Valve control apparatus and electric driving apparatus

Abstract

A valve control apparatus is provided with a valve, a shaft supporting the valve, an end-gear of an actuator driving the valve. The shaft is press-inserted into the end-gear. A stopper disposed on the shaft regulates a valve operation range. The end-gear can engage with the middle gear of the reduction-gears mechanism even in out of the gear-operation-angle range. When a rotation angle sensor detects a rotation angle of the end-gear in out of the gear-operation-angle range, it is determined that a malfunction occurs in a rotation-force-transmitting path.

1 . A valve control apparatus comprising:
 a valve opening/closing a fluid passage;   a shaft supporting the valve;   a housing accommodating the valve and the shaft therein;   an actuator having a reduction-gears mechanism which transmits a decelerated rotational force of a motor to the shaft;   a sensor detecting a rotation angle of the actuator; and   a malfunction detecting means for detecting a malfunction in a rotational-force-transmitting path to the shaft, wherein   the reduction-gears mechanism includes an end-gear engaging with a gear of the motor to transmit the rotational force of the motor to the shaft,   the end-gear is provided with a connecting portion and gear teeth engaging with the gear of the motor, the connecting portion is made of resin material and is provided with a press-insert hole,   the shaft has a press-insert portion which is press-inserted into the press-insert hole, an exposed portion which is out of the press-insert hole, and a stopper which radially extends from the exposed portion,   the housing has a stopper surface with which the stopper is brought into contact, so that a valve operation range is regulated,   the gear teeth is comprised of inside gear teeth and outside gear teeth, the inside gear teeth engages with the gear of the motor in a gear-operation-angle range of the end-gear which corresponds to the valve operation range, the outside gear teeth engages with the gear of the motor in out of the gear-operation-angle range, and   the malfunction detecting means determines that a malfunction occurs when the end-gear rotates over the gear-operation-angle range and the detection value of the rotation angle sensor is out of normal detection values which correspond to the valve operation range.   
     
     
         2 . A valve control apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the end-gear has the gear teeth along an entire circumferential periphery.   
     
     
         3 . A valve control apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the end-gear has the gear teeth partially along a circumferential periphery.   
     
     
         4 . A valve control apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the sensor includes a magnet fixed to the end-gear and an element detecting magnetic flux generated by the magnet.   
     
     
         5 . A valve control apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the fluid passage is an intake passage communicating with a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine.   
     
     
         6 . A valve control apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the fluid passage is an intake passage communicating with a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine,   the housing defines the intake passage and an accommodation chamber which accommodates the end-gear.   
     
     
         7 . A valve control apparatus according to  claim 6 , further comprising
 a seal member which air-tightly seals between the connecting portion and an inner wall of the accommodation chamber.   
     
     
         8 . A valve control apparatus according to  claim 7 , wherein
 a maximum diameter of the stopper is smaller than an outer diameter of the seal member.   
     
     
         9 . An electric driving apparatus comprising:
 an electric motor generating a driving force while receiving an electric current;   an electric current detecting means for detecting the electric current supplied to the electric motor, and   a control means for controlling an energization to the electric motor so that the driving force is transmitted to a driven member in order to vary a displacement magnitude which represents at least one of a variation in position of the driven member and a variation in posture of the driven member, wherein   the displacement magnitude includes a hold value at which the driven member is mechanically held and the displacement magnitude does not vary even though the driving force is continued to be transmitted from the electric motor to the driven member so as to vary the displacement magnitude in one direction,   the electric current supplied to the electric motor is stepwise increased when the displacement magnitude reaches the hold value after the displacement magnitude has been varied in one direction,   the control means stores a threshold regarding the electric current supplied to the electric motor for determining whether the displacement magnitude normally reaches the hold value in a case that the electric motor is controlled in such a manner that the displacement magnitude reaches the hold value after the displacement magnitude has been varied in one direction, and   after the electric motor is energized, the electric current exceeds the threshold temporarily due to the inrush current, then the electric current is lowered than the threshold, and when the electric current excesses the threshold again, the control means determines that the displacement magnitude has normally reached the hold value.   
     
     
         10 . An electric driving apparatus according to  claim 9 , wherein
 after the electric current is lowered than the threshold, when an absolute value of a temporal variation rate of the electric current is lowered than a specified convergence value, the control means determines that a temporal increase and decrease in electric current due to the inrush current has been converged.   
     
     
         11 . An electric driving apparatus according to  claim 9 , wherein
 the electric motor includes a rotor having a plurality of coils and a plurality of commutators, a stator having a plurality of magnets, and two brushes being in contact with the commutators to supply the electric current to the coils,   the electric motor generates a rotational torque,   the control means includes a lock-current estimating means for estimating a lock-current which is supplied to the electric motor after the displacement magnitude has reached the hold value,   when the displacement magnitude reaches the hold value, the rotor stops and each of the brushes is in contact with the single commutator, the lock-current is denoted by “Ia”,   when at least one of brushes is in contact with the multiple commutators, the lock-current is denoted by “Ib”,   the control means stores a lock-current ratio “Ia/Ib”, and   the threshold is defined in such a manner as not to exceed an upper value which is obtained by multiplying the estimated lock-current and the lock-current ratio “Ia/Ib”.   
     
     
         12 . An electric driving apparatus according to  claim 11 , wherein
 the lock-current estimating means defines an average value of a plurality of electric current values detected by the electric current detecting means as the estimation value of the lock-current after it is determined that the displacement magnitude normally reaches the hold value.   
     
     
         13 . An electric driving apparatus according to  claim 11 , further comprising:
 a temperature estimating means for estimating an ambient temperature around the electric motor;   a power source voltage detecting means for detecting a voltage of a power source which supplies an electricity to the electric motor, wherein   the lock-current estimating means stores a ratio between the lock-current and the power source voltage as a function of the ambient temperature around the electric motor,   the lock-current estimating means computes said ratio between the lock-current and the power source voltage by applying the estimated value of the ambient temperature to the function, and   the lock-current estimating means computes an estimation value of the lock-current by multiplying said ratio and the power source voltage.   
     
     
         14 . An electric driving apparatus according to  claim 13 , wherein
 after it is determined that the displacement magnitude normally reaches the hold value, the lock-current estimating means corrects the function based on a detection value of the electric current detected by the electric current detecting means, an estimate value of the ambient temperature around the electric motor estimated by the temperature estimating means, and a detection value of the power source voltage detected by the power source voltage detecting means.   
     
     
         15 . An electric driving apparatus according to  claim 9 , wherein
 the control means integrates the electric current supplied to the electric motor from when the electric motor is energized until when the electric current is stepwise increased, and   the control means determines whether the displacement value is normal based on the integrated value.   
     
     
         16 . An electric driving apparatus according to  claim 9 , further comprising
 a driving circuit which turns on/off the electric motor according to a control signal from the control means, wherein   the control means outputs a PWM-signal as the control signal to the driving circuit to control an energization of the electric motor, and   a sampling frequency at which the control means obtains the detection values from the current detecting means is greater than a value which is obtained by dividing the frequency of the PWM-signal by a duty ratio of the PWM-signal.