Patent ID: 7201694

Claim:
A vehicle having a power-assisted steering system, the vehicle comprising: a chassis adapted for transporting passengers; a plurality of drive wheels operationally coupled to the chassis; a rack and pinion steering assembly operationally coupled to the drive wheels; a steering shaft connected to a pinion of the rack and pinion assembly; a steering wheel connected to the steering shaft; a plurality of traction rollers distributed radially about the steering shaft, each roller having a tiltable axis about which it rotates; an input disc in contact with the rollers; an output disc in contact with the rollers; an idler coaxial with and rotatable about the steering shaft, the idler in contact with the rollers; a cage adapted to maintain a radial and axial orientation of the rollers about the idler, wherein the cage is adapted to rotate about the steering shaft; a tubular output shaft positioned coaxially about the steering shaft and connected at a first end to the output disc and connected at a second end to the pinion; and a source of rotational power, wherein the input disc is fixed and does not rotate and wherein the source of rotational power is coupled to the cage; wherein the axes of the rollers tilt in response to a shift in an angular orientation of the steering shaft; and wherein the rollers convert the rotational power of the source to an output torque transmitted through the output disc to the output shaft in response to a shift in the angular orientation of the steering shaft.