US 11,745,583 B2
Floating engine powertrain
Zekarias W. Yohannes, Augusta, GA (US); Matthew Wilson, Augusta, GA (US); David A. Smith, Augusta, GA (US); and Chris L. Normand, Martinez, GA (US)
Assigned to Textron Innovations Inc., Providence, RI (US)
Filed by Textron Innovations Inc., Providence, RI (US)
Filed on May 19, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/324,725.
Application 17/324,725 is a continuation of application No. 16/778,192, filed on Jan. 31, 2020, granted, now 11,040,617.
Application 16/778,192 is a continuation of application No. 16/135,406, filed on Sep. 19, 2018, granted, now 10,589,623, issued on Mar. 17, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2021/0268900 A1, Sep. 2, 2021
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. B60K 5/00 (2006.01); B60K 17/16 (2006.01); B60K 5/12 (2006.01)
CPC B60K 17/16 (2013.01) [B60K 5/12 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A vehicle transaxle, said transaxle comprising:
a plurality of mounting flanges fixedly mountable to at least one axle tube of the vehicle absent any additional structure for mounting the transaxle to the vehicle;
a transaxle mounting collar that is one of fixedly mounted to or integrally formed with a housing of the transaxle, the transaxle mounting collar structured and operable to have an integrated prime mover-transmission unit of the vehicle mounted thereto and to support a weight of the integrated prime mover-transmission unit such that the integrated prime mover-transmission unit is mountable to the vehicle via the transaxle absent any additional structure for mounting the integrated prime mover-transmission unit to the vehicle such that the integrated prime mover-transmission unit can be cantilevered from the transaxle; and
a transaxle input shaft, the transaxle input shaft defining a transaxle input shaft longitudinal axis, wherein the transaxle input shaft longitudinal axis is oriented in the same direction as a longitudinal center axis of a wheel axle housed within the at least one axle tube of the vehicle when the transaxle is mounted to the at least one axle tube.