The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 01, 2000
Filed:
Jan. 13, 1998
Koji Kuroda, Saitama, JP;
Takayuki Yakou, Saitama, JP;
Kazunori Kobayashi, Saitama, JP;
Tetsuro Hamada, Saitama, JP;
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A rear differential in a four-wheel drive vehicle includes a left and right clutches adapted to distribute a driving force transmitted from front wheels through a propeller shaft to left and right rear wheels. If the engagement of the left and right clutches is released, only the front wheels are driven and in this manner, the vehicle is brought into a front wheel-drive state. If the left and right clutches are brought into their engaged states, both of the front wheels and the rear wheels are driven and in this manner, the vehicle is brought into a four-wheel drive state. By changing the engagement forces of the left and right clutches, different driving forces can be distributed to the left and right rear wheels. In addition, when a driver operates a differential lock switch, the left and right clutches, are brought into their engaged states with the maximum engagement force, thereby integrally coupling the propeller shaft to the left and right rear wheels to provide a differential-locked state. Thus, a differential lock mechanism can be provided to the differential in a simple structure.