Axle oil flow controller on pinion spacer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10072748-B2
Application number	US-201615098695-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 14, 2016
Priority date	Apr 14, 2016
Publication date	Sep 11, 2018
Grant date	Sep 11, 2018

Abstract

A differential assembly arrangement with optimized pinion shaft bearing lubrication is provided. The assembly includes a housing, a ring gear, a pinion gear, a pinion shaft supported by two rolling element bearings, a sleeve, and a lubrication deflector. The two rolling element bearings, a pinion head bearing bearing and a pinion tail bearing, are located at each end of the sleeve which fits over the pinion shaft. The sleeve helps facilitate the application of a pre-load to the bearings. The lubrication deflector is located along the length of the sleeve for providing the correct amount of lubricant to the two bearings. The deflector is in the form of a ring located on the sleeve or integrated within the sleeve.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A differential assembly comprising:
a housing defining a port;
a ring gear disposed within the housing;
a pinion shaft disposed within the housing having a pinion gear located on a first end of the pinion shaft for engaging the ring gear;
a pinion head bearing, proximate to the pinion gear, for supporting the pinion shaft with respect to the housing;
a pinion tail bearing for supporting the pinion shaft with respect to the housing, the port of the housing defining a lubricant outlet between the pinion head bearing and the pinion tail bearing;
a sleeve disposed on the pinion shaft with a first end in contact with the pinion head bearing and a second end in contact with the pinion tail bearing; and
a deflector, disposed on the sleeve for regulating a flow of lubricant to the pinion tail bearing and the pinion head bearing, the deflector being axially offset from the lubricant outlet.

2. The differential assembly of claim 1 , wherein the deflector material is metal.

3. The differential assembly of claim 1 , wherein the deflector material is at least one of a plastic or an elastomer.

4. The differential assembly of claim 1 , wherein the deflector is formed as a ring extending radially outwardly from the sleeve.

5. The differential assembly of claim 1 , wherein the housing has a protrusion located opposite to the deflector, and the protrusion and the deflector are radially co-planar.

6. The differential assembly of claim 5 , wherein a spacing between a distal end of the protrusion of the housing and a distal end of the deflector is set to adjust an amount of lubricant flow to the pinion head bearing and the pinion tail bearing.

7. The differential assembly of claim 4 , wherein there are a plurality of rings.

8. The differential assembly of claim 1 , wherein the deflector is formed integrally with the sleeve.

9. The differential assembly of claim 8 , wherein the deflector is formed as a radially outwardly directed protrusion of a wall of the sleeve defining two outwardly extending rings having a space of at least 0.02 mm located therebetween.

10. The differential assembly of claim 9 , wherein a wall thickness of the two outwardly extending rings is less than or equal to a thickness of a remainder of the sleeve wall.

11. The differential assembly of claim 10 , wherein the radially outwardly directed protrusion is axially compressible to pre-load the pinion head bearing and pinion tail bearing.

12. The differential assembly of claim 11 , wherein the radially outwardly directed protrusion is axially elastically compressible.

13. An oil flow regulator for a pinion shaft of a differential assembly for regulating lubricant flow to a pinion tail bearing and a pinion head bearing, the oil flow regulator comprises a sleeve adapted to extend between the pinion head bearing and pinion tail bearing; and an annular ring with a radially extending lip located at a medial position on the sleeve, such that the lubricant flow to the tail bearing is greater than to the head bearing.

14. The oil flow regulator of claim 13 , wherein the regulator material is metal.

15. The oil flow regulator of claim 13 , wherein the regulator material is at least one of a plastic or an elastomer.

16. The oil flow regulator of claim 13 further comprising a second annular ring, the two annular rings being formed a radially outwardly directed protrusion of a wall of the sleeve having a space of at least 0.02 mm located therebetween.

17. The differential assembly of claim 16 , wherein a wall thickness of the two annular rings is less than or equal to a wall thickness of a remainder of the sleeve wall.

18. The differential assembly of claim 17 , wherein the radially outwardly directed protrusion is axially compressible to pre-load the pinion head bearing and the pinion tail bearing.

19. The differential assembly of claim 18 , wherein the outwardly directed protrusion is axially elastically compressible.

Assignees

• Schaeffler Technologies Ag

Inventors

• Carr Stephen
• Tate Shaun

Classifications

• F16H57/0483

  Axle or inter-axle differentials · CPC title

• F16H57/042 Primary

  Guidance of lubricant · CPC title

• F16H48/42

  characterised by features of the input shafts, e.g. mounting of drive gears thereon · CPC title

• F16H2048/423

  characterised by bearing arrangement · CPC title