A vehicle steering column assembly 12 for a vehicle has an elongate housing 14 in which is rotatably mounted a shaft 16 to which a steering wheel is attachable at one end. Housing 14 is releasably mounted to a support 26 so that housing 14 is constrained to be moveable along an adjustment axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the housing. A motor 20 is provided for moving housing along the adjustment axis through a linkage (42, Figure 6), for example a crank or a Cardan gear, connected to housing 14 and driven by an output (54, Figure 6) of motor 20. The assembly is particularly suitable for an autonomous vehicle and may collapse in the event of a serious impact to the vehicle; for example a flexible wire may be secured to housing 14 to absorb energy from a collision, and the connection between the linkage and housing 14 may be shearable.
Steering column assembly
2022-11-09
Patent
Electronic Resource
English
IPC: | B62D MOTOR VEHICLES , Motorfahrzeuge |
Steering column, steering column assembly, steering system and vehicle
European Patent Office | 2025
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