Motor vehicles – Surface effect vehicles – Dynamic seal or fluid curtain
Patent
1992-09-22
1994-05-03
Focarino, Margaret A.
Motor vehicles
Surface effect vehicles
Dynamic seal or fluid curtain
180148, 417363, B62D 506
Patent
active
053078942
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A typical hydraulic power steering system for automotive vehicles includes a steering gear with housing, steering shaft and steering rack, a hydraulic cylinder coupled to said steering rack, a pump and a steering valve which controls the pressure fluid flow from the pump to the hydraulic cylinder in dependence on the actuation of steering. Steering systems of the like are fitted to many passenger vehicles, particularly to more expensive cars. Usually, the single component parts are mounted one after the other directly into the vehicle body on the body assembly line. After the assembly, the system is filled with pressure fluid, vented and tested. If any defect is found, the defective parts must be disassembled and replaced with great effort. Additionally, it is expensive to warehouse the various components at the vehicle maker's premises.
Another disadvantage of the known power steering systems is that, once the automotive vehicle is used up or junked, they can be recycled only by entailing great expenditure in time and cost. In this case, took, all elements would have to be disassembled one by one from the vehicle, and the system within the vehicle would have to be previously discharged. This shortcoming is particularly important in view of forthcoming legal regulations concerning the re-cycling of old cars and their component parts.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a completely mountable, tested and fluid-filled hydraulic power steering system which satisfies demands on industrial production, logistics sequences and the ability to recycle and which, in addition, entails low costs.
The power steering system of the present invention includes all the individual component parts pre-assembled into a pre-tested ready to install unit. The assembly of the complete unit which was fluid-filled, vented and tested outside of the vehicle can be carried out by an industrial robot, and the delivery is effected "just in time". Owing to the small distances between pump, valve and hydraulic cylinder only short hoses are required which consequently minimizes the share in elastomerics polluting the environment. Since the entire system can also be disassembled as a unit, low-cost recycling is possible.
A favorable improvement upon the present invention has a pump that is driven by an electric motor which is rigidly coupled to the pump. In contrast to pumps driven by an internal-combustion engine which must be driven by the crankshaft via a belt and wherein the driving the belt can be attached only after the pump and other components are mounted to the vehicle, electromotively driven pumps can be mounted together with the motor into the assembly unit. After the assembly unit has been fitted to the automotive vehicle, it is merely required to connect a wire plug to the power supply for furnishing the motor with energy.
For the purpose of damping of noise and vibration, damping elements are interposed between the pump and the other component parts. In this way, the vibrations which inevitably are caused on operation of the pump will not be transmitted to other elements.
The sound attenuation is particularly expedient when the damping elements are attached to the pump housing in the area of vibration nodes. This is because the smallest vibration amplitudes occur in such nodes, and for this reason the vibrations are transmitted only relatively weakly in these points.
The present invention is described hereinbelow by way of the example illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a power steering system wherein all component parts form an assembly unit, and
FIG. 2 is a damping element, shown on an enlarged scale.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the power steering system. The housing 1 accommodates the hydraulic cylinder 2 and the steering rack 3. The steering shaft 4 projects out of a portion 5 of the housing 1. The steering valve 6 is rigidly coupled to the housin
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Beer Wilhelm
Henein Nabil
Alfred Teves GmbH
Focarino Margaret A.
Gossett Dykema
Johnson Victor E.
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