Self locking vehicle differential - has inertial brake with sprung conical ring to lock drive shaft above set wheel spin

摘要

The self locking differential has conical section brake rings (17) between the driven gears (12) on the half shafts and the profiled faces of the differential housing. The brake ring is activated by inertial forces if the half shaft accelerates by more than a set amount so that the torque is blocked and the drive goes to the other half shaft. The conical ring is held out of the blocking setting by a spring (18). The ring is thrown axially when the gear accelerates, and if the spring pressure is overcome the drive is blocked. The strength of the spring determines the level of wheel spin allowed.