Patent ID: 7591754
Filing Date: 2009-09-22
Classification: F02C,F05D,F16D,F16H,Y02T,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A planetary gear train driven by a shaft, the planetary gear train comprising: a sun gear with an integral coupling; a ring gear; and a plurality of planet gears rotatably mounted in a planet carrier and meshing with the sun gear and the ring gear; wherein the with the integral coupling connects the sun gear to the shaft, with the integral coupling having at least one undulant flexible section joined to a spindle for accommodating misalignment between the sun gear and the shaft, wherein the undulant flexible section contains two parallel interior walls which are generally perpendicular to a central axis of the shaft and which are joined by an outer ring member; and wherein the at least one undulant flexible section further comprises an outer radius Ra with a corresponding outer radius thickness Ta, an inner radius Rb with a corresponding inner radius thickness Tb, an outer ring radius Ro, an inner ring radius Ri, and a shaft fillet radius Rs, and wherein the at least one undulant flexible section has the following design criteria: