Claims
- 1. A wheel differential, comprising:
a differential housing; a differential cage rotatably supported on said differential housing by a set of bearings; a clutch assembly having a first member fixed to said differential cage and a second member configured to receive an axle half shaft extending from said differential cage for rotation with said axle half shaft; and, a shift chamber disposed radially outwardly of an outer race member of said set of bearings; a piston disposed within said shift chamber; a pushrod coupled to said piston; and, a shift arm coupled to said pushrod and configured to engage said second member of said clutch assembly.
- 2. The differential of claim 1, further comprising a spring that biases said piston in a first direction.
- 3. The differential of claim 2 wherein said spring comprises a wave spring.
- 4. The differential of claim 2 wherein a fluid force selectively urges said piston in a second direction, opposite said first direction.
- 5. The differential of claim 1 wherein said piston is urged in a first direction by a first fluid force and said piston is urged in a second direction, opposite said first direction, by a second fluid force.
- 6. The differential of claim 1 wherein said pushrod includes a flat and said shift chamber includes a support plate having an aperture with a corresponding flat, said aperture configured to receive said pushrod.
- 7. A wheel differential, comprising:
a differential housing; a differential cage rotatably supported on said differential housing by a set of bearings; a bearing cap coupled to said differential housing and disposed about at least a portion of said set of bearings; a clutch assembly having a first member fixed to said differential cage and a second member configured to receive an axle half shaft extending from said differential cage for rotation with said axle half shaft; and, a differential lock assembly including: a shift chamber formed in said bearing cap; a piston disposed within said piston; and, a shift arm coupled to said pushrod and configured to engage said second member of said clutch assembly.
- 8. The differential of claim 7, further comprising a spring that biases said piston in a first direction.
- 9. The differential of claim 8 wherein said spring comprises a wave spring.
- 10. The differential of claim 8 wherein a fluid force selectively urges said piston in a second direction, opposite said first direction.
- 11. The differential of claim 7 wherein said piston is urged in a first direction by a first fluid force and said piston is urged in a second direction, opposite said first direction, by a second fluid force.
- 12. The differential of claim 7 wherein said pushrod includes a flat and said shift chamber includes a support plate having an aperture with a corresponding flat, said aperture configured to receive said pushrod.
- 13. The differential of claim 7 wherein said bearing cap defines an arcuate recess and shift chamber is arcuately centered relative to said recess.
- 14. A wheel differential, comprising;
a differential housing; a differential cage rotatably supported on said differential housing by a set of bearings; a ring gear coupled to said differential cage for rotation therewith; a drive pinion in mesh with said ring gear and having an axis of rotation; a clutch assembly having a first member fixed to said differential cage and a second member configured to receive an axle half shaft extending from said differential cage for rotation with said axle half shaft; and, a differential lock assembly including: a shift chamber disposed radially outwardly of an outer race member of said set of bearings; a piston disposed within said shift chamber; a pushrod coupled to said pushrod; and, a shift arm coupled to said pushrod and configured to engage said second member of said clutch assembly; wherein said differential lock assembly and said ring gear are located on the same side of said axis of rotation of said drive pinion.
- 15. The differential of claim 14, further comprising a spring that biases said piston in a first direction.
- 16. The differential of claim 15 wherein said spring comprises a wave spring.
- 17. The differential of claim 15 wherein a fluid force selectively urges said piston in a second direction, opposite said first direction.
- 18. The differential of claim 15 wherein said piston is urged in a first direction by a first fluid force and said piston is urged in a second direction, opposite said first direction, by a second fluid force.
- 19. The differential of claim 14 wherein said pushrod includes a flat and said shift chamber includes a support plate having an aperture with a corresponding flat, said aperture configured to receive said pushrod.
- 20. The differential of claim 14, further comprising a bearing cap coupled to said differential housing and disposed about at least a portion of said set of bearings, said shift chamber formed in said bearing cap.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/162,199, filed Jun. 5, 2002, which claims the benefit of Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/298,906, filed Jun. 19, 2001, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60298906 |
Jun 2001 |
US |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10162199 |
Jun 2002 |
US |
Child |
10809921 |
Mar 2004 |
US |