Patent ID: 7699674

Claim:
A steering mechanism, comprising: a spool valve housing; a spool supported in sliding relation within said spool valve housing; a steering cylinder attached to said spool valve housing, said steering cylinder comprising a hydraulic cylinder and a piston rod extending from said hydraulic cylinder; an actuator having a housing and a shaft, said actuator being configured to selectively extend and retract said shaft relative to said housing in directions parallel to a central axis of said shaft; and a connector, said steering cylinder, said actuator, said connector and said spool valve housing being connected together in a manner which causes said connector and said spool valve housing to move away from each other in synchrony with said piston rod being extended from said hydraulic cylinder and said shaft being extended from said housing of said actuator and which causes said connector and said spool valve housing to move toward each other in synchrony with said piston rod being retracted into said hydraulic cylinder and said shaft being retracted into said housing of said actuator.