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:
Nov. 23, 1999
Filed:
Jul. 24, 1998
Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A vehicle control apparatus includes a steering torque sensor (1) for sensing a steering torque, a motor (3) for generating a steering assisting force, a CPU (22) for determining a motor drive direction based on at least the steering force and a motor drive direction restricting circuit (25) for restricting the drive direction of the motor (3) determined by the CPU (22) based on a steering force determination level as a motor drive direction determination criterion and the steering force, and the steering force determination level is changeable. With this arrangement, there is provided the vehicle control apparatus with safety and reliability by which the motor can be controlled with redundancy, the steering force determination level does not require such accuracy as to use pinpoint accuracy and further even if an abnormal state is caused in a motor output when a steering wheel is released from a hand and a steering torque exceeding the steering force determination level is generated, the steering force determination level is instantly changed to thereby restrict a motor drive direction so that the self-turn of the steering wheel is prevented.