Inverted portal axle rotating spindle wheel end
AssigneeMeritor Heavy Vehicle Technology, LLC
InventorsWilliam C. Sullivan, Tomaz Dopico Varela
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An offset axle assembly includes a two-piece gear case. A first section of the gear case includes a drive gear assembly and the second section includes a driven gear attached to a shaft supported within the second section of the gear case. Attached to the end of the shaft is a hub. The hub is attached to the shaft by way of a plurality of mating splines. The hub is secured to the end of the shaft by a single nut. The hub may be removed from the shaft by removal of the single nut. One of the drive gear or driven gear assemblies is a planetary gear system. The planetary gear system includes a ring gear driven by a helical gear such that distance between axles is determined by the diameters of the helical and ring gear.
Claims18
A portal axle assembly comprising;
- a differential assembly including a drive gear assembly supported within a differential housing;
- a driven gear assembly attached to rotate a shaft and transmit rotation from said drive gear of said differential assembly;
- a gear case attached to said differential housing defining a cavity through which said spindle extends;
- two bearing assemblies disposed within said cavity defined by said gear case for supporting said shaft and said driven gear;
- and
- a hub mounted to said shaft and removable without removing said gear case from said differential housing.
A portal axle assembly comprising;
- a differential assembly including a drive gear supported within a differential housing;
- a gear case attached to said differential assembly;
- a planetary gear assembly supported within said gear case and driven by said drive gear;
- and
- a shaft supported within said gear case and driven by said planetary gear assembly.
A portal axle assembly comprising;
- a differential assembly including a planetary gear assembly supported within a differential housing;
- a gear case attached to said differential assembly;
- a driven gear supported within said gear case and driven by said planetary gear assembly;
- and
- a shaft supported within said gear case and driven by said planetary gear assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.