rack and pinion steering assembly

Steering
Assembly
(Rack & Pinion Type)
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Steering is the collection of components, linkages, etc. which allows
any vehicle (car, motorcycle, bicycle) to follow the desired course. An
exception is the case of rail transport by which rail tracks combined
together with railroad switches (and also known as 'points' in British
English) provide the steering function. The primary purpose of the
steering system is to allow the driver to guide the vehicle.
Introduction
The most conventional steering arrangement is to turn the
front wheels using a hand–operated steering wheel which is positioned
in front of the driver, via the steering column, which may
contain universal joints (which may also be part of the collapsible
steering column design), to allow it to deviate somewhat from a straight
line. Other arrangements are sometimes found on different types of
vehicles, for example, a tiller or rear–wheel steering. Tracked
vehicles such as bulldozers and tanks usually employ differential
steering — that is, the tracks are made to move at different speeds or
even in opposite directions, using clutches and brakes, to bring about a
change of course or direction.
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Basic geometry
Caster angle θ indicates kingpin pivot line and gray area indicates
vehicle's tire with the wheel moving from right to left. A positive caster
angle aids in directional stability, as the wheel tends to trail, but a large
angle makes steering more difficult.
Curves described by the rear wheels of a conventional automobile. While

the vehicle moves with a constant speed its inner and outer rear wheels
do not.
The basic aim of steering is to ensure that the wheels are pointing in the
desired directions. This is typically achieved by a series of linkages, rods,
pivots and gears. One of the fundamental concepts is that of caster
angle – each wheel is steered with a pivot point ahead of the wheel; this
makes the steering tend to be self-centering towards the direction of
travel.
The steering linkages connecting the steering box and the wheels
usually conform to a variation of Ackermann steering geometry, to
account for the fact that in a turn, the inner wheel is actually travelling
a path of smaller radius than the outer wheel, so that the degree
of toe suitable for driving in a straight path is not suitable for turns. The
angle the wheels make with the vertical plane also influences steering
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dynamics (see camber angle) as do the tires.

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Rack & Pinion steering
Rack and pinion steering mechanism consists of-

1. Rack
2. Tubular casing
3. Pinion
4. Track rod
5. Ball and socket joint
6. Adjusting screw.
The rack is housed in Tubular casing. The casing is supported on the

frame near its ends. The ends of rack are connected to the track rod
with the help of ball and socket joint. The pinion shaft is carried in the
plain bearings housed in casing. The pinion is meshed with rack and
clearance is adjusted with adjusting screw.
Working of Rack and pinion steering system:
 It’s objective to convert the rotational motion of the steering
wheel to linear motion of the rack.
While the driver turns the steering wheels the steering column
rotates with the steering wheel, and other end of steering column
is connected to pinion gear by means of universal joint and it
rotates the pinion gear on the rack which consists of teeth in it.
The linear motion in rack is converted in to tie rod, which is
connected to the rack rod on both end which is connected to the
wheels by the means of stub axle.
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 Steering ratio is the main criteria while designing the steering
system. It is nothing but the ratio of the number of teeth in the
rack rod to the number of teeth in pinion gear.
 Steering ratio = no of teeth in the rack rod
no of teeth in pinion gear
In the normal steering system for example ambassador old model, the
driver have to turn the steering wheels 4 or 5 full turns to turn the
vehicle from full left to full right, so here the driver have to give more
effect to turn the steering wheel but the steering wheel is easy to turn
only number of turns are more. It is due to low number of teeth in
rack rod and smaller radius pinion gear. When we use the pinion gear
with higher or greater radius and more no of rack teeth, the driver
have no need to turn more rotation of steering wheel, but it is hard to
turn at this case.
Advantages of rack and pinion

1. It is small and compact unit.
Disadvantages
1. No mechanical advantage is obtained.
2. Some steering effort is lost in friction.
Rack and pinion steering mechanism: 1 steering wheel; 2 steering

column; 3 rack and pinion; 4 tie rod; 5 kingpin
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Rack and pinion unit mounted in the cockpit of an Ariel Atom sports car
chassis, a typical of contemporary production automobiles
Many modern cars use rack and pinion steering mechanisms, where the
steering wheel turns the pinion gear; the pinion moves the rack, which
is a linear gear that meshes with the pinion, converting circular motion
into linear motion along the transverse axis of the car (side to side
motion). This motion applies steering torque to the swivel pin ball
joints that replaced previously used kingpins of the stub axle of the
steered wheels via tie rods and a short lever arm called the steering
arm.
The rack and pinion design has the advantages of a large degree of
feedback and direct steering "feel". A disadvantage is that it is not
adjustable, so that when it does wear and develop lash, the only cure is
replacement.
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rack and pinion steering assembly

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Steering

Curves described by the rear wheels of a conventional automobile. While

dynamics (see camber angle) as do the tires.

Rack and pinion steering mechanism consists of-

The rack is housed in Tubular casing. The casing is supported on the

Advantages of rack and pinion

Rack and pinion steering mechanism: 1 steering wheel; 2 steering

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