Patent ID: 9731750
Date: 2017-08-15
CPC Classifications: B62D

Claim:
1. A rack-and-pinion steering gear unit comprising a gear housing, a pinion shaft, a rack shaft, and cylindrical portions, wherein the pinion shaft comprises pinion teeth on an outer peripheral surface of an axially intermediate portion of the pinion shaft and is rotatably supported inside the gear housing, wherein the rack shaft is configured as a hollow pipe as a whole by bending an elongated metal plate such that widthwise end edges of the metal plate are butted to each other, the rack shaft comprising rack teeth on a front face of the rack shaft partially in an axial direction, the rack shaft being disposed in a skew manner with respect to the pinion shaft and supported inside the gear housing so as to be displaceable in the axial direction in a state in which the rack teeth are engaged with the pinion teeth, and wherein each cylindrical portion is fitted on each end portion of the rack shaft, further comprising a pair of spherical joints to connect the respective end portions of the rack shaft to a pair of tie rods, the pair of tie rods having distal end portions to which left and right wheels to be steered are connected and base end portions to which the pair of spherical joints is connected, wherein each of the spherical joints comprises a joint housing connected to the end portion of the rack shaft, wherein an outer peripheral surface of the end portion of the rack shaft comprises a male screw portion, wherein the joint housing has a base portion configured as the cylindrical portion, an inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion comprising a female screw portion, and wherein the joint housing is connected to the end portion of the rack shaft in a state in which the female screw portion is screwed onto the male screw portion.