Patent ID: 7654166

Claim:
An apparatus for automatically adjusting yoke clearance in a steering device in a rack-pinion type steering device including a rack with a rack bar and a pinion gear, the apparatus comprising: a support yoke inserted in a gear box having an arcuate pocket to support the rack bar, the support yoke having a major surface opposite the rocket defined by first and second sloping faces, the first and second sloping faces diverging at an angle from a central portion of the yoke radially outwardly toward the rack bar, the yoke having a first insertion hole formed in the major surface between the first and second sloping faces; a spacer including first and second spaced apart sloping members, the first and second sloping members having sloping faces generally complimentary to the first and second sloping faces on the major surface of the yoke, each of the sloping members having an insertion groove formed on a outer cylindrical surface thereof, inner portions of the first and second sloping members forming a second insertion hole, an elastic member seated in the insertion groove and applying force to the first and second sloping members in a radial inward direction; and a yoke plug fastened to the gear box, supporting the spacer, and having a third insertion hole formed through a center of the yoke plug, wherein an eject pin can be disposed in the first to the third insertion holes during assembly and then removed, where upon removal a radial inward force generated by the elastic member is converted into a generally perpendicular force towards the rack bar by the first and the second sloping surfaces, to thereby support the rack bar.