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:
Sep. 15, 1998
Filed:
Jun. 27, 1996
Yoshiki Noro, Wako, JP;
Shinzi Hironaka, Wako, JP;
Yoshinobu Mukai, Wako, JP;
Nobuo Sugitani, Wako, JP;
Takao Kurosawa, Wako, JP;
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
In a controller of an electric power steering apparatus for use with an automotive vehicle, a regenerating condition determining section determines whether or not a motor of the vehicle is in a regenerating condition, and a regeneration control signal generating section generates a regeneration control signal to control the regenerating condition of the motor. A switching section selects between the motor control signal and the regeneration control signal in accordance with a result of determination by the regenerating condition determining section. With this arrangement, a motor current including a regenerative current that is caused to flow in the motor in response to a vehicle driver effecting during-stoppage steering maneuvering and then releasing a steering wheel can be controlled independently of a feedback loop of the controller. The regeneration control signal generating section generates a pulse-width-modulated signal of duty cycle corresponding to the offset between a target current and a motor current flowing in the motor. The regenerating condition determining section determines that the motor is in the regenerating condition if the signs of the target current and motor current control signals do not comport with each other and the direction of the steering torque signal and the rotational direction of the motor are opposite to each other.