US 11,754,169 B1
Lubrication and cooling oil distribution system for a vehicle transaxle
William David Guarino, Franklin, MI (US); Bharath Madduri, Canton, MI (US); Derek Kinch, Ypsilanti, MI (US); and Kyle Ogrodzinski, Canton, MI (US)
Assigned to Ford Global Technologies, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US)
Filed by FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US)
Filed on Jul. 7, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/859,776.
Int. Cl. F16H 57/04 (2010.01)
CPC F16H 57/0424 (2013.01) [F16H 57/0417 (2013.01); F16H 57/0471 (2013.01); F16H 57/0476 (2013.01); F16H 57/0483 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A vehicle comprising:
a transaxle having:
a housing defining an internal cavity,
an electric machine disposed within the internal cavity,
a plurality of gears disposed within the internal cavity, and
a plurality of bearings disposed within the internal cavity, wherein the housing defines (i) a lubrication channel configured to deliver fluid to lubricate the plurality of gears and the plurality of bearings and (ii) a cooling channel configured to deliver the fluid to cool the electric machine, wherein the lubrication and cooling channels have a common inlet that branches into the lubrication and cooling channels, and wherein (i) the cooling channel is sized relative to the lubrication channel and (ii) an orifice is defined within the lubrication channel such that the fluid (a) is biased toward the lubrication channel in response to a temperature of the fluid being less than a threshold and (b) is biased toward the cooling channel in response to the temperature of the fluid being greater than the threshold.