Patent ID: 7341125

Claim:
An electric power steering apparatus comprising: a motor outputting an assist force capable of assisting a steering operation by a steering wheel; a torque sensor detecting a steering torque by said steering wheel; a computing means for computing a current command value of said motor on the basis of said steering torque; and a control means for controlling a generation of the assist force by said motor on the basis of said current command value, wherein the electric power steering apparatus comprises: an abnormality detecting means for detecting an electric abnormality of at least one of hardwares including said motor, said torque sensor, said computing means, said control means and connecting means for electrically connecting them respectively; an abnormal time control means for controlling said control means in such a manner that an output of the assist force by said motor is reduced in the case that the electric abnormality of said hardware is detected by said abnormality detecting means; a first resetting control means for controlling said control means in such a manner that the output of the assist force by said motor is immediately increased to a predetermined intermediate value in the case that said electric abnormality is not detected by said abnormality detecting means after detecting the electric abnormality of said hardware by said abnormality detecting means; and a second resetting control means for controlling said control means in such a manner that the output of the assist force by said motor is gradually increased to a predetermined reset value after the output of the assist force by said motor is increased to said predetermined intermediate value by said first resetting control means.