Steering System
The direction of the automobile under way is changed by turning the front wheels with the aid of the steering system. The steering system includes a steering gear and a steering control linkage. The rotation of the steering wheel is imparted to the levers and rods of the linkage by which the steerable wheels are turned.
The steering column with the steering wheel is installed in the driver’s cad. Its upper part is se-cured to the instrument board by a clamp, and the lower end is attached through bushings to the steering gear housing.
There are two types of the steering system: manual steering system and power steering system. For the manual steering system, there are the worm and roller type and the recirculating ball and worm type.
In the worm and roller type, an hourglass-shaped worm gear is attached to the input shaft. The threads of the worm gear are meshed with the threads of a sector gear, commonly called a roller. The sec-tor gear transfers the rotary motion of the worm gear input shaft to the output shaft. The output shaft is splined to the pitman arm, which translates the rotary motion of the shaft to linear motion. Movement in the pitman arm is transmitted through a drag link to the steering arm and knuckle and thus to the wheels.
In the recirculating ball gears, the input shaft of this type of steering gear is also connected to a worm gear, but the worm gear in a recirculating ball type unit is straight. Mounted on the worm gear is a ball nut. The ball nut has interior spiral grooves that mate with the threads of the worm gear. The ball nut also has exterior gear teeth on one side. These teeth mesh with teeth on a sector gear and shaft.
In the grooves between the ball nut and the worm gear are ball bearings. The ball nut and the worm gear are ball bearings. The ball bearings allow the worm gear and ball nut to mesh and move with little friction. When the steering wheel is turned, the input shaft will rotate the worm gear. The ball bearing will transmit the turning force form the worm gear to the ball nut, causing the ball nut to move up and down the worm gear. Ball return guides are connected to each end of the ball nut grooves. These allow the ball bearing to circulate in a continuous loop.
As the ball nut moves up or down on the worm gear, it causes the sector gear to rotate which, in turn, causes the pitman arm to swivel back and forth. This motion is transferred to the steering arm and knuckle to turn the wheel.
Some automobiles are equipped with a hydraulic power steering system intended to decrease the efforts spend by the driver to turn the wheels and to damp the road jolts transmilled to the steering wheel. The booster is integrated with the steering gear.