Patent ID: 11867270
Assignee: EATON INTELLIGENT POWER LIMITED
Field: Mechanical elements (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F | IPC F

Claim 0:
1. An electronically locking differential assembly comprising:
a differential case defining first and second output shaft openings that are co-axially aligned along an axis of rotation of the differential case;
a first and a second side gear rotatably mounted within the differential case, the first and second side gears being co-axially aligned along the axis of rotation of the differential case, the first side gear providing a first torque transmitting connection with a first output shaft, the second side gear providing a second torque transmitting connection with a second output shaft;
a lock actuation mechanism including a ramp plate that selectively moves between a locked state where the side gears are fixed for concurrent rotation and an unlocked state where the side gears rotate relative to each other;
a first tone wheel having a first plurality of teeth formed on the differential case;
a second tone wheel having a second plurality of teeth formed on the ramp plate;
a first pickup sensor that senses a position of the first plurality of teeth;
a second pickup sensor that senses a position of the second plurality of teeth; and
a controller that determines whether the lock actuation mechanism is in the locked or unlocked state based on whether a phase lag exists between a first reference peak and a second reference peak, the first reference peak corresponding to the position of the first plurality of teeth and the second reference peak corresponding to the position of the second plurality of teeth.