IP Library Granted Patent US 7,548,035
Granted Patent B2
US 7,548,035 · App. 10/579,969 · Granted Jun 16, 2009

Control apparatus of electric power steering apparatus

Assignees: NSK Ltd.; NSK Steering Systems Co., Ltd.
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 7,548,035
App. No.
10/579,969
Granted
Jun 16, 2009
Kind
B2
Abstract

The invention relates to a control apparatus of an electric power steering apparatus structured such as to apply a steering assist force generated by a n-phase motor to a steering system of a vehicle, the control apparatus is provided with at least (n−1) numbers of current detecting means for detecting a current Im in each of phases of the motor, a current command value calculating means for outputting a current command value Imref in each of the phases, and n numbers of current control means, and the control apparatus executes a current control of each of the phases by the current control means having the current command value Imref in each of the phases and the current Im in each of the phases as an input.

Claims (18)

1. A control apparatus of an electric power steering apparatus structured such as to apply a steering assist force generated by a n-phase (in this case, “n” being an integral number equal to or more than 3) motor to a steering system of a vehicle, wherein the control apparatus comprises at least (n−1) numbers of current detecting means for detecting a current Im (in this case, “m” being 1, 2, . . . , n) in each of phases of said motor, a current command value calculating means for outputting a current command value Imref (in this case, “m” being 1, 2, . . . , n) in each of the phases, and n numbers of current control means, and the control apparatus executes a current control of each of the phases by said current control means having said current command value Imref in each of the phases and said current Im in each of the phases as an input.

2. A control apparatus of an electric power steering apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said current control means is constituted by a feedforward control means and a disturbance observer.

3. A control apparatus of a electric power steering apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2 , wherein in the case that said n-phase motor is constituted by a three-phase motor, a wire connection of a winding of the motor is constituted by a Y-wire connection or a Δ-wire connection.

4. A control apparatus of an electric power steering apparatus structured such as to apply a steering assist force generated by a three-phase motor to a steering system of a vehicle, wherein the control apparatus comprises three respective-phase back EMF calculating means for calculating back EMFs e 1 , e 2 and e 3 in respective phases of said three-phase motor, and two respective-phase current control means, and the control apparatus calculates a command value ref 3 in one remaining phase from command values ref 1 and ref 2 corresponding to outputs of said two current control means, and adds said back EMFs e 1 , e 2 and e 3 to said command values ref 1 , ref 2 and ref 3 .

5. A control apparatus of an electric power steering apparatus as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the current detecting means for detecting the current of said three-phase motor is installed in phases in which said respective phase current control means are provided.

6. A control apparatus of an electric power steering apparatus as claimed in claim 4 or 5 , wherein said respective phase back EMF calculating means is structured such as to calculate said respective phase back EMFs e 1 , e 2 and e 3 on the basis of respective phase terminal voltages and respective phase currents of said three-phase motor.

7. A control apparatus of an electric power steering apparatus as claimed in claim 4 or 5 , wherein said respective phase back EMF calculating means is structured such as to calculate said respective phase back EMFs e 1 , e 2 and e 3 on the basis of a rotation angle and an angular velocity of said three-phase motor.

8. A control apparatus of an electric power steering apparatus comprising:

a polyphase motor applying a steering assist force to a steering system of a vehicle;

a current command value calculating means for calculating a current command value in each of phases applied to said motor;

a current detecting means for detecting a current in each of the phases of said motor; and

a current control means for calculating a voltage command value in each of the phases on the basis of said current command value and said detected current,

wherein the control apparatus is provided with a back EMF calculating means for estimating a back EMF induced in said motor, subtracts an average value of said voltage command value in each of the phases from said voltage command value in each of the phases, and controls on the basis of a new voltage command value in each of the phases obtained by adding said back EMF in each of the phases.

9. A control apparatus of an electric power steering apparatus as claimed in claim 8 , wherein said current control means is constituted by a feedback control means.

10. A control apparatus of an electric power steering apparatus as claimed in claim 8 , wherein said current control means is constituted by a feed forward control means and a disturbance observer.

11. A control apparatus of an electric power steering apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 10 , wherein said back EMF is estimated from a terminal voltage and a current of said motor.

12. A control apparatus of an electric power steering apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 10 , wherein said back EMF is estimated from an angular velocity and a motor position of said motor.

13. A control apparatus of an electric power steering apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 12 , wherein said motor is constituted by a three-phase motor, and a wire connecting type is constituted by a Y-wire connection or a Δ-wire connection.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 23, 2006
From: ENDO, SHUJI; AOKI, YUHO; KOBAYASHI, HIDEYUKI; TA, CAOMINH
To: NSK LTD.; NSK STEERING SYSTEMS CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 017927/0822 →
Priority Claims (3)
JP 2003-395685 · Nov 26, 2003 · national
JP 2004-003816 · Jan 9, 2004 · national
JP 2004-006278 · Jan 14, 2004 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20070090782A1 · Apr 26, 2007