TORQUE STEERING SYSTEM FOR ELECTRICAL AND HYBRID POWER TRAINS

摘要

A revolutionary steering system for electrical and hybrid power trains is presented. Thisrnsteering system was developed and patented primarily for un-manned vehicles in service andrnlogistics applications, but can also be used in cars which have individual electrical motors forrnthe wheels of one or two axles (Stania et al. 2008). These electrical motors could primarily bernwheel hub motors but also other electrical motors in the vicinity of the wheels, e. g. connectedrnwith the wheels by means of a drive shaft to reduce the unsprung masses. Such motorrnarrangements may occur in pure electrical cars as well as in serial hybrid vehicles.rnThe revolutionary steering system disposes of the potential to improve manoeuvrability,rnefficiency and dynamic behaviour of vehicles of all kinds. The patented steering principle isrnbased on the concept to use the torque of the drive motors additionally to the propulsionrnpurposes for steering independent or coupled wheels (torque steering). In the case of mannedrnvehicles the usage of at least two coupled wheels is proposed. The wheels can be coupled by arnsimplified, light-weight tie rod. Especially for small urban vehicles a much smaller turningrncircle can be achieved if the innovative steering principle is applied. By means of anrnappropriate control system the two wheels of an axle or all wheels of a car can be steeredrnsequentially or simultaneously. However, the challenges concerning this control system inrnterms of velocity and processing capacity are high. At the Hochschule Ravensburg-rnWeingarten a first prototype was successfully realised proving the general feasibility of thernconcept and underlining the prominent advantages. Elaborate tests with this vehicle havernshown unlimited manoeuvrability combined with promising controllability.