1. A drive axle assembly, comprising:
at least one axle arm portion extending from a differential housing to a shoulder structure that is integrally formed with an outboard end of said axle arm portion;
a substantially horizontal drive shaft located within said at least one axle arm portion connected at an inboard end to a differential in said differential housing and having a first bevel gear on an outboard end; and
a non-horizontal driven shaft mounted for rotation within said shoulder structure, said driven shaft having a second bevel gear meshed in driving engagement with said first bevel gear on said drive shaft;
wherein said shoulder structure is provided with a selectively closable opening adjacent said meshed first and second bevel gears.
2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein a first axle arm portion and a second axle arm portion extend from said differential housing and said first axle arm portion is mechanically connected to said differential housing and said second axle arm portion is integrally formed and one-piece with said differential housing.
3. The assembly of claim 2, wherein said first axle arm portion comprises a housing joint for mechanically connecting said first axle arm portion to said differential housing and a plurality of ribs that connect said first axle arm portion with said housing joint.
4. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said drive shaft is supported for rotation within said at least one axle arm portion by at least one bearing located inboard of said first bevel gear and said non-horizontal driven shaft is supported for rotation within said shoulder structure by at least one bearing located above said second bevel gear.
5. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said selectively closable opening is located above said second bevel gear bearing in said shoulder structure, said opening permitting installation of said bearing, said second bevel gear and said non-horizontal driven shaft within said shoulder structure.
6. The assembly of claim 5, wherein a removable cover is located in said selectively closable opening.
7. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said differential housing, said at least one axle arm portion and said shoulder structure are in fluid communication with one another so that lubricating fluid can freely flow from said differential housing, through said at least one axle arm portion to said shoulder structure and vice versa.
8. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said first bevel gear is located below said second bevel gear.
9. A drive axle assembly, comprising:
at least one axle arm portion extending from a differential housing to a shoulder structure that is integrally formed with an outboard end of said axle arm portion, said axle arm portion having a top portion, a bottom portion, a forward portion and an open rearward portion; and
a substantially horizontal drive shaft located behind said forward portion.
10. The assembly of claim 9, wherein said forward portion connects said top portion and said bottom portion and wherein said forward portion, said top portion and said bottom portion are substantially closed.
11. The assembly of claim 9, wherein said forward portion has an outwardly extending bow to accommodate said drive shaft.
12. The assembly of claim 9, wherein said shoulder structure houses a first bevel gear mounted on an outboard portion of said drive shaft and said shoulder structure houses a second bevel gear mounted on a non-horizontal driven shaft.
13. The assembly of claim 9, wherein a first seal is located about said drive shaft in said shoulder structure and a second seal is located about said driven shaft in said shoulder structure so that lubricating fluid is sealed within said shoulder structure.
14. The assembly of claim 9, wherein said drive shaft is rotatably mounted within said shoulder structure by at least one bearing and said driven shaft is rotatably mounted within said shoulder structure by at least one bearing.
15. The assembly of claim 9, wherein said first bevel gear is located above said second bevel gear in said shoulder structure.
16. The assembly of claim 9, wherein said shoulder structure is provided with a selectively closable opening adjacent said meshed first and second bevel gears, said opening permitting installation of said first bearing, said second bearing, said first seal, said second seal, said first bevel gear and said second bevel gear, said opening being closed by a removable cover.
17. A drive assembly for a vehicle, comprising:
an axle arm portion housing a substantially horizontal drive axle;
a shoulder structure integrally formed with said axle arm portion;
a first bevel gear mounted on an outboard portion of said drive axle within said shoulder structure; and
a second bevel gear mounted on a non-horizontal driven axle, said second bevel gear being in mesh with said first bevel gear substantially above said first bevel gear within said shoulder structure.
18. The assembly of claim 17, wherein said axle arm portion and said shoulder structure are one-piece.
19. The assembly of claim 17, wherein said shoulder structure and said axle arm portion communicate lubricating fluid between them.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An electrical characteristic measuring substrate comprising:
a substrate including a plurality of laminated dielectric layers;
a front-surface component mounting electrode disposed at a front surface of the substrate and arranged to enable an electronic component to be mounted thereon; and
a back-surface component mounting electrode disposed at a back surface of the substrate and arranged to enable an electronic component to be mounted thereon; wherein
the front-surface component mounting electrode and the back-surface component mounting electrode have substantially the same pattern when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the front surface or a direction perpendicular to the back surface;
the front-surface component mounting electrode is asymmetric with respect to a substantially central line of the front surface; and
the back-surface component mounting electrode is asymmetric with respect to a substantially central line of the back surface.
2. The electrical characteristic measuring substrate according to claim 1, further comprising:
at least one interlayer ground electrode disposed between the dielectric layers of the substrate;
a plurality of front-surface lines being arranged closer to the front surface of the substrate than to the at least one interlayer ground electrode and being connected to the front-surface component mounting electrode; and
a plurality of back-surface lines being arranged closer to the back surface of the substrate than to the at least one interlayer ground electrode and being connected to the back-surface component mounting electrode; wherein
the plurality of front-surface lines and the plurality of back-surface lines have substantially the same pattern when viewed from the direction perpendicular to the front surface or the direction perpendicular to the back surface.
3. The electrical characteristic measuring substrate according to claim 2, wherein
the at least one interlayer ground electrode comprises a first interlayer ground electrode arranged to face the plurality of front-surface lines and a second interlayer ground electrode arranged to face the plurality of back-surface lines; and
the first interlayer ground electrode and the second interlayer ground electrode are positioned at different interfaces of the dielectric layers.
4. The electrical characteristic measuring substrate according to claim 3, further comprising:
another interlayer ground electrode disposed between the first interlayer ground electrode and the second interlayer ground electrode.
5. The electrical characteristic measuring substrate according to claim 2, wherein
the plurality of front-surface lines is disposed at the front surface of the substrate, and the plurality of back-surface lines is disposed at the back surface of the substrate;
the substrate further comprising:
a surface ground electrode disposed adjacent to each of the plurality of front-surface lines and the plurality of back-surface lines; and
a via electrode connecting the surface ground electrode to the at least one interlayer ground electrode.