Automobile Differential Mechanism Explanation

In automobiles and other wheeled vehicles, the differential allows each of the .... They employ a mechanism for allowing the planetary gears to be locked.

In an automobile and other wheeled vehicles, a differential is a device, usually consisting of gears, for supplying equal torque to the driving wheels, even as they rotate at different speeds.

In some vehicles such as karts, torque is simply applied evenly to all driving wheels using a simple driveshaft. This works well enough when travelling in a straight line, but when changing direction the outer wheel needs to travel farther than the inner wheel. Hence, the simple solution results in the inner wheel spinning. For general road use, such a method would result in too much damage to both the tire and road surface.

Differentials are typically composed of a gear mechanism in which a ring gear receives input power, which is transferred to two side gears by means of usually two opposing central pinion gears on a common shaft. The pinion gear(s) are mounted to a cage which is affixed to the ring gear. When the ring gear and cage rotate, the pinion gears drive the side gears; the pinion gears are free to rotate about their own axis when either of the side gears meets resistance.

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Science & Technology

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• automobiles
• Automobile Differential
• Differential Mechanism
• Automobile engineering