Differential case with ring gear attachment
US5320587A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 17, 1993 |
| Grant date | Jun 14, 1994 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 17, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T403/7035
- WIPO fieldMechanical elements
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A differential in a motor vehicle drive axle includes a barrel shaped case and a ring gear. The case has an outer cylindrical boss and an adjacent smaller inner cylindrical boss. The ring gear has a flat side facing the case, a plurality of self-cutting straight splines around the center of the ring gear, and a counterbore in the flat side concentric with the self-cutting splines. The self-cutting splines have a major diameter corresponding to the diameter of the inner boss so that when the ring gear is forcibly moved to an assembled position on the case, the self-cutting splines form in situ on the inner boss a plurality of mating straight splines in mesh with the self-cutting splines. The depth of the counterbore is coordinated with the length of the inner boss to achieve penetration of the outer boss into the counterbore at the time the self-cutting splines engage the inner bore so that a closed chip trap is defined ahead of the self-cutting splines.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.