Patent ID: 9630482
Date: 2017-04-25
CPC Classifications: B60K,B60Y

Claim:
1. A low-floor vehicle comprising: a chassis frame and at least one left drive wheel and one right drive wheel connected by a non-driving rigid axle, a drive system for driving the drive wheels which is mounted on said chassis frame, said drive system including a left electric motor and a right electric motor mounted on a transaxle characterized by a H-shaped geometry including longitudinal lateral members and an off-centered transversal member, said longitudinal lateral members being formed by a left casing and a right casing, said off-centered transversal member being formed by a link interconnecting the left and right casings, said left and right casings having an elongated shape and oriented along a front-rear axis of the vehicle, said left and right casings each including an input shaft disposed at a first end of a lateral external face and an output shaft at a second end of the associated casing on the same lateral external face, said input and output shafts of each of the right and left casings being also vertically offset one relative to the other, each of said input shafts being driven by an associated one of the left and right electric motors mounted to the chassis frame behind the corresponding one of the left and right drive wheels, each of said output shafts being mounted for joint rotation with a half-shaft disposed at an output of the left and right casings, said half-shaft having ends provided with constant velocity joints and being rotatably secured to a corresponding wheel of said left and right drive wheels, each of the input shafts being rotatably drivingly connected to an input pinion mounted inside the associated one of the right and left casings, each of said input pinions disposed at said first end of the right and left casings driving an epicyclic gear train driven via a gear set, said epicyclic gear train having a ring gear, a planet wheel carrier and a sun gear, either one of the ring gear and of the planet wheel carrier being drivingly connected to said half-shaft arranged at the output of the second end of the casings, said epicyclic gear trains of the left and right casings being connected together by said link corresponding to the off-centered transversal member of the H-shaped transaxle, said link being rotatably secured to each of the sun gears of the left and right epicyclic gear trains, the sun gears of the left and right casings having opposite torques, said link being horizontally and vertically offset relative to the non-driving rigid axle and relative to an axis of rotation of the left and right drive wheels and located at the level of the lowered floor of the vehicle, the transaxle further comprising a rotation reversal means in order to transmit to each of the drive wheels a rotation in a same direction.