-H type single-row planetary gear-set angle coupling mechanism on the steering shaft, the automobile active steering system can apply a steering angle which is independent of a steering angle applied by a driver through the steering wheel to the steering gear by controller and then correct the front wheel angle according to the travelling condition of the vehicle. At the same time, compared to the steer-by-wire system, the automobile active steering system preserves the mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the steering gear, improving the reliability of the steering system and allowing for a reliable road feel feedback to the driver.
In addition, there are some patents for active steering systems throughout the world, but most of them use double-row planetary gear mechanisms with more complicated structures.
An object of the present invention is to design and develop an active steering system using planetary gear set with less tooth difference. By adding an angle coupling mechanism on the steering shaft, it is possible to apply a steering angle which is independent of a steering angle applied by a driver through the steering wheel to the steering gear and then correct the front wheel angle according to the driving condition of the automobile. The active steering system using planetary gear set with less tooth difference has a simple structure.
Another object of the present invention is to design and develop a method for controlling the active steering system using planetary gear set with less tooth difference. By collecting the driving condition of the automobile through the active steering system controller, the steering angle output by the coupled motor is determined, thereby realizing active steering of the automobile.
The technical solution provided by the invention is as follows.
An active steering system using planetary gear set with less tooth difference, comprising:
a first input shaft, wherein one end of the first input shaft is connected to a steering wheel of an automobile, and the other end of the first input shaft is fixedly sleeved with a first gear;
a ring gear sleeve, wherein a ring gear is fixedly mounted in the ring gear sleeve in a circumferential direction, and a hollow shaft protrudes from a center of one end of the ring gear sleeve and is fixedly sleeved with a second gear that is engageable with the first gear;
a second input shaft, wherein one end of the second input shaft is fixedly connected to an output end of a coupled motor, and the other end of the second input shaft is fixedly sleeved with a third gear;
an eccentric shaft, wherein one end of the eccentric shaft is fixedly sleeved with a fourth gear that is engageable with the third gear, and the other end of the eccentric shaft is sleeved in the hollow shaft;
a planetary gear engaging with and rotating relative to the ring gear, wherein the planetary gear is provided with a plurality of first pin holes spaced apart in a circumferential direction; wherein the eccentric shaft is eccentrically provided with a boss engaged with a center bore of the planetary gear in a clearance fit;
a plurality of pins each including a first journal, a second journal and a third journal, wherein the first journal is arranged to be eccentric to the second journal, the second journal is arranged to be concentric to the third journal, and the first journal is engaged with one of the plurality of the first pin holes in a clearance fit;
an output shaft disc provided with a plurality of second pin holes spaced apart in a circumferential direction, wherein the third journal is respectively engaged with one of the plurality of second pin holes in a clearance fit, and the output shaft disc is fixedly connected to a steering gear of the automobile.
In some embodiments, an eccentricity between the eccentric shaft and the boss is the same as an eccentricity between the first journal and the second journal.
In some embodiments, one end of the eccentric shaft is provided with a first shaft journal; and a plurality of grooves spaced apart are arranged at an end of the first shaft journal away from the eccentric shaft in a circumferential direction.
In some embodiments, the active steering system using planetary gear set with less tooth difference further includes:
an electromagnet axially provided with a shear pin, wherein a spring is arranged between the electromagnet and the shear pin;
when the electromagnet is de-energized, the shear pin moves away from the electromagnet by resilience of the spring and engages with the groove, such that the eccentric shaft is locked; when the electromagnet is energized, the shear pin compresses the spring to move close to the electromagnet and is disengaged from the groove, such that the eccentric shaft is unlocked.
In some embodiments, the active steering system using planetary gear set with less tooth difference further includes:
a first ring groove arranged at an end of the hollow shaft away from the ring gear sleeve and provided with a first circlip for axially fixing the eccentric shaft;
a second ring groove arranged outside the hollow shaft between the first ring groove and the ring gear sleeve and provided with a second circlip for axially fixing the second gear.
In some embodiments, the active steering system using planetary gear set with less tooth difference further includes:
a first housing; a second housing detachably connected to the first housing; an electromagnet box fixedly disposed on the first housing, wherein the electromagnet is fixedly disposed on the electromagnet box;
a hollow connecting shaft protruding from a center of an end of the output shaft disc for fixed connection to the steering gear of the automobile;
wherein two ends of the first input shaft are rotatably supported on the first housing and the second housing, respectively; an end of the second input shaft is rotatably supported on the first housing; one end of the eccentric shaft is rotatably supported on the first housing, and the other end of the eccentric shaft is rotatably supported in the hollow shaft; the hollow shaft is rotatably supported on the second housing; the hollow connecting shaft is rotatably supported on the second housing.
In some embodiments, the active steering system using planetary gear set with less tooth difference further includes:
a rotary valve fixedly connected to the hollow connecting shaft;
the steering gear, including a steering pinion and a steering rack, an upper end of the steering pinion being fixedly connected to an output end of the rotary valve;
a steering gear case, wherein the steering rack is arranged in the steering gear case, a lower end of the steering pinion engages with the steering rack, and the steering pinion is axially movable along the steering gear case;
a hydraulic cylinder, wherein an end of the hydraulic cylinder is fixedly connected to an end of the steering gear case;
wherein the hydraulic cylinder is provided with a piston rod; one end of the piston rod is fixedly connected to one end of the steering rack and the other end of the piston rod is connected to a first tie rod; and the other end of the steering rack is connected to a second tie rod;
a first dust cover sleeved on the hydraulic cylinder, wherein one end of the first dust cover is sealingly connected to another end of the hydraulic cylinder, and the other end of the first dust cover is sealingly connected to a diameter-reduced position of an end of the piston rod;
a second dust cover sleeved on the steering gear case, one end of the second dust cover being sealingly connected to another end of the steering gear case, and the other end of the second dust cover being sealingly connected to a diameter-reduced position of an end of the steering rack.
In some embodiments, the active steering system using planetary gear set with less tooth difference further includes:
a steering shaft, an end of the steering shaft being fixedly connected to the steering wheel of the automobile;
a steering transmission shaft, one end of the steering transmission shaft being connected to another end of the steering shaft via a first universal joint and the other end of the steering transmission shaft being connected to the first input shaft via a second universal joint.
The present invention also provides a method for controlling the active steering system using planetary gear set with less tooth difference, including:
S1: acquiring, by the CAN bus, an automobile speed;
S2: acquiring a steering system transmission ratio by reading a relationship data sheet of the steering system transmission ratio and the automobile speed;
S3: collecting, by the active steering system controller, signals of each sensor including steering wheel angle signal and steering wheel torque signal;
S4: calculating the steering angle to be output by the coupled motor according to the steering wheel angle, the signal measured by the torque sensors and the steering system gear ratio under current operating conditions;
S5: controlling, by the coupled motor controller, the coupled motor to output a steering angle to realize active steering of the automobile.
In some embodiments, the method further comprises: before S2, determining the working state of the coupled motor; if the coupled motor fails, controlling, by the coupled motor controller, the coupled motor to stop working and the electromagnet to de-energize; wherein the shear pin pops out to lock the eccentric shaft.
The present invention has following beneficial effects:
1. The active steering system of the present invention can be matched with various types of power steering systems including hydraulic power steering systems and electric power steering systems, and basically may not affect the installation and arrangement of the original power steering system.
2. The active steering system according to the present invention is designed with fewer parts and an anti-failure protection device, thereby providing a high system reliability.
3. The planetary gear set with less tooth difference according to the present invention has a wide range of transmission ratios, which contributes to the selection of the coupled motor and the automobile integration.
4. The active steering system of the present invention can be used in combination with various types of steering gears.
5. The coupled motor of the present invention is arranged in parallel with the axis of the steering shaft, which can effectively reduce the radial dimension of the entire system.
The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the embodiments and the accompanying drawings.
It should be understood that terms such as “having”, “comprising” and “including” used herein do not necessarily indicate the existence or addition of one or more other elements or combinations thereof.
As shown in
As shown in
The steering gear, the steering transmission mechanism and the power steering system used in the present invention, in an embodiment, are consistent with the existing rack-and-pinion hydraulic power steering system, which will not be described in detail here.
The angle coupling mechanism 200 is the key component of the active steering system of the present invention. As shown in
Route 1: steering wheel 101-steering shaft 102-first universal joint 103-steering transmission shaft 104-second universal joint 105-steering wheel input shaft 221-first gear 222-second gear 223-ring gear sleeve 224-ring gear 241-planetary gear 242-pin 243-output shaft disc 244-rotary valve 301.
Route 2: coupled motor 231-third gear 232-fourth gear 233-eccentric shaft 234-planetary gear 242-pin 243-output shaft disc 244-rotary valve 301.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The centers of the planetary gear 242, the output shaft disk 244, the first journal 243a and the third journal 243c of the pin 243 form a parallelogram, outputting a rotation centering of the planetary gear 242.
It can be seen that the angle coupling mechanism 200 can realize the coupling of the input angle of the steering wheel and the input angle of the coupled motor. By controlling the coupled motor, the steering gear can be provided with an additional steering angle allowing for active steering of the automobile. By matching the tooth number of the first gear 222 and the second gear 223, the tooth number of the third gear 232 and the fourth gear 233, and the tooth number of the ring gear 241 and the planetary gear 242, different transmission ratios from the input end to the output end of the steering wheel and from the input end to the output end of the coupled motor are obtained, adapting to variable steering ratio requirements of different automobiles.
In order to ensure the reliability of the steering system, the active steering system of the present invention is also provided with a fail-safe device. As shown in
As shown in
By adding an angle coupling mechanism on the steering shaft, the active steering system using planetary gear set with less tooth difference of the present invention is possible to apply a steering angle which is independent of a steering angle applied by the driver through the steering wheel to the steering gear and then correct the front wheel steering angle according to the running condition of the automobile. The active steering system using planetary gear set with less tooth difference has a simple structure.
As shown in
As shown in
Step 1. initializing the active steering system controller after power-on, finishing the self-checking process, and reading control parameters; the control parameters include:
1) enable state parameter ipb of the active steering system: the automobile is re-ignited, after the active steering system controller is powered on, the enable state parameter ipb is a default value of 1, that is, the automobile is in a startup state.
2) a relationship data sheet of the steering system transmission ratio i and the automobile speed V.
Step 2. Reading, by the active steering system controller, signals of each sensor including: steering wheel angle signal Φw(°), steering wheel torque signal Tw(N), automobile speed signal V (km/h) and working state signal sta of the coupled motor obtained from the CAN bus; where sta is 1 during normal operation, and sta is 0 when the coupled motor fails.
Step 3. Determining the working state of the coupled motor; if sta=1, the coupled motor works properly, and step 4 is performed; if sta=0, the coupled motor fails, then step 8 is performed.
Step 4. Filtering the analog signal (steering wheel angle signal and steering wheel torque signal) measured by the sensors. Preferably, Kalman filtering is performed. Other filtering methods are not considered improvements of the present invention.
Step 5. Determining the steering system transmission ratio id under the current working conditions according to the current automobile speed and the relationship data sheet of the steering system transmission ratio i and the automobile speed V stored in the active steering system controller.
Step 6. Calculating the steering angle ΦM to be output by the coupled motor according to the steering wheel angle, the signal measured by the torque sensors and the steering system gear ratio id under current operating conditions.
Step 7. Sending the steering signal ΦM to the coupled motor controller by the CAN bus and returning to step 2 for the next cycle.
Step 8. Sending commands to the coupled motor controller and the electromagnet drive amplifier through the CAN bus and the switching analog signal line respectively, so that both the coupled motor and the electromagnet are de-energized. The coupled motor stops working, the electromagnet is de-energized, and the shear pin pops out under the action of the spring to lock the eccentric shaft.
The method for controlling the active steering system using planetary gear set with less tooth difference of the present invention determines the steering angle output by the coupled motor through collecting the driving condition of the automobile via the active steering system controller, realizing the active steering of the automobile.
Differences between the various embodiments are described in the above embodiments of the present application. Various optimal features of the embodiments may be combined to form a preferred embodiment.
The embodiments are only illustrative of the present application, and are not intended to limit the application. It should be understood that for one of ordinary skill in the art, improvements or variations can be made based on the above descriptions, and such improvements and variations fall within the scope of the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201810470674.6 | May 2018 | CN | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20160031475 | Wang | Feb 2016 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20190351933 A1 | Nov 2019 | US |
