Textron Innovations Inc.

Austin McIntire

Charles J Ott

Flexured sun gears for planetary gear systems. In embodiments, a sun gear includes a spline section configured to couple the sun gear to another component, a gear section configured to mesh with at least one other gear of the planetary gear system, and a flexure section configured to couple the spline section to the gear section. The flexure section of the sun gear may have a flexure wall and a flexure curve, and has a thickness (e.g., in at least a portion of the flexure section) that is smaller than a thickness of the spline section and/or the gear section. The flexure section may enable the gear section to displace or move radially with respect to the spline section in response to a rotational force. For example, the flexure section may not move axially (e.g., may not extend) but may bend and/or rotate in response to the rotational force.

Growing community of inventors

Fort Worth, TX, United States of America

Austin McIntire