Patent ID: 8353797

Claim:
A planetary gear set for a transmission, the planetary gear set comprising: a sun gear; a ring gear; and a carrier assembly, the carrier assembly including: an annular first carrier member having an inner bearing surface and an axial bore defining a step surface and an outer portion, the outer portion including at least one radial groove and at least one pinion pin bore having an inner surface, wherein the radial groove connects the step surface to the inner surface of the pinion pin bore; at least one pinion pin having a first and a second end, a bearing surface and a bore, the first end disposed in the at least one pinion pin bore of the first carrier member, and wherein the bore has a first and a second open end, the first open end in communication with the bearing surface; and at least one planet gear assembly rotatably supported by the at least one pinion pin and meshed with both the sun gear and ring gear, the at least one planet gear assembly having a bearing assembly, a first thrust plate and a planet gear, wherein the first thrust plate coordinates with the at least one radial groove of the first carrier member to form a lubrication passage in communication with the second open end of the bore of the at least one pinion pin; and a thrust bearing disposed between the inner bearing surface of the first carrier member and the sun gear.