CPC B60K 17/16 (2013.01) [B60K 5/12 (2013.01)] | 18 Claims |
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.
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