Title

Differential Assembly, Vehicle Drive Assembly, and Vehicle

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present utility model relates to the field of vehicle parts, and more particularly to a differential assembly, a vehicle drive assembly, and a vehicle.

BACKGROUND

For vehicles, electrogenization has become a trend. For heavy-duty vehicles with requirements for great power, how to arrange a drive mechanism in a compact space to achieve a high gear ratio to boost the output torque of a power motor is one of the challenges. One of concepts is to use space on one side of a differential to arrange a torque booster gear set on an outer ring of a half shaft. To maintain the coaxiality of the torque booster gear set and the differential and since the torque booster gear set and the differential have different rotational speeds, a common existing arrangement is to arrange a needle bearing between the torque booster gear set and the differential. However, due to the great velocity difference and torque difference of the torque booster gear set and the differential, the needle bearings may fail after long-term use.

SUMMARY

An object of the application is to address or at least alleviate the problems present in the prior art.

According to an aspect, provided is a differential assembly, comprising: a differential; a first half shaft and a second half shaft that are connected with the differential; a torque booster gear set, comprising a first gear assembly concentrically sleeved on the outside of the first half shaft and axially located on a side of the differential close to the first half shaft and a second gear assembly respectively in transmission engagement with the first gear assembly and an external gear of the differential; and a support fixedly arranged between the first gear assembly and the differential and comprising a first bearing block and a second bearing block, wherein the first bearing block receives therein a first bearing for supporting one end of a hollow shaft of the first gear assembly, and the second bearing block receives therein a second bearing for supporting one end of a rotating shaft of the differential. Optionally, in an embodiment of the differential assembly, the support comprises a cylindrical body and support arms extending radially outward from the body.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the differential assembly, the support arms are configured to prevent other components of the differential assembly from being connected to a housing of the differential assembly, and an outer end of the support arm is provided with a bolt hole for fixing the support.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the differential assembly, the first bearing block and the second bearing block are located at opposite end surfaces of the body.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the differential assembly, the first gear assembly comprises the hollow shaft concentrically sleeved on the first half shaft, as well as a first gear and a second gear on the hollow shaft, and the second gear has an outer diameter less than an outer diameter of the first gear.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the differential assembly, the second gear assembly comprises a first gear shaft and a second gear shaft, the rotation axes of the first gear shaft and the second gear shaft are parallel to the rotation axis of the hollow shaft, the first gear shaft and the second gear shaft are respectively provided with a third gear engaged with the second gear of the first gear assembly and a fourth gear engaged with the external gear of the differential, and the fourth gear has an outer diameter less than an outer diameter of the third gear.

According to another aspect, provided is a vehicle drive assembly, comprising: a power motor; a gearbox connected with the power motor; and the differential assembly according to various embodiments connected with the gearbox, wherein the first gear assembly receives a torque from the gearbox.

Optionally, in the vehicle drive assembly, the power motor, the gearbox, and the differential assembly are integrated in a same housing.

Optionally, in the vehicle drive assembly, in a longitudinal direction, the power motor and the gearbox are located on a side of the differential opposite to a side of the differential on which the second gear assembly is located.

According to another aspect, provided is a vehicle, comprising: the differential assembly according to various embodiments or the vehicle drive assembly according to various embodiments.

Embodiments according to the present utility model provide a differential assembly and a vehicle drive assembly that are compact in structure, stable in operation, and capable of achieving large torque boosting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

With reference to the drawings, the disclosure of the application will become more readily understood. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that these drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the application. Further, like numerals in the figures are used to denote like parts, wherein: FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a vehicle drive assembly according to an embodiment of the present utility model;

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of a part of a differential assembly according to an embodiment of the present utility model; and

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of a support of a differential assembly according to an embodiment of the present utility model.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a differential assembly and a vehicle drive assembly according to embodiments of the present utility model are described. First, FIG. 1 illustrates shows an overall layout of the vehicle drive assembly according to an embodiment, which can be provided to an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) as a separate product or in which a differential assembly can be provided to an OEM separately as a product. The vehicle drive assembly includes a power motor 1 ; a gearbox 3 connected with the power motor 1 by means of an intermediate gear 2 and the differential assembly according to the embodiment of the present utility model. In the illustrated embodiment, the gearbox 3 is configured as a four-speed gearbox. The differential assembly includes a differential 6; a first half shaft 71 and a second half shaft 72 that are connected with the differential 6 and respectively configured to be connected to wheels; and a torque booster gear set, including a first gear assembly 4 concentrically sleeved on the outside of the first half shaft 71 and axially located on a side of the differential 6 close to the first half shaft and a second gear assembly 5 respectively in transmission engagement with the first gear assembly 4 and and an external gear (61) of the differential. In the above structure, the first gear assembly 4 and the differential 6 rotate coaxially, but with a quite difference in rotational speed and torque. Therefore, the present utility model further provides a support 8. The support 8 is fixedly arranged between the first gear assembly 4 and the differential 6, and the surpport 8 includes a first bearing block 801 (FIG. 3) and a second bearing block 802. The bearing support 801 receives therein a first bearing 81 for supporting one end of a hollow shaft 41 of the first gear assembly, and the second bearing support 802 receives therein a second bearing 82 for supporting one end of a rotating shaft of the differential, thereby providing bearing support for the first gear assembly 4 and the differential 6 so that the first gear assembly 4 and the differential 6 that are different in rotational speed and torque operate stably.

In some embodiments, the first gear assembly 4 includes the hollow shaft 41 concentrically sleeved on the first half shaft 71 , as well as a first gear 42 and a second gear 43 on the hollow shaft 41 , and the second gear has an outer diameter less than an outer diameter of the first gear 42. The first gear 42 is engaged with the gearbox 3 to receive an input torque, and the second gear 43 is engaged with the second gear assembly 5.

The second gear assembly 5 may be any structure that transfers the torque of the first gear assembly 4 to the differential 6, which may, for example, include a single rotating shaft, as well as a big gear and a pinion on the single rotating shaft to be engaged with the second gear 43 and the external gear 61 of the differential, respectively, so as to achieve torque transfer and torque boosting. In some embodiments, to achieve stable large torque transfer, as shown in FIG. 2, the second gear assembly includes a doubleshaft structure, including a first gear shaft 501 and a second gear shaft 502. The rotation axes of the first gear shaft 501 and the second gear shaft 502 are parallel to the rotation axis of the hollow shaft 41 , i.e., parallel to the rotation axes of the differential 6, the first half shaft 71 , and the second half shaft 72. The first gear shaft 501 and the second gear shaft 502 are respectively provided with a third gear 51 engaged with the second gear 43 of the first gear assembly and a fourth gear 52 engaged with the external gear 61 of the differential, and the fourth gear has an outer diameter less than an outer diameter of the third gear 51 , thereby achieving stable torque transfer and torque boosting. In alternative embodiments, the second gear assembly may include a plurality of stages to achieve a greater gear ratio.

With reference to FIG. 3 again, the support 8 includes a cylindrical body 800 and a plurality of support arms 803 extending radially outward from the body 800. The plurality of support arms 803 are configured for the fixing and mounting of the support 8, so the plurality of support arms 803 can be designed to prevent other structures of the differential assembly from being connected to a housing of the differential assembly. In some embodiments, the plurality of support arms 803 are each provided with a mounting hole 805 at the end thereof so as to be fixedly mounted on any housing of the differential assembly. The inner side of the cylindrical body 800 of the support 8 defines the first bearing block 801 and the second bearing block 802. In some embodiments, the first bearing block 801 and the second bearing block 802 are located at opposite end surfaces of the body 800.

In some embodiments, in the longitudinal direction, i.e., the front-rear direction of a vehicle (in a running direction), the power motor 1 and the gearbox 3 are located on a side of the first gear assembly 4 and the differential 6 opposite to a side of the first gear assembly and the differential on which the second gear assembly 5 is located.; for example, the power motor 1 and the gearbox 3 are located on the back side and the second gear assembly 5 is located on the front side, and the first gear assembly 4 and the differential 6 are adjacent in the axial direction, i.e., in the direction of the vehicle axle. In this way, torque boosting is achieved in a compact structure. Although in the illustrated embodiment, the power motor 1 , the gearbox 3, and the differential assembly are integrated in the same housing and provided to the OEM together. Alternatively, the differential assembly according to the embodiment can be provided as a separate module, and the gearbox and a driving device can be replacable. For example, other types of gearboxes and other power sources can be used. The power source is not limited to a drive motor.

Embodiments according to the present utility model provide a differential assembly and a vehicle drive assembly that are compact in structure, stable in operation, capable of achieving large torque boosting, and especially suitable for electric-driven heavy-duty vehicles.

The specific embodiments described above in the application are only to describe the principle of the application more clearly, where various components are clearly shown or described to better understand the principle of the present utility model. Those skilled in the art can easily make various modifications or changes to the application without departing from the scope of the application. Therefore, it should be understood that all these modifications or changes shall be included within the scope of the application.