Commercial Vehicle Steering Gear with Variable Length Shaft
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing commercial vehicle chassis requires costly and time-consuming adjustments by body manufacturers to convert the driver's workplace and steering gear arrangement from a temporary transverse position to the final left-hand or right-hand drive configuration, as the vehicle is delivered without specifying the drive side.
Innovation Solution
The steering gear can be attached to the front axle in various positions, such as in front of, behind, or on the axle body, and connected via a steering joint shaft to allow the driver's workplace to be positioned centrally or laterally, with the ability to change the cardan shaft length to accommodate left, central, or right placement, independent of the steering gear's position.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the driver's workplace and steering gear are arranged in a fixed transverse position for delivery, then the vehicle can be delivered without specifying drive side, but costly and time-consuming conversions are required to change to left-hand or right-hand drive configuration
Solution Approach 1:
The driver's workplace is segmented into a removable temporary workplace that can be independently positioned and relocated. This allows the body manufacturer to remove the temporary workplace and install a final workplace on either the left or right side without converting the entire vehicle chassis or steering system.
Solution Approach 2:
The steering joint shaft is designed with variable length capability, allowing it to dynamically adjust its length to compensate for changes in distance between the steering gear and the driver's workplace. This dynamic adjustment eliminates the need for mechanical conversions when repositioning the driver's workplace between left-hand and right-hand drive configurations.
2Ease of operation
If the steering gear is fixed to the chassis in a specific position, then the steering system is stable, but the driver's workplace cannot be easily repositioned between left and right sides
Solution Approach 1:
The steering joint shaft acts as an intermediary element between the fixed steering gear and the movable driver's workplace. It compensates for position changes through its variable length capability, allowing the workplace to be repositioned without moving the steering gear itself, thus maintaining both stability and flexibility.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the cardan shaft length is fixed, then the connection between steering wheel and steering gear is stable, but it cannot accommodate variable distances when repositioning the driver's workplace
Solution Approach 1:
The steering joint shaft incorporates variable length capability, transforming from a static fixed-length component to a dynamic adjustable component. This allows the shaft to adapt its length to accommodate different distances between the steering gear and driver's workplace during repositioning, while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure.
Data Source
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AI summary
The commercial vehicle chassis has a steering gear (8) fastened to a vehicle in driving direction (5) within the area of a front axle (2), and is connected with a steering wheel (10) arranged at a driver place (11) for the execution of the guidance manipulation over a steering drive shaft (9). The steering drive shaft has a variable length for the reconciliation of the changeable distance of the steering wheel to the steering gear.