Patent ID: 9556945
Date: 2017-01-31
CPC Classifications: F16H

Claim:
1. An electronically actuated locking differential comprising: a gear case; a pair of side gears disposed within said gear case and operatively adapted for rotation with a corresponding pair of axle half shafts; a lock plate disposed within said gear case and operably associated with one of said side gears and being movable axially relative to the one of said side gears; a return spring disposed within said gear case and cooperating with said lock plate to bias said lock plate axially away from the one of said side gears; and an electronic actuator cooperating with said lock plate, said electronic actuator comprising a stator disposed about a portion of said gear case, an electromagnetic coil associated with said stator, and an armature coupled to said lock plate and being axially moveable relative to said stator, wherein said armature is a generally circular plate and has an outer flange extending axially and an inner flange extending axially, said inner flange having a plurality of cutouts spaced circumferentially thereabout, said stator and said armature non-rotatably fixed relative to each other and relative to said gear case; wherein direct current (DC) power is supplied to said electromagnetic coil and magnetic energy is generated within said stator creating an attractive force between said armature and said stator to generate a force transferred to said lock plate causing it to compress said return spring and engage said side gear locking it to said gear case and thus locking the pair of axle half shafts, wherein said plurality of cutouts focus the magnetic energy and maximize the force potential thereat.