Patent ID: 8887880

Claim:
A powertrain assembly including an integral brake assembly, said powertrain assembly comprising: a housing defining a brake chamber having a first port and a second port; a torque carrying power shaft; a brake assembly disposed in said brake chamber and having interdigitated annular friction plates, including an end plate, said friction plates respectively connected to said housing and to said torque carrying power shaft; and a liquid lubricant and cooling circuit for providing liquid flow from said first port into said brake chamber, wherein, in an engaged position of said brake assembly, said second port is closed by said end plate to prevent flow of said liquid through said second port and said liquid flows through said first port into said brake chamber and between said friction plates, and wherein, in a disengaged position of said brake assembly, said second port is open to said first port such that at least some of said liquid flows through said first port into said brake chamber, between said housing and said friction plates, and through said second port out of said brake chamber without passing between said fiction plates themselves so as to reduce parasitic losses when said brake assembly is not engaged.