Rack and pinion steering system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016347350-A1
Application number	US-201615142454-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 29, 2016
Priority date	Jan 29, 2015
Publication date	Dec 1, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A vehicle has a frame, a motor, a driveshaft operatively connected to the motor, a front differential operatively connected to the driveshaft, a pair of front half-shafts operatively connecting the front differential to front wheels, at least one rear wheel, a steering wheel, a steering column operatively connected to the steering wheel, a rack and pinion assembly operatively connected to the steering column, the rack and pinion assembly being disposed rearward of the front differential, a right tie rod having a left end operatively connected to a rack of the rack and pinion assembly and a right end operatively connected to the right wheel, and a left tie rod having a right end operatively connected to the rack and a left end operatively connected to the left wheel. The inner ends of the tie rods are disposed forwardly of a vertically and laterally extending central plane of the rack.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A vehicle comprising:
a frame; a motor supported by the frame; a driveshaft operatively connected to the motor; a front differential operatively connected to the driveshaft; a front right half-shaft having a left end operatively connected to the front differential; a front right wheel operatively connected to a right end of the front right half-shaft; a front left half-shaft having a right end operatively connected to the front differential; a front left wheel operatively connected to a left end of the front left half-shaft; at least one rear wheel supported by the frame; a steering wheel supported by the frame; a steering column operatively connected to the steering wheel; a rack and pinion assembly operatively connected to the steering column, the rack and pinion assembly being disposed rearward of the front differential; a right tie rod having a left end operatively connected to a rack of the rack and pinion assembly and a right end operatively connected to the right wheel; and a left tie rod having a right end operatively connected to the rack and a left end operatively connected to the left wheel, the left end of the right tie rod and the right end of the left tie rod being disposed forwardly of a vertically and laterally extending central plane of the rack.

2 . The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising:
a right knuckle operatively connected to the right wheel, the right end of the right tie rod being operatively connected to the right knuckle; a lower right A-arm operatively connecting the right knuckle to the frame, the lower right A-arm being pivotally connected to the frame about a right lower pivot axis; an upper right A-arm operatively connecting the right knuckle to the frame, the upper right A-arm being pivotally connected to the frame about a right upper pivot axis; a right shock absorber operatively connected between the frame and one of the lower right A-arm and the upper right A-arm, the right shock absorber being pivotally connected to the frame about a right shock absorber axis; a left knuckle operatively connected to the left wheel, the left end of the left tie rod being operatively connected to the left knuckle; a lower left A-arm operatively connecting the left knuckle to the frame, the lower left A-arm being pivotally connected to the frame about a left lower pivot axis; an upper left A-arm operatively connecting the left knuckle to the frame, the upper left A-arm being pivotally connected to the frame about a left upper pivot axis; and a left shock absorber operatively connected between the frame and one of the lower left A-arm and the upper left A-arm, the left shock absorber being pivotally connected to the frame about a left shock absorber axis.

3 . The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein, when the steering wheel is steered in a position corresponding to the vehicle being steered in a straight ahead position:
a connection of the left end of the right tie rod to the rack and a connection of the right end of the left tie rod to the rack are disposed laterally between a right vertical plane and a left vertical plane; the right vertical plane contains the right upper pivot axis; and the left vertical plane contains the left upper pivot axis.

4 . The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein, when the steering wheel is steered in a position corresponding to the vehicle being steered in a straight ahead position:
a connection of the left end of the right tie rod to the rack and a connection of the right end of the left tie rod to the rack are disposed laterally between a right vertical plane and a left vertical plane; the right vertical plane contains a right end of the front differential; and the left vertical plane contains a left end of the front differential.

5 . The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein:
the right shock absorber has a right shock absorber axis; the left shock absorber has a left shock absorber axis; and the rack and pinion assembly is disposed rearward of a plane containing the right and left shock absorber axes.

6 . The vehicle of claim 5 , wherein the left end of the right tie rod and the right end of the left tie rod are disposed rearward of the plane containing the right and left shock absorber axes.

7 . The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein:
at least a portion of the rack and pinion assembly is disposed vertically between a top plane and a bottom plane; the top plane contains the right and left upper pivot axes; and the bottom plane contains the right and left lower pivot axes.

8 . The vehicle of claim 7 , wherein a central lateral axis of the rack is disposed vertically between the top plane and the bottom plane.

9 . The vehicle of claim 7 , wherein the left end of the right tie rod and the right end of the left tie rod are disposed vertically between the top plane and the bottom plane.

10 . The vehicle of claim 2 , further comprising a sway bar having a right end operatively connected to the upper right A-arm, a left end operatively connected to the upper left A-arm and a laterally extending central portion; and
wherein the laterally extending central portion of the sway bar extends above the rack and pinion assembly.

11 . The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein:
the lower right A-arm has front arm and a rear arm; the lower left A-arm has a front arm and a rear arm; and the rack and pinion assembly is disposed forwardly of inner ends of the rear arms of the lower right and left A-arms.

12 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the driveshaft extends under the rack and pinion assembly.

13 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein a connection between the steering column and a pinion of the rack and pinion assembly is disposed on a left side of a longitudinal centerline of the vehicle.

14 . The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising a power steering unit operatively connected to the steering column.

15 . The vehicle of claim 14 , wherein the rack and pinion assembly is disposed longitudinally between the front differential and the power steering unit.

16 . The vehicle of claim 14 , wherein the steering column comprises a first steering shaft operatively connected to the steering wheel, a second steering shaft operatively connected between the first steering shaft and the power steering unit, and a third steering shaft operatively connected between the power steering unit and the rack and pinion assembly.

17 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the steering wheel is selectively pivotable about a laterally extending axis.

18 . The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising a bracket connecting the left end of the right tie rod and the right end of the left tie rod to a front of the rack.

19 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the at least one rear wheel includes a rear right wheel and a rear left wheel; and
the vehicle further comprising:
a rear differential operatively connected to the motor;
a rear right half-shaft having a left end operatively connected to the rear differential and a right end operatively connected to the rear right wheel; and
a rear left half-shaft having a right end operatively connected to the rear differential and a left end operatively connected to the rear left wheel.

20 . The vehicle of claim 19 , further comprising:
a driver seat connected to the frame; and a passenger seat connected to the frame, the driver and passenger seats being disposed side-by-side; and wherein the frame defines a roll cage.

Assignees

• Bombardier Recreational Products Inc

Inventors

• Heon Martin
• Despres-Nadeau Charles

Classifications

• B62D23/005

  with integrated chassis in the whole shell, e.g. meshwork, tubes, or the like (B62D33/044 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B60G2200/144

  with two lateral arms forming a parallelogram · CPC title

• B60K17/34

  for driving both front and rear wheels, e.g. four wheel drive vehicles · CPC title

• B60G2300/13

  Small sized city motor vehicles · CPC title

• B60G13/001

  Arrangements for attachment of dampers (mounting arrangements of combined spring and damper units B60G15/00; mountings of fluid dampers in general F16F9/54) · CPC title