Drive system for small vehicle
AssigneeYamaha Hatsudoki Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsKazuhiko Izumi, Hitoshi Takeuchi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A small vehicle features a drive system that directs power from an engine unit to at least one driven wheel. The driven wheel is connected to a half shaft. The half shaft is driven by a ring gear. The ring gear is driven by a pinion gear. The pinion gear is connected to a longtinudinally extending drive shaft. The pinion gear is axially adjustable along the rotational axis of the drive shaft relative to the ring gear. The pinion gear is not substantially axially adjustable relative to a cover member the partially defines a gear housing. The cover member is adjustably secured to the balance of the gear housing through a shim. The shim can be exchanged for varied shim sizes to effect proper meshing between the pinion gear and
Claims18
A drive system for a small vehicle, the system comprising an engine crankshaft, a drive shaft driven by said crankshaft, said drive shaft extending in a generally longitudinal direction, a gear housing being disposed proximate a distal end of said drive shaft, said gear housing comprising an opening that is substantially closed by a first cover, said drive shaft being coupled to a drive sleeve, said drive sleeve extending through an aperture defined in said first cover, a stub shaft being rotationally secured to said drive sleeve and coupling a pinion gear to said drive sleeve, said pinion gear being disposed within said gear housing and meshing with a ring gear, said pinion gear being axially fixed relative to said first cover and axially adjustable relative to said ring gear.
A drive system for a small vehicle, the drive system comprising a longitudinally extending drive shaft, a pinion gear driven by said drive shaft, said pinion gear meshing with a ring gear, said pinion gear and said ring gear being disposed within a chamber defined by a gear housing, said gear housing comprising a first cover, said pinion being connected to said first cover and said pinion and first cover being axially adjustable relative to said ring gear.
The system of claim 9, wherein said pinion is journaled by a bearing mounted to said first cover.
A drive system for a small vehicle, the drive system comprising a longitudinally extending drive shaft, a gear housing, a pinion gear driven by said drive shaft and disposed within said gear housing, a ring gear meshing with said pinion gear and disposed within said gear housing, at least one axle coupled to said ring gear and extending from said gear housing, and means for adjusting an axial position of said pinion gear relative to said drive shaft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.