US Patent Issued to The Hilliard on Dec. 16 for "Positive drive differential with pinion disconnect" (New York Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,496,902, issued on Dec. 16, was assigned to The Hilliard Corp. (Elmira, N.Y.).

"Positive drive differential with pinion disconnect" was invented by Kelly P. Heath (Corning, N.Y.), James E. Palmer (Elmira Heights, N.Y.) and John Updyke (Big Flats, N.Y.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A positive drive differential assembly including a differential with an input pinion configured to operably engage with a drive shaft so as to permit the drive shaft to rotate the pinion. A bi-directional overrunning clutch assembly is configured to transmit torque between the pinion and two drive axle segments. A pinion disconnect assembly is provided for con...