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:
Jun. 24, 2003
Filed:
May. 23, 2001
Hiroshi Nishimura, Tokyo, JP;
Shigeki Ohtagaki, Tokyo, JP;
Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
In conventional electric power steering apparatus, a problem exists in that whether or not there is any failure in drive inhibiting means may be erroneously judged, and that it is impossible to judge whether or not a drive inhibition signal is normal. A steering torque detected by a torque sensor and a motor current outputted by motor drive means using a motor drive signal formed by CPU based on the steering torque are inputted to drive inhibiting means . The drive inhibiting means outputs a drive inhibition signal and a drive inhibition switch signal based on the relation between the inputted two signals. CPU detects that there is a failure in the drive inhibiting means based on the outputted signals. Upon detecting a failure, a control is conducted so that the motor current is set to 0.