Power steering apparatus
AssigneeKubota Corporation
InventorsMasaru Nakata, Yuji Tomiyama
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A power steering apparatus comprising steering arms for steering front wheels of a vehicle mounted at opposite ends of an axle, and a power cylinder extending parallel to the axle for driving the steering arms. The axle is oscillatably supported by an axle frame through a center shaft. The power cylinder is connected to the axle by a connecting device to be movable in three-dimensional directions. The connecting device includes a support shaft extending parrallel to the axle, an oscillatable arm connected to the support shaft, and a universal joint for interconnecting the oscillatable member and the cylinder. The universal joint has an axis extending perpendicular to the center axis.
Claims4
A power steering apparatus comprising:
- an axle (5) for supporting steerable wheels (2) at opposite ends thereof, said axle being oscillatably supported by an axle frame (6) through a center shaft (7) having an axis extending longitudinally of a vehicle body in a substantially middle portion thereof,
- steering arms (11) for steering said steerable wheels, respectively,
- a power cylinder (12) extending substantially parallel to said axle, said power cylinder including piston rod means (15, 16) slidably mounted in a cylinder tube (13) and operatively connected to said steering arms at a position in a substantially longitudinal axis, and
- a connecting device (20) for connecting said cylinder tube of said power cylinder to said axle to be movable in three-dimensional directions, said connecting device including
- an oscillatable member (27) having a support shaft (26) at a base end thereof extending substantially parallel to said axle and pivotally supported by a first bracket (5A) connected to and projecting from said axle (5), said oscillatable member being movable in a plane perpendicular to said axle, and
- universal joint means (24) for interconnecting said oscillatable member and a second bracket (13A) extending from said cylinder tube, said universal joint means for interconnecting said second bracket has an axis extending perpendicular to an axis of said center shaft to permit omnidirectional pivotal movements of said cylinder.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.