Planetary differential for four wheel drive with automatic locking gear

Claim 2

A planetary differential including a planet carrier element, at least one planet gear carried by said carrier element, first and second gear elements meshed with said planet gear, an input means drivingly, connected to one of said elements, means associated with said differential to provide for normal overspeed of one of said gear elements with respect to said other gear elemenT, a locking gear meshing with one of said gear elements, means for retaining said locking gear in meshing engagement with said gear element, means associated with said locking gear whereby for normal overspeed of said one gear element with respect to said other gear element, differentiation between said gear elements is permitted but actuable when said normally underspeeding gear element overspeeds said normally overspeeding gear element, to also cause engagement of said locking gear with said planet gear to prevent differentiation between said gear elements.

Claim 3

A planetary differential as in claim 1 in which said means associated with said locking gear includes a friction engagement between said retaining means and a stationary element.

Claim 4

A planetary differential as in claim 1 including a stationary housing encasing said differential.

Claim 5

A planetary differential as in claim 3 in which said means associated with said locking gear includes a friction engagement between said retaining means and said housing.

Claim 6

A planetary differential as in claim 1 in which said retaining means includes a link pivotal about a central axis of said differential mechanism.

Claim 7

A planetary differential as in claim 1 in which a plurality of planet gears are carried by said planet carrier.

Claim 8

A planetary differential as in claim 6 including a plurality of locking gears, each of said locking gears retained in meshing engagement with one of said gear elements and each of said locking gears disposed between a pair of said planet gears.

Claim 9

A planetary differential as in claim 7 in which a single carrier interconnects said plurality of locking gears.

Claim 10

A planetary differential as in claim 1 including blocking means disposed between said locking gear and said planet gear adapted to maintain said locking gear and said planet gear out of engagement during normal overspeed of said one gear element with respect to said other gear element.

Claim 11

A planetary differential as in claim 9 in which said blocking means includes first and second deformable members connected for rotation respectively with said locking gear and said planet gear, at least one of said deformable members being greater in diameter than said gears to which they are attached.

Claim 12

A planetary differential as in claim 10 in which said deformable members are operative such that when said normally underspeeding gear element overspeeds said normally overspeeding gear element, said members deform allowing said locking gear to mesh with said planet gear thereby preventing differentiation between said gear elements.

Claim 13

A planetary differential as in claim 2 including disabling means associated with said means associated with said locking gear, said disabling means being selectively actuable to disable said retarding means thereby rendering said retarding means ineffective.

Claim 14

A planetary differential as in claim 12 including a friction connection between said locking gear and said overspeeding gear, said friction connection being of lesser force than the friction connection between said retaining means and said stationary element.

Claim 15

A planetary differential as in claim 13 in which said locking gear is carried by said retaining means.

Claim 16

A multiple path drive system for a vehicle having at least two pairs of traction wheels including a pair of axle assemblies, a pair of torque transmitting members each connected to an axle assembly, a torque transfer mechanism comprising driven means adapted to receive an input torque, a planetary differential mechanism driven by said driven means including a planetary carrier element, at least one planet gear carried by said carrier element, first and second gear elements meshed with said planet gear, each of said gear elements connected to one of said torque transmitting members, means drivingly connecting said driven means to one of said elements, means associated with said multiple path drive system to provide for normal overspeed of one of said gear elements with reSpect to said other gear element, a locking gear meshing with one of said gear elements, means for retaining said locking gear in meshing engagement with said gear element, means associated with said locking gear such that for normal overspeed of said one gear element with respect to said other gear element, differentiation between said gear elements is permitted, but actuable when said normally underspeeding gear element overspeeds said normally overspeeding gear element to cause engagement of said locking gear with said planet gear to prevent differentiation between said gear elements.

Claim 17

A multiple path drive system for a vehicle having at least two pairs of traction wheels including a pair of axle assemblies, a pair of torque transmitting members each connected to an axle assembly, a torque transfer mechanism comprising driven means adapted to receive an input torque, a planetary differential mechanism driven by said driven means including a planetary carrier element, at least one planet gear carried by said carrier element, first and second gear elements meshed with said planet gear, each of said gear elements connected to one of said torque transmitting members, means drivingly connecting said driven means to one of said elements, means associated with said multiple path drive system to provide for normal overspeed of one of said gear elements with reSpect to said other gear element, a locking gear meshing with one of said gear elements, means for retaining said locking gear in meshing engagement with said gear element, means associated with said locking gear such that for normal overspeed of said one gear element with respect to said other gear element, differentiation between said gear elements is permitted, but actuable when said normally underspeeding gear element overspeeds said normally overspeeding gear element to cause engagement of said locking gear with said planet gear to prevent differentiation between said gear elements.

Claim 18

A multiple path drive system as in claim 15 in which said means for providing normal overspeed of said one gear element with respect to said other gear element includes a first differential mechanism having a ratio relationship and associated with one of said drive axle assemblies and a second differential mechanism having a ratio relationship; associated with said other drive axle assembly, said ratio relationships of said first and second differential mechanisms being unequal.

Claim 19

A torque transfer mechanism comprising a housing, an input shaft operable within said housing, a pair of output shafts operable within said housing, a planetary differential mechanism driven by said input shaft including a planet carrier element, at least one planet gear carried by said carrier element, first and second gear elements meshed with said planet gear, each of said gear elements connected to an output shaft, means associated with said torque transfer mechanism to provide for normal overspeed of one of said gear elements with respect to said other gear elements, a locking gear meshing with one of said gear elements, means for retaining said locking gear in meshing engagement with said gear element, means associated with said locking gear such that for normal overspeed of said one gear element with respect to said other gear element differentiation between said gear elements is permitted but actuable when said normally underspeeding element overspeeds said normally overspeeding gear element, to also cause engagement of said locking gear with said planet gear to prevent differentiation between said gear elements.

Claim 20

A torque transfer mechanism comprising a housing, an input shaft operable within said housing, a pair of output shafts operable within said housing, a planetary differential mechanism driven by said input shaft including a planet carrier element, at least one planet gear carried by said carrier element, first and second gear elements meshed with said planet gear, each of said gear elements connected to an output shaft, means associated with said torque transfer mechanism to provide for normal overspeed of one of said gear elements with respect to said other gear elements, a locking gear meshing with one of said gear elements, means for retaining said locking gear in meshing engagement with said gear element, means associated with said locking gear such that for normal overspeed of said one gear element with respect to said other gear element differentiation between said gear elements is permitted but actuable when said normally underspeeding element overspeeds said normally overspeeding gear element, to also cause engagement of said locking gear with said planet gear to prevent differentiation between said gear elements.

Claim 21

A torque transfer mechanism as in claim 17 wherein one of said output shafts is concentric with said input shaft and said other of said output shafts is laterally offset with respect to said input shaft.

Claim 22

A planetary differential including a planet carrier element; a plurality of planet gears carried by said carrier element; a sun gear and a ring gear meshed with said planet gears; input means drivingly connected to said carrier element; means associated with said differential to provide for normal overspeed of said sun gear with respect to said ring gear; a locking gear meshing with said sun gear and a link carrying said locking gear and frictionally associated with a stationary element such that for normal overspeed of said sun gear with respect to said ring gear differentiation between said gear elements is permitted but actuable when said ring gear overspeeds said sun gear to cause engagement of said locking gear with said planet gear to prevent differentiation between said gear elements.

Claim 23

A planetary differential including a planet carrier element; a plurality of planet gears carried by said carrier element; a sun gear and a ring gear meshed with said planet gears; input means drivingly connected to said carrier element; means associated with said differential to provide for normal overspeed of said sun gear with respect to said ring gear; a locking gear meshing with said sun gear and a link carrying said locking gear and frictionally associated with a stationary element such that for normal overspeed of said sun gear with respect to said ring gear differentiation between said gear elements is permitted but actuable when said ring gear overspeeds said sun gear to cause engagement of said locking gear with said planet gear to prevent differentiation between said gear elements.