Rack-and-pinion steering apparatus
AssigneeJidosha Kiki Co., Ltd.
InventorsHideo Konishi, Tadaaki Fujii
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A cushioning material sheet to be interposed between a rack support and a press plug for applying an elastic force provided by a spring is formed such that at least its one end face is tapered. Slide-contact surfaces of the rack support and the press plug to be brought into contact with the two end faces of the cushioning material sheet are so formed as to move the cushioning material sheet in a direction perpendicular to a rack support direction, along which the thickness of the cushioning material sheet is decreased. A biasing member is provided to bias the cushioning material sheet in this direction of movement, thereby obtaining a proper meshed condition between a pinion and a rack.
Claims4
A rack-and-pinion steering apparatus comprising:
- a body accommodating a rack to be meshed with a pinion;
- a rack support slidably accommodated in a hole formed in said body;
- a spring means for biasing said rack support toward said rack;
- a press plug assembled to close an outer end portion of said hole while applying an elastic force to said spring means;
- a cushioning material sheet interposed between said rack support and said press plug, said cushioning material sheet having a tapered shape when viewed sideways;
- and
- biasing means for biasing said cushioning material sheet to move in a direction along which a thickness of said cushioning material sheet is decreasing;
- wherein said biasing means comprises an urging member engaged in a side portion of said cushioning material sheet in a rotation-stopped condition and is set to have a biasing force smaller than the biasing force of said spring means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.