Patent ID: 8051744

Claim:
A locking differential mechanism for supplying torque from a driveshaft to a pair of aligned output shafts, said locking differential mechanism comprising: a pair of side gears mounted for rotation with the corresponding pair of aligned output shafts about a common axis; a central driver operatively coupled to the driveshaft and having a pair of opposed annular faces, each of said pair of opposed annular faces including a plurality of drive teeth; a pair of clutch members operatively coupled for rotation with a corresponding one of said pair of side gears, each of said pair of clutch members including a plurality of driven teeth, each of said pair of clutch members is axially movable between a first position where said driven teeth are adapted for meshing engagement in driven relationship with said drive teeth of said central driver so as to translate torque from said central driver through said clutch members and to said side gears and a second position wherein said driven teeth are moved out of meshing engagement with said drive teeth on said central driver such that the associated side gear may rotate at a speed different than said central driver; a cam assembly including a pair of opposed cam members, each of said cam members mounted for rotation with a corresponding one of said pair of side gears and disposed in abutting contact with the corresponding one of said pair of clutch members; each of said pair of opposed cam members including a plurality of camming teeth extending toward the corresponding teeth on the opposed cam member, each of said cam members movable from a first position wherein said camming teeth are disposed in meshing relationship with respect to each other when said pair of side gears are rotating at substantially the same speed, and a second position spaced axially from said first position along the associated side gear so as to move an associated clutch member from said first position to said second position thereby moving its associated clutch member out of driven relationship with said central driver in response to a variation in rotational speed of the associated one of said pair of side gears.