Patent ID: 6779421
Filing Date: 2004-08-24
Classification: B60K,F16H,Y10T

Abstract:
A hydrostatic and gear transmission comprising a housing structure defining a hydrostatic chamber and a gear chamber; an interior bulkhead wall formed in said housing structure between the respective hydrostatic and gear chambers and where said bulkhead wall is provided with a corridor; a hydrostatic transmission disposed in said hydrostatic chamber and said hydrostatic chamber substantially full to capacity with hydrostatic fluid; a gear train disposed in said gear chamber and said gear chamber holding lubricating fluid for said gear train; a duct disposed in said housing structure and said duct fluidly interconnecting said hydrostatic chamber and said gear chamber wherein said gear chamber acts as an overflow receiver for volume changes of said hydrostatic fluid in said hydrostatic chamber, said duct comprising:first and second openings at respective ends of said duct and where said first opening is in said hydrostatic chamber and where said second opening is in said gear chamber; said duct further comprising at least three distinctly shaped portions, a first portion disposed exclusively in said hydrostatic chamber and descending downwardly from the first opening, a second portion disposed in said gear chamber and ascending upwardly, a third portion disposed in said gear chamber and descending downwardly towards the second opening, and wherein the first and second portions meet at a first joint and where said first joint extends through said corridor, the second and third portions meet at a second joint and where said second joint resides above said first joint.