Dual input planetary final drive

Abstract

The present invention provides a final drive assembly having a differential driven by a planetary gear set having two inputs. The ring gear of the planetary gear set is stationary. One of the inputs is coupled to and drives the planet gear carrier which, in turn, is coupled to and drives the cage of the differential. The other input is coupled to and drives the sun gear of the planetary gear set. Incorporated into a suitable powertrain, for example, one having a dual clutch transmission (DCT) with two outputs, one associated with higher ratio (lower speed) gears and another associated with lower ratio (higher speed) gears, the sun gear carries power in the lower speed gears and provides torque multiplication. In the higher speed gears, power is carried by the planet gear carrier directly to the differential cage, bypassing the speed reduction, torque multiplication and gear mesh losses of the planetary gear set.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.