Claims:We claim:

1. A mounting bracket for mounting the roll restrictor ARM in an automotive vehicle, wherein the bracket is configured as two-piece bracket consisting of a top plate and a bottom plate provided with at least two holes for tightening a plurality of bolts between the transaxle housing and the oil pan, wherein the top plate and bottom plates are each disposed in a respective horizontal plane, which planes are parallel to each other after tightening of the plates.

2. Mounting bracket as claimed in claim 1, wherein the top plate comprises at least three holes, of which one hole is for tightening a bolt on the oil pan and the remaining two holes are for tightening two respective bolts on the transaxle housing.

3. Mounting bracket as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bottom plate comprises at least two holes for tightening two respective bolts on the transaxle housing.

4. Mounting bracket as claimed in claim 2 and 3, wherein at least two holes of the top plate and bottom plates each are vertically in alignment with each other for tightening two bolts therethrough on the transaxle housing.

5. Mounting bracket as claimed in claim 2, wherein out of the two bolts tightened on the transaxle housing, one disposed away from the oil pan is used for inserting the roll restrictor arm and other carried a sleeve inserted between the top and bottom plate.

6. Mounting bracket as claimed in claim 1, wherein the top and bottom plates are adapted to the shape of the mounting seat available on the oil pan and transaxle housing respectively.

7. Mounting bracket as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bottom plate comprises an L-shaped extension depending therefrom, which includes an additional hole in its lower horizontal arm for tightening an additional bolt in the transaxle housing.

8. Mounting bracket as claimed in claim 1, wherein the top plate is configured in a substantially triangular shape with rounded corners.

9. Mounting bracket as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bottom plate is configured substantially triangular, with its front end disposed away from the oil pan and is in alignment with the hole in the top plate for tightening the roll restrictor arm therebetween and its rear end adjacent the oil pan is adapted to the profile of the mounting seat available on the oil pan.

10. A mounting bracket for mounting the roll restrictor ARM in an automotive vehicle, wherein the bracket comprises:

- a top plate having three holes for tightening three respective holes therethrough;

- a bottom plate provided with at least two holes for tightening a plurality of bolts therethrough for tightening on the transaxle housing;

- the top plate and bottom plates disposed are each disposed in a respective horizontal plane, which planes are parallel to each other after tightening of the plates;

- at least two holes of the top plate and bottom plates each are vertically in alignment with each other for passing two bolts therethrough for tightening on the transaxle housing;

Wherein out of the two bolts tightened on the transaxle housing, one disposed away from the oil pan is used for inserting the roll restrictor arm and other carried a sleeve inserted between the top and bottom plate.

Dated: this 26th day of October, 2015. SANJAY KESHARWANI
APPLICANT’S PATENT AGENT , Description:FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to the connection between the power train and the chassis of the automotive vehicles. In particular, the present invention relates to a device for limiting the load transfer due to rolling movement of the engine. More particularly, the present invention relates to bracket for mounting roll restrictor arm between the power train and chassis of the vehicles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Automotive powertrains, particularly powertrains used with front wheel drive vehicles and featuring an engine and transaxle mounted in a conventional east-west configuration - in which the crankshaft of the engine is perpendicular to the longitudinal center line of the vehicle - utilize the roll restrictor arm or the roll restrictor to prevent any undesirable rotation or rolling movement of the engine and transaxle about an axis which - in case not coincidental with the center axis of the crankshaft of the engine - is at least parallel thereto. The transaxle is an integrated unit combining the gear-changing functions of the transmission and the power-splitting function of a differential. The transmission cogs and differential gears are contained within transaxle housings.

Therefore, the roll restrictor is provided to restrain the rolling movement of the engine during load transfer via powertrain to the automotive sub-frame or chassis. The roll restrictor is mounted between the powertrain and the chassis by means of mounting brackets provided on either side. The chassis side roll restrictor mounting bracket is coupled to the chassis and is generally formed as a U-shaped bracket defining a central cavity.

The roll restrictor has its first end positioned within this cavity in the mounting bracket and it extends through an opening in this mounting bracket. A plurality of resilient elements/members is disposed within this cavity between the transaxle housing and the first end of the roll restrictor to resist the rolling movement of the first end relative to the mounting bracket.

The powertrain side roll restrictor mounting bracket is coupled to the powertrain. The roll restrictor has its second end positioned within the cavity formed by bracket on powertrain end.

DISADVANTAGES WITH THE PRIOR ART

The load from the roll restrictor is transferred to the transaxle housing through mounting bolts. The bending of bolts and stresses in the transaxle housing and mounting bracket needs to be minimized to avoid failures. The roll restrictor mounting bracket and mounting points on the powertrain side have to be designed to uniformly distribute the load on the powertrain housing. However, the flexibility of providing mounting points on the transaxle housing is limited due to non-availability of sufficient space and because of various manufacturability constraints. So, the selection of suitable mounting points plays a major role in the design and construction of these mounting brackets.

In most of the existing designs, the roll restrictor mounting bracket on the powertrain side is mounted on the transaxle housing or on the engine crankcase by using a single-piece mounting bracket. In many vehicles, the single piece bracket holding the roll restrictor arm is mounted on the transaxle housing or on the engine crankcase.

The conventional mounting bracket design using the available space is shown in Figure 1, wherein the mounting bracket 10 is bolted only on the transaxle housing 20 by means of four bolts 16 in two different planes near the oil pan 12. The load from roll restrictor arm 14 is shared by the bolt B1 and B2 (Figure 2) only. The loads are not transferred to the bolts B3 and B4 (Figure 2). This causes more deflection of the conventional mounting bracket 10 and the bolts 16 shown in the Figures 1 and 2. Moreover, higher stresses are observed in this conventional single-piece mounting bracket 10.

The designing of the powertrain side roll restrictor mounting bracket has a limited scope in positioning of the mounting bracket due to the design requirements demanding particular location for this roll restrictor end.
Moreover, the limitations of space availability and manufacturing constraints create difficulty in designing the single piece mounting bracket. Hence a two-piece mounting bracket concept is developed by the present applicants to meet this functional requirement better. This two-piece mounting bracket eliminates the disadvantages associated with the conventional single-piece roll restrictor mounting brackets.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

In order to arrive at the optimum configuration of this two-piece bracket for mounting the roll restrictor arm between the transaxle housing and the power train, a continuous improvement process was adopted by modelling through computer-aided engineering software. The finite element strength analysis is carried out to evaluate the strength of the conventional single-piece roll restrictor mounting bracket. From this the high deflection and stress is observed in the single piece mounting bracket. It was noticed that there were areas in the single-piece mounting brackets, which were not exposed to any stresses at all, thereby found to be unnecessary. Accordingly, such unnecessary portions, e.g. side joining the top and bottom plates was removed and a two-piece mounting bracket concept is developed. This offers a substantial improvement in terms of material/weight savings, reduction in bending/deflection of bolts, thereby reduced stresses. This design also facilitates in uniform load distribution and thereby prevents bolt failures.

Accordingly, a two-piece mounting bracket in accordance with the present invention is shown in Figures 3 and 4, wherein two plates - top plate 102 and bottom plate 104 and three parallel bolts 116 are used as a two-piece mounting bracket configuration. Out of these three bolts 116, two bolts are mounted on the transaxle housing 120 and the third bolt 116 is mounted on the oil pan 112. The separate plates, the top plate 102 and the bottom plate 104 are used as a two-piece mounting bracket 100. The top plate 102 is configured with three bolt holes 115, which are referred as TPH1, TPH2, TPH3 and the bottom plate 104 is configured with two bolt holes 117 which are referred as BPH1, BPH2. The top plate 102 is bolted on the oil pan 112 by means of a bolt 116 passing through bolt hole 115 (TPH3). The bottom plate 104 is placed on the transaxle housing 120 and the roll restrictor arm 114 is mounted between the two plates 102, 104 through one pair of bolt holes 115 (TPH1) and 117 (BPH1). A sleeve 118 is placed between the bolt holes TPH2 and BPH2 of the two plates and it is bolted.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

Some of the objects of the present invention - satisfied by at least one embodiment of the present invention - are as follows:

An object of the present invention is to provide a two-piece mounting bracket for roll restrictor arm for automotive powertrain.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a two-piece mounting bracket for the roll restrictor arm, which distributes the load uniformly.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a two-piece mounting bracket for the roll restrictor arm, which reduces the stress in the transaxle housing.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a two-piece mounting bracket for the roll restrictor arm, which can be easily mounted even in the limited space available in the transaxle housing.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a two-piece mounting bracket for the roll restrictor arm, which substantially reduces the occurrence of deflection thereof.

Still further object of the present invention is to provide a two-piece mounting bracket for the roll restrictor arm, which substantially reduces the stresses developed therein.

Yet further object of the present invention is to provide a two-piece mounting bracket for the roll restrictor arm, which substantially reduces the weight of material used therein and thereby manufacturing cost thereof.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description when read with the accompanying figures of drawing, which are, however, not intended to limit the scope of the present invention in any way.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a mounting bracket for mounting the roll restrictor ARM in an automotive vehicle, wherein the bracket is configured as two-piece bracket consisting of a top plate and a bottom plate provided with at least two holes for tightening a plurality of bolts between the transaxle housing and the oil pan, wherein the top plate and bottom plates are each disposed in a respective horizontal plane, which planes are parallel to each other after tightening of the plates.

Typically, the top plate comprises at least three holes, of which one hole is for tightening a bolt on the oil pan and the remaining two holes are for tightening two respective bolts on the transaxle housing.

Typically, the bottom plate comprises at least two holes for tightening two respective bolts on the transaxle housing.

Typically, at least two holes of the top plate and bottom plates each are vertically in alignment with each other for tightening two bolts therethrough on the transaxle housing.

Typically, out of the two bolts tightened on the transaxle housing, one disposed away from the oil pan is used for inserting the roll restrictor arm and other carried a sleeve inserted between the top and bottom plate.

Typically, the top and bottom plates are adapted to the shape of the mounting seat available on the oil pan and transaxle housing respectively.

Typically, the bottom plate comprises an L-shaped extension depending therefrom, which includes an additional hole in its lower horizontal arm for tightening an additional bolt in the transaxle housing.

Typically, the top plate is configured in a substantially triangular shape with rounded corners.

Typically, the bottom plate is configured substantially triangular, with its front end disposed away from the oil pan and is in alignment with the hole in the top plate for tightening the roll restrictor arm therebetween and its rear end adjacent the oil pan is adapted to the profile of the mounting seat available on the oil pan.

In accordance with the present invention, there is also provided a mounting bracket for mounting the roll restrictor ARM in an automotive vehicle, wherein the bracket comprises:

- a top plate having three holes for tightening three respective holes therethrough;

- a bottom plate provided with at least two holes for tightening a plurality of bolts therethrough for tightening on the transaxle housing;

- the top plate and bottom plates disposed are each disposed in a respective horizontal plane, which planes are parallel to each other after tightening of the plates;

- at least two holes of the top plate and bottom plates each are vertically in alignment with each other for passing two bolts therethrough for tightening on the transaxle housing;

wherein out of the two bolts tightened on the transaxle housing, one disposed away from the oil pan is used for inserting the roll restrictor arm and other carried a sleeve inserted between the top and bottom plate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

The present invention will be briefly described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which include:
Figure 1 shows a conventional or baseline mounting bracket for mounting the roll restrictor arm on the transaxle housing in an automobile.

Figure 2 shows the conventional single-piece mounting bracket of Figure 1 for mounting the roll restrictor arm on the transaxle housing by means of 4 bolts on two different planes.

Figure 3 shows the mounting bracket (100) configured in two pieces in accordance with the present invention for mounting the roll restrictor arm 14 on the transaxle housing

Figure 4 shows the two-piece mounting bracket of Figure 3 mounting the roll restrictor arm on the transaxle housing by means of three bolts.

Figure 5 shows another embodiment of the two-piece mounting bracket for mounting the roll restrictor arm (not shown) on the transaxle housing by means of three bolts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

In the following, different embodiments of the present invention will be described in more details with reference to the accompanying drawings without limiting the scope and ambit of the present invention in any way.

Figure 1 shows a conventional or baseline mounting bracket 10 for mounting the roll restrictor arm adjacent the oil pan 12 on the transaxle housing 20 in an automobile.

Figure 2 shows the conventional single-piece mounting bracket 10 of Figure 1 for mounting the roll restrictor arm 14 on the transaxle housing 20 by means of four bolts 16.

Figure 3 shows the mounting bracket configured in two pieces, i.e. top plate 102 and bottom plate 104 in accordance with the present invention. However, these two separate plates 102 and 104 are disposed in two planes parallel to each other. The top plate 102 and the bottom plate 104 are used as a two-piece mounting bracket 100. The top plate 102 is configured with three bolt holes 115, which are referred as TPH1, TPH2, TPH3 and the bottom plate 104 is configured with two bolt holes 117 which are referred as BPH1, BPH2. Out of these three holes 115, one hole 115 (TPH3) is provided for mounting this plate 102 on the oil pan 112 by means of one bolt 116 and the other two hole (TPH1, TPH2) 115 are provided for the roll restrictor arm 114 supported on the bottom plate 104 to be mounted on the transaxle housing 120 by means of two other bolts 116 passing through the top plate hole (TPH1, TPH2) 115 and through the two holes (BPH1, BPH2) of the bottom plate 104 placed on the transaxle housing 120 (Figure 4).

Figure 4 shows the two-piece mounting bracket of Figure 3 for mounting the roll restrictor arm 114 on the transaxle housing 120 by means of three bolts 116. The separate plates disposed in parallel planes, i.e. top plate 102 and bottom plate 104 are used for mounting the roll restrictor arm 114 as described in the following. Out of three bolts 116, two bolts are mounted on the transaxle housing 120 and the third bolt 116 is mounted on the oil pan 112. The top plate 102 is bolted on the oil pan 112 only by means of a bolt 115 passing through its bolt hole (TPH3). The bottom plate 104 is placed on the transaxle housing 120 and the roll restrictor arm 114 is mounted between the two plates 102, 104 through the pair of bolt holes 115 (TPH1) and 117 (BPH1). A sleeve 118 is placed between the bolt holes TPH2 and BPH2 of the two plates 102, 104 and it is bolted by the third bolt 116.

Figure 5 shows another embodiment of the two-piece mounting bracket for mounting the roll restrictor arm. In this embodiment, the bottom plate 204 is configured with an L-shaped extension provided for fixing the bottom plate 204 on a fourth bolt 216 on the transaxle housing 120. This additional bolt facilitates further stiffening of the bottom plate from bending/deflection thereof and thus helps in reducing the stress in the transaxle housing. The other details of the components for assembly are same as shown in Figure 4.

WORKING OF THE INVENTION

The two piece mounting bracket configured in accordance with the present invention holds the roll restrictor arm rigidly on the powertrain. It evenly transfers the loads to appropriate stiff regions on the engine and transaxle, thereby ensuring the proper working of roll restrictor under all actual loading conditions. The load coming on the roll restrictor by powertrain rolling passes through the powertrain side roll restrictor bracket.

This generates reaction from the load transferred to the bracket, and subsequently through the bolts to the transaxle and finally to the engine. The load is shared between these bolts and the stresses generated on the bolts and transaxles are substantially smaller. The two piece configuration of the mounting bracket for the roll restrictor arm reduces the bending of the bolts, which leads to overall stress reduction.

TECHNICAL ADVANTAGES AND ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE

• The load from the roll restrictor arm is shared by all the three mounting bolts in the two-piece mounting bracket according to the invention.
• The two-piece mounting bracket reduces bending of the main bolt, so the bolt failure could be easily avoided.

• Some portion of the load is transferred to the oil pan, so the amount of load transferred to transaxle housing is substantially reduced.

• The two-piece mounting bracket helps in reducing the stress in the transaxle housing.

• Although, the bolting locations are limited due to space constraint in the transaxle housing, innovative selection of single bolt tightening in the oil pan helps to provide the three bolts tightening in a single plane.

• The deflection of the two-piece mounting bracket is quite reduced.

• The volume of material required for the two-piece mounting bracket according to the invention is significantly reduced by removing the vertical connecting portion between the two plates (as was in the conventional single-piece mounting bracket), thereby reducing the mass and the material cost of the mounting bracket.

Throughout this specification the word “comprise”, or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, shall be understood to implies including a described element, integer or method step, or group of elements, integers or method steps, however, does not imply excluding any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or method steps.

The use of the expression “a”, “at least” or “at least one” shall imply using one or more elements or ingredients or quantities, as used in the embodiment of the disclosure in order to achieve one or more of the intended objects or results of the present invention.

The exemplary embodiments described in this specification are intended merely to provide an understanding of various manners in which this embodiment may be used and to further enable the skilled person in the relevant art to practice this invention. Although, only the preferred embodiments have been described herein, the skilled person in the art would readily recognize to apply these embodiments with any modification possible within the spirit and scope of the present invention as described in this specification.

Therefore, innumerable changes, variations, modifications, alterations may be made and/or integrations in terms of materials and method used may be devised to configure, manufacture and assemble various constituents, components, subassemblies and assemblies according to their size, shapes, orientations and interrelationships.

The description provided herein is purely by way of example and illustration. The various features and advantageous details are explained with reference to this non-limiting embodiment in the above description in accordance with the present invention.

The descriptions of well-known components and manufacturing and processing techniques are consciously omitted in this specification, so as not to unnecessarily obscure the specification.

While considerable emphasis has been placed on the specific features of the preferred embodiment described here, it will be appreciated that many additional features can be added and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principles of the invention. These and other changes in the preferred embodiment of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation.