Bearing hub and carrier assembly for a driven steering wheel unit

Claim 1

For use in a driven steering wheel unit as in a front wheel drive vehicle, a bearing hub and carrier assembly comprising a hub including an internally splined spindle adapted to receive a splined drive shaft and an integral flange radiating from one end of said spindle for mounting of a vehicle wheel, at least one bearing means having an inner race telescopically received over said spindle and an outer race, a cup carrier mounted to said outer race externally of said spindle for mounting said assembly to a vehicle and means for locking said hub against axial removal with respect to said bearing means and said cup carrier, said locking means comprising a first circumferential groove formed on said spindle adjacent the flange-remote end thereof, a second circumferential groove formed in said inner race in radial alignment with said first circumferential groove, a third groove on said spindle at an intersecting acute angle with respect to said first groove and opening at said flange-remote end of said spindle, a fourth groove formed in the outer spindle surface at an angle intersecting said third groove at said flange-remote end of said spindle, and a one-piece retaining wire received in said aligned first and second grooves surrounding said spindle for preventing axial displacement of said first and second grooves out of radial registry, an end of said wire extending through said third groove which functions as a wire feed groove and then into said fourth groove which functions as a locking groove for locking said wire against rotation with respect to said spindle and affording access to said wire at the intersection of said feed and locking grooves for removing said wire in disassembly.