Axle Assembly
AssigneeMeritor Heavy Vehicle Systems Cameri SpA
InventorsFabio Santinato, Cesare Bonfa, Maurizio Lupi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An axle assembly and method of reworking an axle assembly. The axle assembly has an axle housing and a differential carrier assembly. A central portion of the axle housing has an opening that is defined by an axle flange that has a first mating surface. The differential carrier assembly has a differential mounted on a carrier. The carrier has a carrier flange that has a second mating surface. The first mating surface is sealed to the second mating surface by seal. At least one of the first and second mating surfaces includes a groove.
Claims20
An axle assembly comprising:
- an axle housing having a central portion for receiving a differential, the central portion having an opening defined by an axle flange that has a first mating surface, a first axle tube extending from the central portion, and a second axle tube extending from the central portion;
- and
- a differential carrier assembly having a carrier to which the differential is mounted, the carrier having a carrier flange that has a second mating surface;
- wherein the first mating surface is sealed to the second mating surface by a seal and the first mating surface, the second mating surface, or the first mating surface and the second mating surface include a groove.
A method of reworking an axle assembly comprising:
- a) providing the axle assembly that includes:
- an axle housing that has a central portion for receiving a differential, a first axle tube extending from the central portion, and a second axle tube extending from the central portion, wherein the central portion has an opening defined by an axle flange that has a first mating surface, a differential carrier assembly having the differential mounted on a carrier, the carrier having a carrier flange having a second mating surface, wherein the differential carrier assembly is mounted on the axle housing with the first mating surface engaged with the second mating surface;
- b) removing the differential carrier assembly from the axle housing;
- c) forming a groove on the first mating surface, the second mating surface, or the first mating surface and the second mating surface;
- d) applying a seal to the first mating surface, the second mating surface, or the first mating surface and the second mating surface;
- and
- e) re-mounting the differential carrier assembly on the axle housing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.