Patent ID: 7942232

Claim:
An electric power steering apparatus comprising: a vehicle speed sensor operable to detect a vehicle speed; a torque sensor operable to detect a steering torque of a steering member; a steering auxiliary motor configured to provide torque for steering assistance; a motor current detector operable to detect a value of a motor current actually flowing through the auxiliary motor; a controller operable to obtain a difference between a current command value calculated based at least in part on the vehicle speed and the steering torque and the value of the motor current actually flowing through the auxiliary motor, and to perform PWM control of the operation of the auxiliary motor; a motor current hold section operable to hold the value of the motor current detected by the motor current detector; a switching device between the motor current detector and the motor current hold section; wherein the controller is operable to sample the motor current value detected by the motor current detector at a sampling start timing and to turn on the switching device to start the holding of the value of the motor current in the motor current hold section; wherein the controller is operable to fetch the motor current value held in the motor current hold section at a hold timing and to turn off the switching device; and wherein the sampling start timing and the hold timing are variable.