> > Atari Hard Drivin' / Race Drivin' had 3 turns lock-to-lock (the arcade
> > sit-down cabinet). This was done with a 3-turn pot on the end of the
> > steering column-- much better than any sort of gearing mechanism.
> > ...there was a strong stop to keep from running the pot past the end of
> > its travel (which would break the pot!)
> This is the part I can't get my head around. If it can turn more than
> one full rotation, how would you incorporate a stop?
thread on the steering shaft and a big nut with a tab welded to it, like
one "wing" of a wingnut. As you turn the wheel the nut threads up and down
(the tab is held in a slot) and the threaded portion ends with heavy
washers that were welded onto the steering shaft. So the nut bumps into
the end of its travel and stops the steering wheel. There were some ***
bumpers in the slot to keep the peak forces down when you jammed the wheel
to the end. A friend has one of these sit-down cabinets (with working
game) with over 100,000 plays on the game counter and the steering
mechanism is fine.
Another method that was considered (but not used) was a stack of disks like
the disks in a combination lock on a safe -- pegs stick thru each disk and
pick-up matching pegs on the next disk.
There are many other ways to make a multi-turn stop...machinists and
machine designers have been doing things like this for several centuries
and car designers have been at it (all cars have steering stops<grin>) for
over a century now.
-- Doug Milliken
www.millikenresearch.com/olleyfl.html <-- review of new book