Carrier assembly for supporting pinion gears

摘要

The present invention is aimed to provide a carrier assembly which can be made small in size while securing a sufficient fixing strength between a first carrier plate and a second carrier plate. The second carrier plate (8) has a plurality of connection elements (23) bent toward the first carrier plate (7) to weld and fix the outwardly projected end portions (23b) of the connection elements with the outwardly projected end portion of the first carrier plate (7) by electron beam welding. The connection elements each have a base portions (23a) formed with a notch (28). The notch (28) thus formed makes a gap S between the base portion of the connection element and the corner portion (29) of the pinion gear.

主权项

1. A carrier assembly comprising:
a first carrier plate formed with a plurality of first shaft holes radially inwardly positioned and circumferentially spaced apart from each other; a second carrier plate having a generally planar portion, the planar portion of the second carrier plate positioned in opposing relationship with the first carrier plate and formed with a plurality of second shaft holes radially inwardly positioned in opposing relationship with the first shaft holes; a plurality of pinion shafts extending through the respective first and second shaft holes; a plurality of pinion gears rotatably supported on the respective pinion shafts and held in mesh with a sun gear; and a plurality of connection elements each arranged between the second shaft holes in the circumferential direction of the second carrier plate and radially outwardly projecting from a radially outer peripheral portion of the second carrier plate, each of the connection elements having a first surface, an opposite second surface, and a pair of side edges, the first surface and the second surface extending between the pair of side edges; wherein the connection elements are each bent toward the first carrier plate to fix an outwardly projected end portion of the connection element with a radially outer peripheral portion of the first carrier plate so as to have the first carrier plate and the second carrier plate connected with each other with the connection elements each being circumferentially interposed between the pinion gears; and the connection elements each have a base portion in close proximity to the radially outer peripheral portion of the second carrier plate, the bend of each connection element is bent at the base portion, a portion of the base portion extends generally normal to the planar portion of the second carrier plate, the base portion being formed with a notch having a generally semicircular shape dented in the circumferential direction of the second carrier plate and extending between the first surface and the second surface of the connection element, the notch being formed at least partially at the bend and at least partially in the portion of the base portion that extends generally normal to the planar portion of the second carrier plate, the notch defines a gap between the base portion of the connection element and a corner portion of the pinion gear in close proximity to the radially outer peripheral portion of the second carrier plate to prevent the base portion of the connection element from being brought into frictional contact with the corner portion of the pinion gear.