Gearless Portal Axle Assembly

Abstract

A portal axle assembly is an enclosed drive system that is attached to a vehicle's axle, steering or other linkages, relocating vehicle power from an input axle shaft to a displaced (usually lower) output shaft. The output shaft, in turn, drives an attached unit bearing hub assembly that provides power to the vehicle's wheel. The inventive approach of this gearless, direct-drive, chain-and-sprocket design represents a unique and simplified approach that differs significantly from the multi-gear portal technology that is widely utilized in other portal axle designs. The gearless portal is designed to be compatible with floating axle shafts, or not on both the input and output ports, depending on use-case. Differential sprocket sizing provides for changes to drive ratio based on application. Additionally, the design of the portal housing provides for adaptation for attachment to a wide variety of OEM and aftermarket axle housing, suspension, steering linkage and other attachment methods. The portal axle can be readily made to accept a wide range of output hubs, unit bearing, and other methods of wheel attachment.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.