Drive system for an electric vehicle
OwnerDavid K. Platner, Adam Richard Menzeinventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electric vehicle drive assembly includes a rigid axle having opposed wheel hubs driven by a gear set. An electric motor is fixedly mounted to a vehicle frame cross member separate from the axle. The electric motor drives a drive shaft which directly drives an input pinion of the gear set. As the input pinion rotates, it meshes with an outer diameter teeth set of a rotatable ring gear to drive a plurality of planet gears and provide a high reduction ratio. The planet gears are rotated about a stationary sun gear and simultaneously rotate a planet carrier and drive an output shaft attached to the wheel hub.
Claims12
An electric vehicle drive assembly comprising:
- a suspension system mounted to a vehicle frame;
- an axle mounted to said suspension system, said axle defining a first axis;
- a wheel hub mounted to said vehicle axle, said wheel hub rotatable about said first axis;
- a planetary gear set mounted to said axle to drive said wheel hub;
- an electric motor mounted to a member of said vehicle frame, said electric motor mounted substantially parallel to said vehicle axle;
- and
- a drive shaft extending from said electric motor to drive said planetary gear set.
An electric vehicle drive assembly comprising:
- a suspension system mounted to a vehicle frame;
- an axle mounted to said suspension system, said axle defining a first axis;
- a first and second wheel hub mounted to opposed ends of said axle, said first and second wheel hub rotatable about said first axis;
- a first planetary gear set mounted to said axle to drive said first wheel hub, said first planetary gear set having a first ring gear;
- a second planetary gear set mounted to said axle to drive said second wheel hub said second planetary gear set having a second ring gear;
- a first and second electric motor mounted to a cross member of said vehicle frame, said first and second electric motor mounted substantially parallel to said vehicle axle;
- a first input pinion engageable with an outer diameter of said first ring gear;
- a first drive shaft extending from said first electric motor to drive said first input pinion;
- a second input pinion engageable with an outer diameter of said second ring gear;
- and
- a second drive shaft extending from said second electric motor to drive said second input pinion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.