The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 16, 1996
Filed:
Jul. 01, 1994
Koyo Seiko Co., Ltd., Osaka, JP;
Abstract
An electric power steering apparatus which is provided with a CPU for outputting a drive control signal of an electric motor for assisting the steering force on the basis of the detected steering torque, and a drive inhibition circuit for outputting a signal to stop the operation of the electric motor when the direction of the electric motor operation and the direction of the detected steering torque are opposite to each other, the output of the drive inhibition circuit is inputted to the CPU, which monitors the normal or abnormal condition of the drive inhibition circuit. While the abnormal condition of the CPU continues for a predetermined time period, the drive stop condition of the electric motor is kept. When the detected torque is not smaller than the predetermined value, the drive of the electric motor in the direction opposite to that of the detected torque is inhibited.