A steering system for a vehicle includes a housing section, a rack section configured to penetrate the housing section, a case section mounted in the housing section, and a sensor section, mounted in the case section, configured to engage the rack section and sense an amount of movement of the rack section while being rotated.

A center load rack and pinion steering mechanism is disclosed. The mechanism comprises a center load steering rack housing mounted to a vehicle frame, with a longitudinal slot through the front surface thereof, the slot being fitted with a bushing of a material that is resistant to damage from heat and bending. A pair of center link mounting bolts secure a center link and a center link pad to the rack wherein the center link pad extends through the bushing such that the upper and lower surfaces of the center link pad engage the upper and lower inner surfaces of the bushing, respectively, to prevent upward and downward movement and twisting of the center link and the center link pad relative to the rack in response to steered wheels of the vehicle contacting rough or uneven terrain while in use to prevent damage to components of the steering mechanism.

A center load rack and pinion steering mechanism is disclosed. The mechanism comprises a center load steering rack housing mounted to a vehicle frame, with a longitudinal slot through the front surface thereof, the slot being fitted with a bushing of a material that is resistant to damage from heat and bending. A pair of center link mounting bolts secure a center link and a center link pad to the rack wherein the center link pad extends through the bushing such that the upper and lower surfaces of the center link pad engage the upper and lower inner surfaces of the bushing, respectively, to prevent upward and downward movement and twisting of the center link and the center link pad relative to the rack in response to steered wheels of the vehicle contacting rough or uneven terrain while in use to prevent damage to components of the steering mechanism.

A turning system is configured to move a turning shaft to turn a left wheel and a right wheel of a vehicle. The turning shaft is configured to couple the left wheel and the right wheel to each other. A torsion bar is engaged with the turning shaft via a steering gear box. The turning system includes: a turning mechanism including (i) an electric turning mechanism including an electric motor configured to rotate a portion of the torsion bar which is located upstream of the steering gear box and (ii) a hydraulic turning mechanism configured to apply a moving force to the turning shaft in an axial direction, the moving force being produced by a hydraulic pressure; and an electric-motor controller configured to control the electric motor based on a frictional force in the turning mechanism and a road-surface reaction force that acts between (a) a tire on the left wheel and a tire on the right wheel and (b) a road surface.

To reduce the effect of a steering operation on feeling. A rack bush comprises: a bush body that is accommodated in a cylindrical housing, supports a load exerted on a rack bar while allowing the rack bar to move in the direction of an axial center O, and can be extended and retracted in a radial direction; and an elastic ring mounted on the bush body. The bush body has a mounting groove for mounting the elastic ring, the mounting groove being formed peripherally in an outer peripheral surface, and the mounting groove having a large-diameter part where the circumferential radius of a groove bottom is a first radius r1, and a small-diameter part where said radius is a second radius r2 that is less than the first radius r1. This configuration allows the formation of an elastic ring protruding part, in which the elastic ring protrudes greatly from the outer peripheral surface of the bush body, and an elastic ring embedded part, in which the elastic ring is embedded in the outer peripheral surface of the bush body.

To reduce the effect of a steering operation on feeling. A rack bush comprises: a bush body that is accommodated in a cylindrical housing, supports a load exerted on a rack bar while allowing the rack bar to move in the direction of an axial center O, and can be extended and retracted in a radial direction; and an elastic ring mounted on the bush body. The bush body has a mounting groove for mounting the elastic ring, the mounting groove being formed peripherally in an outer peripheral surface, and the mounting groove having a large-diameter part where the circumferential radius of a groove bottom is a first radius r1, and a small-diameter part where said radius is a second radius r2 that is less than the first radius r1. This configuration allows the formation of an elastic ring protruding part, in which the elastic ring protrudes greatly from the outer peripheral surface of the bush body, and an elastic ring embedded part, in which the elastic ring is embedded in the outer peripheral surface of the bush body.

The invention relates to a steering gear (11) for a vehicle having a helical gear (19), the helical gear (19) having a first gear wheel (21) and a second gear wheel (22) which engages with the first gear wheel (21), a first rotation axis (23) of the first gear wheel (21) being aligned so as to be transverse to a second rotation axis (24) of the second gear wheel (22), and an axis perpendicular (25) being aligned so as to be orthogonal to the first rotation axis (23) and to the second rotation axis (24), a smallest spacing between axes (26) between the first rotation axis (23) and the second rotation axis (24) coinciding with the axis perpendicular (25), and an engagement line (33) resulting by means of common contact points (34) of the two mutually engaged gear wheels (21, 22). In order to increase the diversity in terms of variants and/or to improve the adaptation possibilities, the steering gear (11) is characterized in that the engagement line (33) is spaced apart from the axis perpendicular (25).

A steer-by-wire steering system for a vehicle includes a rack moveable in an axial direction, the rack having a bushing engagement portion comprising an outer surface including a plurality of rack flat surfaces. The steering system also includes an anti-rotation bushing disposed proximate an outer surface of the rack at the bushing engagement portion of the rack, the anti-rotation bushing having a plurality of bushing flat surfaces, wherein the number of the plurality of rack flat surfaces and the number of the plurality of bushing flat surfaces is identical.

A vehicle steering device includes an electric motor applying a steering force to a vehicle turning mechanism, a first setting portion setting a target assist torque in accordance with a steering torque, a second setting portion setting an angle controlling target torque for bringing an angular deviation between a target steering angle and an actual steering angle close to zero, a restriction processing portion restricting the angle controlling target torque set by the second setting portion, a first calculating portion calculating a target automatic steering torque using the angle controlling target torque after the restriction process by the restriction processing portion, and second calculating portions performing weighted addition of the target automatic steering torque and the target assist torque in accordance with a value that changes in accordance with a driver input to calculate a target motor torque that is a electric motor target motor torque value.

A vehicle steering device includes an electric motor applying a steering force to a vehicle turning mechanism, a first setting portion setting a target assist torque in accordance with a steering torque, a second setting portion setting an angle controlling target torque for bringing an angular deviation between a target steering angle and an actual steering angle close to zero, a restriction processing portion restricting the angle controlling target torque set by the second setting portion, a first calculating portion calculating a target automatic steering torque using the angle controlling target torque after the restriction process by the restriction processing portion, and second calculating portions performing weighted addition of the target automatic steering torque and the target assist torque in accordance with a value that changes in accordance with a driver input to calculate a target motor torque that is a electric motor target motor torque value.