Hydraulically actuated axle disconnect

An axle disconnect assembly, comprising:

• an axle housing rotatably supporting an input axle shaft and an output axle shaft, a collar non-rotatably and translatably mounted on one of the input and output axle shafts, said collar adapted to translate between a first position where collar drivingly engages one of the input and output axle shafts and a second position where the collar engages both said input and output axle shafts to form a driving connection there between;
• a movable piston engaging said collar, said piston adapted to shift said collar between the first position and the second position;
• a valve in communication with an existing oil pump of said vehicle, said valve being controlled to selectively supply pressurized oil from said existing oil pump to opposite sides of said piston to selectively move said piston thereby selectively translating said collar between said first and second positions;
• and
• a controller to selectively control said valve body between a connect mode and a disconnect mode;
• and said piston is disposed within and translatable within a chamber between opposite sides thereof;
• wherein when in said connect mode, said controller operates said valve body to establish communication of said pressurized fluid source to a first one of said opposite sides of chamber and establishes fluid communication of a second one of said opposite sides of said chamber to an exhaust port thereby moving said piston together with said collar to engage both said input and output shafts and when in a disconnect mode said controller operates said valve body to establish communication of said pressurized fluid source to said second one of said opposite sides of said chamber and establishes fluid communication of said first one of said opposite sides of said chamber to said exhaust port thereby moving said piston together with said collar to disengage one of said input and output shafts.

An axle disconnect for an auxiliary drive axle having a differential comprising:

• an axle housing directly attached to an engines oil pan and rotatably supporting first and second coaxial axle shafts end-to end, the coaxial axle shafts having external clutch teeth at adjacent ends,
• a collar rotatably and translatably disposed in the axle housing and coaxially arranged with respect to the coaxial axle shafts, the clutch sleeve having internal clutch teeth slidably engaging the external clutch teeth of at least one of the first and second coaxial axle shafts so that the clutch sleeve translates between a first position where the internal teeth engage the external teeth of the other of the first and second coaxial axle shafts and a second position where the integral teeth disengage the external teeth of the other of the first and second coaxial axle shafts, and
• shift means for shifting the collar from the first position to the second position and vice-versa, the shift means comprising,
• a piston slidably disposed within a chamber and engaging said collar for movement together therewith, a valve body in communication with an existing oil pump of said vehicle thereby providing a pressurized fluid source to opposite sides of said chamber, where in when said valve body establishes communication of said pressurized fluid source to a first one of said opposite ends of said chamber said piston together with said piston are forced to said first position and when said valve body establishes communication of said pressurized fluid to a second one of said opposite ends of said chamber said piston together with said collar are forced to said second position;
• and
• a controller to selectively control said valve body between a connect mode and a disconnect mode;
• and said piston is disposed within and translatable within a chamber between opposite sides thereof;
• wherein when in said connect mode, said controller operates said valve body to establish communication of said pressurized fluid source to a first one of said opposite sides of chamber and establishes fluid communication of a second one of said opposite sides of said chamber to an exhaust port thereby moving said piston together with said collar to engage both said input and output shafts and when in a disconnect mode said controller operates said valve body to establish communication of said pressurized fluid source to said second one of said opposite sides of said chamber and establishes fluid communication of said first one of said opposite sides of said chamber to said exhaust port thereby moving said piston together with said collar to disengage one of said input and output shafts.