Patent ID: 6382339
Filing Date: 2002-05-07
Classification: B60K,B62D

Abstract:
A driving apparatus for a vehicle for transmitting power from a drive source installed in a body of the vehicle to steerable wheels and nonsteerable wheels via a main HST, the driving apparatus being characterized in that the driving apparatus comprises:a transmission unit for receiving a rotational output from the main HST, a steerable wheel drive shaft and a nonsteerable wheel drive shaft for receiving a rotational output from the transmission unit and transmitting the rotational output respectively to an axle for driving the steerable wheels and an axle for driving the nonsteerable wheels, and a differential unit for increasing a rotational speed of the steerable wheel drive shaft and decreasing a rotational speed of the nonsteerable wheel drive shaft proportionally according to a steering angle of a steering wheel to be handled by a driver, the transmission unit comprising a main drive shaft disposed between the steerable wheel drive shaft and the nonsteerable wheel drive shaft, a driving power transmission mechanism for transmitting the rotational output of the main HST to the main drive shaft, and a steerable wheel planetary gear unit and a nonsteerable wheel planetary gear unit for transmitting rotation of the main drive shaft respectively to the steerable wheel drive shaft and the nonsteerable wheel drive shaft so as to rotate the wheel drive shafts in a same direction, and the differential unit comprising a differential HST for receiving the power from the drive source and outputting an adjusted rotational drive force proportionally according to the steering angle of the steering wheel, and a differential power transmission mechanism for receiving the rotational output from the differential HST and giving mutually opposite additional rotations respectively to the steerable wheel planetary gear unit and the nonsteerable wheel planetary gear unit to cause the increased rotational speed of the steerable wheel drive shaft and the decreased rotational speed of the nonsteerable wheel drive shaft.