Patent ID: 6543571
Filing Date: 2003-04-08
Classification: B62D,G01L

Abstract:
A torque detecting apparatus, comprising:a first rotational angle sensor and a second rotational angle sensor for detecting rotational angles of a steering shaft, which connects a steering mechanism and a steering wheel of a vehicle, at two positions distant in axial direction of the steering shaft; torque calculating means for calculating a magnitude and a direction of steering torque applied on the steering wheel, based on a difference between the rotational angles detected by the first rotational angle sensor and the second rotational angle sensor; a speed sensor for detecting a vehicle speed; angular velocity calculating means for calculating angular velocities of the steering shaft at the respective detection positions thereof, based on detection results of the first rotational angle sensor and the second rotational angle sensor; discrimination means for discriminating whether or not a predetermined interrelation exists among the angular velocities calculated by the angular velocity calculating means and the vehicle speed detected by the speed sensor; and means for inverting the direction of the steering torque calculated by the torque calculating means, when the predetermined interrelation is discriminated to exist by the discrimination means.