Double reduction electric drive wheel assembly
AssigneeArvinMeritor Technology, LLC
InventorsLawrence D. Brill, Tomaz Dopico Varela
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A drive unit for a vehicle wheel assembly includes an input gear set driven by an electric motor, a planetary gear set driven by the input gear set, and an output shaft driven by the planetary gear set. An adapter is used to attach a wheel rim and a brake component for rotation with the output shaft, which is rotatably supported by a wheel bearing. The input gear set and the planetary gear set are positioned outboard of the electric motor and inboard of the brake component. The brake component can be easily removed without requiring removal of the planetary gear set or any wheel bearings. Only the wheel rim and the adapter have to be removed in order to remove the brake component.
Claims22
A vehicle wheel assembly comprising:
- an input gear set;
- a planetary gear set driven by said input gear set;
- an output shaft driven by said planetary gear set;
- and
- a brake component mounted for rotation with said output shaft wherein said brake component is removable from the vehicle wheel assembly without requiring removal of said planetary gear set.
A vehicle wheel assembly for an electric drive axle comprising:
- at least one electric motor having a motor shaft;
- an input gear set including an input pinion supported on said motor shaft;
- a planetary gear set including a sun gear driven by said input pinion and a plurality of planet gears fixed for rotation with a planet carrier;
- an output shaft driven by said planet carrier;
- an adapter mounted to an end of said output shaft remote from said planet carrier;
- and
- a brake component mounted to said adapter for rotation with said output shaft wherein said brake component is removable from said output shaft without requiring removal of said planetary gear set.
A method for disassembling a vehicle wheel assembly including an input gear set, a planetary gear set driven by the input gear set, an output shaft driven by the planetary gear set, and a brake component supported for rotation with the output shaft comprising the steps of:
- removing the brake component from the vehicle wheel assembly without removing the planetary gear set.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.