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:
Dec. 31, 2002
Filed:
Mar. 16, 2001
Atsushi Ishihara, Kashiwara, JP;
Hideki Jonokuchi, Kashihara, JP;
Hirohide Inayama, Yamatokoriyama, JP;
Koyo Seiko Co., Ltd., Osaka, JP;
Abstract
An electric power steering apparatus being provided with: a torque sensor for detecting a steering torque applied to a steering wheel (not shown); and a steering assisting motor driven by a drive circuit to which the voltage of a mounted battery P is applied, in which the drive circuit rotates the motor in accordance with a motor current instruction value determined based on the steering torque detected by the torque sensor , is further provided with: judging means for judging whether the motor current instruction value is higher than a first threshold value or not; boosting instruction outputting means for, when the judging means judges that the motor current instruction value is higher, outputting a boosting instruction for boosting the voltage of the mounted battery P; and a boosting circuit for boosting the voltage of the mounted battery in response to the outputted boosting instruction. Even when the voltage of the mounted battery P fluctuates, a voltage from which a stable steering assisting force is always obtained can be supplied to the steering assisting motor, so that the steering assisting motor can be reduced in size.