ACTIVE AND PASSIVE CLUTCH ASSEMBLY AND HALF SHAFT DISCONNECT ARRANGEMENT
A clutch assembly includes a first coupling including a locking face including locking formations, and a second coupling including a front face facing the locking face of the first coupling and including passive strut pockets, active strut pockets circumferentially interspersed amongst the plurality of passive strut pockets, and actuator passages open to the plurality of active strut pockets. Passive struts are carried in the passive strut pockets of the second coupling, and active struts, different from the passive struts, are carried in the active strut pockets of the second coupling. Also disclosed are a related axle configuration, and a related method of operating a motor vehicle drivetrain.
1 . An axle configuration, comprising:
a geartrain having an input, a first output coupled to a first axle shaft, and a second output; and
a clutch having an input coupled to the second output of the geartrain, and an output, wherein the clutch includes a passive overrunning clutch.
2 . The axle configuration of claim 1 , wherein the clutch is a single plane dynamically controllable clutch and passive one way clutch.
3 . The axle configuration of claim 2 , wherein the clutch is passive for vehicle forward operation.
4 . The axle configuration of claim 1 , wherein the clutch has an axial length to major outer diameter ratio of less than 0.5.
5 . The axle configuration of claim 1 , wherein the axle configuration is for a front axle and the first axle shaft is a first front half shaft.
6 . The axle configuration of claim 1 , wherein the axle configuration is for a rear axle and the first axle shaft is a first rear half shaft.
7 . The axle configuration of claim 1 , further comprises a disconnect device enabling passive engagement and disengagement of a half shaft to provide control to engage and disengage a secondary axle of dual axles.
8 . The axle configuration of claim 7 , wherein the half shaft includes a first half shaft portion coupled at an input side of the clutch, and a second half shaft portion coupled at an output side of the clutch.
9 . The axle configuration of claim 7 , wherein the clutch includes a coupling portion and a control portion coupled to the coupling portion.
10 . The axle configuration of claim 9 , wherein the coupling portion includes a first coupling member, a second coupling member, and a plurality of locking members.
11 . The axle configuration of claim 9 , wherein the control portion includes a stator assembly, a translator, and an actuator assembly.
12 . The axle configuration of claim 9 , wherein the control portion constitutes a bi-stable actuator.
13 . A clutch assembly, comprising:
a first coupling including a locking face including a plurality of locking formations;
a second coupling including a front face facing the locking face of the first coupling and including a plurality of passive strut pockets, a plurality of active strut pockets circumferentially interspersed amongst the plurality of passive strut pockets, and a plurality of actuator passages open to the plurality of active strut pockets;
a plurality of passive struts carried in the passive strut pockets of the second coupling; and
a plurality of active struts, different from the passive struts, and carried in the active strut pockets of the second coupling.
14 . The clutch assembly of claim 13 , wherein the first coupling includes a base wall having the plurality of locking formations and an axial wall extending axially away from the base wall, and wherein the second coupling is carried axially within an axial extent of the axial wall and is retained thereto by a retainer ring with the pluralities of passive and active struts positioned between the second coupling and the base wall of the first coupling.
15 . The clutch assembly of claim 14 , wherein the first coupling is a bowl-shaped component.
16 . The clutch assembly of claim 14 , wherein the second coupling is a plate-shaped component.
17 . The clutch assembly of claim 13 , wherein the passive struts are passive one way clutch struts, whereas the active struts are dynamically controllable clutch struts.
18 . A method of operating a motor vehicle drivetrain, comprising:
driving a geartrain in a vehicle forward two-wheel drive mode, wherein a clutch assembly coupled between the geartrain and a vehicle wheel is in an overrunning passive one way clutch state with a dynamically controllable clutch deactivated;
driving the geartrain in a vehicle forward four-wheel drive mode, wherein the clutch assembly is in an engaged passive one way clutch state with the dynamically controllable clutch deactivated;
driving the geartrain in a vehicle reverse four-wheel drive mode, wherein the clutch assembly is in an engaged passive one way clutch state with the dynamically controllable clutch activated; and
driving the geartrain in a regenerative vehicle forward four-wheel drive mode, wherein the clutch assembly is in an engaged passive one way clutch state with the dynamically controllable clutch activated.
19 . The method of operating a motor vehicle drivetrain of claim 18 , further comprising driving the geartrain in a reverse two-wheel drive mode, wherein the clutch assembly is in an engaged passive one way clutch state with the dynamically controllable clutch deactivated.
20 . The method of operating a motor vehicle drivetrain of claim 18 , wherein the engaged passive one way clutch state provides half shaft engagement in a vehicle forward direction.