Meritor Heavy Vehicle Technology, LLC

Rockwell International Corporation

Meritor Heavy Vehicle Systems Limited

Rockwell Heavy Vehicle Systems, Inc.

Arvin Meritor Technology, LLC

William Carl Sullivan

Tomaz Dopico Varela

Dean M House

Mark Smith

John L Bennett

John K Ma

Edward Jay Eshelman

Malcolm F Ruppert

Chihping Kuan

Lawrence Doyle Brill

Glen E Swanson

Spencer M Nimberger

Brian David Hayes

Silvio Masaaki Yamada

Malcolm F Ruppert, Jr

An automotive vehicle drive unit assembly which is located near the sides of a vehicle includes a first driving axle shaft, a second driving axle shaft, a first gear box, a second gear box, a first electric motor, and a second electric motor. The first driving axle shaft drives a first wheel hub of the vehicle and the second driving axle shaft drives a second wheel hub. Together the first and second driving axle shafts define an axis of rotation about which the first and second wheel hubs rotate. The first gear set drives the first wheel and the second gear set drives the second wheel. A first electric motor is mounted in an angular relationship relative to the axis of rotation and drives the first gear set. A second electric motor is mounted in an angular relationship relative to the axis of rotation and drives the second gear set. A plurality of electric motors can be used to drive each wheel hub.

Low floor drive unit assembly for an electrically driven vehicle

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

An axle system includes an axle lubrication level within an axle housing which is lower than a wheel end lubrication level within the wheel end assemblies. An opening through the wheel end assembly housing provides a fluid communication path between the wheel end assembly and the axle housing. A differential assembly rotates adjacent an opening such that lubrication at the wheel end lubrication level is rotated into the opening. The lubricant within the wheel end assemblies is maintained at the wheel end lubrication level. The shaft enters the wheel end assembly housing through a shaft opening which provides a communication path for the lubricant from the wheel end assembly back into the axle housing.

Dual level inverted portal axle lubrication configuration

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 carrier assembly for a drive axle includes an pinion and ring gear input that is operably coupled to a differential assembly. The differential assembly includes first and second case halves that attach to each other at an interface to define a case split line and a differential gear assembly supported by the first and second case halves with the gear assembly being operably coupled to drive a pair of laterally spaced wheels. The ring gear, first case half, and second case half are all connected together via a single bolted joint with the case split line being located behind the ring gear. The differential housing is supported on a pair of tapered roller bearings having a diverging apex configuration to reduce cup rotation. The pinion gear is solely supported by a pair of tapered roller bearings positioned on opposite sides of the ring gear. A two-piece pinion cage supports both pinion bearings and facilitates the setting of preload with the use of external shims.

Carrier assembly for drive axle

An offset axle assembly includes a two-piece gear case. A first section of the gear case includes a drive gear assembly and the second section includes a driven gear attached to a shaft supported within the second section of the gear case. Attached to the end of the shaft is a hub. The hub is attached to the shaft by way of a plurality of mating splines. The hub is secured to the end of the shaft by a single nut. The hub may be removed from the shaft by removal of the single nut. One of the drive gear or driven gear assemblies is a planetary gear system. The planetary gear system includes a ring gear driven by a helical gear such that distance between axles is determined by the diameters of the helical and ring gear.

Inverted portal axle rotating spindle wheel end

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.

Drive assembly for low floor vehicle

A tandem axle assembly includes a forward drive axle coupled to a rear drive axle with a connecting driveshaft. An inter-axle differential (LAD) located in a carrier assembly for the forward drive axle takes driving input and splits the input between the forward and rear drive axles. The LAD transfers driving force to a ring and pinion gear assembly in the carrier assembly for the forward drive axle and transfers driving force to a thru-shaft that is operably coupled to drive the rear drive axle via the connecting driveshaft. The pinion gear includes a first portion defining a pinion gear head and a second portion defining a hollow pinion support shaft that extends into the IAD. The pinion support shaft applies a thrust load to an IAD bearing via an IAD gear assembly to permit reverse load sharing. The thru-shaft extends through the hollow pinion support shaft such that the thru-shaft and the pinion gear rotate about a common axis. The ring and pinion gear assembly are coupled to a differential assembly that drives a pair of axle shafts. The differential assembly includes first and second case halves that attach to each other at an interface to define a case split line. The ring gear, first case half, and second case half are all connected together via a single bolted joint with the case split line being located behind the ring gear.

Forward carrier assembly for tandem axle

An improved mount for an electric motor and drive gear includes mounting both of the motor and drive gear within a gear housing for a vehicle wheel. The motor is mounted on one side of the drive axis of the wheel, and the drive gear is mounted in bearings on an opposed side of the drive axis. In this way, the overall longitudinal distance required for mounting both the motor and the drive gear is reduced when compared to the envelope of the vehicle wheel.

Space saving mounting for electrically driven vehicle wheels

A modular axle assembly incorporates a separate bearing support plate which is received at an open end of an axle housing. The separate bearing support plate supports the bearing at the open end, and is received within the open end of the axle housing. In the prior art, the large helical cover typically also provided the bearing support. The use of the separate bearing support plate allows the modular assembly of the axle assembly and further facilitates repair. In another feature of this invention, a threaded adjustment member is associated with both the bearing at the open end of the differential, and also with the bearing at the other end of the differential. The threaded adjustment members allow the control of gear positioning and the pre-load on the bearings such that precise positioning and pre-load adjustment are easily obtainable.

Bearing support plate for axle housing

A differential speed limiting device is for limiting the relative rotational speed between a first member and a second member of a differential which are capable of independent rotation about a common axis of rotation. A plurality of friction discs are alternatively secured to the first and second members and capable of being axially compressed to generate frictional contact therebetween tending to reduce the relative rotation between the first and second members. A peristaltic pump is mounted relative to the members so that relative rotation therebetween produces a peristaltic pumping of fluid which can be applied to an annular bellows to produce the axial movement required to compress the plurality of friction discs.

Differential speed limiting device

A differential speed limiting device is for limiting the relative rotational speed between a first member and a second member of a differential which are capable of independent rotation about a common axis of rotation. A plurality of friction discs are alternatively secured to the first and second members and capable of being axially compressed to generate frictional contact therebetween tending to reduce the relative rotation between the first and second members. A peristaltic pump is mounted relative to the members so that relative rotation therebetween produces a peristaltic pumping of fluid which can be applied to the input side of a force multiplier to cause an output side of the force multiplier to operate an annular bellows to produce the axial movement required to compress the plurality of friction discs.

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Newark, OH, United States of America

William Carl Sullivan