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:
Mar. 22, 2005
Filed:
May. 06, 2004
Hisashi Kameya, Kariya, JP;
Hisashi Kameya, Kariya, JP;
Denso Corporation, Kariya, JP;
Abstract
A variable transmission-ratio steering apparatus comprises an input shaft coupled to a steering wheel, an output shaft operatively coupled to steerable road wheels. The apparatus comprises an electric motor varying a rotation angle of the output shaft by providing a drive force to the output shaft, the drive force being decided based on a rotation angle of the input shaft, a lock member locking the input shaft to the output shaft in an unlockable manner, and an excitation coil enabling the lock member to be actuated to unlock a lock between the input and output shafts. The apparatus further comprises a unit controlling current to be supplied to the excitation coil and a unit detecting abnormality of the excitation coil based on both of a command value of current to flow through the excitation coil and a value of the current actually flowing through the excitation coil.