Patent ID: 7361094
Filing Date: 2008-04-22
Classification: F16D,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A multi-part propeller shaft for transmitting torque in a driveline of a motor vehicle, comprising: a first shaft portion having a shaft tube with an inner diameter (d), the first shaft portion further having a base connected to an end of said shaft tube and a deformable filler member at least partially filling the first shaft portion and being axially supported on said base; a second shaft portion having a journal at one end; and a universal joint connecting the two shaft portions and comprising an outer joint part connected to the first shaft portion, an inner joint part connected to said journal of said second shaft portion, and torque transmitting balls, wherein the universal joint can be disassembled under an axial force which the first and second shaft portions are able to accommodate without being damaged, wherein the second shaft portion has a greatest outer diameter (D) which is smaller than the inner diameter (d) of said first shaft tube such that the first and the second shaft portions can be slid into one another in a substantially force-free way after the universal joint has been disassembled due to the axial force, the sliding occurring up to said journal engaging said deformable filler member, and wherein, from that point onwards, the filler member engaged by said journal absorbs kinetic energy when the two shaft portions are further slid into one another by the axial force.