Offset shaft arrangement for in-line shift transaxle housing
AssigneeTecumseh Products Company
InventorRoland L. von Kaler
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention is a transaxle with an offset shaft thereby having a reduced profile. The transaxle includes an upper housing and a lower housing defining a split line. A vertical input shaft and an axle shaft are rotatably disposed in the housing. A shift shaft is rotatably disposed within the housing and operably connected to the input shaft. Gears on the shift shaft mesh with gears on a counter shaft to transmit rotational motion from the one input shaft to the axle shaft. The axle shaft is disposed in a first generally horizontal plane and the shift shaft is disposed in a second generally horizontal plane below the first generally horizontal plane to reduce the profile of the transaxle.
Claims20
A transaxle for a vehicle comprising:
- a housing;
- a vertical input shaft disposed in said housing and having a top end extending out of said housing;
- a plurality of horizontal shafts rotatably disposed within said housing and disposed in a orthogonal relationship relative to said vertical input shaft, said plurality of shafts including an input receiving shaft, a counter shaft operably connected to said input receiving shaft, and an axle shaft, said input receiving shaft, counter shaft and axle shaft defining respective axes of rotation;
- and
- a plurality of gears on said input receiving and counter shafts interconnected to transmit rotational motion from said input receiving shaft to said axle shaft;
- said axle shaft axis of rotation and said counter shaft axis of rotation being disposed in a first generally horizontal plane, said input receiving shaft axis of rotation being disposed in a second generally horizontal plane below said first generally horizontal plane.
A transaxle for a vehicle comprising:
- a housing;
- a vertical input shaft rotatably disposed in said housing and having a top end extending out of said housing;
- an axle shaft rotatably disposed within said housing and having a central axis which is disposed generally coplanar with a first generally horizontal plane;
- an input receiving shaft rotatably disposed within said housing and operably connected to said vertical input shaft, said input receiving shaft having a central axis;
- and
- a plurality of gears on said input receiving shaft and said axle shaft interconnected to transmit rotational motion from said input receiving shaft to said axle shaft;
- said input receiving shaft central axis disposed generally coplanar with a second generally horizontal plane below said first generally horizontal plane.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.