Patent ID: 7779717

Claim:
A steering column assembly for a vehicle, comprising: an outer jacket having a support defining a tilt axis; an upper shaft coupled to said outer jacket; a tilt head pivotally mounted to said support about said tilt axis and mounted to said upper shaft for coupling said upper shaft to said outer jacket; a lever pivotally mounted to said tilt head about a pivot axis; a moveable shoe pivotally mounted to said tilt head about a shoe axis and abutting said lever such that rotation of said lever about said pivot axis facilitates rotation of said moveable shoe about said shoe axis between an engaged position engaging said support for preventing rotation of said tilt head and a disengaged position spaced from said support for allowing rotation of said tilt head; and a stopping member coupled to at least one of said lever and said tilt head for deforming at least one of said tilt head and said lever to maintain said moveable shoe in said engaged position and to prevent said tilt head from pivoting about said tilt axis upon a predetermined force applied to said upper shaft, at least one of said lever and said tilt head defining a recess having an inner surface with a predetermined width for receiving said stopping member, said stopping member including an outer surface defining a thickness with said width of said recess being larger than said thickness for allowing a single point of contact between said recess and said stopping member.