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:
Apr. 06, 2004
Filed:
Jan. 17, 2003
Yutaka Mori, Toyohashi, JP;
Kazumasa Kodama, Toyota, JP;
Toyoda Koki Kabushiki Kaisha, Kariya, JP;
Abstract
A vehicular steering device of the present invention aims at suppressing heat generation. If a voltage is applied to a solenoid, a drive force is generated in a lock arm. If the drive force exceeds an urging force of a torsion coil spring, an electric motor is released and assumes an unlocked state. Accordingly, the drive force that is required for the maintenance of the electric motor in the unlocked state can be smaller than the drive force that is required for switching the electric motor from a locked state to the unlocked state. Thus, after the electric motor has been released in the unlocked state, a voltage is intermittently applied to the solenoid so that the electric motor is held in the unlocked state. In this manner, heat generation from the solenoid is suppressed.