Deere & Company

Uli Eckhardt

Volker D Huckler

Ralph Edwin Shirley

Bruno Schmitt

Anja Esau

A bearing assembly for a gearbox shaft which is subject to bending forces and capable of absorbing axial forces. The bearing assembly has at least one radial cylindrical roller bearing and two thrust bearings. The inner race of the radial roller bearing is supported radially as well as in one axial direction by the shaft. The thrust bearings are arranged to either side of and supported by a bearing housing that can be attached to the gearbox housing. The thrust bearing closest to the radial cylindrical roller bearing is supported in one axial direction by the inner race of the radial roller bearing. The radial roller bearing and the thrust bearings then are secured against axial movement on the shaft, e.g., by a retaining ring. The bearing housing is designed so that the bearing housing will conform to any inclination of the gearbox shaft due to shaft deflection. For this purpose, the bearing housing may have regions of varying stiffness in the circumferential direction.

Bearing assembly

A vehicle transmission has two shafts parallel to one another. At least one of the shafts is formed of two partial shafts which are in alignment and axially spaced apart. A torsion shaft then connects the two for rotation with each other, but prevents transmission of bending moments between the partial shafts. This structure is particularly useful in a hydrostatic-mechanical power distributing transmission, in which the torsion shaft is radially aligned with the planetary gearsets of the power distributing transmission. The torsion shaft can be considerably thinner than the comparable portion of a conventional shaft, so the overall transmission can be more compact radially. The transmission also is provided with unequal gear ratios, while the planetary gearsets are the same size, allowing a particularly compact structure. Preferably, one of the gear ratios with a small control ratio is used as the primary working range for the transmission to maximize efficiency.

Transmission

A modular transmission is provided having a variety of flexible modules. These include very basic speed gearbox and range gearbox modules to which other modules can be added. The other modules can include a front wheel drive module, a supplemental reduction module, and an intermediate module. The intermediate module can include additional ranges and/or a creeper gear. The entire structure is highly flexible, and allows ready construction of a transmission to meet a particular customer's needs out of standard components which can be produced in mass quantities.

Modular transmission

A sleeve element is installed between two hollow gear shafts which are rotatably coupled relatively to each other by a bearing. The sleeve has a hollow cylindrical body which is received inside one of the shafts. The sleeve has a plurality of slots in one end thereof which permit lubricating oil to flow to the bearing. A plurality of spring elements project from the other end of the cylindrical body. The spring elements engage the one shaft and are biassed to urge the one end of the body against an end surface of the other shafts. The force of the spring elements is active at least during primary assembly of the shafts. At a particular temperature, such as the operating temperature of the shafts, the spring elements lose their force. Preferably, the spring elements and the cylindrical body are integrally formed of one part.

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Speyer, Germany

Uli Eckhardt