Messerschmitt-Boelkow-Blohm Gesellschaft MIT Beschraenkter Haftung

Wolfram Koletzko

Franz Sperber

Ralf-Thilo Schulz

Peter M Wackerle

Wolfgang Prochaska

A safety steering column made of wound fiber-reinforced synthetic material s manufactured economically and simply, yet simultaneously with due regard to its deformation characteristics in response to axial compressive overloading under various operating conditions. For this purpose the steering column is wound as a rotationally symmetrical tubular body having five component integral sections (3, 4, 5, 6, and 7). The component sections (3 and 7) are relatively thick-walled connecting tubes to provide a torque input section and a torque output section provided with connectors (8) for steering wheel hub and for a steering mechanism. An intermediate section (5) of the steering column is a cylindrical, relatively thin-walled tube with a larger diameter (d.sub.2) compared to the connecting sections. Conical transition sections (4 and 6) preferably extend between the intermediate section and the connecting tubes or sections. The wall thickness of these transition sections diminishes uniformly from the connecting section in the direction toward the intermediate section for improving the buckling ability. A geodetic winding procedure is preferably applied for winding the columns.

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Rosenheim, Germany

Wolfram Koletzko