Patent ID: 6964211

Claim:
A vehicle steering column comprising: an axially extending input shaft for connecting to a vehicle steering wheel, the input shaft being rotatable about an axis upon rotation of the steering wheel; a housing at least partially enclosing the input shaft; a bearing interposed between the housing and the input shaft and supporting the input shaft for rotation about the axis, the bearing having an inner race engaging the input shaft and an outer race; the housing having at least one series of axially spaced, annular ribs that at least partially extend around the axis of the input shaft and around the outer race of the bearing, axially adjacent annular ribs being separated by an annular groove; and a gasket made of resilient material interposed between the outer race of the bearing and the ribs, the gasket comprising a tubular member encircling the outer race of the bearing, the gasket having a cylindrical inner surface and an outer surface, the inner surface engaging the outer race of the bearing, and the outer surface engaging the ribs, the gasket having portions interdigitated with the ribs to resist relative axial movement between the gasket and the housing, said axially adjacent annular ribs and said portions of the resilient material of said gasket interdigitated with said axially adjacent annular ribs comprising means for preventing said gasket from walk out from said housing, each rib in the series of ribs having a uniform width and each rib in the series of ribs having a width in the range of 0.068 inches to 0.078 inches.