Patent ID: 7651426

Claim:
A differential torque generator for generating a difference in magnitude between a first torque to be applied to a first vehicle wheel and a second torque to be applied to a second vehicle wheel when a vehicle is driven by a motor with rotations of the first and second vehicle wheels, comprising: a main differential including a first shaft to be rotationally connected to the first vehicle wheel, and a second shaft to be rotationally connected to the second vehicle wheel, wherein the first and second shafts are capable of rotating coaxially with respect to each other to allow a difference in rotational speed between the first and second shafts, and a supplemental differential including a first rotary member rotationally connected to the first shaft, a second rotary member rotationally connected to the second shaft and rotatable coaxially with respect to the first rotary member to allow a difference in rotational speed between the first and second rotary members, and a supplemental motor for generating a supplemental torque to cause the difference in rotational speed between the first and second rotary members in accordance with an output rotation of the supplemental motor, and to apply to the first and second rotary members respective parts of the supplemental torque opposite in direction to each other to generate the difference in magnitude between the first and second torques through the first and second rotary members and the first and second shafts, wherein a first common rotational axis of the first and second shafts is prevented from being coaxial with a second common rotational axis of the first and second rotary members so that each of the first and second shafts is prevented from extending through at least one of the first and second rotary members in a direction parallel to at least one of the first and second common rotational axes, and wherein the first rotary member extends axially into and through the second rotary member so that a portion of the first rotary member is surrounded by the second rotary member, and the first rotary member projects axially from the second rotary member so that the first and second rotary members project from the supplemental differential at the axially identical outside of the supplemental differential and are rotationally connected to respective ones of the first and second shafts at said axially identical outside of the supplemental differential.