Rack and pinion steering gear mounting system
First Claim
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1. A rack and pinion steering gear mounting system for a road vehicle, comprising:
- a pinion rotatable with a manually operated steering wheel;
a rack gear meshed with said pinion for reciprocating motion longitudinally thereof for turning steerable vehicle wheels;
a gear housing enclosing movably therein and supporting said pinion and said rack and elongated axially of said rack gear;
a vehicle body member extending along said gear housing;
clamp means for mounting said gear housing on said vehicle body member in such a manner that the gear housing is limitedly movable longitudinally thereof relative to said vehicle body member;
insulator means interposed between said clamp means and said gear housing for damping of relative movements between said clamp means and said gear housing toward and away from each other;
variable-resilience stopper means for preventing longitudinal movement of said gear housing relative to said vehicle body member, said stopper means being rotatable to have, with respect to a force of the same magnitude applied thereto, such a variable resilience that is minimum at a predetermined position of said stopper means, reduces in accordance with rotary movement of said stopper means in a predetermined direction out of said predetermined position, and is maximum at 90°
of rotary movement of said stopper means from said predetermined position; and
driving means for driving said stopper means in such a manner that said stopper means are held at or adjacent said predetermined position upon low-speed running conditions of the vehicle and rotated increasingly from said predetermined position as the speed of the vehicle increases and held at or adjacent 90°
of rotary movement from said predetermined position upon high-speed running conditions.
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Abstract
A gear housing is prevented from longitudinal movement by variable-resilience stopper means which are rotatable to have, with respect to a force of the same magnitude, a variable resilience or rigidity depending upon varying angular position of the stopper means. The angular position of the stopper means is controlled by driving means in such a manner that the stopper means have a minimum resilience or maximum rigidity upon vehicle low-speed running conditions and a maximum resilience or minimum rigidity upon vehicle high-speed running conditions.
14 Citations
10 Claims
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1. A rack and pinion steering gear mounting system for a road vehicle, comprising:
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a pinion rotatable with a manually operated steering wheel; a rack gear meshed with said pinion for reciprocating motion longitudinally thereof for turning steerable vehicle wheels; a gear housing enclosing movably therein and supporting said pinion and said rack and elongated axially of said rack gear; a vehicle body member extending along said gear housing; clamp means for mounting said gear housing on said vehicle body member in such a manner that the gear housing is limitedly movable longitudinally thereof relative to said vehicle body member; insulator means interposed between said clamp means and said gear housing for damping of relative movements between said clamp means and said gear housing toward and away from each other; variable-resilience stopper means for preventing longitudinal movement of said gear housing relative to said vehicle body member, said stopper means being rotatable to have, with respect to a force of the same magnitude applied thereto, such a variable resilience that is minimum at a predetermined position of said stopper means, reduces in accordance with rotary movement of said stopper means in a predetermined direction out of said predetermined position, and is maximum at 90°
of rotary movement of said stopper means from said predetermined position; anddriving means for driving said stopper means in such a manner that said stopper means are held at or adjacent said predetermined position upon low-speed running conditions of the vehicle and rotated increasingly from said predetermined position as the speed of the vehicle increases and held at or adjacent 90°
of rotary movement from said predetermined position upon high-speed running conditions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification