Patent ID: 6073502
Filing Date: 2000-06-13
Classification: B60K,F16D,F16H

Abstract:
In a power takeoff device having a rotatable output shaft operatively engagable for rotation with a gear of a transmission, said power takeoff device being capable of producing sufficient horsepower to meet the operational requirements of an auxiliary function to be powered by the rotation of said shaft;said power takeoff device including a housing, a said rotatable output shaft having a longitudinal axis and being at least partially located within said housing, and a mechanism for selectively connecting said output shaft for rotation to said transmission gear and disconnecting said output shaft for nonrotation from said transmission gear;the improvement comprising as said mechanism for selectively connecting and disconnecting said output shaft to and from said transmission gear, the combination including:an output gear rotatable about said output shaft and comprised of a first and a second bank of gear teeth radially spaced from and circumferentially extending at least partially around the longitudinal axis of said output shaft, said first bank of gear teeth being separated from said second bank of gear teeth longitudinally with respect to the longitudinal axis of said output shaft, said first bank of gear teeth being operatively connectable to said transmission gear and said second bank of said gear teeth being selectively connectable to a connecting gear member;a said connecting gear member nonrotatably attached to said output shaft and comprised of a bank of gear teeth radially spaced from and circumferentially extending at least partially around the longitudinal axis of said output shaft and being located so as to be axially aligned with said second bank of gear teeth of said output gear and longitudinally separated therefrom so as to define a disconnect space therebetween;a piston selectively slidable along and non-rotatably attached to said output shaft, said piston have a bank of gear teeth radially spaced from and circumferentially extending at least partially around the longitudinal axis off said output shaft and axially aligned with said bank of gear teeth of said connecting gear member and said second bank of gear teeth of said output gear, said gear teeth of said piston being of a size sufficient so as to be capable of spanning said disconnect space and of meshing with said bank of gear teeth of said connecting gear member and said second bank of gear teeth of said output gear thereby to operatively connect said output gear to said connecting gear member for rotation of said output shaft.