Nsk Corporation

Nsk Steering Systems Co., Ltd.

Nsk Americas, Inc.

The Keeper Co., Inc.

Jun Yamada

Victor Corona Martinez

Scott Lewis Strong

Dale E Estes

Jun Watanabe

Seiichi Moriyama

Naoki Sawada

Tetsuo Nomura

Shuhei Ikeda

Hiroshi Satou

Takashi Shiba

Tomohiko Ikenoya

A device for assembling a column tube in an adjustable steering column assembly, comprising a spacer portion adapted to provide rotational damping; provide damping during adjustment of the steering column assembly (e.g., telescope adjustment); and assist in centering the column tube when in an unlocked position and assist in resisting lash. The device may further comprise a stop bracket portion adapted to limit rotational travel of the column tube when in an unlocked position; and retain the column tube longitudinally within the steering column assembly.

Guidance and limiting unit subassembly for a steering column assembly

A device for assembling a column tube () in an adjustable steering column assembly (), comprising a spacer portion () adapted to provide rotational damping; provide damping during adjustment of the steering column assembly (e.g., telescope adjustment); and assist in centering the column tube when in an unlocked position and assist in resisting lash, The device further comprises a stop bracket portion () adapted to limit rotational travel of the column tube when in an unlocked position; and retain the column tube longitudinally within the steering column assembly.

The release capsule includes a sleeve having a through-hole for inserting therein a fastening member configured to fix the vehicle body mounting bracket to the vehicle body and to be arranged in the notch groove, a sliding plate having a hole formed thereon, in which the sleeve is to be inserted, and configured to sandwich the vehicle body mounting bracket, and an fixing part and a lock member each provided at an end portion and the other end portion of the sleeve so as to sandwich the sliding plate and the vehicle body mounting bracket. The sleeve includes a male screw formed on a cylindrical part thereof. The male screw of the sleeve is configured to be screwed with a female screw formed at a round hole of the lock member. The sliding plate and the vehicle body mounting bracket are sandwiched by the fixing part and the lock member.

Steering column device

A steering apparatus is provided which can sufficiently reduce backlash that may occur upon position adjustment of a steering wheel and the sounds from such backlash in a simple manner without affecting the operability of a turning lever. A steering apparatusis able to make tilt and telescopic position adjustment of a steering wheel H by moving a columnthat holds a shaft of the steering wheel H relative to a vehicle body. The steering apparatushas: a turning leverfor locking and unlocking the columnrelative to the vehicle body; camsandthat convert a turning movement of the turning leverinto a movement in the axial direction of the turning movement, thereby locking and unlocking the column; and a sleevethat holds the camsandand slides with respect to the camsandwhen the turning leverturns. Grease A is applied to a sliding surface between the sleeveand the camsand

Steering apparatus

A steering apparatus capable of easily and sufficiently mitigating rattles and rattling sounds during a positional adjustment of a steering wheel without affecting the operability of a pivot lever is provided. A steering apparatuscan move a columnthat holds a shaft of a steering wheel H with respect to a vehicle body to adjust a tilt position and a telescopic position of the steering wheel H. The steering apparatusincludes: a pivot leverfor unclamping and unclamping the columnwith respect to the vehicle body; a movable camand a fixed camthat clamp and unclamp the columnby changing a turn of the pivot leverinto an axial movement of said turn; a sleevethat holds the movable camand slides against the movable camwhen the pivot leveris turned; and a ring springthat presses the sleeveagainst the sliding surface of the movable cam

A steering column device where an inner column can be reliably clamped and sufficient rigidity and strength of an outer column can be achieved. A semi-circular arc rib () is formed on the peripheral edge of a closed end section () of a slit (). The rib () is substantially semi-circular are-shaped and projects outward from an outer peripheral surface (A) of an outer column (). Further, linear ribs (A,B) extend linearly toward the vehicle body front side so as to be continuous from the vehicle body front side of the semi-circular arc rib (). The semi-circular arc rib () and the linear ribs (A,B) reinforce the peripheral edge of the slit () of the outer column () whose rigidity and strength are impaired. Thus the rigidity and strength of the outer column () are improved.

A structure of the steering column device for clamping the outer column to the inner column is simple and its manufacturing cost is reduced. The outer columnand the bushing are stopped against rotation to the clamp members and at the same time when the outer column is adjusted in its telescopic position in respect to the inner column, the outer column, clamp members and bushing can be integrally and axially slid. Since the bushing having a low frictional coefficient is present between the inner circumference of the outer column and the outer circumference of the inner column, the outer column can be moved with a light force in respect to the inner column.

A dust cover for a steering shaft includes a bush of low-frictional material, through which a steering shaft penetrates; a plurality of bellows made of rubber, provided in an axial direction of the steering shaft, and arranged between the bush and a panel for sealing the clearance; and an annular seal lip in contact with the outer periphery of the steering shaft.

Dust cover for a steering shaft

A steering column device comprises a bracket of the column body having mounting flanges with a cut-away groove opening in the backward direction of car body, a collar having a flange part and a cylindrical part, an elastically deformable ring which the cylindrical part of the collar can be inserted in, and a bolt for compressing the ring, putting the mounting flange of the column body between the ring and the flange part, thereby the steering column is mounted on the car body but allowed to be detached from the car body in the secondary collision.

A steering apparatus includes: an inner column which rotatably supports a steering shaft; an outer jacket which incorporates the inner column shiftably in an axial direction, at least a portion of the outer jacket being cylindrical; and an urging member for urging the inner column. The outer jacket includes: a pressed portion which extends in a direction leaving an axial line from the outer periphery of the outer jacket and is urged by the urging member, a slit which extends in the axial direction over the pressed portion from the end of the outer jacket, and a notch which leads to the slit extending over the pressed portion. The notch has a tapered shape which enlarges toward an opening side when the outer jacket is viewed in an urging direction of the urging member.

To provide a steering apparatus having an excellent operationality and capable of suppressing backlash and preventing an axis deviation of the steering shaft. A line R connecting the centers of two fixing membersis shifted with respect to an axis line of an inner column, and thus a component Fv of a force transmitted from the fixing membersto the inner columnvia an outer columnis applied to press the inner columnin a direction orthogonal to the line R connecting the centers of the two fixing members. It is, therefore, possible to reduce backlash between the inner columnand the outer column

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Maebashi, Japan

Jun Yamada