Patent ID: 7357215

Claim:
A steering apparatus for an electric industrial vehicle, wherein the industrial vehicle includes a drive wheel, a steering wheel, and a steered wheel, a wheel angle of the steered wheel being changed in accordance with rotation of the steering wheel, wherein a speed of the drive wheel is controlled according to the wheel angle of the steered wheel, the steering apparatus comprising: a detector for detecting the wheel angle of the steered wheel; a hydraulic pressure control motor; a hydraulic pump, wherein the hydraulic pump is driven by the hydraulic pressure control motor and is capable of adjusting a flow rate of discharged working fluid, and wherein the flow rate of working fluid discharged by the hydraulic pump is changed according to a speed of the hydraulic pressure control motor; a steering cylinder, which is activated by working fluid supplied from the hydraulic pump and moves the steered wheel to change the wheel angle of the steered wheel; a controller, wherein the controller computes a steering speed of the steered wheel based on the wheel angle of the steered wheel detected by the detector, and controls the speed of the hydraulic pressure control motor to change a flow rate of working fluid supplied to the steering cylinder based on the computed steering speed of the steered wheel.