Meritor Heavy Vehicle Technology, LLC

Arvin Technologies, Inc.

Avm, Incorporated

Chihping Kuan

Tomaz Dopico Varela

Mark Smith

William Carl Sullivan

Dean M House

John L Bennett

John K Ma

Edward Jay Eshelman

Walter Douglas Bauman

Enrico Fin

Joseph Benjamin Saxon

Jack R Roach

Karim Dayoub

Shelley Lynn Bolbrugge

Adam Kyle Cramton

A vehicle decklid system uses a planetary gear drive to move a decklid relative to a vehicle body. The planetary gear drive includes a rotatable gear that is disposed between two fixed gears. One fixed gear is rigidly mounted to the decklid and one fixed gear is rigidly mounted to the vehicle body. A rotating link connects centers of the rotatable gear and two fixed gears. The combination of the planetary gear drive and rotating link make it possible to provide powered complex, two-dimensional motion of the decklid requiring a four-bar linkage.

Vehicle decklid system with planetary gear

A wheel end assembly includes an output shaft that is directly mountable to a wheel adapter to drive a vehicle wheel. A gear assembly is coupled to the output shaft to transfer driving force from an input to the output shaft. The gear assembly includes an output gear that is directly coupled to the output shaft. Thus, the wheel adapter and output gear are both supported directly on the output shaft. The gear assembly and output shaft are substantially enclosed within a housing that is mounted to a non-rotating vehicle component. The output shaft is solely supported by a pair of bearings for rotation relative to the housing. The bearings are installed for direct engagement with the output shaft and housing.

Vehicle wheel end assembly with wheel adapter

A power mechanism for opening and closing a vehicle trunk decklid includes power-operated guides that move the linkages on the decklid. The guides are moved by push-pull cables operated by a motor and disposed in a guide rail located in a trunk sill. The motor may be controlled by a controller that receives a user signal and operates the motor based on the signal.

Power-operated vehicle truck decklid

A powered system to selectively position a vehicle liftgate at a multiple of positions intermediate a fully open and a fully closed position. A controller receives commands from a remote, such as a key fob, and/or from a selector located within the vehicle to selectively operate the liftgate to move the liftgate through a multiple of liftgate positions through a combination of button presses or selector positions.

Vehicle liftgate control system

A suspension system includes a swing arm which pivots about a pivot axis. A hub assembly, hub gear box and input gear box are mounted to an independently pivoting swing arm. The pivot axis is located closer to the ground than a rotational axis defined by the hub assemblies and the input gear box. A coupling extends from the input gear box to receive an input driveline from a drive source such as vehicle engine. The coupling is located proximate the pivot axis to minimize relative movement during articulation of the swing arm. An axle housing extends between the input gear box and an opposite hub gear box to support a drive shaft and serves as a torsion bar.

Semi-independent swing arm suspension system for a low floor vehicle

A drive axle assembly for a low floor vehicle utilizes a single input gear assembly to drive a pair of laterally spaced wheel ends. The input gear assembly is positioned next to one of the wheel ends so that the vehicle floor can be lowered to facilitate passenger access to the vehicle. Each wheel end includes a gear reduction assembly with a ring gear rotatably mounted within a gear housing. A drive gear is operatively coupled to the input gear assembly and is in meshing engagement with the ring gear. The gear reduction assembly also includes an output or driven gear, which is larger than the drive gear, to provide the desired gear reduction. The driven gear is also in meshing engagement with the ring gear. A pair of idler gears is rotatably mounted within the gear housing and are in meshing engagement with both the drive and driven gear. The idler gears and drive gear do not have a common centerline. The assembly thus provides toothed contact via three gear sets combinations, which equalizes loading and eliminates the need for support bearings for the drive and driven gears.

Planetary drive assembly with idlers for low floor vehicle

A drive unit assembly utilizes a single input to drive a pair of laterally spaced wheel ends. Each wheel end is suspended independently from the other. The input is operatively coupled to only one of the wheel ends and an exposed axle shaft assembly interconnects the input to the opposite wheel end. The axle shaft assembly includes multiple shaft members to interconnect the laterally spaced wheel ends. One of the axle shaft members is mounted to a vehicle floor structure with a bearing mount and includes connection joints at either end to accommodate the independent motion of each wheel end. The floor and the shaft member move together during suspension travel, allowing the floor to have a lower profile than is traditionally available.

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Rochester Hills, MI, United States of America

Chihping Kuan