COMPACT DIFFERENTIAL GEAR MECHANISM HAVING A DENSELY PACKED PINION BEVEL GEAR ARRAY

摘要

A compact bevel differential gear mechanism with pinion bevel gears arranged in a tightly packed array is disclosed. The compact bevel differential gear mechanism includes first and second side bevel gears that are co-axially aligned along an axis of rotation. The compact bevel differential gear mechanism also includes an array of pinion bevel gears mounted between the first and second side bevel gears. The pinion bevel gears intermesh with the first and second side bevel gears to form a torque transfer arrangement configured for transferring torque between the pinion bevel gears and the first and second side bevel gears and for allowing the first and second side bevel gears to rotate at different rotational speeds with respect to one another. Each of the pinion bevel gears has an actual gear face angle value that is within +/- 10 percent of a target gear face angle value. The target gear face angle value is equal to 360 degrees divided by twice the total number of pinion bevel gears provided in the array of pinion bevel gears.