Patent ID: 7681423

Claim:
A column lock assembly for a vehicle, said assembly comprising: a steering shaft defining a longitudinal axis and rotatable about said longitudinal axis; a first abutment and a second abutment mounted to said steering shaft and spaced from each other along said longitudinal axis with said first abutment defining a plurality of recesses; a sleeve disposed about said steering shaft between said first and second abutments and selectively rotatable about said longitudinal axis; a locking member movable between a locked position engaging said sleeve for preventing rotation of said sleeve about said longitudinal axis and an unlocked position disengaged from said sleeve for allowing rotation of said sleeve about said longitudinal axis; and said sleeve including a body portion and a first protrusion extending from said body portion with said first protrusion engaging one of said recesses of said first abutment to couple said sleeve to said steering shaft for concurrent rotation about said longitudinal axis and said body portion being deformable along said longitudinal axis to move said first protrusion from one of said recesses to an other one of said recesses for allowing rotation of said steering shaft relative to said sleeve when said locking member is in said locked position.