Patent ID: 6991576
Filing Date: 2006-01-31
Classification: F16H

Abstract:
1. An axle assembly for use in a motor vehicle having an engine and a pair of wheels, comprising; a pinion shaft adapted to receive drive torque from the engine; first and second axleshafts each adapted for connection to one of the pair of wheels; a differential assembly having a case driven by said pinion shaft, a gearset for transferring drive torque from said case to said first and second axleshafts, and a coupling for selectively coupling said gearset to said case, said case defining an interior cavity in communication with a bore such that said gearset is disposed within said interior cavity and said coupling is disposed within said bore, said coupling including an electromagnet fixed to said case and having a row of circumferentially aligned teeth, a rotor commonly driven with said first axleshaft and having blades defining an annular groove within which said row of teeth of said electromagnet are disposed, and a magnetically responsive fluid disposed in a chamber defined between said electromagnet and said rotor and having a viscosity which varies in response to exposure to a magnetic field; and a control system for actuating said electromagnet to generate said magnetic field and vary the viscosity of said fluid so as to selectively control rotation of said rotor relative to said electromagnet.