Patent ID: 7549940

Claim:
A power transmitting device for a vehicle for transmitting a driving force from a driving source to right and left axles, comprising: a housing; a planetary gear type speed reducing mechanism connected to said driving source; a differential gear unit arranged in coaxial relationship with said planetary gear type speed reducing mechanism and connected to said right and left axles; and an oil reservoir provided in a lower region of said housing; said planetary gear type speed reducing mechanism including a sun gear connected to said driving source, a dual-stage pinion gear composed of a first gear meshing with said sun gear and a second gear formed integrally with said first gear in axially adjacent relationship with said first gear, said first gear having a diameter larger than that of said second gear, a planetary carrier for carrying said dual-stage pinion gear, and a ring gear meshing with said second gear of said dual-stage pinion gear; said differential gear unit including a differential case formed integrally with said planetary carrier; said planetary carrier including first and second annular members axially spaced apart from each other and a plurality of connecting portions for connecting said first and second annular members, each of said connecting portions having a substantially V-shaped configuration opening outward in the radial direction of said first and second annular members.