A prior art yoke assembly is shown generally at 10 in
The yoke 14 is a male yoke having a solid shaft portion 22 and a pair of yoke arms 24. The tube 16 surrounds the solid shaft portion 22 and the second end 20 of the shaft 12. A first end of the tube 16 is welded to the second end 20 of the shaft 12 with a first weld 26 and a second end of the tube 16 is welded to the solid shaft portion 22 of the yoke 14 with a second weld 28.
Due to the short length of the tube 16, manufacturing constraints require that the first 26 and second 28 welds be performed with separate welding passes. A waiting period is also required between welds to allow the first weld to cool. This is a time consuming and expensive process. Further, the use of multiple welds increases the likelihood of heat distortion in the components, which results in increased difficulty for balancing the driveline after assembly.
The present invention eliminates the need for multiple welds. As shown in
The yoke 34 includes a shaft portion 38 and a pair of yoke arms 40 that extend outwardly from the shaft portion 38. The shaft portion 38 includes an internal cavity 42 that defines an internal pilot surface 44.
The shaft 32 includes a first end 46 with a splined surface 48 for coupling with another driveline component (not shown) and a second end 50 that is inserted into the internal cavity 42. An external surface 52 of the second end 50 abuts directly with the internal pilot surface 44 in an overlapping relationship.
The shaft 32 also includes an increased diameter portion 56 that forms an abutment stop 58. A distal end 54 of the shaft portion 38 of the yoke 34 abuts against the abutment stop 58 when the second end 50 is inserted into the internal cavity 42. The weld 36 is formed about an outer circumference of the yoke assembly 30 in the area of the distal end 54 of the yoke 34 and the increased diameter portion 56 of the shaft 32.
The shaft 32 can comprise a solid shape with a spline plug as shown in
Forming the yoke to have an internal piloting surface eliminates the need for a tubular connector piece between the yoke and the shaft, resulting in a reduced number of components. Further, only a single weld is required which reduces problem of heat distortion and balance correction. This allows greater throughput in the manufacturing process, as well as reducing overall cost.
Although a preferred embodiment of this invention has been disclosed, a worker of ordinary skill in this art would recognize that certain modifications would come within the scope of this invention. For that reason, the following claims should be studied to determine the true scope and content of this invention.