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US 10,703,413 B2Granted
Rear drive unit detachment system and method
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsDominik Mueller, Joergen Hilmann, Istvan Somogyvari, Djamel Bouzit, Deb Kumar Bonnerjee
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Abstract
An RDU detachment system is provided and includes a front RDU mounting bracket, a rear RDU mounting bracket, a rear cross member including an inclined face oriented toward the RDU and at least one bushing connecting the rear RDU mounting bracket with the rear cross member. A method of detaching an RDU from a rear subframe of a motor vehicle in response to an impact force transmitted to the RDU through a driveline is also disclosed.
Claims8
A rear drive unit (“RDU”) detachment system for a motor vehicle, comprising:
- a front RDU mounting bracket having an engineered yield to allow rearward displacement of an RDU in response to an impact force transmitted to said RDU through a driveline;
- a rear RDU mounting bracket;
- a rear cross member including a downwardly inclined face oriented toward said RDU, wherein said downwardly inclined face has an upper end oriented vehicle forward of a lower end;
- and
- two bushings connecting said rear RDU mounting bracket with said rear cross member at two points;
- and
- wherein said front mounting bracket includes a first slip RDU mounting point on a first side of said driveline opening and a first fixed RDU mounting point on said first side of said driveline opening between said first slip RDU mounting point and said driveline opening and wherein said first slip RDU mounting point includes a first bolt received in a first elongated slot in said front RDU mounting bracket wherein said first elongated slot has a first longitudinal axis extending in a horizontal plane substantially perpendicular to said driveline.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.