A rack-and-pinion gear is described, which is suitable in particular for a steering system of a motor vehicle. In this a pinion is supported in a pinion housing and meshes with a rack inside this pinion housing. The rack here projects from the pinion housing through at least one housing aperture. A stop ring, which serves to limit a rack longitudinal movement and/or a tilting of the rack, is moreover held in the housing aperture by means of a press fit. In addition, a steering gear having such a rack-and-pinion gear and a steering system for a motor vehicle comprising such a steering gear are described.

According to embodiments, it is possible to prevent vibration and gaps in a coupling structure between rotation shafts, thus allowing for reduction in noise, enhanced responsiveness, accurate steering, and a better straight driving performance.

Disclosed is a steering apparatus of a vehicle in which a rack housing of a gear box may be accurately mounted on a vehicle body part without coming off, and when an angle difference of the vehicle body part is present, the angle difference may be compensated for when the rack housing is mounted. The steering apparatus has a mounting structure configured to fixedly mount the rack housing on the vehicle body part. The mounting structure includes a coupling part formed on the rack housing and having a coupling hole, a mounting part provided on the vehicle body part and having a mounting hole, a nut pipe installed at the mounting part and provided with an insertion part, a washer coupled to an outer circumference of the insertion part, and a bolt inserted into the coupling hole, the washer and the mounting hole and threadedly engaged with the nut pipe.

Disclosed herein is a vehicle steering apparatus that includes a main rack housing configured to surround a rack bar, a reduction-unit-side rack housing extending to one side of the main rack housing and connected to a reduction unit for reducing motor power, and an input-unit-side rack housing extending to the other side of the main rack housing and connected to a steering input unit having a pinion gear installed thereto, wherein the reduction-unit-side rack housing is formed with a first resonance reduction rib for reducing resonance.

A rack bar includes: a rack tooth row including a plurality of rack teeth meshing with pinion teeth; a hardened layer provided continuously over an entire circumference of the rack tooth row; and a center portion provided inside the hardened layer and having lower hardness than the hardened layer. When the rack bar is viewed in an axial direction of the rack bar, a depth of the hardened layer from the following positions i), ii), and iii) increases in this order: i) a bottom land of the rack teeth; ii) a side of the rack bar relative to the bottom land; and iii) a back of the rack bar relative to the bottom land.

A serrated component (10) for use in a progressive steering gear includes first and second inclined prong ramps (14, 16). The first and second inclined prong ramps (14, 16) include a plurality of prongs (20, 50) each having a first flank angle and a second flank angle with respect to a center plane (48) that extends normal to a longitudinal direction (34) of the serrated component (10). For at least 50% of the prongs (20, 50) of the plurality of prongs (20, 50), the first flank angles have a single first angle value and the second flank angles have a single second angle value, the first angle value corresponding to a reflection of the second angle value at the center plane (48). The invention further comprises a progressive steering gear, a method of manufacturing a serrated component, and a method of manufacturing a steering gear.

A steering device includes: a steering shaft structured to receive rotational force; a rack bar in engagement with the steering shaft; and a rack housing that is made of a metal and contains the rack bar such that the rack bar is movable. The rack housing includes a tubular section extending in a movable direction of the rack bar, and includes a first inclination section disposed in an axial end of the tubular section and inclined to go away from the rack bar outwardly in a radial direction with respect to the rack bar. The tubular section is structured to contact with the rack bar in response to warping of the rack bar due to input from outside. The first inclination section is structured to contact with the rack bar later than the tubular section in response to warping of the rack bar due to input from outside.

A steering apparatus for a vehicle includes: a rack housing; a rack bar inserted into an inner portion of the rack housing and moving linearly in a lengthwise direction of the rack housing; a housing mounted on the rack housing; a first sensing section mounted on the housing to sense an amount of movement of the rack bar while being rotated in mesh with the rack bar as the rack bar moves linearly on the rack housing; and a second sensing section mounted on the rack housing to sense the amount of movement of the rack bar within an on-center section.

A power steering apparatus has a first actuator provided as a multi-phase rotating electric machine and disposed on a steering column side of an intermediate shaft and a second actuator disposed on a rack gear side thereof. A first ECU controls a drive of the first actuator and detects an abnormality of the first actuator. The first ECU changes an output of the first actuator based on a notification from a communication bus. The first ECU performs an initial diagnosis of the first actuator at a vehicle startup time for detecting abnormality, by supplying an electric power to the first actuator for not providing a torque to a steering wheel.

Described herein are steer-by-wire systems and methods of operating these systems in vehicles. A steer-by-wire system comprises a steering wheel assembly, comprising a steering wheel, sensors, and a torque generator. The system comprises a rack assembly, comprising a steering rack, sensors, and a rack actuator. The steering wheel assembly and the rack assembly are communicatively coupled by a steer-by-wire system controller, without having any direct mechanical links between the assemblies. In some examples, the controller instructs the rack assembly to control the steering rack position based on the steering input, such as changes in the steering wheel position. A steering map is used to determine the desired steering rack position based on the current steering wheel position. In some examples, a steering map is selected from a steering map set based on, e.g., the vehicle speed, vehicle direction, driver preference, and the like.