Patent ID: 9555825
Date: 2017-01-31
CPC Classifications: B62D

Claim:
1. A steering column for a vehicle comprising: (a) an upper column assembly including a column member housing; and (b) a bevel gear box assembly including a bevel gear box housing, the bevel gear box housing being directly attached to the column member housing such that the bevel gear box assembly and the upper column assembly form an integrated structure, the bevel gear box assembly also being operatively coupled to the upper column assembly such that rotational movement is transferred from the upper column assembly to the bevel gear box assembly, wherein the upper column assembly also comprises an upper column input shaft and an upper column output shaft, the upper column output shaft being operatively coupled to the upper column input shaft such that rotational movement of the upper column input shaft about a central longitudinal axis of the upper column input shaft effects rotational movement of the upper column output shaft about a central longitudinal axis of the upper column output shaft, the bevel gear box assembly also comprising a bevel gear box input shaft and a bevel gear box output shaft, the bevel gear box output shaft being operatively coupled to the bevel gear box input shaft such that rotational movement of the bevel gear box input shaft about a central longitudinal axis of the bevel gear box input shaft effects rotational movement of the bevel gear box output shaft about a central longitudinal axis of the bevel gear box output shaft, the bevel gear box input shaft being operatively coupled to the upper column output shaft such that rotational movement of the upper column output shaft about the central longitudinal axis of the upper column output shaft effects rotational movement of the bevel gear box input shaft about the central longitudinal axis of the bevel gear box input shaft, wherein the central longitudinal axis of the bevel gear box output shaft is oriented at an angle greater than 0° and less than 180° with respect to the central longitudinal axis of the upper column output shaft.