Claims:We Claim

1. An adapter assembly (100), for connecting a driveshaft (110) with a differential unit (200) of a vehicle, comprising of:
• a gear wheel (5) of a differential unit (200),
• a set of locking bolts (10),
• an adapter body (15),
• a circlip (20),
• a receiving body (25),
wherein,
- the adapter body (15) is configured to have a cylindrical portion (15CB) at its one end and an I-shaped portion (15UP) at its other end; the portion (15CBB) of the cylindrical portion (15CB) has a plurality of splines (15SP) and an annular recess (15AR) on its outer surface and the portion (15CBA) of the cylindrical portion (15CB) is a plane surface without any external splines and is sandwiched between the portion (15CBB) and I-shaped portion (15UP) of the adapter body (15);
- the gear wheel (5) has a cylindrical shape with a plurality of gear teeth (5GT) at its one face (5A) and a central I-shaped opening (5O) at its other face (5B) passing through the gear wheel (5);
- the receiving body (25) has a hollow stepped cylindrical shape and the stepped portion (25A) has a plurality of internal splines (25SP) matching the splines (15SP) of the adapter body (15) and a annular recess (25AR) on its inner splined surface; and
- the I-shaped opening (5O) of the gear wheel (5) is configured to receive the I-shaped portion (15UP) of the adapter body (15) and locked there through the set of locking bolts (10); and the stepped portion (25A) of the adapter body (25) is configured to receive the splined portion (15CBB) of the adapter body (15) and rotationally locked there through the circlip (20) and the matching recess (15AR) and (25AR) on the splined portion (15CBB) of the adapter body (15) and the internal splines of stepped portion (25A), respectively.

2. The adapter assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein
- the I-shaped opening (5O) of the gear wheel (5) has two opposite surfaces (5SA and 5SB) and each of the surfaces (5SA and 5SB) has a concave profile matching the convex profiled faces (15SA and 15SB) of the adapter body (15);
- the gear wheel (5) is provided with at least two through holes (5TH1, 5TH2) on its outer surface and each of the holes passes through the concave profile of the I-shaped opening (5O) to receive and position the locking bolts (10); and
- the portion (25B) of the receiving body (25) has a plurality of sliding surfaces (25BSS) at its inner side to operationally receive a driveshaft (110) inside the receiving body (25) through a joint (27).

3. The adapter assembly (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein
- the I-shaped portion (15UP) has two opposite faces (15SA and 15SB) and each of the faces (15SA and 15SB) has a convex profiled contact surface matching the concave profiled surfaces (5SA and 5SB) of I-shaped opening (5O) thereby allowing the adapter body (15) to be received and held within the I-shaped opening (5O) of the gear wheel (5); and
- the convex profiled faces (15SA and 15SB) of the I-shaped portion (15UP) have at least a cylindrical recesses (15CR1 and 15CR2) in each of the convex surfaces so as to lock the adapter body (15) with the gear wheel (5) through the locking bolts (10) positioned and passing through the respective holes (5TH1 and 5TH2) on the gear wheel (5).

4. The adapter assembly (100) as claimed in claim 3, wherein
- the splines (15SP) on the cylindrical portion (15CBB) of the adapter body (15) position and rotationally lock the adapter body (15) with the matching internal splines (25SP) given within a portion (25A) of the receiving body (25) through the circlip (20) positioned in the annular recess (15AR and 25AR) provided on the splines (15SP) of the adapter body (15) and the internal splines (25SP) of the receiving body (25), respectively; and
- said circlip (20) expands upon assembly of the adapter assembly (100) within said recesses (15AR and 25AR) of the adapter body (15) and the receiving body (25).

5. The adapter assembly (100) as claimed in claim 4, wherein
- the gear wheel (5) is located and axially restricted from moving out of an opening (200R1) given in a housing (200H) of the differential sub-assembly (200) by a cap fixed at the opening (200R1), the gear wheel (5) received within the housing (200H) through the opening (200R1) is in constant mesh with teeth given on differential gears (G1 and G2) via the teeth provided on one of its face (5A);
- the differential gears (G1 and G2) are mounted on two ends of a rod (210) that is fixed within the housing (200H), with the housing (200H) being mechanically linked to a gear given at an end of an engine output through a gear wheel fixed to an annular ring (200AR) of the housing (200H);
- the differential housing (200H) receives another gear wheel (6) through its second opening (200R2), the second opening (200R2) being located on the same axis and in a postion exactly opposite to the location of the opening (200R1), with the gear (6) being located and axially restricted from moving out of the opening (200R2) by a circlip (240) received by and fixed within an annular recess given at the opening (200R2), the gear wheel (6) received within the housing (200H) through the receiving opening (200R2) is also in constant mesh with teeth given on differential gears (G1 and G2) via the teeth provided on one of its face (6A) and
- the gear wheel (6) has a construction mirroring the construction of gear wheel (5) with its own set of sub-components including a set of locking pins (10M), adapter body (15M), circlip (20M) and a receiving body (25M) linking it to a driveshaft (110M) through a joint (27M).

6. The adapter assembly (100) as claimed in claim 5, wherein
- the portion (15CBB) of the adapter body (15) has a projection (15CBP) and the portion (15CBA) of the adapter body (15) has a recess (15UPR) to receive the projection (15CBP) of the portion (15CBB);
- the projection (15CBP) has at least a through hole (15CBH) and the portion (15CBA) has at least a pair of concentric holes (15UPH) positioned opposite to each other; and
- the portion (15CBB) of the adapter body (15) gets rotationally locked into the portion (15CBA) of the adapter body (15) by a pin (15P) passing through the holes (15UPH and 15CBH) forming the modular structure of the adapter body (15).

Dated this 22nd day of March 2022

Sahastrarashmi Pund
Head – IPR
Endurance Technologies Ltd.

To,
The Controller of Patents,
The Patent Office, at Mumbai , Description:FORM 2
The Patent Act 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
The Patent Rules, 2005

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See Section 10 and Rule 13)

TITLE OF THE INVENTION
“AN ADAPTER ASSEMBLY FOR CONNECTING A DRIVESHAFT WITH A DIFFERENTIAL UNIT OF A VEHICLE”

Endurance Technologies Limited
E-92, M.I.D.C. Industrial Area, Waluj,
Aurangabad – 431136, Maharashtra, India

The following specification particularly describes and ascertains the nature of this invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

Field of Invention

[001] The present invention relates to an adapter assembly that is provided for connecting driveshaft with differential unit of a motor vehicle. It more particularly relates to adapters capable of being utilized with wide variety of driveshaft with minimal alterations.

Background of the Invention

[002] Conventionally, a driveshaft is linked directly with the gear inside a differential via a universal joint. This universal joint is capable of receiving only one particular driveshaft design which typically gets fixed during designing stage of part manufacturing. Any subsequent changes to the drive shaft design in accordance with changes made in specification of the vehicle therefore necessitates changes to the entire assembly including not just the driveshaft but also the universal joint, the differential gears besides other components such as the bearings, seals and the outer casing. Given that these parts are not easily accessible on a fully assembled vehicle, there failure would essentially require repairs at a properly equipped maintenance workshop. Therefore there durability and reliability has to be very high. These factors add to the complexity of the design process thereby increasing the chances of errors due to unforeseen technical issues. Each such design variation therefore has to be prototyped and tested as well, which thereby adds an economic aspect to a technical issue. This discussion hence indicates an existing need for an adapter assembly that can be provided between any driveshaft and a given differential unit to durably and reliably link them with positive locking and to enable transmission of engine torque to the wheels of a motor vehicle.
Objectives of the Present Invention

[003] The main object of the present invention is to provide an adapter assembly for connecting a driveshaft with the differential unit of a motor vehicle.

[004] Another objective of the present invention is to provide an adapter assembly that is configured to receive a variety of driveshaft with minimum changes to its own design.

[005] Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide an adapter assembly that is durable and that does not require regular maintenance after its assembly in a motor vehicle.

[006] Still, the objective of the present invention is to provide an adapter assembly that reduces and/or eliminates the requirement of prototyping and testing of each and every set of components provided when a new driveshaft design is linked with the differential unit.

[007] Further, the objective of the present invention is to provide an adapter assembly that has a simple design thereby allowing reduction in cycle time and efforts required for altering it if the driveshaft design is changed.

[008] Still the objective of the present invention is to provide an adapter assembly that completely eliminates the requirement of boot and its locking clips, spider and pin, and bearings and lugs that are generally required in the conventional solutions available in public domain for joining the driveshaft with differential unit.

[009] Further, objective of the invention is to provide an adapter assembly that is simple in construction, provides positive locking with the meshing units and is reliable design.

[0010] The objective of the present invention is to provide an adapter assembly that has wider adoptability to connect driveshaft of different makes of three wheeled vehicles with the differential unit with the minimal changes in splines design and thus making it a modular and universal design as well.

Brief Description of Drawings

[0011] This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, throughout which like reference letters indicate corresponding parts in the various figures. The embodiments herein and advantages thereof will be better understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the following drawings, wherein

[0012] Figure 1 discloses an exploded view of an adapter assembly for connecting driveshaft with the differential unit in accordance with the present invention.

[0013] Figure 2 discloses a perspective view of the adapter body of the adapter assembly as per the present invention.

[0014] Figure 3 shows a perspective view of the gear wheel of the differential unit disclosing the I-shaped opening therein.
[0015] Figures 4a and 4b disclose an adapter body of the adapter assembly fitted inside the gear wheel of the differential unit.

[0016] Figures 5a (cut view) and 5b (sectional view) show an adapter assembly of the invention connecting the driveshaft with the differential unit as per the present invention.

[0017] Figure 6 shows an exploded view of the adapter assembly for connecting driveshaft with the differential unit disclosing another embodiment (modular structure) of the adapter body of the assembly.

[0018] Figure 7 discloses a perspective view of another embodiment of the adapter body (modular structure) of the adapter assembly as per the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Present Invention

[0019] The invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings which must not be viewed as restricting the scope and ambit of the invention.

[0020] Referring to Fig. 1 and in accordance with the disclosed preferred embodiment of the present invention an adapter assembly (100), for connecting a driveshaft (110) with a differential unit (200) of a vehicle, comprises of a gear wheel (5) of a differential unit (200), a set of locking bolts (10), an adapter body (15), a circlip (20) and a receiving body (25).

[0021] Referring to Fig. 2, the adapter body (15) is configured to have a cylindrical portion (15CB) at its one end and an I-shaped portion (15UP) at its other end. The cylindrical portion (15CB) and the I-shaped portion (15UP) together constitute a single adapter body (15). The portion (15CBB) of the cylindrical portion (15CB) has a plurality of splines (15SP) and an annular recess (15AR) on its outer surface and the portion (15CBA) of the cylindrical portion (15CB) is a plane surface without any external splines and is sandwiched between the portion (15CBB) and I-shaped portion (15UP) of the adapter body (15). Referring to Fig. 3, the gear wheel (5) of the differential unit has a cylindrical shape with a plurality of gear teeth (5GT) at its one face (5A) and a central I-shaped opening (5O) at its other face (5B) and the said opening (5O) passes through the gear wheel (5).

[0022] The receiving body (25) (refer Figs. 1 and 6) has a hollow stepped cylindrical shape and the stepped portion (25A) has a plurality of internal splines (25SP) matching the splines (15SP) of the adapter body (15) and an annular recess (25AR) on its inner splined surface. The I-shaped opening (5O) of the gear wheel (5) is configured to receive the I-shaped portion (15UP) of the adapter body (15) and locks there through the set of locking bolts (10). The stepped portion (25A) of the receiving body (25) is configured to receive the splined portion (15CBB) of the adapter body (15) and rotationally locks there through the circlip (20) and the matching recess (15AR) and (25AR) on the splined portion (15CBB) of the adapter body (15) and the internal splines of stepped portion (25A), respectively. The splines (15SP and 25SP) increase the surface area along which a torque input can be transmitted from the adapter body (15) to cause the adapter body (15) to make a positive locking with the receiving body (25) and rotates the receiving body (25).
[0023] The portion (25B) (refer Figs. 1 and 6) of the receiving body (25) has a plurality of sliding surfaces (25BSS) at its inner side to operationally receive a driveshaft (110) inside the receiving body (25) through a joint (27). The joint (27) can be any universal joint linked to the driveshaft (110) that is capable of being received in the plurality of sliding surfaces (25BSS). In this assembly, the changes until the receiving body (25) do not necessitate changes to be made to the adapter body (15) and the gear wheel (5) as well. At the most, the splines (15SP and 25SP) would have to be altered depending on the different makes of the three wheeled vehicles and also to sustain effective rotational locking between receiving body (25) and the adapter body (15), while the circlip (20) and the matching recess (15AR) and (25AR) provided for axis locking may remain the same.

[0024] The I-shaped opening (5O) (refer Figs. 1 and 3) of the gear wheel (5) has two opposite surfaces (5SA and 5SB) and each of these surfaces (5SA and 5SB) has a concave profile matching the convex profiled faces (15SA and 15SB) of the adapter body (15). The gear wheel (5) is provided with at least two through holes (5TH1, 5TH2) on its outer surface and each of the holes passes through the concave profile of the I-shaped opening (5O) to receive and position the locking bolts (10).

[0025] The I-shaped portion (15UP) (refer Figs. 2 and 7) has two opposite faces (15SA and 15SB) and each of the faces (15SA and 15SB) has a convex profiled contact surface matching the concave profiled surfaces (5SA and 5SB) of the I-shaped opening (5O) thereby allowing the adapter body (15) to be received and held within the I-shaped opening (5O) of the gear wheel (5). These matching profiles (5SA and 5SB, and 15SA and 15SB) of the opening (5O) and the I-shaped portion (15UP) facilitate positive locking of the adapter body (15) and the gear wheel (5) and permit contact between a larger surface for transfer of torque to happen from the gear wheel (5) to the adapter body (15). The convex profiled faces (15SA and 15SB) of the I-shaped portion (15UP) have at least a cylindrical recesses (15CR1 and 15CR2) each in either of the convex surfaces so as to lock the adapter body (15) within the gear wheel (5) through the locking bolts (10). The locking bolts (10) passes through the respective holes (5TH1 and 5TH2) on the gear wheel (5) and the coinciding cylindrical recesses (15CR1 and 15CR2) on the convex surfaces of the adapter body (15) and positioned there to get locked on torqueing the respective bolts (10). The locking bolts (10) together with the matching profile of the opening (5O) and the portion (15UP) provide an effective axial and rotational locking of the adapter body (15) within the gear wheel (5).

[0026] The splines (15SP) (refer Figs. 2 and 7) on the cylindrical portion (15CBB) of the adapter body (15) position and rotationally lock the adapter body (15) with the matching internal splines (25SP) given within a portion (25A) of the receiving body (25) through the circlip (20) positioned in the annular recess (15AR and 25AR) provided on the splines (15SP) of the adapter body (15) and the internal splines (25SP) of the receiving body (25), respectively. The circlip (20) provides the positive locking and prevents axial movement between the adapter body (15) and the receiving body (25). The circlip (20) expands upon assembly of the adapter assembly (100) within said recesses (15AR and 25AR) of the adapter body (15) and the receiving body (25) to provide the positive locking.

[0027] The gear wheel (5) (refer Figs. 5a and 5b) is located and axially restricted from moving out of an opening (200R1) given in a housing (200H) of the differential unit (200) by a cap fixed at the opening (200R1). The gear wheel (5) is received within the housing (200H) through the opening (200R1) and is in constant mesh with teeth given on differential gears (G1 and G2) via the teeth (5GT) provided on one of its face (5A). The differential gears (G1 and G2) are mounted on two ends of a steel shaft (210) that is fixed within the housing (200H), with the housing (200H) being mechanically linked to a gear given at an end of an engine output through a gear wheel fixed to an annular ring (200AR) of the housing (200H).

[0028] The differential housing (200H) receives another gear wheel (6) through its second opening (200R2). The gear (6) is the exact replica of the gear (5) of the differential unit mounted at other end of the differential unit. The gear wheel (6) is also in constant mesh with teeth given on differential gears (G1 and G2) via the teeth (6GT) provided on one of its face (6A). The second opening (200R2) being located on the same axis and in a postion exactly opposite to the location of the opening (200R1). The gear (6) being located and axially restricted from moving out of the opening (200R2) by a circlip (240) received by and fixed within an annular recess given at the opening (200R2). The gear wheel (6) received within the housing (200H) through the receiving opening (200R2) is also in constant mesh with teeth given on differential gears (G1 and G2) via the teeth provided on one of its face (6A). The gear wheel (6) has a construction mirroring the construction of gear wheel (5) with its own set of sub-components including a set of locking bolts (10M), adapter body (15M), circlip (20M) and a receiving body (25M) linking it to a driveshaft (110M) through a joint (27M). This is to say that the locking bolts (10M) corresponds to the locking bolt (10), adapter body (15M) corresponds to adapter body (15), circlip (20M) corresponds to circlip (20), the receiving body (25M) corresponds to receiving body (25), the driveshaft (110M) corresponds to the driveshaft (110) and the joint (27M) corresponds to the joint (27) in their construction and functioning. The manner of linking/association of the sub-components including a set of locking bolts (10M), adapter body (15M), circlip (20M) and a receiving body (25M) linking it to a driveshaft (110M) through a joint (27M) is also the same as that of their corresponding components.

[0029] In a second embodiment of the adapter assembly (100) (refer Figs. 6 and 7), the portion (15CBB) of the adapter body (15) has a projection (15CBP) and the portion (15CBA) of the adapter body (15) has a recess (15UPR) to receive the projection (15CBP) of the portion (15CBB). The projection (15CBP) has at least a through hole (15CBH) and the portion (15CBA) has at least a pair of concentric holes (15UPH) positioned opposite to each other. The portion (15CBB) of the adapter body (15) gets rotationally locked into the portion (15CBA) of the adapter body (15) through the projection (15CBP) and a pin (15P) passing through the holes (15UPH and 15CBH) forming the modular structure of the adapter body (15). This manner of providing the adapter body (15) with portions (15CBB and 15UP) that are rotationally and axially locked together by a pin (15), along the projection (15CBP) and the recess (15UPR) facilitate the use of changeable portion (15CBB) of the adapter body (15) suiting to different makes of the vehicles depending on the requirement of the number of splines provided in the receiving body (25). This modular construction further permits changes made along the splines (15SR and 25SR) to be restricted to the portion (15CBB) alone depending on the requirement of different makes of the vehicles.

[0030] The adapter assembly (100) so described, receives torque input from the differential gears (G1 and G2) which is transmitted to the gear wheel (5) through the gear teeth (5GT) given at the face (5A). This torque input is then transmitted to the adapter body (15) through contact surface of the portion (15UP) and the opening (5O) and also the locking bolts (10). This torque input is then transmitted to the portion (15CBB) from where the splines (15SP and 25SP) lead it further to the receiving body (25). The joint (27) positioned inside the receiving body (25) then transmits the torque to the driveshaft (110) from where it gets transmitted to the wheels of the motor vehicle.

[0031] The adapter assembly (100) in accordance with the disclosed embodiments of the invention provide following technical advantages:
- It provides a reliable means for connecting a driveshaft with the differential unit of a motor vehicle.
- It facilitates the use of different driveshaft with minimum alterations to its own design. It thereby reduces the time and efforts required at design stage and also the cost associated with prototyping and testing each time the driveshaft is altered.
- It is durable and does not need regular maintenance after its assembly in a motor vehicle.
- It has a simple construction which makes it easier to be worked upon each time the driveshaft is altered reducing the cycle time for its manufacturing.
- The adapter assembly of the invention provides positive locking the associated sub-units and totally eliminates the chances of power loss during the transmission.
- The adapter assembly of the invention completely eliminates the requirement of boot and its locking clips, spider and pin, and bearings and lugs that are generally required in the conventional solutions available in public domain for joining the driveshaft with differential unit.
- The adapter assembly of the invention has wider adoptability to connect driveshaft of different makes of three wheeled vehicles with the differential unit with the minimal changes in splines design and thus making it a modular and universal design.

[0032] Thus, the disclosed invention hence overcomes the limitation of the known solutions available in public domain for connecting driveshaft with the differential unit. Therefore, it is technically superior and contribute to the technical advancement. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as described herein.