US 11,952,060 B2
Steering assembly for a vehicle
Leo Laine, Härryda (SE); Jan-Inge Svensson, Gothenburg (SE); Lionel Farres, Heyrieux (FR); Christian Oscarsson, Stenungsund (SE); Leon Henderson, Gothenburg (SE); Jose Vilca, Gothenburg (SE); Kristoffer Tagesson, Hammarö (SE); and Johanna Majqvist, Gothenburg (SE)
Assigned to Volvo Truck Corporation, Gothenburg (SE)
Appl. No. 17/255,592
Filed by Volvo Truck Corporation, Gothenburg (SE)
PCT Filed Jun. 25, 2018, PCT No. PCT/EP2018/066979
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Dec. 23, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/001736, PCT Pub. Date Jan. 2, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2021/0276614 A1, Sep. 9, 2021
Int. Cl. B62D 5/04 (2006.01); B62D 3/14 (2006.01); B62D 6/00 (2006.01)
CPC B62D 5/0484 (2013.01) [B62D 3/14 (2013.01); B62D 5/0463 (2013.01); B62D 5/0487 (2013.01); B62D 6/00 (2013.01)] 25 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A steering assembly for a vehicle, comprising:
a first steering actuator configured to be actuated in accordance with at least one signal issued from a motion control system comprising a computerized control unit to control a steering angle of at least one steerable ground engaging member of the vehicle to control steering of the vehicle, the first steering actuator associated with a first nominal steering capability, defining at least one limitation of the at least one steerable ground engaging member, the at least one limitation of the first nominal steering capability comprising at least one of steering angle, steering angle rate, and steering torque,
a second steering actuator configured to be actuated in accordance with at least one signal issued from the motion control system to control the steering angle of the at least one steerable ground engaging member of the vehicle to control the steering of the vehicle, the second steering actuator associated with a second nominal steering capability, defining at least one limitation of the at least one steerable ground engaging member, the at least one limitation of the second nominal steering capability comprising at least one of steering angle, steering angle rate, and steering torque,
wherein the motion control system is configured to, upon detection of a malfunction associated with the first steering actuator, associate the second steering actuator with a second enhanced steering capability instead of the second nominal steering capability, the second enhanced steering capability being different from the second nominal steering capability;
wherein the motion control system is configured to determine a blind stop path being a path that the vehicle is intended to follow during a malfunction of the vehicle;
wherein the motion control system is configured to determine whether the vehicle can follow the blind stop path if the vehicle is steered using the second steering actuator when associated with the second enhanced steering capability; and
wherein the steering assembly comprises at least one of the following features (i) and (ii):
(i) the motion control system is configured to, when no malfunction associated with the first steering actuator is detected, automatically select which one of the first steering actuator, associated with the first nominal steering capability, and the second steering actuator, associated with the second nominal steering capability, should be currently actuated in order to control the steering angle of the at least one steerable ground engaging member in a manner capable of following the blind stop path, and automatically issue at least one signal to the thus selected steering actuator for control of the thus selected steering actuator; and
(ii) the motion control system is configured to, upon detection of a malfunction associated with the first steering actuator, automatically issue at least one signal to the second steering actuator to control the steering angle of the at least one steerable ground engaging member of the vehicle to control the steering of the vehicle in a manner capable of following the blind stop path.