Adjustable width drive axle and drive unit
AssigneeAGCO Corporation
InventorsDavid Pell, John Peterson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed herein is an adjustable width drive axle including: a main axle body including a telescoping portion disposed at each end of the main axle body; a sprocket affixed to each end of the main axle body, the sprocket designed to engage a drive unit; a first spacer removably affixed to the sprocket, the first spacer disposed around the telescoping portion of the main axle body; and a hub removably affixed to an end of the first spacer opposite the sprocket, wherein one or more additional spacers may be interposed between the first spacer and the hub or between the sprocket and the first spacer to adjust the width of the axle.
Claims11
An adjustable width drive axle operable to support a frame, said adjustable width drive axle comprising:
- an adjustable width axle body including a first portion operable to be attached to the frame and a second shiftable portion that presents one of opposite axle ends and is axially shiftable relative to the first portion to adjust the width of the axle;
- a sprocket rotatably disposed on the axle body and positioned between the opposite ends at a sprocket location along the length of the axle body, with the sprocket being configured to drivingly engage a drive unit;
- a rotatable wheel hub assembly rotatably mounted on the one end of the axle body to be shiftable with the second portion of the axle body as the axle width is adjusted;
- and
- a plurality of spacers configured to be removably affixed in any spacer combination between the wheel hub assembly and sprocket,
- each of said sprocket, wheel hub assembly, and spacers including an axially extending main body with at least one radial attachment projection extending therefrom,
- said at least one attachment projection of each main body being connectable to the at least one attachment projection of the adjacent main body to thereby affix adjacent ones of the main bodies to one another,
- said rotatable wheel hub assembly drivingly removably affixed relative to the sprocket, with one or more of the spacers drivingly interconnecting the wheel hub assembly and the sprocket so that as the axle width is adjusted the sprocket is maintained in the sprocket location and driving power is transmitted between the wheel hub and the sprocket by the interconnected spacers.
A method for adjusting a width of a drive axle comprising:
- providing an adjustable width axle body with a first portion and a second shiftable end portion that is axially shiftable relative to the first portion to adjust the width of the axle;
- rotatably disposing a sprocket, designed to engage a main drive unit, on the axle body at a sprocket location;
- adjusting the width of the axle by axially shifting the shiftable second end portion relative to the first portion;
- affixing a first spacer to the sprocket, the first spacer disposed around the shiftable end portion of the axle body;
- rotatably mounting a wheel hub assembly on the shiftable second end portion, with the wheel hub assembly being shiftable with the second end portion of the axle body as the axle width is adjusted;
- providing each of the sprocket, wheel hub assembly, and first spacer with an axially extending main body having at least one radial attachment projection extending therefrom, with the at least one attachment projection of each main body being connectable to the at least one attachment projection of the adjacent main body to thereby affix adjacent ones of the main bodies to one another;
- and
- affixing the wheel hub assembly relative to the first spacer, wherein the steps of affixing the first spacer and affixing the wheel hub assembly maintain the sprocket in the sprocket location when the axle width is adjusted and drivingly interconnect the wheel hub assembly and sprocket to transmit driving power therebetween.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.