Gear drive cooling
AssigneeThe Falk Corporation
InventorRonald A. Witt
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A gear drive unit has a shaft mounted impeller which a series of blades or vanes inside the housing for the drive. The impeller vanes are positioned to be in the path of travel of oil flung off of a bull gear which rotates in an oil pan extending into an oil bath contained in the housing. The impeller is rotated by the impact of the oil against its vanes. In one embodiment, the rotating impeller drives a fan located outside the housing and the fan circulates air through a series of hollow tubes extending through the housing parallel to the impeller shaft. In another embodiment, the rotating impeller drives fans disposed outside of the housing at both ends of the impeller shaft.
Claims6
In a gear drive which includes an enclosed housing defining a fluid reservoir, an input shaft and an output shaft each journaled in opposite side walls of the housing, and meshing gearing connecting the shafts including a gear which rotates through fluid in the reservoir, the improvement comprising:
- a rotatable impeller mounted on a shaft in the housing and having vanes which are in the path of fluid ejected from the periphery of the gear as it rotates, and
- a fan connected to the impeller shaft exterior of the housing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.