RACK AND PINION ASSEMBLIES

摘要

1451045 Toothed gearing; bearings CAM GEARS Ltd 10 Aug 1973 [22 Aug 1972] 39106/72 Headings F2A and F2Q In a rack and pinion steering mechanism, a pinion 1 is rotatably mounted in a housing 2 by a bearing assembly 3 comprising an annular member 9 secured to the pinion 1 and having convex bearing surfaces 9a, 9b which engage bearing surfaces 11a, 12a on annular members 11, 12 mounted in a counterbore 10 of the housing 2. The pinion 1 is also carried by a bronze or plastics bush 4. The annular members 11, 12 are retained by a screw plug 10a which is adjustable to vary the pre-load of the bearing assembly 3. The annular member 9 is of steel and preferably the members 11, 12 are of a plastics material and may have their bearing surfaces coated with polytetrafluoroethylene or molybdenum disulphide. In a modification, shown in Fig. 2, the bearings 3 and 4 are interchanged and the bearing 3 comprises bearing elements 9, 10, 11 having part-spherical bearing surfaces. The bearing 3 is pre-packed within a tubular steel shell 13 prior to assembly. In a further modification, an annular member 91, Fig. 4, is mounted in a housing 2, and annular members 111, 121 are mounted on a pinion member 1. This bearing may be pre-packed prior to assembly. Reference has been directed by the Comptroller to Specification 1,337,523.