The invention relates to a steering system for a vehicle, having a shaft which is mounted rotatably on a frame in a bearing.
Steering systems for vehicles have, inter alia, shaft parts in a frame or gear mechanism housing, which are configured as an output element, the rotation of which, caused by a rotational movement on a steering handle and/or by a rotational movement of a servomotor shaft, brings about a steering angle adjustment of a steerable wheel. Output elements of this type are configured as pinions or steering spindles for rack and pinion steering systems or recirculating ball steering systems and are frequently connected to an input shaft of the steering system in an approximately rotationally fixed manner via a rotationally elastic element.
The output element of a steering system of this type is to be mounted free of axial play, as it interacts, inter alia, with a sensor for detecting the rotational direction and torque magnitude in the input shaft.
DE 199 35 283 A1 describes a steering system which is configured as an electric power steering system, the output element being mounted in a locating bearing. For the purpose of axial fixing, the output element has a thread and a nut screwed thereon at its end. The nut supports the output element in an axially nondisplaceable manner on an inner ring of the locating bearing. The locating bearing can also be clamped in the radial direction with a clamping mechanism.
The known means for the axial positioning of the output element are suitable only to a limited extent for the positioning of the output element in the region of large diameters of the output element, and are comparatively complicated and expensive to configure.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds