Axle assembly having an angular contact bearing that supports a ring gear for rotation on an axle housing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9249872-B2
Application number	US-201414294221-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 3, 2014
Priority date	Mar 15, 2013
Publication date	Feb 2, 2016
Grant date	Feb 2, 2016

Abstract

An axle assembly that includes a housing, an input pinion, a ring gear, an angular contact bearing, and a differential assembly. The input pinion has a plurality of pinion teeth and is received in the housing for rotation about a first axis. The ring gear, which is received in the housing, is a bevel gear having ring gear teeth that define a pitch angle and are meshingly engaged with the pinion teeth. The angular contact bearing supports the ring gear for rotation on the housing about a second axis that is transverse to the first axis. The angular contact bearing has a first race, which is integrally formed into the ring gear, a second race, and a plurality of bearing balls disposed between the first and second races. The differential assembly has a differential case that is mounted to the ring gear for rotation therewith.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An axle assembly comprising:
an axle housing;
an input pinion received in the axle housing and rotatable about a first axis, the input pinion having a plurality of pinion teeth;
a ring gear received in the axle housing, the ring gear being a bevel gear having a plurality of ring gear teeth that are meshingly engaged with the pinion teeth, the ring gear teeth defining a pitch angle;
an angular contact bearing supporting the ring gear for rotation on the axle housing about a second axis that is transverse to the first axis, the angular contact bearing having a first race, which is coupled to the ring gear for rotation therewith, a second race, and a plurality of bearing balls disposed between the first and second races; and
a differential assembly having a differential case, the differential case being mounted to the ring gear for rotation therewith;
wherein the second race comprises a first race member that cooperates with the bearing balls and the first race to define a first contact angle, and wherein the first contact angle is within ±15 degrees of being perpendicular to the pitch angle of the ring gear teeth.

2. The axle assembly of claim 1 , wherein the pitch angle is between 65 degrees and 55 degrees from the second axis.

3. The axle assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first contact angle is within ±10 degrees of being perpendicular to the pitch angle of the ring gear teeth.

4. The axle assembly of claim 2 , wherein the pitch angle is between 63 degrees and 57 degrees from the second axis.

5. The axle assembly of claim 4 , wherein the first contact angle is within ±10 degrees of being perpendicular to the pitch angle of the ring gear teeth.

6. The axle assembly of claim 4 , wherein the pitch angle is 60 degrees from the second axis.

7. The axle assembly of claim 6 , wherein the first contact angle is within ±10 degrees of being perpendicular to the pitch angle of the ring gear teeth.

8. The axle assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first contact angle is within ±10 degrees of being perpendicular to the pitch angle of the ring gear teeth.

9. The axle assembly of claim 1 , wherein the differential assembly further comprises a differential gearset that is configured to receive a rotary input from the differential case.

10. The axle assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first race is integrally formed into the ring gear.

11. An axle assembly comprising:
an axle housing;
an input pinion received in the axle housing and rotatable about a first axis, the input pinion having a plurality of pinion teeth;
a ring gear received in the axle housing, the ring gear being a bevel gear having a plurality of ring gear teeth that are meshingly engaged with the pinion teeth, the ring gear teeth defining a pitch angle;
a four-point angular contact bearing supporting the ring gear for rotation on the axle housing about a second axis that is transverse to the first axis, the four-point angular contact bearing having a first race, which is coupled to the ring gear for rotation therewith, a second race, and a plurality of bearing balls that are disposed between the first and second races, the second race being defined by a first race member and a second race member, wherein the first race member, the bearing balls and the first race cooperate to define a first contact angle, wherein the second race member, the bearing balls and the first race cooperate to define a second contact angle, and wherein the first contact angle is within ±15 degrees of being perpendicular to the pitch angle of the ring gear teeth; and
a differential assembly having a differential case, the differential case being mounted to the ring gear for rotation therewith.

12. The axle assembly of claim 11 , wherein the pitch angle is between 65 degrees and 55 degrees from the second axis.

13. The axle assembly of claim 12 , wherein the first contact angle is within ±10 degrees of being perpendicular to the pitch angle of the ring gear teeth.

14. The axle assembly of claim 12 , wherein the pitch angle is between 63 degrees and 57 degrees from the second axis.

15. The axle assembly of claim 14 , wherein the first contact angle is within ±10 degrees of being perpendicular to the pitch angle of the ring gear teeth.

16. The axle assembly of claim 14 , wherein the pitch angle is 60 degrees from the second axis.

17. The axle assembly of claim 16 , wherein the first contact angle is within ±10 degrees of being perpendicular to the pitch angle of the ring gear teeth.

18. The axle assembly of claim 11 , wherein the first contact angle is within ±10 degrees of being perpendicular to the pitch angle of the ring gear teeth.

19. The axle assembly of claim 11 , wherein the differential assembly further comprises a differential gearset that is configured to receive a rotary input from the differential case.

20. The axle assembly of claim 11 , wherein the first race is integrally formed into the ring gear.

Assignees

• Downs James P
• Valente Paul J
• American Axle & Mfg Inc

Inventors

• Downs James P
• Valente Paul J

Classifications

• F16H48/38

  Constructional details (the outer casing comprising the differential and supporting input and output shafts F16H57/037) · CPC title

• F16H48/08 Primary

  comprising bevel gears · CPC title

• F16H2048/385

  of the ring or crown gear · CPC title