GB583974A - Improvements in or relating to self-locking equalizing drives - Google Patents

Abstract

583,974. Differential gearing. CLEVELAND, F. J. (Akt.-Ges. der Eisen-und Stahlwerke vorm G. Fischer). Aug. 29, 1944, No. 16425. [Class 80 (ii)] In a self locking differential gear having, on at least one of the two half shafts, a clutch engagable by inertia when the speed of its associated half shaft abruptly changes such as, for example, when a vehicle wheel spins on soft ground the clutch is engaged by a member which moves axially under cam action. As shown, a nut 8 is carried by a screwed ring 5 splined to a half shaft 3 fixed to a bevel wheel 4 of the differential gear and is located in a housing 11 clutched at 13 to the planet carrier 1. The ring 5 and nut 8 are normally centralized by spring-urged pins 6, 10, and have conical friction faces 16, 14, engagable with corresponding faces on the housing 11. Sudden change of speed of the shaft 3 causes the nut 8, due to its inertia, to move axially and bring the friction faces into engagment. Plate friction discs may be used instead of conical friction faces. The nut may be in two parts arranged side-by-side and which co-operate either with a flange fixed to the middle of the ring 5 or with flanges at the ends thereof. In another modification members 29<1>, 30, Fig. 6, are loosely mounted on, and have ratchet tooth engagement with, a ring 28<1> fixed to a half shaft. The members 29', 30, are spring-urged towards the ring 28<1> and have friction faces engagable with corresponding faces on the casing 33 fixed to the planet carrier of the differential gear. The axial faces 32 of the teeth may be replaced by cam faces sloping in the opposite direction to the cam faces 31. In a further modification embodying two part nut members 7, Fig. 4, each screw member 5 is on a hollow shaft 3<1> connected to the vehicle half axle 15<1> by gearing 13<1>, 14', and the casings 9<1> are coupled to the differential planet carrier 12<1> by a shaft 11.