Interaxle differential for tandem axle assembly
First Claim
1. A differential assembly, comprising:
- a housing means;
an input shaft rotatable about an axis and being disposed in said housing means and carrying a first differential side gear means, said first side gear means being provided with first side gear teeth engageable with at least two differential pinion gear means;
each of said pinion gear means being rotatably mounted to a carrier means mounted for rotation with said input shaft, each of said pinion gear means having an axis of rotation perpendicular to and intersecting the axis of said input shaft;
an output shaft rotatable about an output axis coincident with said input shaft axis, said output shaft having a second differential side gear means non-rotatably mounted thereon and having gear teeth engageable with said pinion gear means;
said first and second side gear means, said carrier means, and said pinion gear means cooperating to define a differential mechanism;
said housing means including means for at least partially enclosing at least a lower portion of said differential mechanism;
an apertured cup member affixed to said housing and surrounding said input shaft, said cup member being located between said carrier means and said first side gear means;
an annular seal means positioned between and sealingly contacting said apertured cup member and said first side gear means;
said housing means, said apertured cup member, said annular seal means, and said first side gear means defining a lubricant sump for said differential mechanism.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A tandem axle assembly includes an interaxle differential mechanism which includes a separate lubricant sump for providing lubrication to the interaxle differential during both initial start-up and normal running conditions. One of the interaxle differential side gears is disk-shaped, and includes internally formed side gear teeth in a planar rear face, internally formed clutch teeth in a planar front face, and external teeth around the radial periphery. The interaxle differential is coupled to divide power to two separate axle differential assemblies. Each axle differential assembly includes a pair of pinion gears having spherical gear seats and a pair of side gears having conical gear seats. Each axle differential assembly is rotatably supported within a housing by a pair of tapered roller bearings. The outer race of each bearing is located within an end of the carrier, while the inner race is positioned on a reduced diameter hub of a bearing retainer threaded into an opening in the housing. The opening in the housing is sized such that the bearing retainer having the inner race and an associated roller cage assembly thereon can be inserted therethrough during the assembly process.
62 Citations
10 Claims
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1. A differential assembly, comprising:
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a housing means; an input shaft rotatable about an axis and being disposed in said housing means and carrying a first differential side gear means, said first side gear means being provided with first side gear teeth engageable with at least two differential pinion gear means; each of said pinion gear means being rotatably mounted to a carrier means mounted for rotation with said input shaft, each of said pinion gear means having an axis of rotation perpendicular to and intersecting the axis of said input shaft; an output shaft rotatable about an output axis coincident with said input shaft axis, said output shaft having a second differential side gear means non-rotatably mounted thereon and having gear teeth engageable with said pinion gear means; said first and second side gear means, said carrier means, and said pinion gear means cooperating to define a differential mechanism; said housing means including means for at least partially enclosing at least a lower portion of said differential mechanism; an apertured cup member affixed to said housing and surrounding said input shaft, said cup member being located between said carrier means and said first side gear means; an annular seal means positioned between and sealingly contacting said apertured cup member and said first side gear means; said housing means, said apertured cup member, said annular seal means, and said first side gear means defining a lubricant sump for said differential mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A bevel gear differential assembly, comprising:
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a first shaft rotatable about an axis; a first differential side gear having an annular bore for rotatably receiving and engaging an annular surface portion of said first shaft; a pinion gear carrier means affixed to said first shaft and carrying at least two beveled differential pinion gears thereon, each of said pinion gears having an axis of rotation perpendicular to and intersecting said axis of said first shaft; said first differential side gear having a plurality of first beveled side gear teeth formed therein engageable with said beveled differential pinion gears; and a second shaft rotatable about an axis coincident with the axis of rotation of said first shaft and having a second differential side gear mounted thereon, said second differential side gear defining second beveled side gear teeth engageable with said beveled differential pinion gears; said first differential side gear being provided with at least one oil passageway formed therein extending between said first beveled side gear teeth and said first bore for supplying lubricating oil to said annular surface portion of said first shaft. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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Specification