Electric axle and electric axle product line
A system and method for an electric axle. The electric axle includes, in one example, a traction motor, an input planetary gear set arranged coaxial to the traction motor and including a sun gear rotationally coupled to the traction motor, a carrier including a first section coupled to multiple carrier shafts and a second section removably coupled to the multiple carrier shafts, and multiple planet gears rotationally mounted on the multiple carrier shafts. In the electric axle, the second section is rotationally coupled to a downstream component and the downstream component is arranged coaxial to the input planetary gear set.
1 . An electric axle, comprising:
a traction motor; and
an input planetary gear set arranged coaxial to the traction motor and including:
a sun gear rotationally coupled to the traction motor;
a carrier including a first section coupled to multiple carrier shafts and a second section removably coupled to the multiple carrier shafts; and
multiple planet gears included in a set of planet gears and rotationally mounted on the multiple carrier shafts via multiple bearings;
wherein the first section and the second section are positioned on opposing sides of the set of planet gears and the multiple bearings;
wherein the second section is directly rotationally coupled to a sun gear in a simple planetary gear set; and
wherein the simple planetary gear set is arranged coaxial to the input planetary gear set.
2 . The electric axle of claim 1 , wherein the simple planetary gear set is a multi-speed planetary gear set.
3 . The electric axle of claim 1 , wherein the simple planetary gear set is an output planetary gear set.
4 . The electric axle of claim 1 , wherein the input planetary gear set is a simple planetary gear set.
5 . The electric axle of claim 4 , wherein a ring gear in the input planetary gear set is grounded.
6 . The electric axle of claim 1 , further comprising a differential rotationally coupled to the simple planetary gear set.
7 . The electric axle of claim 6 , wherein the differential is a torque-sensing limited-slip differential.
8 . The electric axle of claim 1 , further comprising an oil pan removably coupled to a housing.
9 . The electric axle of claim 8 , further comprising a heat exchanger and an oil pump coupled to the housing.
10 . The electric axle of claim 1 , further comprising a disconnect clutch configured to rotationally disconnect a downstream component from the input planetary gear set.
11 . An electric beam axle, comprising:
a traction motor;
an input planetary gear set arranged coaxial to the traction motor and including:
a sun gear rotationally coupled to the traction motor;
a carrier including a first section coupled to multiple carrier shafts and a second section removably coupled to the multiple carrier shafts;
a set of planet gears rotationally mounted on the multiple carrier shafts; and
a ring gear that meshes with the set of planet gears and is grounded;
wherein a body grounds the ring gear in the input planetary gear set;
wherein the first section and the second section are positioned on opposing sides of the set of planet gears;
wherein the second section is directly rotationally coupled to a sun gear in a simple planetary gear set; and
wherein a ring gear in the simple planetary gear set is grounded by a housing.
12 . The electric beam axle of claim 11 , wherein the housing includes:
the body that at least partially encloses the traction motor; and
multiple end covers directly removably coupled to opposing sides of the body;
wherein the multiple end covers each circumferentially surround an axle shaft.
13 . The electric beam axle of claim 12 , further comprising:
a heat exchanger; and
an oil pump coupled to the housing.
14 . The electric beam axle of claim 13 , wherein at least one of the heat exchanger and the oil pump are coupled to a longitudinal side of the body.
15 . The electric beam axle of claim 12 , further comprising an inverter coupled to the body, wherein the inverter is electrically coupled to the traction motor.
16 . The electric beam axle of claim 15 , wherein the inverter includes a coolant inlet port and a coolant outlet port.
17 . The electric beam axle of claim 11 , further comprising a disconnect clutch configured to rotationally disconnect the simple planetary gear set from the input planetary gear set.