Axle assembly with sensor mount
AssigneeAmerican Axle & Manufacturing, Inc.
InventorBlair J. Swansno
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A vehicle axle assembly having an axle housing, an axle shaft and a sensor. The axle housing has a tubular portion. A flat is formed on an annular wall of the tubular portion proximate a distal end of the tubular portion. A hole, which intersects the flat, is formed through the tubular portion. The axle shaft can have an integrally formed target portion that includes a plurality of teeth. The sensor is mounted in the hole and abuts the flat to space a tip of the sensor apart from the teeth of the target portion by a predetermined distance.
Claims16
An axle assembly comprising:
- an axle housing defining a central cavity and including a tubular portion with a sensor mount formed proximate to a distal end of said axle housing, said sensor mount including a recess formed in an outer surface of said tubular portion to define a mount surface and a hole extending through said mount surface;
- a differential rotatably supported by said axle housing within said central cavity;
- an axle shaft rotatably supported in said tubular portion of said axle housing and having an end portion and a target portion, said end portion coupled to said differential and said target portion aligned with said hole in said sensor mount;
- and
- a sensor secured to said sensor mount such that a tip portion of said sensor is in proximity to said target portion of said axle shaft and a body portion of said sensor engages said mount surface of said recess.
An axle assembly, comprising:
- an axle housing defining a central cavity and first and second axle apertures;
- a first axle tube having a first end secured to said first axle aperture and a sensor mount formed proximate a second end of said first axle tube, said sensor mount including a recess formed in an outer surface of said first axle tube to define a mount surface and a hole extending through said mount surface;
- a second axle tube having a first end secured to said second axle aperture;
- a differential rotatably supported within said central cavity and having first and second outputs;
- a first axle shaft rotatably supported within said first axle tube and having a first end coupled for rotation with said first output of said differential;
- a second axle shaft axle shaft rotatably supported within said second axle tube and having a first end coupled for rotation with said second output of said differential;
- and
- a sensor secured to said sensor mount such that a tip portion is in proximity to a target portion of said first axle shaft located proximate to a second end of said first axle shaft and a body portion engages said mount surface of said recess.
A method comprising:
- providing an axle housing having a center chamber communicating with an elongated axle tube;
- forming a recess in an outer surface of said axle tube proximate a distal end of said axle tube and a sensor aperture extending through said recess;
- installing a differential for rotation within said center chamber of said axle housing;
- providing an axle shaft having a target portion;
- inserting said axle shaft into said axle tube such that a first end of the axle shaft is coupled to said differential and a second end of said axle shaft extends outwardly from said axle tube with said target portion aligned with said sensor aperture;
- and
- inserting a sensor into said sensor aperture for aligning a tip portion of said sensor in proximity to said target portion and abutting a body portion of said sensor against said recess.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.