摘要 |
A steering column including a mast jacket adjustable vertically and horizontally and clamp. The clamp includes a housing having a pair of piston bores and a control shaft bore intersecting each of the piston bores. A control shaft is rotatable in the control shaft bore and connected to a manual operating lever. A pair of passages in the control shaft define gates in the piston bores which are fully open and partially open in an unlocked position and in a locked position, respectively, of the manual operating lever. Aggregates of media grains in the piston bores traverse the open gates without interference in response to relative linear translation between the pistons and the piston bores. The media grains bridge the partially open gates and clump in the piston bores to define solid plugs which rigidly immobilize the pistons. Vertical adjustment of the steering column induces relative linear translation between one of the pistons and its piston bore and horizontal adjustment of the steering column induces relative linear translation between the other of the pistons and its piston bore. When the pistons are immobilized, the position of the steering column relative to the vehicle body is rigidly captured.
|