Vehicle steering system
AssigneeHonda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsTakafumi Katou, Yoshimitsu Akuta, Kazuo Matsuura, Keiichi Takikawa
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A vehicle steering system includes a rack and pinion mechanism having a pinion functionally coupled to a steering wheel and a rack meshing with the pinion and functionally coupled to steerable wheels and a mechanism for displacing the rack in the axial direction thereof to steer the steerable wheels independently of steering operation initiated by the steering wheel. The rack and pinion mechanism comprises a variable gear ratio rack and pinion mechanism having a variable gear ratio, which is the lowest when the steering wheel is in a neutral position and becomes higher as the steering angle of the steering wheel becomes large.
Claims10
A vehicle steering system comprising;
- a steering wheel;
- a rack and pinion mechanism having a pinion functionally coupled to the steering wheel and a rack meshing with the pinion and functionally coupled to steerable wheels;
- a housing accommodating within it the rack and pinion mechanism;
- and
- means for displacing the rack in the axial direction thereof to steer the steerable wheels independently of steering operation initiated by the steering wheel,
- wherein the rack and pinion mechanism comprises a variable gear ratio rack and pinion mechanism having a variable gear ratio, which is the lowest when the steering wheel is in a neutral position and becomes higher as the steering angle of the steering wheel becomes large.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.