Travel limiter for a vehicle steering column

Abstract

A travel limiter for a rotatable steering column of a vehicle comprises: a housing; an elongate threaded member rotatably mounted about its longitudinal axis within the housing; a nut member threadedly mounted on the elongate threaded member, the exterior of the nut member comprising a toothed gear; connector for connection of a rotatable steering column of a vehicle to the elongate threaded member, whereby the steering column and the threaded member are constrained to rotate together; end stops which engage with the nut member to define the maximum axial displacement of the nut member along the elongate threaded member in both directions; a drive motor having an output shaft configured to rotate an output gear member meshed with the gear on the exterior of the nut member; and a controller configured to control the operation of the drive motor.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.