The present invention relates generally to a vehicle drivetrain assembly and, more particularly, to a configurable driveshaft assembly.
Generally, the driveshaft operates within the drivetrain system to transmit torque from the engine to the axles and wheels. Engine torque is transmitted through a transmission to a forward driveshaft. The forward driveshaft transmits the torque through a forward axle and to the forward vehicle wheels. An interaxle driveshaft connects from the forward axle to the rear axle and transmits torque to the rear axle and to the rear vehicle wheels.
A driveshaft is typically assembled of two halves, a male half and a female half. When connected, the two halves form a driveshaft length for assembly into a particular vehicle configuration. Each vehicle typically requires a unique driveshaft assembly.
Conventional driveshafts utilize a tube on the male half in order to lengthen the driveshaft assembly. In this configuration the male half consists of a number of attached segments, one of the segments being the tube. By using a longer or shorter tube, the length of the assembly is made longer or shorter, respectively. Still, this type of tube assembly configuration may not adequately address the multiplicity of driveshaft configurations, particularly shorter lengths, as a minimal length is limited by the length of the female half. Therefore, numerous unique components are often required for each vehicle configuration.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide for commonality of driveshaft components as well as improved capability in adapting a common driveshaft assembly to a particular vehicle driveshaft length.
The driveshaft assembly of the present invention includes a common male component and a female component in engagement with the male component. The female component includes a yoke, a configurable segment, a positive stop member, a receptacle member, and a seal. The configurable segment has a predetermined length that corresponds to a particular vehicle driveshaft length. The present invention therefore provides for common driveshaft components among vehicles having different driveshaft assembly lengths by utilizing a different length configurable segment in each assembly.
The driveshaft assembly according to the present invention provides for commonality of driveshaft components as well as improved capability in adapting a common driveshaft assembly to a particular vehicle driveshaft length.
The various features and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the currently preferred embodiment. The drawings that accompany the detailed description can be briefly described as follows:
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The configurable segment 36 has a beveled end portion 66 which engages female yoke beveled edge 68 and a second beveled edge 67 which engages a receptacle member 62.
Receptacle member 62 includes a welch plug 40 and a cylindrical member 72 which contains the internal splines 56B. The internal splines 56B provide sliding engagement with splined portion 56A (
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The foregoing description is exemplary rather than definitive in nature. Many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. The preferred embodiments of this invention have been disclosed, however, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that certain modifications would come within the scope of this invention. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described. For that reason the following claims should be studied to determine the true scope and content of this invention.