Search Results

Four years have passed since the automated mechanical transmission was first introduced in city buses, and this system is now making steady inroads into the market. The development of this system was a result of the cooperation between Kinki Nippon Railway Co., Ltd., the largest bus and coach transportation company, and Hino Motors Ltd., the largest truck and bus manufacturer in Japan. First an investigation was conducted of the topography and traffic conditions of the bus routes, then trial runs and refinement of the computer control software was carried out using three chosen routes, and finally the actual performance of the system was tested according to the finalized specifications. This paper introduces the development process, provides a background to the city bus service, and describes the benefits brought by this system and the successful results of this cooperation.

The running direction of a vehicle can be controlled by not only wheel steer but also torque steer. This paper introduces the tractive torque steer effect produced by a newly developed electropneumatic control system, the limited-slip differential for large-sized vehicles. This system enhances the vehicle's running stability and controllability by controlling the tractive force of the drive axle. The tractive force maintains a stable running course against disturbances such as road roughness and wind gusts, thereby enhancing the steering response and providing a better feeling of handling to the driver. The system also improves mobility. especially on low-μ roads. It is expected that a single axle equipped with this system will exhibit good performance comparable to that of tandem axle.

A driving simulator system for developing steering road feel has been developed. A new steering gear box or an electronic steering system is installed on the simulator and its road feel and control algorithm are developed according to the characteristics of any vehicle which has been programed into the engineering work-station. The vehicle model programed into the engineering work station runs according to the driver's operations, which are fed through the new steering system to be tested. The steer-restoring torque of the vehicle programed into the engineering work-station is produced by an actuator, and gives the impression through the new system of having been fed back from an actual road.

The driving performance of a vehicle with front wheel steering system is enhanced by controlling the gain and/or phase-lag characteristics. A vehicle with rear axle steering system has an even or higher effect than that. The compliance steer control effect in mechanical system is the key technology for enhancing the on-center stability Driver's error compensating system by steering and/or brake system control will be in future, and the manual and automonous control hybrid driving system will follow it.

Vehicle responsiveness to the driver's steering maneuvers and external turbulences caused by irregularities in the road surface and wind gusts are two opposing factors to be studied for better stability and controllability of vehicles. The cruising speeds of vehicles on freeways have been becoming higher, and wider physiological differences in the driving ability of drivers are appearing with the increase in elderly drivers. Therefore, to meet the requirements of higher cruising speeds and the expanding physiological differences between drivers, an electro-hydraulic feedforward control power steering system has been developed for trucks and buses. This is a parallel operating system consisting of a mechanical route and an electronic route, and improves vehicle responsiveness so as to absorb the physiological differences of drivers.

The sensitivity of steering increases as the vehicle speed rises. It requires a driver to make different steering maneuvers at high speed zone from that at low speed zone. In order to reduce the difference and to have a better steering “feel” for the driver, the characteristics of steering should be studied from both “the vehicle lateral movement corresponding to steering effort” and “the time lag of the vehicle lateral movement to steering effort”. And both should be decreased as vehicle speed rises. This paper explains how the above conclusion was reached through the development of engine/vehicle speed sensing power steering for commercial vehicles.

This paper concerns the control of compliance steer for the rigid axle rear suspension of large-sized buses. The distortion of rear axle alignment (Compliance Steer) by the disturbances from the road surface is one of the biggest elements which disturb the running straightness of large-sized vehicles. By redesigning the compliance steer characteristics to generate counter axle steer when disturbances are applied, the stability of running straightness will be improved.

The 1st stage of automated mechanical transmission (AMT) was initiated in 1985 by Hino's development of EE-Drive, featuring a pneumatically-stroke-controlled, oil-sprayed coil spring type clutch.[1] [2]* This system made its way into city buses, thus expanding the market for automatic transmission (AT) in Japan. This paper introduces EE-Drive 2nd stage, to be installed mainly on medium-duty trucks, and featuring a hydraulic-pressure-controlled, oil-sprayed clutch. This system is characterized by smooth starting through controlling the pressure of the clutch disk directly. It also features quick shifting, because it allows gears to be shifted with no clutch stroke, but rather through decreasing the pressure. This will prove competitive with AT with a torque converter (HAT) which will appear in the 1990's as a sophisticated electronically controlled AT (ECT).