An apparatus for use in turning at least one steerable vehicle wheel includes a steering member rotatably supported in a housing. The steering member rotates relative to the housing about a first axis to effect turning movement of the at least one steerable vehicle wheel. A ball nut is connected with an externally threaded portion of the steering member. The steering member is rotatable relative to the ball nut assembly to axially move the ball nut assembly relative to the housing. An electric motor is operable to apply a rotational force to the steering member to urge the steering member to rotate relative to the housing. The electric motor has an output shaft extending along a second axis extending generally parallel to the first axis. A first gear is rotatable about the second axis with the output shaft of the motor. A second gear in meshing engagement with the first gear is rotatable about a third axis extending transverse to the second axis. A third gear is rotatable with the second gear about the third axis. A fourth gear in meshing engagement with the third gear is rotatable with the steering member relative to the housing.

A steering apparatus includes a turning shaft movable in the vehicle widthwise direction, a pinion shaft meshed with the turning shaft, a first housing that retains therein the turning shaft and the pinion shaft, a ball screw that transmits drive force generated by a drive source to the turning shaft, and a second housing that retains therein the ball screw. A retaining portion capable of storing water is provided at an inner circumferential surface of the second housing. A lower end surface of the retaining portion is located below at least a lower end surface of the ball screw. A first end portion of the retaining portion in the axial direction of the turning shaft is located between a belt member that links the ball screw with the drive source and a rack end stopper at the drive-source side.

An electric power steering device includes: an electric motor; a rack shaft configured to move axially; a conversion unit configured to convert rotational driving force of the moto into movement of the rack shaft; a first housing configured to cover a part of an outer surface of the rack shaft and including a first leg portion fixed to a vehicle; a second housing configured to cover a part of the outer surface of the rack shaft and including a fourth connecting portion covering the conversion unit and a second leg portion fixed to the vehicle; and an intermediate housing disposed between the first and second housings and configured to cover a part of the outer surface of the rack shaft 3 and including a motor support portion supporting the motor.

A rack ball nut assembly for a vehicle steering gear has a ball nut, a ball return tube, and a tube retention clip. The ball nut has first and second recesses and the ball return tube has first and second tube portions. There is a snap fit between the first and second tube portions. The tube retention clip has first and second retention tabs. The first tab is engaged in the first recess and the second tab is engaged in the second recess. The ball return tube is secured between the ball nut and the tube retention clip.

An apparatus for use in turning steerable vehicle wheels includes a rotatable output shaft. A first rotational input assembly is provided for transmitting a steering command from a steering control member to the output shaft. A power transmitting mechanism is configured to transmit the rotational force from the input assembly to the output shaft. The power transmitting mechanism includes a plurality of sector gears. A ball screw has longitudinally separated first and second ball screw ends. A ball nut has a plurality of rack gears. Rotational force from the input assembly turns the ball screw, and the ball nut reciprocates within the housing responsive to rotation of the ball screw to move each of the plurality of rack gears in a longitudinal direction. Longitudinal motion of the rack gear teeth responsively drives the sector gear teeth to transmit the steering command to the output shaft.

An electric actuator for a steering system is adapted to control an angle of steered wheels on a vehicle to adjust a direction of travel of the vehicle. The electric actuator includes a housing assembly, an electric motor, and an actuation unit. The housing assembly is arranged around the electric motor and the electric motor is coupled with the actuation unit and configured to cause an actuator rod of the actuation unit to move relative to the housing assembly.

A vehicle power steering assembly has a pinion housing comprised of first, second, and third housings. The first housing is a drawn tube formed from a first material. The second housing is a casting formed from a second material. The third housing is a stamping formed from a third material. The second housing is press fit into the first housing. The third housing is press fit and welded to the first housing. The second material has a lesser unit weight than each of the first and third materials. The first, second, and third housings together form the pinion housing.

A steering device includes a steering rod that includes two ball screw parts, the steering rod being configured to steer a steerable wheel by moving linearly, two ball nuts respectively fastened to the two ball screw parts, two motors each configured to generate a drive force, two transmission mechanisms each including a toothed belt, the two transmission mechanisms being configured to transmit the drive force of each one of the two motors to a corresponding one of the ball nuts, two detectors configured to respectively detect rotation angles of the two motors, and a controller configured to control each of the two motors. The controller is configured to detect tooth jumping of the belts using the rotation angles of the two motors that are detected by the two detectors.

A rack housing and a reduction drive housing accommodate a ball screw mechanism and a reduction drive. Within the rack housing and the reduction drive housing, a gap is provided between the left end of a nut and the rack housing, and a gap is provided between the right end of the nut and the rack housing. A groove serving as a communication path in communication with the gaps on both axial sides of the nut is provided in the outer circumferential surface of the nut. The groove is provided so as to avoid a recirculation path provided in the nut. The groove is provided axially and rectilinearly from the end of the nut that is located on the side opposite to a flange, to the flange and is provided along the flange.

A production method of a ball screw device is provided. The ball screw device includes a ball screw portion, a ball nut, rolling balls, and a retainer. The production method of the ball screw device includes: a first preparation step of preparing a nut subassembly as a standard product; a second preparation step of preparing the ball screw portion in plurality by types as ranked products; a measuring step of measuring a relative displacement in a thrust direction between the standard product and each ranked product; a determination step of determining whether the displacement meets a displacement specification; a replacing step of, if the displacement does not meet the specification, replacing the ranked product with another ranked product; and an assembling step of, if the displacement meets the specification, assembling the standard product and the ranked product into the ball screw device.