Steering system for land vehicles

Claim 2

A steering apparatus for a vehicle which automatically compensates for lateral disturbances comprising: means for steering said vehicle in response to operator commands; a sensor associated with said vehicle and adapted to provide a sensor signal representative of course deviations of said vehicle; generator means generating a signal in response to said operator commands substantially corresponding to the actual steering movement of said vehicle in response to said commands; means for modulating said sensor signal by said generator means signal to provide a modulated signal which is substantially representative of the course deviations of said vehicle due only to lateral disturbances; and means associated with said last means for effecting the steering of said vehicle according to said modulated signal.

Claim 3

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said generator means includes means generating said signal as a first order function of the magnitude of said steering commands.

Claim 4

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said generator means includes means generating said signal as a second order function of the magnitude of said steering commands.

Claim 5

The steering apparatus of claim 1 wherein said modulating means comprises: summing means connecting said generating means directly with said sensor for modulating the output signal therefrom according to said generated signal.

Claim 6

A steering apparatus for a vehicle which automatically compensates for lateral disturbance comprising: means for steering said vehicle in response to operator commands; a fluidic sensor mounted on said vehicle and adapted to provide a sensor fluid signal representative of course deviations of said vehicle; generator means generating a signal in response to said operator commands substantially corresponding to the actual steering movement of said vehicle in response to said commands; means for modulating said sensor signal by said generator means signal to provide a modulated fluid signal which is substantially representative of course deviations of said vehicle due only to lateral disturbances; and means associated with said last means for effecting the steering said vehicle according to said modulated signal.

Claim 7

A steering apparatus for a vehicle which automatically compensates for lateral disturbance comprising: means for steering said vehicle in response to operator commands; a fluidic sensor mounted on said vehicle and adapted to provide a sensor fluid signal representative of course deviations of said vehicle; generator means generating a signal in response to said operator commands substantially corresponding to the actual steering movement of said vehicle in response to said commands; means for modulating said sensor signal by said generator means signal to provide a modulated fluid signal which is substantially representative of course deviations of said vehicle due only to lateral disturbances; and means associated with said last means for effecting the steering said vehicle according to said modulated signal.

Claim 8

The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said sensor is a vortex rate sensor.

Claim 9

The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said generator means includes means generating said signal as a first order function of the magnitude of said steering commands.

Claim 10

The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said generator means includes means generating said signal as a second order function of the magnitude of said steering commands.

Claim 11

The steering apparatus of claim 5 wherein said modulating means comprises: means receiving said sensor fluid signal and said generated signal for providing an output signal representative of the sum of said signals.

Claim 12

The steering apparatus of claim 5 wherein said modulating means comprises: summing means connecting said generating means directly with said sensor for modulating the output signal therefrom according to said generated signal.

Claim 13

The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said generator means includes cam means responsive to the magnitude of said steering commands and valve means operative in response to said cam means for providing a fluid flow representative of the magnitude of said steering commands.

Claim 14

The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said generator means further includes volume means for modifying said fluid flow representative of the magnitude of said steering commands according to the actual response of said vehicle to said steering commands.

Claim 15

The apparatus of claim 12 further including resilient diaphragm means in said volume means for dividing said volume means into two portions, a flow passage for said fluid flow representative of the magnitude of said steering commands through said diaphragm means, and a weight attached to said diaphragm means such that said flow through said passage is modified by oscillation of said diaphragm.

Claim 16

A steering apparatus for a vehicle comprising: input means for providing steering commands; vortex rate sensing means mounted on said vehicle for providing a pair of output fluid signals representative of course deviations of said vehicle; means operative in response to said steering commands for generating a pair of fluid signals determined in part by the dynamic response characteristic of said vehIcle and in part by the magnitude of said steering commands which are substantially representative of expected course deviations of said vehicle due to said steering commands; a proportioning fluidic device having a supply passage for flow of a supply fluid, two output channels for egress of said supply fluid, a first pair and a second pair of control ports, one port of each pair for diverting said supply flow into one of said output channels, and the other port of each pair for diverting said supply flow into the other of said output channels, said one port of said first pair of control ports receiving one output signal of said vortex rate sensing means and said other port of said first pair of control ports receiving the other output signal of said vortex rate sensing means, said one port of said second pair of control ports receiving one of said generated signals and said other port of said second pair of control ports receiving the other of said generated signals in a manner such that said signals from said vortex rate sensing means are opposed by said signals from said signal generating means; and means associated with said fluidic device for effecting the steering of said vehicle according to relative flows from said output channels.

Claim 17

A steering apparatus for a vehicle comprising: input means for providing steering commands; vortex rate sensing means mounted on said vehicle for providing a pair of output fluid signals representative of course deviations of said vehicle; means operative in response to said steering commands for generating a pair of fluid signals determined in part by the dynamic response characteristic of said vehIcle and in part by the magnitude of said steering commands which are substantially representative of expected course deviations of said vehicle due to said steering commands; a proportioning fluidic device having a supply passage for flow of a supply fluid, two output channels for egress of said supply fluid, a first pair and a second pair of control ports, one port of each pair for diverting said supply flow into one of said output channels, and the other port of each pair for diverting said supply flow into the other of said output channels, said one port of said first pair of control ports receiving one output signal of said vortex rate sensing means and said other port of said first pair of control ports receiving the other output signal of said vortex rate sensing means, said one port of said second pair of control ports receiving one of said generated signals and said other port of said second pair of control ports receiving the other of said generated signals in a manner such that said signals from said vortex rate sensing means are opposed by said signals from said signal generating means; and means associated with said fluidic device for effecting the steering of said vehicle according to relative flows from said output channels.

Claim 18

The apparatus of claim 14 wherein said means generating said fluid signals includes means generating said signals as first order functions of the magnitude of said steering commands.

Claim 19

The apparatus of claim 14 wherein said means generating said fluid signals includes means generating said signals as second order functions of the magnitude of said steering commands.

Claim 20

The apparatus of claim 14 wherein said signal generating means includes: cam means responsive to the magnitude of said steering commands; and valve means operative in response to said cam means to provide a pair of valve means output fluid signals.

Claim 21

The apparatus of claim 17 wherein said means for providing said generated fluid signals includes a pair of volume means each for modifying one of said valve means output fluid signals.

Claim 22

The apparatus of claim 18 further including resilient diaphragm means in each of said volume means for dividing each of said volume means into two portions, flow passage means through said diaphragm means, and a weight attached to each of said diaphragm means such that flow through said passage means is modified by oscillation of said diaphragms.

Claim 23

A steering apparatus for a vehicle comprising: input means for providing steering commands; fluidic sensor means mounted on said vehicle for providing a sensor fluid signal representative of course deviations of said vehicle; valve means operative in response to the magnitude of said steering commands for providing a fluid signal representative thereof; modifying means including volume means for receiving said fluid signal representative of the magnitude of said steering commands and modifying said signal according to the dynamic response characteristic of said vehicle to provide a generated fluid signal which is substantially representative of expected course deviations of said vehicle due to said steering commands; means associated with said fluidic sensor means and said modifying means for providing an output signal representative of the sum of said sensor fluid signal and said generated fluid signal; and actuator means associated with said last means for effecting the steering of said vehicle according to said last means output signal.

Claim 24

A steering apparatus for a vehicle comprising: input means for providing steering commands; fluidic sensor means mounted on said vehicle for providing a sensor fluid signal representative of course deviations of said vehicle; valve means operative in response to the magnitude of said steering commands for providing a fluid signal representative thereof; modifying means including volume means for receiving said fluid signal representative of the magnitude of said steering commands and modifying said signal according to the dynamic response characteristic of said vehicle to provide a generated fluid signal which is substantially representative of expected course deviations of said vehicle due to said steering commands; means associated with said fluidic sensor means and said modifying means for providing an output signal representative of the sum of said sensor fluid signal and said generated fluid signal; and actuator means associated with said last means for effecting the steering of said vehicle according to said last means output signal.

Claim 25

The apparatus of claim 20 wherein said modifying means includes means modifying said signal as a first order function of said signal representative of the magnitude of said steering commands.

Claim 26

The apparatus of claim 20 wherein said modifying means includes means modifying said signal as a second order function of said signal representative of the magnitude of said steering commands.

Claim 27

The steering apparatus of claim 20 wherein said modifying means includes means for coNnecting said signal generating means with said sensing means in a manner such that said fluidic sensor means receives said modifying means generated fluid signal and provides an output fluid signal representative of said sum of said sensor fluid signal and said modifying means generated fluid signal.

Claim 28

The apparatus of claim 20 further including resiliently mounted diaphragm means in said volume means for dividing said volume means into two portions, a flow passage through said diaphragm means, and a weight attached to said diaphragm means such that flow through said passage is modified by oscillation of said diaphragm.