Gkn Automotive Ag

Uni-Cardan Aktiengesellschaft

Getrag Driveline Systems Gmbh

Werner Hoffman

Miloslav Petrzelka

Wolfgang Beigang

The invention relates to a drivetrain for a motor vehicle which has a first and a second axle and a chassis. The drivetrain comprises a drive unit which is mounted to the chassis in the region of the first axle and has an output shaft. Further, the drivetrain comprises a propeller shaft arrangement which is connected to the output shaft and to an input member of a differential which is mounted to the chassis in the region of the second axle. The propeller shaft arrangement comprises at least a first propeller shaft section and a second propeller shaft section which are connected to one another by means of an articulated joint. The propeller shaft arrangement is mounted to the chassis in the region of the articulated joint. The second propeller shaft section of the propeller shaft arrangement is connected rigidly to the input member of the differential. The second propeller shaft section is mounted in the region of the articulated joint and is designed to resist bending moments around the second axle.

Drivetrain for a motor vehicle

The invention relates to a connecting assembly for use in the propeller shaft in the driveline of a motor vehicle between the end of a tubular shaft, especially made of a composite material, and a connecting piece positioned coaxially relative to the shaft end. The shaft and connecting piece have connecting structures which inter-fit in the circumferential direction. The tubular shaft is designed to sustain without damage greater impacting force in the longitudinal axial direction than is required to displace the connecting piece relative to the shaft in this direction.

Connecting assembly

A power transmitting shaft for a torque transmission assembly is formed with a tubular cross section having bores arranged radially in the tube wall at at least one tube end and with bushes inserted into the bores. The bushes are provided with recesses for receiving joint journals or the like whose longitudinal axis is arranged radially in the tube for the purpose of introducing a torque, with tangential and radial forces occurring at the transmitting face of the tube wall. The bushes are designed as a truncated cone which is tapered towards the tube interior and with a cone angle .alpha. selected to be such that the radial component of the forces to be transmitted at the transmitting face is minimized or eliminated.

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Siegburg, Germany

Werner Hoffman