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US 6,605,015 B1Granted
Tunable clutch for axle assembly
AssigneeTorque-Traction Technologies, Inc.
InventorsGerald L. Kinsley, Gregory L. Heatwole
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AssigneeTorque-Traction Technologies, Inc.
InventorsGerald L. Kinsley, Gregory L. Heatwole
Estimating the term…
A novel arrangement of a limited slip differential assembly comprising a differential case housing a friction clutch assembly provided within a differential case for selectively restricting differential action and a hydraulic actuator assembly including a piston assembly and a bi-directional gerotor pump. The piston assembly includes a hydraulic piston disposed in a piston housing forming a pressure chamber. The piston housing is provided with a removable bleed plug defining a flow restricting bleed passage. The bleed plug is accessible from the outside of the differential assembly without disassembling thereof through an access hole in the differential case. By appropriately selecting a flow area of the bleed passage, the limited slip differential assembly may be tuned to define application rate of torque transfer of the friction clutch assembly.
A torque coupling device between an input shaft and at least one output shaft, said device comprising:
A limited slip differential assembly, comprising:
A method for tuning a torque coupling device, said torque coupling device including a gear case rotatably supported in a housing and adapted to drive at least one output shaft, a hydraulic actuator for controllably coupling said at least one output shaft to said gear case and a removable bleed plug having a flow restricting bleed passage therethrough in flow communication with said hydraulic actuator for regulating a bleed flow from said hydraulic actuator to within said housing, said method comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.