A kingpin steering mechanism and a steering angle module composed thereof

Abstract

The present invention proposes a kingpin steering mechanism and a steering angle module composed thereof, the steering angle module including a drive system, a braking system, a suspension system and a steering system; the steering mechanism of the steering system includes a steering arm, a steering motor, a steering motor controller and a kingpin arranged at the swing arm, the motor shaft of the steering motor is connected to the kingpin through a ball cage universal joint, so that the kingpin inclination angle is adjustable and the degree of freedom of the steering mechanism is maintained; when the steering angle module is used in a wire-controlled chassis, it is an independent steering angle module connected to the wheel, and the angle module frame of the steering angle module is formed with a profile; the angle module frames of the two steering angle modules are spliced ​​with the end faces away from the wheel, and the middle of the splicing area can be inserted with a connecting module for adjusting the wheelbase, and the combination is a single-axis drive module; the present invention has good steering ability, and can change the kingpin inclination angle according to the working requirements of different scenarios, thereby improving the adaptability of the vehicle.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of automobiles, in particular to a kingpin steering mechanism and a steering angle module constituted by the mechanism. Background Art

[0002] The chassis is the foundation of a vehicle's movement and determines its driving performance. The rapid development of automotive electrification has revolutionized chassis structure. The vehicle's actuators are centralized within the chassis, achieving a high degree of mechanical decoupling between them. Instead, they are connected and interacted electrically, evolving from traditional chassis to drive-by-wire chassis. Drive-by-wire chassis are modular and scalable, offering multiple degrees of control freedom. This allows for more flexible steering, enhancing the vehicle's ability to climb hills, maneuver, and operate in extreme conditions, ultimately contributing to overall vehicle performance improvements.

[0003] Among existing technical solutions, in order to improve the control freedom of the wire-controlled chassis and realize independent steering of a single wheel, some technical solutions (such as Publication No. CN 108995711 A, Publication No. CN 117962508 A, and Publication No. CN112278070 A) split the transverse tie rod into two, each controlled by an independent steering mechanism, achieving mutual decoupling of the steering of each wheel. However, this technical solution still retains the steering trapezoidal linkage structure of traditional chassis steering, and the decoupling of mechanical constraints is not complete. The executable turning angle of each wheel is still small, and large-angle steering movements cannot be completed. To enhance the steering flexibility of a controlled-by-wire chassis, some technical solutions (such as Publication No. CN 118928526 A, Publication No. CN 116279770 A, Publication No. CN113752818 A, and Publication No. CN109229235 A) rigidly fix the kingpin to the chassis, place all suspension system components under the kingpin, and use a steering motor to rotate the entire independent suspension system around the kingpin to achieve steering, enabling a large turning angle of ±65°. However, to ensure steering flexibility, such technical solutions typically use a vertical kingpin, eliminating the kingpin's inclination angle, and reducing the chassis's handling stability during straight-line driving.

[0004] To balance chassis steering flexibility with straight-line operational stability, some existing technical solutions (Publication Nos. CN 118306475 A, CN 118769778 A, CN 118254865 A, CN117901945 A, and CN 115703506 A) retain the basic structure of a double-wishbone suspension, eliminate the traditional linkage-driven steering mechanism, and integrate the steering motor at the upper or lower end of the steering arm. Independent steering of a single wheel is achieved through a rigid connection between the upper or lower kingpin of the swing arm and the motor shaft. This maintains the kingpin inclination angle while still enabling large-angle steering capability. However, this approach replaces the ball joint on the upper or lower control arm with a flat hinge connected to the motor, which is then rigidly connected to the steering arm via a rotating shaft. Compared to a direct ball joint connection to the steering arm, this approach reduces the original degrees of freedom of the kingpin of the control arm, increases mechanical constraints, limits the adjustable range of the angle module configuration, weakens the flexibility and reconfigurability of the drive-by-wire chassis, and reduces the chassis' adaptability to diverse scenarios. Furthermore, independent steering module solutions typically utilize a single steering mechanism, making them difficult to apply to reconfigurable suspension environments. Furthermore, the lack of a sensor to feedback the steering angle signal hinders high-precision control of the independent steering mechanism. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present invention proposes a kingpin steering mechanism and a steering angle module composed of the same, which overcomes the defect in the kingpin steering system that the traditional ball joint kingpin is replaced by a motor shaft fixedly connected to the kingpin, thereby reducing the kingpin's degree of freedom. The present invention adopts a ball cage universal joint to connect the kingpin and the motor shaft, which can achieve the same steering capability as the steering mechanism in which the motor shaft and the kingpin are fixedly connected, while retaining the kingpin's degree of freedom. The kingpin's inclination angle can be changed according to the working requirements of different scenarios, thereby improving the adaptability of the vehicle.

[0006] The present invention adopts the following technical solutions.

[0007] A kingpin steering mechanism and a steering angle module thereof. The steering angle module of the kingpin steering mechanism includes a drive system, a braking system, a suspension system, and a steering system. The steering mechanism of the steering system includes a steering arm, a steering motor, a steering motor controller, and a kingpin disposed at the swing arm. The motor shaft of the steering motor is connected to the kingpin via a ball joint universal joint to enable adjustment of the kingpin inclination angle and maintain the degree of freedom of the steering mechanism.

[0008] When the steering angle module is used in a drive-by-wire chassis, it is an independent steering angle module connected to the wheel, and the module frame of the steering angle module is formed from a profile;

[0009] The corner module frames of the two steering angle modules are spliced ​​at the end faces away from the wheels. The middle of the splicing area can be inserted with a connecting module for adjusting the wheelbase to form a single-axis drive module.

[0010] When two corner module frames are spliced ​​together, right-angle connectors are used to connect adjacent profiles in parallel for horizontal splicing.

[0011] The wire-controlled chassis adjusts the wheelbase by changing the axial size of the connection module in the single-axis drive module.

[0012] The wire-controlled chassis achieves adjustment of the wheelbase by combining single-axis drive modules of different specifications and connection modules of different specifications.

[0013] The suspension system includes a swing arm and a shock-absorbing spring connected to the corner module frame; the swing arm includes an upper swing arm connected to the corner module frame and a lower swing arm connected to the shock-absorbing spring;

[0014] The drive system includes a tire, a wheel hub, a wheel hub motor, and a wheel hub motor controller;

[0015] The braking system includes a brake disc arranged at the wheel, a brake caliper adjacent to the brake disc, and a brake caliper controller; a battery is provided at the corner module frame.

[0016] The wheel hub motor controller, brake caliper controller, and battery are fixed to the slide groove of the bottom plate profile of the steering angle module with T-bolts.

[0017] A method for using a kingpin steering mechanism and a steering angle module composed thereof, wherein the kingpin steering mechanism is located in a drive-by-wire chassis, and the dynamic performance of the drive-by-wire chassis is reconfigured by adjusting the kingpin inclination angle of the kingpin steering mechanism;

[0018] The kingpin inclination angle is adjusted by fixing the swing arm and the shock absorber spring using a lifting lug, which is connected to the slide groove of the corner module frame profile using a T-shaped fastener;

[0019] The lifting lugs slide along the front-to-back direction of the chassis along the front-to-back direction of the slide, thereby changing the relative position of the upper and lower swing arms, and then adjusting the caster angle of the kingpin;

[0020] The upper crossbeam of the angle module frame, to which the upper swing arm is fixed, is fixed to the entire angle module frame by right-angle fittings and T-shaped fasteners, allowing the upper crossbeam to slide along the left and right sliding grooves of its fixed profile along the chassis, thereby changing the position of the upper swing arm relative to the lower swing arm and further adjusting the inclination angle of the kingpin;

[0021] By adjusting the number or length of the profiles of the corner module frame, or sliding the T-shaped fasteners that fix the upper and lower crossbeams along the profile slots, the relative axial position of the crossbeams connecting the upper and lower control arms can be adjusted, thereby adjusting the inclination angle of the kingpin.

[0022] In the described drive-by-wire chassis, the steering system matches steering motors of various lateral and longitudinal sizes to adapt to the suspension space of the reconfigurable suspension system. The method is as follows: a steering motor with a planetary gear transmission mechanism is used to make the lateral structure of the steering system compact to match the suspension space of the drive-by-wire chassis with a larger longitudinal dimension margin; a steering motor with a worm gear transmission mechanism is used to make the longitudinal structure of the steering system compact to match the suspension space of the drive-by-wire chassis with a larger lateral dimension margin; a bevel gear transmission mechanism is used to perform a reverse transformation on the drive-by-wire chassis drive chain; and a variable high-power density steering mechanism is used to adapt to the reconfigurable drive-by-wire chassis suspension space, so as to provide greater steering power while reducing the volume and mass of the steering device, and still have good maneuverability in complex steering conditions.

[0023] In the steering system, an angle sensor is integrated at the lower end of the steering motor output shaft. Its outer ring is fixedly connected to the steering motor housing, and the inner ring cooperates with the motor shaft and is connected to the motor shaft through a keyway on the motor shaft. When the vehicle's wire-controlled chassis steers, the angle sensor feeds back the measured angle signal to the steering motor controller in real time. The controller processes the received angle feedback signal and performs high-precision closed-loop control of the steering motor based on the angle feedback signal.

[0024] In the steering angle module, the range of rotation of a single wheel around the kingpin is a large rotation angle range of more than ±65° around the kingpin. When the steering angle module drives the vehicle's wire-controlled chassis, the vehicle has an operating mode of turning on the spot and crab walking.

[0025] The solution described in the present invention proposes an adjustable kingpin independent steering system for an independent steering angle module, in which the steering motor is fixedly connected to the upper swing arm. This steering system adopts a kingpin-steering steering mechanism, in which the motor is fixedly connected to the upper swing arm with bolts, and the motor shaft and the kingpin are connected via a ball-and-cage universal joint. This allows a single wheel to achieve a large turning angle of more than ±65° around the kingpin, enabling the vehicle to achieve various operating modes such as turning on the spot and crab-steering, and exhibiting high maneuverability. More importantly, this steering mechanism overcomes the drawback of the kingpin steering system, in which the traditional ball-jointed kingpin is replaced with a motor shaft fixedly connected to the kingpin, thereby reducing the kingpin's freedom. By using a ball-and-cage universal joint to connect the kingpin and the motor shaft, the steering capability is equivalent to that of a steering mechanism in which the motor shaft is fixedly connected to the kingpin, while retaining the kingpin's freedom. The kingpin's inclination angle can be changed according to the working requirements of different scenarios, thereby improving the vehicle's adaptability.

[0026] The independent steering angle module proposed in the present invention is a basic functional module of the wire-controlled chassis. Two independent steering angle modules can be spliced ​​into a single-axis drive module with independent movement capabilities. The specific implementation method is to splice the end faces of the two independent steering angle module frames away from the wheels together, and use right-angle connectors to connect adjacent profiles in parallel for horizontal splicing. When two independent steering angle modules are spliced ​​into a single-axis drive module, a connecting module can be inserted in the middle. By changing the axial size of the connecting module, the wheelbase can be adjusted to a certain extent. Different single-axis drive modules and different intermediate connecting modules can realize the adjustment of the wheelbase. Combined with the change of the kingpin inclination angle, the dynamic performance of the wire-controlled chassis can be reconstructed. Multiple single-axis drive modules can be spliced ​​continuously, or they can be combined with intermediate connecting modules of different horizontal and vertical sizes to form a rich chassis configuration.

[0027] The present invention proposes a high-power-density interchangeable steering mechanism. In this steering system, a variety of steering motors with different lateral and longitudinal dimensions are matched with the same fixed connection method to adapt to the reconfigurable suspension space. The steering motor with a planetary gear transmission mechanism has a compact lateral structure and is suitable for suspension spaces with a large longitudinal dimension margin. The steering motor with a worm gear transmission mechanism has a compact longitudinal structure and is suitable for suspension spaces with a large lateral dimension margin. A bevel gear transmission mechanism can also be used to change the transmission direction of the transmission chain to achieve a richer steering mechanism configuration. The variable high-power-density steering mechanism can better adapt to the reconfigurable suspension space and provide greater steering power while reducing the volume and mass of the steering equipment. It still has good maneuverability in complex steering conditions.

[0028] The uniqueness of the structure of the present invention also has the following advantages:

[0029] (1) The present invention realizes an independent steering system with adjustable kingpins in which the steering motor is fixedly connected to the upper swing arm. In this steering system, the steering motor is fixedly connected to the upper swing arm, and the ball cage universal joint connects the upper swing arm kingpin and the motor shaft. The motor drives the steering arm to rotate through the kingpin connected to the ball cage universal joint, which can achieve a large steering angle of ±65°. The ball cage universal joint is a constant velocity universal joint. This steering system has the same steering performance as a steering system in which the kingpin is rigidly connected to the motor shaft, and overcomes the reduction in the freedom of the upper and lower swing arm kingpins caused by the rigid connection between the motor shaft and the swing arm kingpin. The kingpin inclination angle can be changed according to the requirements of different usage scenarios, realizing the reconstruction of the chassis dynamic performance.

[0030] (2) The present invention realizes a reconfigurable independent steering wire-controlled chassis corner module. The corner module contains a complete drive system, braking system, suspension system and steering system. Each component is fixed to the corner module frame using the slide groove provided by the profile and T-bolts. The steering system in the corner module adopts a kingpin steering system based on a ball joint universal joint. The wire-controlled chassis composed of this module has an all-wheel independent steering function, which can achieve large-angle steering, high flexibility and strong maneuverability. By changing the relative installation position of the upper and lower swing arms to adjust the kingpin inclination, the module's dynamic performance can be reconfigured. As the smallest basic module of a variable configuration wire-controlled chassis, this module can be spliced ​​into a single-axis drive module with independent movement capability. Each corner module is independent of each other, highly decoupled, has multiple controllable degrees of freedom, and is highly scalable. Multiple single-axis drive modules can be combined with intermediate connection modules of different specifications to form a rich chassis configuration to adapt to diverse application scenarios.

[0031] (3) The present invention realizes a kingpin inclination adjustment mechanism. The frame of the reconfigurable independent steering angle module is constructed using profiles. The upper and lower swing arms are connected to the profile frame using lugs and T-bolts. The T-bolts can slide along the profile frame to adjust the position of the swing arms. The crossbeams that fix the upper and lower swing arms are fixed to the other parts of the profile frame by right-angle pieces and T-bolts. The relative positions of the upper and lower crossbeams connecting the swing arms can be adjusted in the same way. By fine-tuning the installation position of the swing arms along the slide groove, or changing the model or number of profiles, the spatial relative positions of the upper and lower swing arms can be fine-tuned, and then the inclination angle of the kingpin can be adjusted, thereby realizing the reconstruction of the driving, steering, and handling stability performance of the diagonal module.

[0032] (4) The present invention realizes a high-power density variable steering mechanism. The steering motor in the steering system adopts a high-power transmission mechanism, which can change different transmission mechanisms according to the characteristics of different suspension spaces. The suspension area has a small space and many components, which requires a compact layout of the components. For suspension designs with a large longitudinal space size margin, a steering motor with a planetary gear transmission mechanism can be used. For suspension designs with a large lateral space size margin, a steering motor with a worm gear transmission mechanism can be used. Alternatively, a steering motor with a transverse planetary gear transmission mechanism can be used, and a bevel gear transmission mechanism can be used to change the direction of the transmission link. The high-power density variable steering mechanism can better adapt to the compact layout of the various mechanisms of the independent steering system. The small-sized transmission component can transmit large torque within a large speed range. Combined with the large-angle rotation function, it can still maintain good maneuverability in complex steering conditions.

[0033] (5) The present invention realizes an independent steering control system with an integrated angle sensor. An angle sensor is installed under the steering motor. Its outer ring is fixed to the steering motor housing, and its inner ring is engaged with the motor shaft through a keyway structure. The angle sensor can feed back the steering angle signal to the controller in real time. The controller processes the steering angle feedback signal to realize closed-loop control of the steering motor. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] The present invention is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments:

[0035] Attachment Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a reconfigurable independent steer-by-wire chassis corner module of the present invention;

[0036] Attachment Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the independent steering angle modules assembled into a single-axis drive module in the present invention;

[0037] Attachment Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the adjustable kingpin independent steering system formed by the steering motor being fixedly connected to the upper swing arm in the present invention;

[0038] Attachment Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram showing that the upper swing arm, the lower swing arm and their fixing beams can be adjusted along the profile slots to thereby adjust the kingpin inclination angle in the present invention;

[0039] Attachment Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the chassis executing an in-situ steering mode when the present invention is used in a wire-controlled chassis;

[0040] Attachment Figure 6 This is another schematic diagram of the chassis executing the on-the-spot steering mode when the present invention is used in a wire-controlled chassis;

[0041] Attachment Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the chassis executing the crab mode when the present invention is used for a wire-controlled chassis;

[0042] Attachment Figure 8 This is another schematic diagram of the chassis executing the crab mode when the present invention is used for a wire-controlled chassis;

[0043] In the figure: 1-battery; 2-corner module frame; 3-brake caliper; 4-upper control arm; 5-steering motor; 6-ball cage universal joint; 7-steering arm; 8-wheel hub motor; 9-brake disc; 10-lower control arm; 11-shock absorber spring; 12-wheel hub motor controller; 13-brake caliper controller. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] As shown in the figure, a kingpin steering mechanism and its steering angle module are provided. The steering angle module of the kingpin steering structure includes a drive system, a braking system, a suspension system, and a steering system. The steering mechanism of the steering system includes a steering arm 7, a steering motor 5, a steering motor controller, and a kingpin located at the swing arm. The motor shaft of the steering motor is connected to the kingpin via a ball joint 6 to enable adjustment of the kingpin inclination angle and maintain the degree of freedom of the steering mechanism.

[0045] When the steering angle module is used in a drive-by-wire chassis, it is an independent steering angle module connected to the wheel, and the module frame of the steering angle module is formed from a profile;

[0046] The corner module frames 2 of the two steering angle modules are spliced ​​at the end faces away from the wheels, and a connecting module for adjusting the wheelbase can be inserted into the middle of the splicing area to form a single-axis drive module.

[0047] When two corner module frames are spliced ​​together, right-angle connectors are used to connect adjacent profiles in parallel for horizontal splicing.

[0048] The wire-controlled chassis adjusts the wheelbase by changing the axial size of the connection module in the single-axis drive module.

[0049] The wire-controlled chassis achieves adjustment of the wheelbase by combining single-axis drive modules of different specifications and connection modules of different specifications.

[0050] The suspension system includes a swing arm and a shock absorbing spring 11 connected to the corner module frame; the swing arm includes an upper swing arm 4 connected to the corner module frame and a lower swing arm 10 connected to the shock absorbing spring;

[0051] The drive system includes a tire, a wheel hub, a wheel hub motor 8, and a wheel hub motor controller 12;

[0052] The braking system includes a brake disc 9 provided at the wheel, a brake caliper 3 adjacent to the brake disc, and a brake caliper controller 13; a battery 1 is provided at the corner module frame.

[0053] The wheel hub motor controller, brake caliper controller, and battery are fixed to the slide groove of the bottom plate profile of the steering angle module with T-bolts.

[0054] A method for using a kingpin steering mechanism and a steering angle module composed thereof, wherein the kingpin steering mechanism is located in a drive-by-wire chassis, and the dynamic performance of the drive-by-wire chassis is reconfigured by adjusting the kingpin inclination angle of the kingpin steering mechanism;

[0055] The kingpin inclination angle is adjusted by fixing the swing arm and the shock absorber spring using a lifting lug, which is connected to the slide groove of the corner module frame profile using a T-shaped fastener;

[0056] The lifting lugs slide along the front-to-back direction of the chassis along the front-to-back direction of the slide, thereby changing the relative position of the upper and lower swing arms, and then adjusting the caster angle of the kingpin;

[0057] The upper crossbeam of the angle module frame, to which the upper swing arm is fixed, is fixed to the entire angle module frame by right-angle fittings and T-shaped fasteners, allowing the upper crossbeam to slide along the left and right sliding grooves of its fixed profile along the chassis, thereby changing the position of the upper swing arm relative to the lower swing arm and further adjusting the inclination angle of the kingpin;

[0058] By adjusting the number or length of the profiles of the corner module frame, or sliding the T-shaped fasteners that fix the upper and lower crossbeams along the profile slots, the relative axial position of the crossbeams connecting the upper and lower control arms can be adjusted, thereby adjusting the inclination angle of the kingpin.

[0059] In the described drive-by-wire chassis, the steering system matches steering motors of various lateral and longitudinal sizes to adapt to the suspension space of the reconfigurable suspension system. The method is as follows: a steering motor with a planetary gear transmission mechanism is used to make the lateral structure of the steering system compact to match the suspension space of the drive-by-wire chassis with a larger longitudinal dimension margin; a steering motor with a worm gear transmission mechanism is used to make the longitudinal structure of the steering system compact to match the suspension space of the drive-by-wire chassis with a larger lateral dimension margin; a bevel gear transmission mechanism is used to perform a reverse transformation on the drive-by-wire chassis drive chain; and a variable high-power density steering mechanism is used to adapt to the reconfigurable drive-by-wire chassis suspension space, so as to provide greater steering power while reducing the volume and mass of the steering device, and still have good maneuverability in complex steering conditions.

[0060] In the steering system, an angle sensor is integrated at the lower end of the steering motor output shaft. Its outer ring is fixedly connected to the steering motor housing, and the inner ring cooperates with the motor shaft and is connected to the motor shaft through a keyway on the motor shaft. When the vehicle's wire-controlled chassis steers, the angle sensor feeds back the measured angle signal to the steering motor controller in real time. The controller processes the received angle feedback signal and performs high-precision closed-loop control of the steering motor based on the angle feedback signal.

[0061] In the steering angle module, the range of rotation of a single wheel around the kingpin is a large rotation angle range of more than ±65° around the kingpin. When the steering angle module drives the vehicle's wire-controlled chassis, the vehicle has an operating mode of turning on the spot and crab walking.

[0062] Example:

[0063] In this example, the lifting lug connecting the swing arm is fixed in the slide groove with a T-bolt, and can slide along the front-to-rear direction of the chassis along the slide groove, thereby changing the relative position of the upper and lower swing arms, and then adjusting the castor angle of the kingpin; the upper crossbeam to which the upper swing arm is fixed is fixed to the entire frame by a right-angle piece and a T-bolt, and the upper crossbeam can slide along the left-right direction of the chassis along the left-right direction of the slide groove of the fixed profile, thereby changing the position of the upper swing arm relative to the lower swing arm, and then adjusting the inclination angle of the kingpin.

[0064] In this example, the specific method for adjusting the kingpin inclination angle is to adjust the relative position of the upper and lower control arms. The control arms of the independent steering angle module are connected to the profile frame through lifting ears, and the lifting ears are fixed to the beams on the side of the profile frame through T-bolts; the crossbeams connecting the upper and lower control arms are fixed to the other parts of the angle module frame through right-angle connectors and T-bolts. By adjusting the number or length of the profiles of the angle module frame, or sliding the T-bolts that fix the upper and lower crossbeams along the profile slides, the relative axial position of the crossbeams that fix the upper and lower control arms can be adjusted, thereby adjusting the inclination angle of the kingpin. By adjusting the horizontal position of the T-bolts that fix the above-mentioned lifting ears in the slides provided by the profile, the relative longitudinal position of the upper and lower control arms can be adjusted, thereby adjusting the castor angle of the kingpin. In this way, comprehensive adjustment of the kingpin inclination angle can be achieved.

[0065] This example proposes a high-power-density interchangeable steering mechanism. In this steering system, a variety of steering motors with different lateral and longitudinal dimensions are matched with the same fixed connection method to adapt to the reconfigurable suspension space. The steering motor with a planetary gear transmission mechanism has a compact lateral structure and is suitable for suspension spaces with a large longitudinal dimension margin. The steering motor with a worm gear transmission mechanism has a compact longitudinal structure and is suitable for suspension spaces with a large lateral dimension margin. The bevel gear transmission mechanism can also be used to change the transmission direction of the transmission chain to achieve a richer steering mechanism configuration. The variable high-power-density steering mechanism can better adapt to the reconfigurable suspension space, providing greater steering power while reducing the volume and weight of the steering equipment. It still has good maneuverability in complex steering conditions.

[0066] In this example, an angle sensor is integrated at the lower end of the steering motor's output shaft. Its outer ring is fixed to the steering motor housing, while its inner ring engages the motor shaft and is connected to it via a keyway on the motor shaft. The angle sensor provides real-time rotation angle feedback to the steering motor controller, which processes the received angle feedback to achieve high-precision closed-loop control of the steering motor.

Claims

1. A steering angle module for a kingpin steering mechanism, characterized in that: The steering angle module of the kingpin steering mechanism comprises a drive system, a braking system, a suspension system and a steering system; the steering mechanism of the steering system comprises a steering arm (7), a steering motor (5), a steering motor controller and a kingpin provided at the swing arm, the motor shaft of the steering motor and the kingpin being connected via a ball cage universal joint (6) so that the kingpin inclination angle can be adjusted and the degree of freedom of the steering mechanism is maintained; When the steering angle module is used in a drive-by-wire chassis, it is an independent steering angle module connected to the wheel, and the module frame of the steering angle module is formed from a profile; The corner module frames (2) of the two steering angle modules are spliced ​​at the end faces away from the wheels, and a connection module for adjusting the wheelbase can be inserted into the middle of the splicing area to form a single-axis drive module; When two corner module frames are spliced, right-angle connectors are used to connect adjacent profiles in parallel for horizontal splicing; The suspension system includes a swing arm and a shock-absorbing spring connected to the corner module frame; the swing arm includes an upper swing arm (4) connected to the corner module frame and a lower swing arm (10) connected to the shock-absorbing spring; The drive system includes a tire, a wheel hub, a wheel hub motor (8), and a wheel hub motor controller (12); The braking system comprises a brake disc (9) provided at the wheel, a brake caliper (3) adjacent to the brake disc, and a brake caliper controller; a battery (1) is provided at the corner module frame; The steering angle module of the kingpin steering mechanism is used to reconstruct the dynamic performance of the by-wire chassis in which the kingpin steering mechanism is located by adjusting the kingpin inclination angle of the kingpin steering mechanism; The kingpin inclination angle is adjusted by fixing the swing arm and the shock absorber spring using a lifting lug, which is connected to the slide groove of the corner module frame profile using a T-shaped fastener; The lifting lugs change their position along the front-to-back direction of the chassis along the front-to-back direction of the slide, thereby changing the relative position of the upper and lower swing arms, and further adjusting the caster angle of the kingpin; The upper crossbeam of the angle module frame, to which the upper swing arm is fixed, is fixed to the entire angle module frame by right-angle fittings and T-shaped fasteners. This allows the upper crossbeam to change its position along the left-right direction of the chassis along the left-right sliding grooves of its fixed profile, thereby changing the position of the upper swing arm relative to the lower swing arm, and further adjusting the inclination angle of the kingpin. By adjusting the number or length of the corner module frame profiles, or sliding the T-shaped fasteners that secure the upper and lower crossbeams along the profile slots, the relative axial position of the crossbeams connecting the upper and lower swing arms can be adjusted, thereby adjusting the inclination angle of the kingpin. The steering angle module is the smallest basic module of the variable-configuration, wire-controlled chassis. It is spliced ​​together to form a single-axis drive module with independent motion capabilities. Each steering angle module is independent and decoupled from each other. The wire-controlled chassis composed of steering angle modules has all-wheel independent steering function. The connection module is an intermediate connection module. Multiple single-axis drive modules and intermediate connection modules of different specifications can be combined to form a variety of chassis configurations. In the steering system, an angle sensor is integrated at the lower end of the steering motor output shaft. Its outer ring is fixedly connected to the steering motor housing, and the inner ring cooperates with the motor shaft and is connected to the motor shaft through a keyway on the motor shaft. When the vehicle's wire-controlled chassis steers, the angle sensor feeds back the measured angle signal to the steering motor controller in real time. The controller processes the received angle feedback signal and performs closed-loop control of the steering motor based on the angle feedback signal.

2. The steering angle module of the kingpin steering mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: The wheel hub motor controller, brake caliper controller, and battery are fixed to the slide groove of the bottom plate profile of the steering angle module with T-bolts.

3. The steering angle module of the kingpin steering mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: In the steering angle module, the range of rotation of a single wheel around the kingpin is more than ±65° around the kingpin. When the steering angle module drives the vehicle's wire-controlled chassis, the vehicle has an operating mode of turning on the spot and crab walking.

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