Zero turn transaxle
AssigneeHydro-Gear Limited Parntership
InventorsThomas J. Langenfeld, Matthew C. Roney, Shane A. Deters, Raymond Hauser
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A transaxle including a hydrostatic transmission mounted in a transmission housing and having a pair of hydraulic pumps and hydraulic motors operatively connected together. First and second axle housings are mounted on opposite ends of the transmission housing, with output axles mounted in the axle housings, where each output axle is connected to its respective hydraulic motor through a gear train in the axle housing. A brake is provided on each axle housing to directly engage one of the gears in the gear train to provide a braking force for the output axles.
Claims15
An axle driving apparatus comprising:
- a transmission housing forming a hydraulic sump;
- first and second hydraulic pumps disposed in the transmission housing;
- a first hydraulic motor disposed in the transmission housing and operatively connected to the first hydraulic pump;
- a second hydraulic motor disposed in the transmission housing and operatively connected to the second hydraulic pump;
- a first gear train engaged to and driven by the first hydraulic motor and a first output axle engaged to and driven by the first gear train;
- a second gear train engaged to and driven by the second hydraulic motor and a second output axle engaged to and driven by the second gear train;
- a first brake mechanism directly engaged to at least one of the gears in the first gear train for providing a braking force thereto;
- and
- a second brake mechanism directly engaged to at least one of the gears in the second gear train for providing a braking force thereto.
An axle driving apparatus comprising:
- a transmission housing forming a hydraulic sump;
- a first hydraulic pump and a second hydraulic pump disposed in the transmission housing;
- a first hydraulic motor disposed in the transmission housing and operatively connected to the first hydraulic pump;
- a second hydraulic motor disposed in the transmission housing and operatively connected to the second hydraulic pump;
- a first axle housing mounted on one end of the transmission housing and a second axle housing mounted on the opposite end of transmission housing;
- a first output axle disposed in the first axle housing and driven by the first hydraulic motor;
- a second output axle mounted in the second axle housing and driven by the second hydraulic motor;
- a first brake mechanism comprising a first actuator mounted on the first axle housing for providing a braking force to the first output axle;
- and
- a second brake mechanism comprising a second actuator mounted on the second axle housing for providing a braking force to the second output axle.
An axle driving apparatus comprising:
- a transmission housing having a first end and a second end;
- first and second transmission disposed in the transmission housing;
- a first gear housing disposed on the first end of the transmission housing and a second gear housing disposed on the second end of the transmission housing;
- a first gear train disposed in the first gear housing and engaged to and driven by the first transmission, and a first output axle engaged to and driven by the first gear train;
- a second gear train disposed in the second gear housing and engaged to and driven by the second transmission, and a second output axle engaged to and driven by the second gear train;
- a first brake mechanism directly engaged to at least one of the gears in the first gear train for providing a braking force thereto;
- and
- a second brake mechanism directly engaged to at least one of the gears in the second gear train for providing a braking force thereto.
An axle driving apparatus comprising:
- a transmission housing;
- a transmission disposed in the transmission housing;
- a first axle housing mounted on one end of the transmission housing and a second axle housing mounted on the opposite end of the transmission housing;
- a first output axle disposed in the first axle housing and driven by the transmission and a second output axle mounted in the second axle housing and driven by the transmission;
- a first brake mechanism comprising a first actuator on the first axle housing for providing a braking force to the first output axle;
- and
- a second brake mechanism comprising a second actuator on the second axle housing for providing a braking force to the second output axle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.