Shifting mechanism for a vehicle power transfer unit

A vehicle power transfer unit assembly, comprising:

• an input shaft configured to receive a torque;
• an intermediate shaft surrounding at least part of the input shaft;
• a central shaft adjacent the input shaft and configured to transfer the torque to a differential gear assembly;
• a peripheral shaft surrounding at least part of the central shaft and configured to transfer the torque to the differential gear assembly;
• a first shift collar operable between a first position where the torque is transferred from the input shaft to the intermediate shaft via the first shift collar and a second position where the torque is not transferred from the input shaft to the intermediate shaft via the first shift collar;
• a second shift collar operable between a third position where the torque is transferred from the input shaft to the peripheral shaft via the second shift collar and a fourth position where torque is transferred from the input shaft to the central shaft via the second shift collar;
• and
• a shift fork movable relative to the first shift collar and the second shift collar, the shift fork operable to move the first shift collar between the first position and the second position and to move the second shift collar between the third position and the fourth position.

A vehicle power transfer unit assembly, comprising:

• an input shaft configured to receive a torque;
• an intermediate shaft surrounding at least part of the input shaft;
• a central shaft adjacent the input shaft;
• a peripheral shaft surrounding at least part of the central shaft;
• a first shift collar having a first position wherein the first shift collar is coupled for co-rotation to both the input shaft and the intermediate shaft, and the first shift collar having a second position wherein the first shift collar is not coupled to both the input shaft and the intermediate shaft such that the input shaft and intermediate shaft are not co-rotated via a coupling by the first shift collar when the first shift collar is in the second position;
• a second shift collar having a third position wherein the second shift collar is coupled for co-rotation to both the input shaft and the peripheral shaft, and the second shift collar having a fourth position wherein the second shift collar is coupled for co-rotation to both the input shaft and the central shaft;
• an actuator;
• and
• a shift fork driven by the actuator relative to the first shift collar and the second shift collar to move the first shift collar to and between the first position and the second position and to move the second shift collar to and between the third position and the fourth position.