A method for monitoring remaining useful life (RUL) of an actuation system in a vehicle that includes receiving position data of the actuation system from a position sensor, maintaining a total distance traveled for the actuation system, and calculating the RUL of the actuation system. The calculating includes estimating force data using an output variable estimator, determining motor torque, weighing the estimated force data using a confidence level, predicting a total life of the actuation system based on the weighted force data, and comparing the predicted total life with the total distance traveled to determine the remaining useful life.

An actuator includes a cylinder sandwiched between a fixing plate fixed to the other end surface of a supporting plate together with a servomotor and a bearing housing, a ball screw shaft having one end protruding into the cylinder through through holes of the fixing plate, a slide block screwed with one end of the ball screw shaft in the cylinder, a cylindrical-shaped piston coupled to an end of the slide block and reciprocatably located in the cylinder, linear motion bearing units located inside the bearing housing to movably support the piston, and linear motion bearing units located in the cylinder to movably support the slide block.

A screw actuator having a screw shaft and a nut arrangement is described herein, the nut arrangement comprising: a primary nut; a first secondary nut having a first thread; a second secondary nut having a second thread; and a first attachment means. The first nut, first secondary nut, and second secondary nut are connected to the first attachment means with a first, initial, axial spacing between the first and second secondary nuts. The first secondary nut is mounted to the first attachment means via bearings that allow the first secondary nut to rotate relative to the first attachment. The first secondary nut is connected to the second secondary nut via a screw thread connection having a pitch lower than a pitch of a screw thread of the screw actuator shaft.

A housing for an electric power steering device that has an electric motor, a speed reduction mechanism, a ball screw mechanism, and a rack bar. The housing has a first housing having a first end portion covering a part of the rack bar and a second end portion with a portion accommodating at least a part of the speed reduction mechanism. The first housing includes a rack bar insertion hole portion; an electric motor shaft insertion hole portion having a cylindrical shape on a radially outer side of the rack bar insertion hole portion, through which an electric motor shaft is inserted; and a fastening portion having an annular shape overlapping with an inner peripheral surface of the electric motor shaft insertion hole portion along the longitudinal direction of the rack bar when an axis extending in the rack bar longitudinal direction is viewed from a radially outer side.

The present invention concerns an angular transmission device comprising: An input shaft and an output shaft, An assembly arranged for coupling the input shaft with the output shaft so that the output shaft can be rotationally driven by the input shaft, the assembly comprising a rotary actuator and a linear mobile, the rotary actuator being coupled with the input shaft and moves the mobile in a translation motion relative to the actuator, the mobile being coupled with the output shaft so that the rotation of the input shaft drives the rotation of the output shaft; the assembly further comprises a flexible blade fixed to said mobile and looped around the output shaft, so that when the actuator moves the mobile, the flexible blade drives the rotation of the output shaft. The invention also comprises a method using said device.

Steering actuators for vehicles are described herein. An example actuator includes a rack to be coupled to a knuckle of a vehicle, a ball nut coupled to the rack, a ring gear coupled to the ball nut, and a motor with a pinion engaged with the ring gear. The motor is to rotate the ball nut, via the pinion and the ring gear, to move the rack linearly.

A method of operating an electromechanical actuator includes coupling an inner portion of a split ball screw with an outer portion of the split ball screw, rotating the split ball screw about an axis to drive a ball nut in a first axial direction, in response to a failure mode of the electromechanical actuator, decoupling the outer portion of the split ball screw from the inner portion of the split ball screw, and translating the outer portion of the split ball screw and the ball nut in a second axial direction.

A steering apparatus includes a turning shaft movable in a vehicle widthwise direction, a pinion shaft meshed with the turning shaft and a first housing that retains therein the turning shaft and the pinion shaft. An inner circumferential surface of the first housing facing with the turning shaft is provided with an inclined portion that continuously changes an internal diameter. When a portion where a tooth of the turning shaft and a tooth of the pinion shaft are meshed with each other is defined as a meshed portion, the inclined portion is formed below at least the meshed portion.

An electric cylinder system includes: a rod; a ball screw mechanism; a nut connected to the rod; a cylindrical body including a contact portion, the contact portion configured to be abutting the nut making the linear motion, the cylindrical body configured to support the ball screw mechanism in such a manner that the ball screw mechanism is displaceable in the axis direction of the ball screw; a strain detector fixed to the cylindrical body and configured to detect a value corresponding to a displacement of the ball screw mechanism; and a control section configured to make the ball screw mechanism be displaced by making the nut abut against the contact portion, and configured to detect an abnormality of the strain detector based on the value detected by the strain detector according to the displacement of the ball screw mechanism.

A drive system for driving a movable flow body is disclosed having a drive unit, a shaft, a torque sensing device, a no-back friction unit, and an axial bearing. The drive unit is coupled with the shaft to rotate the shaft, the torque sensing device is coupled with at least one of the drive unit and the shaft to detect a torque transferred from the drive unit into the shaft, the no-back friction unit is arranged between the axial bearing and an axial support means of the shaft, such that an axial load of the shaft is supported by the axial bearing, and the no-back friction unit is configured to substantially not counteract a rotation of the shaft in a first direction of rotation of the shaft and to apply a friction-induced additional torque to the shaft in an opposite second direction of rotation.