Denso Corporation

Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Kenichirou Hidaka

Takahiro Kojo

Theerawat Limpibunterng

Nobuhiko Makino

Hisashi Kameya

Junko Hidaka, Legal Representative

A power steering apparatus has a steering power assisting system coupled to tire wheels and a variable gear transfer system coupled to a steering wheel. The steering power assisting system includes a torsion bar rotation sensor and a first actuator rotation sensor to calculate a first pinion angle and a second pinion angle based on the detected rotation angles, respectively. The variable gear transfer system includes a steering sensor and a second actuator rotation sensor to calculate a third pinion angle based on the detected rotation angles. Sensor failure is detected by comparing the calculated first, second and third pinion angles.

Power steering apparatus having failure detection device for rotation angle sensors

A storage part stores an initial sum, which is obtained by summing a steering angle of a steering wheel and a rotational angle of an electric actuator before checking of unlocking of a transmission ratio variable mechanism by a computer part. The computer part determines that the storage part is abnormal when a sum, which is obtained by summing the steering angle of the steering wheel and the rotational angle of the electric actuator after the checking of the unlocking of the transmission ratio variable mechanism by the computer part, differs from the initial sum, which is retrieved from the storage part.

Storage check for locking vehicle steering system

Growing community of inventors

Chita-gun, Japan

Kenichirou Hidaka