Patent ID: 9266552
Filing Date: 2016-02-23
CPC Classification: B62D

Claim Text:
1. In a wheeled vehicle having a set of steered wheels, each of said wheels being steerable through any angle within a limited angular range about a steering axis, a steering system comprising actuator means connected to said steered wheels for steering each of said steered wheels, a manual operator control configured to be graspable by at least one of an operator's left and right hands, an encoder connected to and operable by said manual operator control and providing an output which is a function of an input applied to said manual operator control, said input being the displacement of, or a force applied manually to, said manual operator control, a vehicle speed sensor for sensing speed of travel of the vehicle, a control unit connected to receive the output of said encoder and an output of said vehicle speed sensor, said control unit including a microprocessor and providing a driving output for driving said actuator means, wherein the relationship between said angle about which each of said steered wheels is steered about the steering axis of the last-mentioned one of said steered wheels by said actuator means to the magnitude of the input applied to the manual operator control is a variable dependent upon at least one independent variable including said speed of travel of the vehicle as sensed by said vehicle speed sensor, wherein the input applied to said manual operator control can be varied throughout a range sufficient to cause said steered wheels to be steered through the entirety of said limited angular ranges, at least when said speed of travel the vehicle is within a range from zero to an intermediate speed, while said at least one of an operator's right and left hands remains in fixed, contacting, relationship with said manual operator control.