Steering apparatus for industrial vehicle

A steering apparatus for an industrial vehicle including a hydraulic pump discharging hydraulic oil and a steering cylinder operated by the hydraulic oil supplied thereto to steer a steered wheel, the steering apparatus for the industrial vehicle comprising:

• a manual steering circuit which includes a first valve opened or closed according to an operation of a steering wheel and supplies the hydraulic oil discharged from the hydraulic pump to the steering cylinder through the first valve;
• an automatic steering circuit which includes a second valve opened or closed according to a calculation result of automatic operation control and supplies the hydraulic oil discharged from the hydraulic pump to the steering cylinder through the second valve;
• a branching valve which is disposed between the hydraulic pump and the first and second valves and branches the hydraulic oil to the manual steering circuit and the automatic steering circuit;
• and
• a steering operation detection unit configured to detect the operation of the steering wheel,
• wherein the branching valve is a priority valve which preferentially supplies the hydraulic oil to the manual steering circuit at a first flow rate equal to or larger than a predetermined flow rate for operating the steering cylinder in the hydraulic oil discharged from the hydraulic pump, and supplies the hydraulic oil to the automatic steering circuit at a second flow rate which is an excess flow rate excluding the first flow rate in the hydraulic oil discharged from the hydraulic pump, and
• wherein the steering apparatus further comprises supply restricting means for restricting the supply of the hydraulic oil to the steering cylinder through the automatic steering circuit when the steering operation detection unit detects the operation of the steering wheel.