Vehicle and steering apparatus

摘要

A vehicle has a rear wheel drive device for driving rear wheels independently of a front wheel drive device. A drive mode control unit performs at least one of a first switching operation for switching between a front-wheel-only-drive mode and a rear-wheel-only-drive mode, a second switching operation for switching between a composite drive mode and the rear-wheel-only-drive mode, and a third switching operation for switching between the composite drive mode and the front-wheel-only-drive mode. When the drive mode control unit performs any one of the first switching operation, the second switching operation, and the third switching operation, an assistive force controller of the steering apparatus changes a control process for controlling a steering assistive force.

主权项

1. A steering apparatus for use in a vehicle including a front wheel drive device for driving front wheels, a rear wheel drive device disposed mechanically independently of the front wheel drive device and driving rear wheels independently of the front wheel drive device, and a drive mode control unit for controlling the front wheel drive device and the rear wheel drive device to control drive modes of the front wheels and the rear wheels, wherein the drive mode control unit performs
a first switching operation of switching between a front-wheel-only-drive mode in which only the front wheels are driven and a rear-wheel-only-drive mode in which only the rear wheels are driven; and the steering apparatus further comprises: a manual steering device that manually steers steerable wheels, which are at least the front wheels or the rear wheels; an assistive force generator, which generates a steering assistive force acting in a same direction as or in an opposite direction to a steering force applied to the manual steering device, for assisting in steering the steerable wheels with the manual steering device; and an assistive force controller that controls the steering assistive force; and when the drive mode control unit performs the first switching operation, the assistive force controller changes a control process thereof for controlling the steering assistive force.