US Patent 11624170 Work vehicle multi-speed drive assembly with clutch retention mechanism

A drive assembly for a work vehicle has a drive housing including at least one housing element forming a reaction member, a drive shaft rotatable about a drive axis, and a planetary gear set coupled to the drive shaft and configured to selectively rotate an output element. The drive assembly also includes at least one clutch arrangement having at least one clutch ring configured to selectively interact with the planetary gear set to effect a rotation speed of the output element. At least one actuator is configured to axially drive the clutch ring along the drive axis. A retention mechanism is configured to retain the clutch ring at an axial position along the drive axis. The retention mechanism includes a detent ball, a detent groove and a resilient member configured to urge the detent ball into the detent groove to retain the clutch ring at the axial position.