Patent ID: 7942078

Claim:
A structural interconnection, comprising: a housing of a gear unit; a housing of an electric motor; and a structural connector connecting said housing of the gear unit and said housing of the electrical motor, said structural connector being modular and comprising: a base member connected to at least one of said housing of the electric motor and said housing of the gear unit, and at least two side wall members, said side wall members having a motor end connected to one of said housing of the electric motor and the base member, and a gear end connected to said housing of the gear unit, at least one of said side wall members lying at least in substantial part in a plane inclined at an angle of at least 60 degrees relative to a plane containing at least a part of the base member, and said side wall members are spaced apart with said housing of the gear unit interposed there between, wherein the gear end of at least one of said side wall members has a profile that abuts against a profile formed on an outer surface of the housing of the gear unit to form a mechanical interlock, and wherein said gear end of said at least one of said side wall members comprises a curved concave edge surface that lies in abutment against a raised formation of the housing of the gear unit adjacent a flange region, wherein said mechanical interlock augments interconnection provided by bolts which extend through the gear end of a side wall to the housing of the gear unit, wherein the gear end of a side wall is formed with a plurality of holes for retention bolts by means of which the side wall can be bolted to the housing of the gear unit to one of two mounting faces formed on the housing of the gear unit and provided at respective diametrically opposite regions of the housing of the gear unit, and wherein said holes are positioned to lie symmetrically about an input axis, symmetrically with respect to a first plane through said input axis as well as to a second plane which is perpendicular to said first plane.