A cart may include: a driving wheel; a motor configured to rotate the driving wheel; a motor drive circuit configured to control electric power supply to the motor; a motor control device configured to control the motor via the motor drive circuit; a switching element arranged on an electric power supply path to the motor drive circuit; a switch circuit arranged separately from the motor control device and configured to switch the switching element between a conduction state and a non-conduction state; and an operation member arranged on the cart and configured to be operated by a user. The cart may operate in a manual mode in which the motor is driven when the operation member is on and the motor is stopped when the operation member is off, and in an automatic mode in which the motor is driven regardless of whether the operation member is on or off.

A method operates a steering device which comprises at least one electric motor that can be operated with an increased torque lying between a nominal torque of the electric motor and a maximum torque of the electric motor over an entire basic setting range. In at least one operating state, a threshold torque of the electric motor is at least temporarily limited to a reduced torque, in particular in comparison to the maximum torque, at least depending on at least one temperature characteristic variable.

A vehicle driving support apparatus includes a forward environment recognizing device configured to recognize a traveling environment forward of a vehicle, a control device configured to perform active lane keep centering control based on the traveling environment, an electric power steering device configured to apply an assist torque to control a turning angle of wheels in accordance with a steering angle received from a steering handle, and a driver monitoring system configured to detect biological information of a driver who drives the vehicle. During execution of the active lane keep centering control, the control device is configured to count the number of times a driver's line-of-sight direction in the biological information has deviated from a target route direction of the vehicle and if the counted number of times is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold count, reduce the assist torque stepwise as the counted number of times increases.

Proposed are a steer-by-wire system control apparatus and method, the apparatus including: a torque overlay control module configured to determine a target steering angle using a torque command input from a Lane Keeping Assistance System; and an actuator control module configured to control a position of a rack according to the target steering angle and thus to control a traveling direction of a vehicle.

A steering actuator apparatus for a vehicle, may include: a housing, a drive part supported by the housing and configured to generate a rotational force, a transmission shaft part installed to be movable in the housing and configured to change a steering angle of a wheel while reciprocating by receiving the rotational force from the drive part, a measurement part configured to measure the steering angle of the wheel while operating in conjunction with a movement of the transmission shaft part, and a rotation prevention part disposed between the housing and the transmission shaft part and configured to prevent a relative rotation between the housing and the transmission shaft part.

A method for controlling an electrically powered steering assistance system including an electric motor for providing assisting torque to an axle of a vehicle such that impact between a wheel and the wheel housing can be prevented. Electrically powered steering assist systems include an electric motor for providing an assist steering torque to the steerable wheels of the vehicle. The electrical current used by the electric motor has a typical dependence with the amount of output torque from the motor. The electrical current of the electrical current used by the electric motor exhibits distinguishable characteristics when the wheels reach the end stop in the wheel housing. By monitoring the electrical current used by the electric motor for providing the assisting torque it is possible to determine that the wheels have reached the end-stop.

The invention relates to a steering gear (11) for a vehicle having a helical gear (19), the helical gear (19) having a first gear wheel (21) and a second gear wheel (22) which engages with the first gear wheel (21), a first rotation axis (23) of the first gear wheel (21) being aligned so as to be transverse to a second rotation axis (24) of the second gear wheel (22), and an axis perpendicular (25) being aligned so as to be orthogonal to the first rotation axis (23) and to the second rotation axis (24), a smallest spacing between axes (26) between the first rotation axis (23) and the second rotation axis (24) coinciding with the axis perpendicular (25), and an engagement line (33) resulting by means of common contact points (34) of the two mutually engaged gear wheels (21, 22). In order to increase the diversity in terms of variants and/or to improve the adaptation possibilities, the steering gear (11) is characterized in that the engagement line (33) is spaced apart from the axis perpendicular (25).

A vehicle steering device includes an electric motor applying a steering force to a vehicle turning mechanism, a first setting portion setting a target assist torque in accordance with a steering torque, a second setting portion setting an angle controlling target torque for bringing an angular deviation between a target steering angle and an actual steering angle close to zero, a restriction processing portion restricting the angle controlling target torque set by the second setting portion, a first calculating portion calculating a target automatic steering torque using the angle controlling target torque after the restriction process by the restriction processing portion, and second calculating portions performing weighted addition of the target automatic steering torque and the target assist torque in accordance with a value that changes in accordance with a driver input to calculate a target motor torque that is a electric motor target motor torque value.

A steering system includes a first wheel and a second wheel spaced apart from the first wheel, a first tie rod, a second tie rod, and an electrical actuator. The first wheel is rotatably coupled to a first knuckle, and the first knuckle is pivotable about a first suspension post. The second wheel is rotatably coupled to a second knuckle, and the second knuckle is pivotable about a second suspension post spaced apart from the first suspension post. The first tie rod is coupled to the first knuckle and to a mechanical linkage. The second tie rod is coupled to the second knuckle and the mechanical linkage. The electrical actuator is coupled to the mechanical linkage so that movement of the electrical actuator translates the mechanical linkage axially, which adjusts the orientation of the wheels relative to the suspension posts.

A steering device includes two motors each configured to generate a drive force that steers a steerable wheel of a vehicle and two controllers respectively corresponding to the two motors, each of the two controllers being configured to individually control a corresponding one of the motors. One of the two controllers is a first controller, and the other one of the two controllers is a second controller. The first controller is configured to calculate a command value corresponding to a total torque that should be generated in the two motors. The command value is divided into individual command values using a changeable distribution ratio set for each of the motors, the individual command values respectively corresponding to the motors. The two controllers are configured to respectively supply the motors with current corresponding to the individual command values.