US 2009/0256342 A1Published application

Collapsible steering column assembly

AssigneeDelphi Technologies, Inc.

InventorsWilliam D. Cymbal, Melvin L. Tinnin, Richard K. Riefe

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Abstract

A steering column assembly includes an upper jacket and a lower jacket partially disposed within said upper jacket. A bushing is disposed between the upper jacket and the lower jacket. The upper jacket and the lower jacket are collapsible along a longitudinal axis in response to a collision event. A first roller mechanism and a second roller mechanism are mounted to the upper jacket near a forward end and a rearward end of the bushing respectively for engaging the lower jacket in rolling engagement. The first and second roller mechanisms resist a resultant force caused by a bending moment created by a transverse load applied to a distal end of the upper jacket to minimize an increase in a sliding frictional force between the bushing and the lower jacket.

Claims21

Dependent claims

A steering column assembly for a vehicle, said assembly comprising:

an upper jacket defining an interior and extending along a longitudinal axis;
a lower jacket partially disposed within said interior and extending along said longitudinal axis with said upper jacket moveable along said longitudinal axis relative to said lower jacket;
a bushing disposed between said upper jacket and said lower jacket with said bushing including a forward edge and a rearward edge spaced from said forward edge along said longitudinal axis;
a roller mechanism coupled to said upper jacket and including a roller continuously engaging said lower jacket in rolling engagement adjacent one of said forward edge and said rearward edge of said bushing for resisting a resultant force transmitted between said upper jacket and said lower jacket in response to a load applied to said upper jacket transverse to said longitudinal axis to minimize an increase in sliding friction between said bushing and said lower jacket in response to said resultant force.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.