The invention relates to a drive axle such as is usable for a bogie.

Such a bogie is for instance used in a revolver crane. When used in a revolver crane there is a need to apply large wheels on the bogie considering the heavy loads that must be moved over the rails that support the bogie. Consequently also the bearings of the wheels must be capable to withstand heavy loads. A conflicting requirement is that there is a need for compactness of the bogie, wherein the occurrence of external parts is avoided as much as possible.

US-A-4, 930, 590 teaches a combined motor and transmission assembly in which a singular, tubular housing contains the motor and a planetary transmission. This device can be considered suitable for use for a bogie of a revolver crane, and is ar ^¬ ranged -consistent with the preamble of the main claim- with a hollow shaft and a motor drive and/or drivetrain which is housed in said hollow shaft.

Generally speaking there is a quest in the art for a drive axle which is compact, and which is capable to be used in heavy load applications.

The drive axle of the invention is embodied such that it is usable for a bogie and has a hollow shaft and a motor drive and/or drivetrain which is housed in said hollow shaft, whereby the motor drive and/or drivetrain is suitably mounted on a reac ^¬ tion plate which is fixed in and to the hollow shaft. This pro ^¬ vides a very robust drive axle which is particularly suited for application in a bogie of a revolver crane. The hollow shaft and the motor drive and/or drivetrain being housed in said hollow shaft makes the compact build of the drive axle possible.

It is further preferred that the hollow shaft is circum- ferentially provided with a bearing. This also supports the ob ^¬ ject to build the drive axle compactly. Further it provides the possibility to design the drive axle with the property to be ap- plied for driving heavy loads.

The latter property can in particular be implemented in the embodiment that the drive axle is equipped with a bearing having a bearing inner ring and a bearing outer ring cooperating with said bearing inner ring, which is mounted circumferentially on the hollow shaft. Desirably then the bearing inner ring is fixed to the hollow shaft.

Desirably further a rim plate is provided at a head end of the drive axle that connects the motor drive and/or

drivetrain to the bearing outer ring.

The invention will hereinafter be further elucidated with reference to a drawing of an exemplary embodiment of the drive axle of the invention.

In the drawing:

-figure 1 shows part of the drive axle of the invention in a sectional side view;

-figure 2 shows a head end of the drive axle of the in ^¬ vention; and

-figure 3 shows part of the drive axle of the invention in isometric view.

Wherever in the figures the same reference numerals are applied, these numerals refer to the same parts.

With reference to figures 1, 2, and 3 the driveaxle of the invention is shown to have a hollow shaft 10 and a motor drive and/or drivetrain 2 which is housed in said hollow shaft 10. The hollow shaft 10 is circumferentially provided with a bearing 7, 9.

The bearing 7, 9 has a bearing inner ring 9 and a bear- ing outer ring 7 cooperating with said bearing inner ring 9, whereby the bearing inner ring 9 is mounted circumferentially on the hollow shaft 10. The bearing inner ring 9 is fixed to the hollow shaft 10 by application of pre-tensed fasteners 8.

The motor drive and/or drivetrain 2 is mounted on a re- action plate 1 which is fixed in and to the hollow shaft 10, and at a head end of the drive axle, a rim plate 5 is provided that connects the motor drive and/or drivetrain 2 to the bearing outer ring 7. For this purpose pre-tensed fasteners 4 are ap ^¬ plied to connect the rim plate 5 to the motor drive and/or the drivetrain 2, and pre-tensed fasteners 6 are applied to connect said rim plate 5 to the bearing outer ring 7.

The above elucidation must be strictly understood to be provided with the intent to remove any ambiguity from the ap ^¬ pended claims without intending to restrict the scope of protec- tion of these claims to the specific embodiment as discussed hereinabove. The scope of protection of the appended claims must therefore be understood in the broadest possible way that ac ^¬ cords with the contribution that the invention provides over the prior art.