Loading mechanism for rack and pinion steering
AssigneeRegie Nationale des Usines Renault
InventorJean-Jacques Carduner
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A loading mechanism in which the portion of the loading mechanism facing the rack carries a cradle consisting of a support upon which are fashioned two oval-shaped bearing races and a retainer for securing alternately loaded and non-loaded ball-bearings. The retainer includes slots allowing the loaded ball-bearings to contact the rack.
Claims6
A vehicle steering mechanism including a housing, a drive pinion extending into said housing, a rack moveable within said housing and engageable with said drive pinion and a loading mechanism moveably supporting said rack within said housing, said loading mechanism comprising:
- a fixed ball-bearing support having two oval-shaped longitudinal tracks;
- a plurality of ball-bearings disposed in and substantially filling said tracks, said ball-bearings contacting said rack at two areas of contact on said tracks;
- and
- a ball-bearing retainer located between said ball-bearing support and said rack, said support and said retainer forming a cradle, said ball bearing retainer including retainer tabs secured to said ball bearing support to form a pre-assembled unit;
- wherein said ball-bearings are alternately loaded and unloaded as they move through said areas of contact.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.