BEARING ASSEMBLY FOR A POWER STEERING MECHANISM
First Claim
1. A bearing assembly for a mechanism including a housing and a rotatable shaft disposed within the housing, the bearing assembly comprising:
- a sleeve disposable within the housing and having an inner circumferential surface defining a bore and a radial surface extending radially inwardly with respect to the inner surface;
a bearing disposed within the sleeve bore and including inner and outer races and a plurality of rolling elements disposed between the inner and outer races, the inner race being coupleable with the shaft such that the shaft and the inner race rotate as a single unit; and
a biasing member configured to bias the bearing outer race generally against one of the sleeve radial surface and a radial surface of the housing so as to substantially prevent axial displacement of the bearing outer race during rotation of the shaft.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A bearing assembly is for a mechanism including a housing and a rotatable shaft disposed within the housing. The bearing assembly includes a sleeve disposable within the housing and having an inner circumferential surface defining a bore and a radial surface extending radially inwardly from the inner surface. A bearing is disposed within the bore and includes inner and outer races and rolling elements disposed between the races, the inner race being coupleable with the shaft such that the shaft and the inner race rotate as a single unit. Further, a biasing member biases the outer race generally against the sleeve radial surface or a housing radial surface to prevent axial displacement of the outer race during shaft rotation. Preferably, a retainer couples the biasing member with the outer race to retain the bearing and the biasing member within the bore when the assembly is separate from the housing.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A bearing assembly for a mechanism including a housing and a rotatable shaft disposed within the housing, the bearing assembly comprising:
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a sleeve disposable within the housing and having an inner circumferential surface defining a bore and a radial surface extending radially inwardly with respect to the inner surface; a bearing disposed within the sleeve bore and including inner and outer races and a plurality of rolling elements disposed between the inner and outer races, the inner race being coupleable with the shaft such that the shaft and the inner race rotate as a single unit; and a biasing member configured to bias the bearing outer race generally against one of the sleeve radial surface and a radial surface of the housing so as to substantially prevent axial displacement of the bearing outer race during rotation of the shaft. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A power steering assembly comprising:
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a screw linearly displaceable along a central axis and having at least one end connectable with steering device for turning a wheel; a drive nut disposed about a section of the screw, rotatable about the central axis, and threadably engaged with the screw such that rotation of the nut displaces the screw along the axis; a housing having an interior chamber; and a bearing assembly configured to rotatably mount the drive nut within the housing chamber, the bearing assembly including; a sleeve disposable within the housing and having an inner circumferential surface defining a bore and a radial surface extending radially inwardly with respect to the inner surface; a bearing disposed within the sleeve bore and including inner and outer races and a plurality of rolling elements disposed between the inner and outer races, the inner race being coupled with the nut such that the nut and the inner race rotates as a single unit; and a biasing member configured to bias the bearing outer race generally against one of the sleeve radial surface and a radial surface of the housing so as to substantially prevent axial displacement of the bearing outer race during rotation of the nut. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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Specification