Patent ID: 7798033

Claim:
A worm gear mechanism for a power-assisted automobile steering mechanism, comprising: a rotatable cylindrical worm having a plurality of worm teeth that rotate about a first axis, each of the plurality of worm teeth having a first tooth face which includes a first convex region and a first concave region, where the first tooth face is disposed between a tip and a base; and a rotatable cylindrical worm gear having a plurality of worm gear teeth that rotate about a second axis, each of the plurality of worm gear teeth having a second tooth face which includes a second concave region and a second convex region, where the second tooth face is disposed between a tip and a base; where the first axis and the second axis are substantially perpendicular; where the rotatable cylindrical worm and the rotatable cylindrical worm gear mesh together in a first configuration such that the first tooth face and the second tooth face define a linear contact along one of a plurality of portions of a linear contact region that extends between the base of the worm gear tooth and the tip of the worm gear tooth.