Drive assembly with a rotating housing attached to an output interface
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing drive assembly designs require significant material and manufacturing costs due to their complex configurations, which include extended housings and precise machining for gear teeth, leading to high material usage and expensive manufacturing techniques.
Innovation Solution
A drive assembly design featuring a separate housing cylinder with an integrally formed ring gear interface and a short attachment lip, allowing for a press or shrink fit attachment to an output interface, reducing material usage and enabling less expensive manufacturing methods like broaching for gear formation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If known drive assembly designs are used with extended housings and precise machining for gear teeth, then reliable power transmission is achieved, but material usage increases and manufacturing costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is divided into a cylindrical portion and a flange portion that are separately formed and then joined together. The cylindrical portion contains the ring gear teeth while the flange portion provides the attachment interface, allowing each component to be optimized independently and reducing overall material usage while maintaining structural integrity for reliable power transmission.
Solution Approach 2:
The ring gear is integrated directly into the cylindrical housing portion through integral formation, combining the housing structure and gear function into a single component. This eliminates the need for separate gear components and reduces the total quantity of materials required while ensuring reliable power transmission through the integrated structure.
2Reliability
If known drive assembly designs are used with extended housings and precise machining for gear teeth, then reliable power transmission is achieved, but manufacturing costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is divided into a cylindrical portion and a flange portion that are separately formed and then joined together. The cylindrical portion contains the ring gear teeth while the flange portion provides the attachment interface, allowing each component to be optimized independently and reducing overall material usage while maintaining structural integrity for reliable power transmission.
Solution Approach 2:
The ring gear is integrated directly into the cylindrical housing portion through integral formation, combining the housing structure and gear function into a single component. This eliminates the need for separate gear components and reduces the total total quantity of materials required while ensuring reliable power transmission through the integrated structure.
3Manufacturing precision
If precise machining techniques are used to form gear teeth contours, then accurate gear engagement is achieved, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the manufacturing approach from precise machining to forming techniques. The ring gear teeth are formed directly into the cylindrical housing portion using casting, forging, or other forming processes, which can achieve sufficient geometric accuracy without the high complexity and cost of precision machining operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The ring gear is integrated directly into the cylindrical housing portion through integral formation, combining the housing structure and gear function into a single component. This eliminates the need for separate gear components and reduces the total quantity of materials required while ensuring reliable power transmission through the integrated structure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design reduces material and manufacturing costs while maintaining efficient power transmission from a motor to an output hub, allowing for the use of less expensive materials and manufacturing techniques, such as broaching, while maintaining effective rotational power delivery.
Implementation Method 1
The output hub may be shrink fit to the housing cylinder
Data Source
AI summary
A drive assembly is disclosed, including a housing cylinder with a cap end, an attachment end with a first attachment surface, and gear teeth disposed around an inner circumference to form at least one ring gear. A planetary gear set may be surrounded by the housing cylinder and includes at least one sun gear and at least one set of planet gears. An output interface may include an interface body and an annular attachment lip with a second attachment surface. The housing cylinder may be attached to the attachment lip for operation of the drive assembly via the second attachment surface contacting the first attachment surface, with the cap end of the housing cylinder extending axially past an axial end of the attachment lip. Rotational power may be transmitted from the planetary gear set to the output interface via the gear teeth and the contact between the attachment surfaces.