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:
Jul. 27, 1999
Filed:
Jun. 05, 1998
Mitsutaka Sugino, Wako, JP;
Hiroshi Ichimura, Wako, JP;
Masahiro Ogawa, Wako, JP;
Tsuto Sasaki, Wako, JP;
Tetsuya Matsumoto, Wako, JP;
Tsutomu Tatsuishi, Wako, JP;
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An electric power steering apparatus for applying an auxiliary torque generated in proportion to a steering torque, to a rack shaft to thereby reduce the steering torque. The rack shaft has at one end thereof rack teeth for meshing with a pinion. A rack guide mechanism is provided at the rack shaft one end oppositely from the rack teeth, for urging the rack shaft to the pinion. At the other end of the rack shaft, a screw portion and a ball screw mechanism are provided. A bush is provided for supporting an intermediate portion of the rack shaft to thereby restrict the bending of the intermediate portion beyond a predetermined value when an external force is applied to the rack shaft ends thereby bending the rack shaft intermediate portion. As a result, the vibration of the rack shaft and hence a steering wheel can be minimized.