Vehicle Driveline Coupling Eliminates Spline Rattle
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Solution Overview
Problem
Splined connections in vehicle driveline couplings experience torsional vibrations and significant idle rattle due to clearances, leading to undesirable noise during engine idle speeds.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle driveline coupling with a primary and secondary hub, utilizing spring means to generate a rotational torque bias and setting means to align spline connections, ensuring continuous drive transmitting contact with the drive shaft splines, thereby eliminating rattle.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If spring means are used to generate rotational torque bias between hubs, then spline rattle is eliminated by maintaining continuous drive transmitting contact, but device complexity increases due to additional components
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling is divided into a primary hub and a secondary hub, each with separate spline connections to the drive shaft. This segmentation allows independent positioning of each hub's spline connection, enabling the spring means to bias one hub relative to the other to maintain continuous contact while distributing the complexity across modular components.
Solution Approach 2:
The spring means generates a rotational torque bias that changes the angular position parameter of the hubs relative to each other. By adjusting the bias torque parameter, the system maintains continuous drive transmitting contact under varying load conditions, eliminating rattle while adapting to different operating states.
2Ease of operation
If setting means are provided to align spline connections for mounting, then ease of assembly is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional adjustment mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The setting means (adjustable bolt or keyway mechanism) enables preliminary alignment of the hub spline connections before final mounting onto the drive shaft. This preliminary action ensures proper positioning is achieved during assembly, facilitating ease of installation while the mechanism itself remains integrated into the existing hub structure.
3Reliability
If rotational torque bias is increased to maintain contact under overrunning conditions, then reliability improves by preventing rattle during high torque, but excessive bias torque may prevent contact under normal conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The spring means provides a dynamic rotational torque bias that adapts to varying operating conditions. The spring's elastic properties allow the bias torque to vary within a range, maintaining sufficient contact pressure under normal driving conditions while preventing rattle during overrunning conditions, without requiring excessive fixed bias torque.
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
The solution effectively maintains drive transmitting contact under normal and overrunning conditions, eliminating spline rattle by ensuring the spline connections remain in contact, even during high torque conditions.
Implementation Method 1
spring means for generating a rotational torque bias between the two hubs about their co-axial axis
Implementation Method 2
The setting means may comprise a bolt in screw-threaded engagement with a component connected with one hub, the bolt engaging a formation connected with the other hub so that rotation of the bolt within the component rotates the one hub relative to the other hub
Data Source
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AI summary
A vehicle driveline coupling for coupling a drive component to a splined drive shaft, the coupling has a primary hub connected for co-rotation with the driveline component and having a first spline connection for engaging splines on the drive shaft and a secondary hub mounted co-axially with the primary hub and having a second spline connection for engaging the splines on the drive shaft. Spring means are provided for generating a rotational torque bias between the two hubs about their co-axial axis so that the two spline connections are not aligned and cannot initially both be mounted on the drive shaft splines, and setting means acting between the hubs to rotate the hubs relative to each other against the torque bias to increase the bias and align the spline connections to allow both hubs to be mounted on the drive shaft splines. Release of the setting means after the hubs are both mounted on the drive shaft splines allowing the spring means to bias the hubs rotationally away from each other so that the first spline connection is in drive transmitting contact with the drive shaft splines and this contact is maintained, thus eliminating spline rattle, unless an overrunning torque in excess of the bias torque is transmitted through the drive shaft.