Structure for supporting a steering column main shaft

Claim 1

A structure for supporting a steering main shaft comprising first and second bearing structures which rotatably support upper and lower end portions of said shaft, respectively, said second bearing structure permitting pivotal movement of said steering main shaft about a point on the axis of said shaft with three degrees of freedom, said second bearing structure comprising a housing, an outer ring element movably disposed in said housing for movement along the axis of said shaft relative to said housing and having a spherically concave inner surface, a spring disposed between said housing and said outer ring element for biasing said outer ring element relative to said housing along the axis of said shaft in a direction toward said upper end, an inner ring element having a spherically convex outer surface which is complementary to and is received by said spherically concave inner surface, and ball bearing means having outer and inner races and balls engaged therebetween, said outer race being secured to said inner ring element and said inner race being secured to the lower end portion of said shaft.