Twin clutch two speed disconnect RDU

A vehicle drive unit for driving wheels of a vehicle comprising:

• a main housing;
• one or more main shafts, each of which is rotatably supported by said main housing for driving a respective vehicle wheel;
• an input shaft rotatably supported by said main housing for selective driving of each said main shafts;
• and
• a shift assembly drivingly connected to a respective one of said main shafts to intermediately drive an output shaft of said shift assembly for driving the respective vehicle wheel when connected thereto, wherein said output shaft connects to and drives the respective vehicle wheel in either of a hi-range mode or lo-range mode to shift driving operation of said output shaft between hi-speed and lo-speed operation;
• said shift assembly comprising said output shaft for driving said vehicle wheel, an intermediate shaft, which is rotatable about said shaft axis, and a planetary gear assembly which transfers torque between said main shaft and said output shaft;
• said planetary gear assembly comprising a sun gear rotatable with said intermediate shaft, a ring gear disposed radially outwardly of said sun gear, and a planetary carrier assembly comprising a planetary carrier rotatably supporting one or more planet gears thereon, wherein said planetary carrier is engaged with said output shaft for rotation together therewith and said planet gears rotate between said sun gear and said ring gear during rotation of said output shaft;
• and
• said shift assembly further including a shift member which is shiftable to connect said main shaft to either said intermediate shaft in a first shift mode or said planetary carrier assembly in a second shift mode, wherein shifting of said shift member shifts said shift assembly between said hi-range mode and said lo-range mode, said shift member in said first shift mode connecting said main shaft to said intermediate shaft to cause said intermediate shaft to rotate said sun gear and transfer torque along a first torque transmission path through said planetary carrier assembly to said output shaft, and said shift member in said second shift mode connecting said main shaft to said planetary carrier to cause said planetary carrier assembly to rotate said planet gears and transfer torque along a second torque transmission path through said planetary carrier assembly to said output path, wherein said first and second torque transmission paths rotate said output shaft at respective first and second speeds in response to rotation of said main shaft;
• wherein said shift member is movably connected to said main shaft and is movable between first and second shift positions to connect said main shaft to either said intermediate shaft in said first shift position or said planetary carrier assembly in said second shift position, wherein said shift member in said first shift position causes said intermediate shaft to rotate said sun gear and transfer torque along said first torque transmission path through said planetary carrier assembly to said output shaft, and said shift member in said second shift position causes said planetary carrier assembly to rotate said planet gears and transfer torque along said second torque transmission path through said planetary carrier assembly to said output path;
• wherein said first shift mode defines said lo-range mode and said second shift mode defines said hi-range mode;
• wherein said shift member is shiftable axially along said shaft axis between said first and second shift positions;
• and
• wherein said shift member includes first and second drive formations, said first drive formations being engaged with said main shaft in said first and second shift positions, said intermediate shaft and said planetary carrier assembly further including respective third and fourth drive formations, wherein said second drive formations of said shift member engage said third drive formations of said intermediate shaft in said first shift position and engage said fourth drive formations of said planetary carrier assembly in said second shift position.

A vehicle drive unit for driving wheels of a vehicle comprising:

• a drive unit sub-assembly comprising a main housing, one or more main shafts, each of which is rotatably supported by said main housing for driving a respective vehicle wheel, and an input shaft rotatably supported by said main housing for selective driving of each said main shaft;
• and
• at least one shift assembly mounted as a sub-assembly to said drive unit sub-assembly so as to drivingly connect said main shaft to an output shaft of said shift assembly for driving a respective vehicle wheel, wherein said output shaft connects to and drives the respective vehicle wheel in either of a hi-range mode or lo-range mode to shift driving operation of said output shaft between hi-speed and lo-speed operation;
• said shift assembly comprising a secondary housing mountable to said main housing, said output shaft rotatably supported on said secondary housing for driving said vehicle wheel, an intermediate shaft rotatable about said shaft axis, and a planetary gear assembly, which transfers torque between said main shaft and said output shaft;
• said planetary gear assembly comprising a sun gear rotatable with said intermediate shaft, a ring gear disposed radially outwardly of said sun gear, and a planetary carrier assembly comprising a planetary carrier rotatably supporting one or more planet gears thereon, wherein said planetary carrier is engaged with said output shaft for rotation together therewith and said planet gears rotate between said sun gear and said ring gear during rotation of said output shaft;
• wherein said shift assembly further includes an actuator with an actuator arm pivotally supported on said secondary housing, and a shift member, said shift member being supported on said actuator arm so as to be shiftable by said actuator to connect said main shaft to either said intermediate shaft in a first shift mode or said planetary carrier assembly in a second shift mode, wherein shifting of said shift member shifts said shift assembly between said hi-range mode and said lo-range mode, said shift member in said first shift mode connecting said main shaft to said intermediate shaft to cause said intermediate shaft to rotate said sun gear and transfer torque along a first torque transmission path through said planetary carrier assembly to said output shaft, and said shift member in said second shift mode connecting said main shaft to said planetary carrier to cause said planetary carrier assembly to rotate said planet gears and transfer torque along a second torque transmission path through said planetary carrier assembly to said output path, wherein said first and second torque transmission paths rotate said output shaft at respective first and second speeds in response to rotation of said main shaft.