Reversible planetary gear assembly
AssigneeRemy Technologies, L.L.C.
InventorsBalazs Palfai, Bradley D. Chamberlin, Larry A. Kubes
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A planetary gear assembly includes a ring gear configured for connection to a rotor of an electric motor when in a first position and configured for connection to a housing of the electric motor when in a second position, a sun gear configured for connection to the housing when the ring gear is in the first position and configured for connection to the rotor when the ring gear is in the second position, and a plurality of planet gears configured to mesh with the ring gear and the sun gear.
Claims20
A planetary gear assembly comprising:
- a first planetary gear component configured for connection to an electric motor in at least two different positions including a first position and a second position;
- and
- a second planetary gear component configured for connection to an electric motor in at least two different positions including a first position and a second position;
- wherein the first planetary gear component is connected to a rotor of an electric motor in the first position and the second planetary gear component is disconnected from the rotor of the electric machine in the first position;
- and
- wherein the first planetary gear component is disconnected from the rotor of the electric machine in the second position and the second planetary gear component is connected to the rotor of the electric machine in the second position.
An electric motor assembly comprising:
- a housing;
- a stator positioned within the housing;
- a rotor positioned within the housing and configured to rotate relative to the stator;
- and
- a planetary gear assembly coupled to the rotor, the planetary gear assembly comprising a plurality of planetary gear components, at least one of the plurality of planetary gear components a reversible component configured to be selectively arranged in a first position and a second position within the planetary gear assembly, the reversible component being reversed relative to the first position when in the second position, wherein the planetary gear assembly is configured to deliver an output at a first gear ratio relative to the rotor when the reversible component is in the first position and deliver the output at a second gear ratio relative to the rotor when the reversible component is in the second position.
A method for assembling an electric machine, the method comprising:
- providing a planetary gear assembly including a planetary gear component configured for connection to an electric motor in at least two different positions including a first position and a second position, the second position being reversed relative to the first position;
- selecting one of a first gear ratio and a second gear ratio for the output of the planetary gear assembly relative to the rotor, the first gear ratio different than the second gear ratio;
- connecting the planetary gear assembly to a rotor of the electric machine with the planetary gear component in the first position if the first gear ratio is selected;
- and
- connecting the planetary gear assembly to the rotor of the electric machine with the planetary gear component in the second position if the second gear ratio is selected.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.