Vehicle joint

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9790996-B2
Application number	US-201414392394-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 24, 2014
Priority date	Nov 25, 2013
Publication date	Oct 17, 2017
Grant date	Oct 17, 2017

Abstract

A vehicle joint has a drive sleeve, a pinion shaft and a drive nut. The sleeve has a vent hole, a first set of splines and a first set of venting grooves. The pinion shaft has a second set of splines engaged with the first set of splines. A fluid gap radially outboard of the engaged spines extends the length of the engaged splines. A second set of venting grooves is engaged with the first set of venting grooves. The pinion shaft also has a first set of threads. The drive nut has a second set of threads engaged with the first set of threads. The drive nut also has a radial aperture extending through the drive nut. The first vent hole is in fluid connection with the radial aperture through some of the features described above.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A vehicle joint, comprising:
a drive sleeve, comprising:
a first vent hole;
a first set of splines; and
a first set of venting grooves;

a pinion shaft, comprising:
a second set of splines engaged with said first set of splines, wherein a radial gap radially outboard of said engaged splines extends the length of said engaged splines;
a second set of venting grooves engaged with said first set of venting grooves; and
a first set of threads;

a drive nut, comprising:
a second set of threads engaged with said first set of threads; and
a fluid aperture extending through said drive nut;

wherein said first vent hole is in fluid communication with said fluid aperture through said radial gap, said first and second set of venting grooves and said first and said second set of threads;
wherein said first vent hole is located in a middle portion of said drive sleeve, said first vent hole is oriented along a longitudinal axis of said sleeve.

2. The vehicle joint of claim 1 , wherein said drive sleeve first set of splines are located in a first, inner diameter portion of said drive sleeve.

3. The vehicle joint of claim 1 , wherein said drive sleeve first set of venting grooves are located in a second, inner diameter portion of said drive sleeve wherein said second inner diameter portion is larger than said first inner diameter portion.

4. The vehicle joint of claim 1 , wherein said pinion shaft second set of splines are located on an outside surface of a first end portion of said pinion shaft having a first diameter.

5. The vehicle joint of claim 4 , wherein said pinion shaft second set of venting grooves are located on said outside surface of a second end portion of said pinion shaft.

6. The vehicle joint of claim 1 , wherein said radial gap is located in said drive sleeve.

7. The vehicle joint of claim 1 , wherein said drive nut second set of threads is located on an inner diameter of said drive nut.

8. The vehicle joint of claim 1 , wherein said drive nut has a first portion radially overlapping, in order, said drive sleeve and pinion shaft, said drive nut connected to said drive sleeve with a snap ring in said first portion, and said drive nut has a second portion radially overlapping said pinion shaft and connected thereto with a snap ring.

9. The vehicle joint of claim 1 , further comprising an outer race, an inner race, a cage and a plurality of balls within said cage, wherein said inner race is engaged for rotation with said drive sleeve.

10. The vehicle joint of claim 1 , wherein a second vent hole in communication with said first vent hole is located in said outer race.

11. A vehicle joint, comprising:
a drive sleeve, comprising:
a first vent hole;
a first set of splines; and
a first set of venting grooves;

a pinion shaft, comprising:
a second set of splines engaged with said first set of splines, wherein a radial gap radially outboard of said engaged splines extends the length of said engaged splines;
a second set of venting grooves engaged with said first set of venting grooves; and
a first set of threads;

a drive nut, comprising:
a second set of threads engaged with said first set of threads; and
a fluid aperture radially extending through said drive nut, wherein a check valve is located within said fluid aperture.

Assignees

• Dana Automotive Systems Group

Inventors

• Metzger Seth A
• Oh Seung Tark
• Dutkiewicz Jeffrey A

Classifications

• F16D3/845 Primary

  allowing relative movement of joint parts due to the flexing of the cover · CPC title

• Y10S464/906

  Torque transmitted via radially spaced balls · CPC title

• F16D3/224

  the groove centre-lines in each coupling part lying on a sphere · CPC title

• F16D2003/846

  Venting arrangements for flexible seals, e.g. ventilation holes · CPC title

• Y10T403/67

  Thimble: screw or cam · CPC title