Ball screw with retaining device

A ball screw, comprising:

• a spindle;
• a ball nut radially disposed around the spindle, axially displaceable with respect to the spindle, and including a first helical protrusion, the first helical protrusion defining a first helical groove in the ball nut;
• a plurality of balls disposed in the first helical groove and in contact with the spindle;
• a reset spring including a first portion located in the first helical groove and an end portion extending past the first helical groove in a first circumferential direction around an axis of rotation of the ball screw;
• and,
• a retaining device directly connected to the ball nut and arranged to limit displacement of the end portion of the reset spring in a first axial direction parallel to the axis of rotation, wherein for a first circumferential position of the spindle around the axis of rotation, the reset spring urges the plurality of balls in a second axial direction, opposite the first axial direction, and wherein an entirety of the retaining device has an extent, in the first circumferential direction, greater than 90 degrees and less than 360 degrees.

A ball screw, comprising:

• a spindle supported for rotation around an axis of rotation;
• a ball nut radially disposed around the spindle, axially displaceable with respect to the spindle, and including a helical protrusion, the helical protrusion defining a helical groove in the ball nut and including an end forming a portion of the helical protrusion extending furthest in a first axial direction parallel to the axis of rotation;
• a plurality of balls disposed in the helical groove and in contact with the spindle;
• a reset spring located in the helical groove and including an end portion forming a portion of the reset spring extending furthest in the first axial direction, the end portion extending past the end of the helical groove in the first axial direction and including an end surface, the end surface facing at least partly in a first circumferential direction around the axis of rotation and directly engaged with the ball nut;
• and,
• a retaining device directly connected to the ball nut, extending past the end of the helical protrusion in the first circumferential direction, and located past the end portion of the reset spring in the first axial direction, wherein the retaining device includes a first circumferential end facing at least partly in the first circumferential direction, and a second circumferential end facing at least partly in a second circumferential direction opposite the first circumferential direction, and the retaining device is preloaded with a force displacing the first circumferential end and the second circumferential end circumferentially away from each other.