Two-piece sintered metal ravigneaux carrier

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10107384-B2
Application number	US-201615219395-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 26, 2016
Priority date	Jul 26, 2016
Publication date	Oct 23, 2018
Grant date	Oct 23, 2018

Abstract

A Ravigneaux planetary carrier assembly is provided for accommodating pinion gears of an automatic transmission. The carrier assembly comprises a powder metal carrier member including a carrier plate having a plurality of integral carrier legs extending therefrom, and a powder metal cover member including a cover plate having a plurality of integral cover legs extending therefrom. The carrier assembly is arranged such that respective ends of the carrier legs and ends of the cover legs are aligned with and brazed to one another, defining an interior of the carrier assembly configured to house the pinion gears.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A planetary carrier assembly for a transmission, the carrier assembly comprising:
a powder metal carrier member comprising a carrier plate including a plurality of carrier legs integral with and extending a distance from the carrier plate;
a powder metal cover member comprising a cover plate having a plurality of cover legs integral with and extending a distance from the cover plate; and
at least one auxiliary component,
wherein respective ends of the carrier legs and ends of the cover legs are aligned with and secured to one another and secured to the auxiliary component by braze joints disposed in a single plane, and wherein at least one carrier leg or cover leg defines a braze material retention feature.

2. The planetary carrier assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the auxiliary component comprises a sleeve member secured to one or both of the carrier member and the cover member.

3. The planetary carrier assembly according claim 2 , further comprising a brake hub secured to the sleeve member.

4. The planetary carrier assembly according to claim 3 , wherein an inner perimeter of the brake hub is welded to an outer perimeter of the sleeve member.

5. The planetary carrier assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the carrier member and the cover member comprise the same powder metal composition.

6. The planetary carrier assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the carrier member and the cover member comprise different powder metal compositions.

7. The planetary carrier assembly according to claim 1 , comprising four spaced-apart cover legs joined to four spaced-apart carrier legs.

8. A Ravigneaux planetary carrier assembly for an automatic transmission, the carrier assembly comprising:
a first set of pinion gears;
a second set of pinion gears;
a unitary, powder metal carrier member comprising a carrier plate having a plurality of integral carrier legs extending therefrom;
a unitary, powder metal cover member comprising a cover plate having a plurality of integral cover legs extending therefrom; and
at least one auxiliary component,
wherein the auxiliary component and respective ends of the carrier legs and ends of the cover legs are aligned with and brazed to one another with a plurality of braze joints located in a single plane, and wherein at least one carrier leg or cover leg defines a braze material retention feature, the alignment of the powder metal cover member and the powder metal carrier member defining an interior of the carrier assembly configured to house the first and second sets of pinion gears.

9. The Ravigneaux planetary carrier assembly according to claim 8 , wherein the auxiliary component comprises a steel sleeve member secured to the carrier legs.

10. The Ravigneaux planetary carrier assembly according to claim 8 , wherein the carrier legs and the cover legs define respective inner walls and outer walls, and at least a portion of the inner walls of aligned carrier legs and cover legs are flush with one another in an assembled state.

11. A method for assembling a two-component Ravigneaux planetary carrier assembly, the method comprising:
aligning (1) a powder metal carrier member comprising a carrier plate having a plurality of integral carrier legs extending therefrom, (2) a powder metal cover member comprising a cover plate having a plurality of integral cover legs extending therefrom, and (3) an auxiliary member, such that respective ends of the carrier legs and ends of the cover legs are aligned with one another and the auxiliary member in a single plane to form a subassembly;
during the aligning step, disposing a braze material within a braze retention feature defined in at least one carrier leg or cover leg; and
sintering the subassembly.

Assignees

• Toyota Eng & Mfg North America
• Aisin Aw Co

Inventors

• Shah Shail N
• Vernon Nicholas S
• Oita Shinji

Classifications

• F16H57/082 Primary

  Planet carriers · CPC title

• F16H3/663

  with conveying rotary motion between axially spaced orbital gears, e.g. a stepped orbital gear or Ravigneaux · CPC title

• F16H57/10

  Braking arrangements · CPC title

• F16H2200/202

  characterised by the type of Ravigneaux set · CPC title