The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 05, 1999
Filed:
May. 12, 1997
Patrick Michael Wilcox, Flint, MI (US);
David Michael Kubiak, Saginaw, MI (US);
General Motors Corporation, Detroit, MI (US);
Abstract
An outboard seal between a rack bar of a rack and pinion steering gear and a fluid motor cylinder tube around the rack bar. The outboard seal includes an annular bulkhead in an outboard end of the cylinder tube around the rack bar, a metal retaining ring preventing dislodgment of the bulkhead from the cylinder tube by fluid pressure in the cylinder tube, and a seal ring adjacent an end wall of the bulkhead having an outer surface resiliently pressing against the cylinder tube and an inner lip biased against the rack bar by garter spring. A coupling between the seal ring and the bulkhead consists of an annular groove in a cylindrical shoulder on the bulkhead and a flexible lip on the seal ring stretched over the cylindrical shoulder and seated loosely in the annular groove. The flexible lip and the annular groove cooperate in uniting the bulkhead and the seal ring for unitary handling and transport outside of the cylinder tube and in uncoupling the seal ring from the bulkhead inside the cylinder tube to isolate the seal ring from relative movement between the bulkhead and the cylinder tube which would otherwise cause the seal ring to wear.