Axle shaft assembly
AssigneeAmerican Axle & Manufacturing, Inc.
InventorsKevin Ray Beutler, Blair James Swanson, Jeffrey Eugene Rea, Robert Allen Dunn
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An axle shaft assembly for a motor vehicle has a bearing unit, an axle shaft, and a bearing retainer. The axle shaft is supported within the wheel bearing unit. The axle shaft has an outer diameter. The bearing retainer is mounted on the axle shaft and abuts the wheel bearing unit. The bearing retainer has a piloting feature for aligning the bearing retainer with respect to the axle shaft. The piloting feature includes a pilot surface with an inner diameter approximately equal to the outer diameter of the axle shaft.
Claims20
An axle shaft assembly for a motor vehicle comprising:
- a bearing unit;
- an axle shaft rotatably supported by the wheel bearing unit, the axle shaft having an outer diameter;
- and
- a bearing retainer mounted on the axle shaft and abutting the wheel bearing unit, the bearing retainer having a piloting feature for aligning the bearing retainer with respect to a rotational axis of the axle shaft, the piloting feature including a pilot surface with an inner diameter approximately equal to the outer diameter of the axle shaft.
A bearing retainer adapted to be mounted on an axle shaft in a motor vehicle, the bearing retainer comprising:
- a nut portion defining a bore with a thread formed within the bore adapted to engage a thread formed on the axle shaft, the thread having a locking feature adapted to lock the bearing retainer to the axle shaft;
- a tone wheel portion extending around the nut portion and including a plurality of teeth extending radially out from the nut portion;
- and
- a piloting feature formed within the bore and including a pilot surface adapted to align the bearing retainer to the axle shaft and a chamfer edge for assisting in aligning the bearing retainer to the axle shaft.
An axle shaft assembly for a motor vehicle comprising:
- an axle shaft having an outer diameter with a piloting feature formed thereon;
- a bearing unit for rotatably supporting the axle shaft;
- a bearing retainer threadably coupled to the axle shaft;
- and
- a rotating component of a wheel speed sensor, the rotating component being located between the bearing retainer and the bearing unit, the rotating component including a complementary piloting feature that cooperates with the piloting features on the axle shaft to align the rotating component to a rotational axis of the axle shaft;
- wherein at least one of the piloting feature and complementary piloting feature is tapered about at least a portion of its circumference.
An axle shaft assembly for a motor vehicle, comprising:
- an axle shaft;
- and
- a wheel speed sensor having a rotating component and a stationary component, the rotating component being configured to rotate with the axle shaft, the rotating component having an internally threaded portion adapted to engage a thread formed on the axle shaft, the rotating component further including a pilot feature formed thereon for aligning the rotating component with the axle shaft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.