Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

James Michael Shea

James Leroy Davison

Albert C Wong

Stanley E Anderson, Jr

Tom Cheuk-In Wong

Carl D Tarum

David Fredrick Hammerbacher

Kevin Mark McClendon

Allan Lee Dickinson

Michael F Tobin

Robert Edward Beyerlein

A motor vehicle hydraulic system including a power steering pump, a reservoir, a steering assist fluid motor, and a second fluid motor for a radiator cooling fan. A flow control valve remote from the power steering pump divides the total fluid flow from the power steering pump into a high flow branch and a low flow branch. Fluid circulates in the low flow branch at a substantially constant flow rate for a proportional control valve for the steering assist fluid motor and returns to the reservoir through an unrestricted tubular boss on the reservoir. Fluid in the high flow branch issues as a jet stream from a nozzle on the reservoir into a venturi passage submerged in fluid in the reservoir. The venturi passage is connected to an inlet port of the power steering pump. The jet stream aspirates fluid from the reservoir into the venturi passage. The kinetic energy of the jet stream is converted into superatmospheric pressure at the inlet port of the power steering pump to suppress cavitation. Fluid from the low flow branch dwells in the reservoir for a time duration adequate for natural release therefrom of any entrained gas bubbles.

Hydraulic system for motor vehicle

A power steering gear having a piston nut fed with pressure fluid from a source through a rotary valve. The construction includes a special one-way valve assembly in the high pressure port which is formed by a plunger which seats into the end of the steel tube of the power steering hose. The plunger tube and external O-ring provides for improved sealing of the power steering gear to prevent external leaks and to provide for improved control of flow into the housing from the source and to block flow from the housing into the high pressure port so that road excited vibrations are not fed back to the vehicle handwheel.

Power steering gear with flow check valve

Growing community of inventors

Saginaw, MI, United States of America

James Michael Shea