Patent ID: 6913107

Claim:
A steer-by-wire system comprising a steering wheel, a first shaft connected to the steering wheel, a first motor for transmitting a steering reaction to the first shaft, a steering gear, a second shaft connected to the steering gear, a second motor for transmitting a steering force to the second shaft, and a clutch mounted between said first and second shafts for switching the first and second shafts to a connected state or a disconnected state, wherein said clutch comprises an input member to which a rotation torque from said first shaft is delivered, a driven member connected to said second shaft, an engaging element receiving space defined between said input member and said driven member, engaging elements disposed in said engaging element receiving space and capable peripheral wedging engagement between said input member and said driven member, and an operating means disposed on axial one side of said engaging element receiving space and adapted to axially move the engaging elements to a wedgewise engageable position when they have moved to the axial one side of the receiving space, and to a position where the engaging elements become non-engageable when they move in the axially opposite direction, and wherein when a defect occurs in the steer-by-wire system, said engaging elements are moved to the wedgewise engageable position in the engaging element receiving space by said operating means to interconnect the first and second shafts, thus making steering possible not by steer-by-wire system but by direct steering.