Brake mechanism

Claim 1

For use with opposing coaxially aligned vehicle wheels or the like, a brake mechanism comprising a housing located between such wheels, a stator mounted vertically within said housing and having opposing faces each containing a series of electrical windings, means for selectively actuating said windings, tubular shaftings extending in opposite directions from and constituting lateral extensions of said housing and having inner and outer end portions, means for rotatably mounting wheels on the outer end portions, shaft units rotatably mounted within the shaftings and each shaft unit having inner and outer ends, rotor units supported on the inner ends of the shaft units for reaction to the electrical energization of the windings on the stator faces so as to thereby effect a braking of the shaft units, bearing support means arranged within the housing for the shaft units and disposed outwardly of the inner ends of such shaft units and the rotor units carried thereby, exteriorly arranged gear casings mounted on the outer end portions of the tubular shaftings, a single line epicycloidal gear assembly operatively connected to and associated with the outer end of each shaft unit and each gear assembly being housed in a planar arrangement within each of the exteriorly arranged gear casings and means for circulating a fluid lubricant over the moving parts of said shaft units, said last means including a series of interconnecting passageways provided in the tubular shaftings and communicating with the gear assemblies which function as pumps to force a fluid lubricant over the moving parts in a continuous fashion.