New Venture Gear, Inc.

Alan P Zajac

David Brown

Sankar K Mohan

Richard E Eastman

Christopher W Phelan

K K Natarajan

Robert S Hatton

Michael S Tianello, Sr

Steven Fleishman

Ronald J Mayville

David Wenthen

Michael D Coppola

Lee B Arnold

A transmission for a four-wheel drive vehicle having a multi-speed geartrain and power transfer mechanism incorporated into a common housing assembly. The multi-speed geartrain includes a input shaft, a mainshaft, and a plurality of constant-mesh gearsets arranged for selectively coupling the mainshaft to the input shaft for driven rotation at various speed ratios. The mainshaft can be selectively coupled to the power transfer mechanism for establishing two alternative power transmission routes. In particular, a range shift mechanism is provided for establishing a high-range power transmission route and a low-range power transmission route from the mainshaft to the input of an interaxle differential. The torque delivered to the interaxle differential is split between the front and rear drivelines to establish a full-time four-wheel drive mode. A transfer clutch is provided for automatically controlling slip and torque biasing between the outputs of the interaxle differential.

Full-time four-wheel drive transmission with limited slip clutch

A compact six-speed fully-synchronized manual transaxle includes an input shaft having four fixed input gears, a first intermediate shaft rotatably supporting four speed gears meshing with four of the input gears, a second intermediate shaft rotatably supporting two speed gears meshed with two of the input gears and a reverse gear meshed with a speed gear on the first intermediate shaft, and a differential. A transfer gear on each intermediate shaft is meshed with a final drive gear fixed to the differential.

Manual transaxle

A transmission for a four-wheel drive vehicle having a multi-speed geartrain and power transfer mechanism incorporated into a common housing assembly. The multi-speed geartrain includes a input shaft, a mainshaft, and a plurality of constant-mesh gearsets arranged for selectively coupling the mainshaft to the input shaft for driven rotation at various speed ratios. The mainshaft can be selectively coupled to the power transfer mechanism for establishing two alternative power transmission routes. In particular, a synchronized range shift mechanism is provided for establishing a high-range transmission route and a low-range transmission route from the mainshaft to a primary driveline to define a two-wheel drive mode. A portion of the drive torque delivered to the primary driveline can be transferred automatically through a transfer clutch to the secondary driveline to establish an on-demand four-wheel drive mode. As an option, a mode clutch can be provided for permitting the secondary driveline to be locked to the primary driveline for establishing a part-time four-wheel drive mode.

On-demand four-wheel drive transmission

A transmission for a four-wheel drive vehicle having a multi-speed geartrain and power transfer mechanism incorporated into a common housing assembly. The multi-speed geartrain includes a input shaft, a mainshaft, and a plurality of constant-mesh gearsets arranged for selectively coupling the mainshaft to the input shaft for driven rotation at various speed ratios. The mainshaft can be selectively coupled to the power transfer mechanism for establishing two alternative power transmission routes. In particular, a synchronized range shift mechanism is provided for establishing a high-range transmission route and a low-range transmission route from the mainshaft to the input of an interaxle differential. The torque delivered to the interaxle differential is split between the front and rear drivelines to establish a full-time four-wheel drive mode. As an option, a lock-out clutch can be provided for permitting the interaxle differential to be locked for establishing a locked four-wheel drive mode. As a further option, a mode clutch can be provided for permitting one of the drivelines to be selectively disconnected from the transmission for establishing a two-wheel drive mode.

Full-time four-wheel drive transmission

A power transfer system including a variable speed electric motor and a single speed transmission is disclosed for transferring power from a source of power to a pair of driven wheels. This arrangement is particularly adapted for use in electric vehicles incorporating a high speed electric motor. In a preferred embodiment, the single speed transmission includes a housing, an input shaft for receiving drive torque from the electric motor, at least one output shaft and an intermediate shaft supported for rotation of the housing between the input shaft and the output shaft. The single speed transmission further includes a parking sprag arrangement for preventing rotation of the output shaft when a park mode is selected. In one embodiment, the single speed transmission further includes a transfer mechanism for selectively transmitting the source of drive torque from the input shaft to the output shaft which includes a shift member movable between a first position for preventing relative rotation between the input shaft and the output shaft and a second position for establishing relative rotation between the input shaft and output shaft.

Growing community of inventors

Clay, NY, United States of America

Alan P Zajac