Gearcase assembly and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022010873-A1
Application number	US-202117364484-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 30, 2021
Priority date	Jul 7, 2020
Publication date	Jan 13, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

A gearcase seal assembly includes an inboard seal body and an outboard seal body both extending about and along a center axis between respective interior and exterior portions. The inboard and outboard seal bodies include respective inboard and outboard pockets configured to receive first and second surfaces of a gearcase of an axle assembly, respectively. The interior portions of the inboard and outboard seal bodies include respective gutters configured to direct fluid away from the first and second surfaces of the gearcase, respectively. The exterior portion of the inboard seal body includes plural fingers disposed outside of the inboard pocket and extending in one or more directions away from the inboard pocket. The exterior portion of the outboard seal body includes plural other fingers disposed outside of the outboard pocket and extending in one or more directions away from the outboard pocket.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A gearcase seal assembly comprising:
an inboard seal body extending about a center axis and along the center axis between an interior portion of the inboard seal body and an exterior portion of the inboard seal body, the inboard seal body comprising an inboard pocket configured to receive a first surface of a gearcase of an axle assembly; and an outboard seal body extending about the center axis and along the center axis between an interior portion of the outboard seal body and an exterior portion of the outboard seal body, the outboard seal body comprising an outboard pocket configured to receive a second surface of the gearcase of the axle assembly, wherein the interior portion of the inboard seal body comprises a first gutter configured to direct fluid in a direction away from the first surface of the gearcase, the exterior portion of the inboard seal body including plural first fingers disposed outside of the inboard pocket and extending in one or more directions away from inboard pocket, and wherein the interior portion of the outboard seal body comprises a second gutter configured to direct the fluid in a direction away from the second surface of the gearcase, the exterior portion of the outboard seal body including plural second fingers disposed outside of the outboard pocket and extending in one or more directions away from the outboard pocket.

2 . The gearcase seal assembly of claim 1 , wherein the interior portion of the inboard seal body faces toward the outboard seal body and the exterior portion of the inboard seal body faces away from the outboard seal body, and wherein the interior portion of the outboard seal body faces toward the inboard seal body and the exterior portion of the outboard seal body faces away from the inboard seal body.

3 . The gearcase seal assembly of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the exterior portion of the inboard seal body or the exterior portion of the outboard seal body comprises one or more conduits configured to direct the fluid in one or more directions about the center axis.

4 . The gearcase seal assembly of claim 3 , wherein the one or more conduits are configured to direct the fluid in a clockwise direction or a counterclockwise direction about the center axis.

5 . The gearcase seal assembly of claim 1 , wherein the inboard seal body is formed as a unitary body and the outboard seal body is formed as a unitary body.

6 . The gearcase seal assembly of claim 1 , wherein the inboard seal body comprises an inboard center passage open to and extending along the center axis, and the outboard seal body comprises an outboard center passage open to and extending along the center axis, wherein the inboard center passage of the inboard seal body and the outboard center passage of the outboard seal body are concentric with each other and about the center axis.

7 . The gearcase seal assembly of claim 6 , wherein the axle assembly is configured to be disposed within the inboard center passage of the inboard seal body and the outboard center passage outboard seal body.

8 . The gearcase seal assembly of claim 1 , wherein the inboard and outboard seal bodies are configured to control an amount of the fluid that is directed out of the gearcase of the axle assembly and to control an amount of debris from entering the gearcase of the axle assembly.

9 . The gearcase seal assembly of claim 1 , wherein a first finger of the plural first fingers of the inboard seal body extends in a first orthogonal direction, and a second finger of the plural first fingers of the inboard seal body extends in a second, different orthogonal direction.

10 . The gearcase seal assembly of claim 1 , wherein a first finger of the plural second fingers of the outboard seal body extends in a first orthogonal direction, and a second finger of the plural second fingers of the outboard seal body extends in a second, different orthogonal direction.

11 . The gearcase seal assembly of claim 1 , wherein the inboard pocket includes a lead-in feature such that a size of an opening of the inboard pocket is larger than an interior of the inboard pocket.

12 . The gearcase seal assembly of claim 1 , wherein the outboard pocket includes a lead-in feature such that a size of an opening of the outboard pocket is larger than an interior of the outboard pocket.

13 . The gearcase seal assembly of claim 1 , wherein the inboard seal body extends in a first radial plane relative to the center axis, and the outboard seal body extends in a different, second radial plane relative to the center axis.

14 . A gearcase assembly comprising:
a gear configured to be coupled with an axle that extends along a center axis, wherein movement of the gear is configured to control movement of the axle; a gearcase configured to contain the gear, the gearcase comprising a body having at least a first surface and a second surface, the first surface disposed on a first side of the gearcase and the second surface disposed on a second side of the gearcase; and a gearcase seal assembly comprising an inboard seal body and an outboard seal body, wherein the inboard seal body is configured to be disposed between the first surface of the gearcase and the gear, and the outboard seal body is configured to be disposed between the second surface of the gearcase and the gear, wherein the gearcase seal assembly is configured to control an amount of the fluid that is directed out of the gearcase of the axle assembly and to control an amount of debris from entering the gearcase of the axle assembly.

15 . The gearcase assembly of claim 14 , wherein the inboard seal body includes an interior portion and an exterior portion, wherein the interior portion of the inboard seal body comprises a first gutter configured to direct fluid in a direction away from the first surface of the gearcase, the exterior portion of the inboard seal body including plural first fingers disposed outside of the inboard pocket and extending in one or more directions away from inboard pocket.

16 . The gearcase assembly of claim 15 , wherein a first finger of the plural first fingers of the inboard seal body extends in a first orthogonal direction, and a second finger of the plural first fingers of the inboard seal body extends in a second, different orthogonal direction.

17 . The gearcase assembly of claim 14 , wherein the outboard seal body includes an interior portion and an exterior portion, wherein the interior portion of the outboard seal body comprises a second gutter configured to direct the fluid in a direction away from the second surface of the gearcase, the exterior portion of the outboard seal body including plural second fingers disposed outside of the outboard pocket and extending in one or more directions away from the outboard pocket.

18 . The gearcase assembly of claim 17 , wherein a first finger of the plural second fingers of the outboard seal body extends in a first orthogonal direction, and a second finger of the plural second fingers of the outboard seal body extends in a second, different orthogonal direction.

19 . The gearcase assembly of claim 14 , wherein the inboard seal body comprises an inboard pocket configured to receive the first surface of the gearcase, and wherein the outboard seal body comprises an outboard pocket configured to receive the second surface of the gearcase of the axle assembly.

20 . A gearcase assembly for a gear configured to be coupled with an axle that extends along a center axis, the gearcase assembly c

Assignees

• Transp Ip Holdings Llc

Inventors

• Payne Andrew Lee
• Leute Scott Patrick
• Sama Santosh Reddy
• Karmarkar Uday Prakash
• Garcia Jaime De Jesus
• Richter Dennis
• Wooden Elizabeth

Classifications

• F16J15/3456

  without external means for pressing the ring against the face, e.g. slip-ring with a resilient lip · CPC title

• F16J15/3284

  characterised by their structure; Selection of materials · CPC title

• F16J15/3232

  having two or more lips · CPC title

• F16J15/3268

  Mounting of sealing rings · CPC title

• F16J15/3252

  with rigid casings or supports · CPC title