Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Toyoda Koki Kabushiki Kaisha

Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha Kariya

Masaki Inui

Yasuyoshi Yasui

Mitsuhiro Umeyama

Masakazu Ishikawa

Shinji Ogawa

Yusuke Horiuchi

Masaki Hosono

Kenichi Yamamoto

Kaoru Wakahara

Seitoku Kubo

Shuji Nagano

Keiichi Nakamura

Kiyonori Kobayashi

Masakazu Kamiya

Mototaka Nakane

Junji Kagiyama

Satoshi Ashida

Masaji Yamamoto

Katsuyuki Kobayashi

Hisashi Fukuchi

Hideyuki Iwata

Mitsuhiko Okada

Tsuyoshi Sumi

Shozo Okuda

Toshihiro Ohtake

Shozoh Okuda

A coupling device for power transfer between drive and driven shafts coaxially arranged with each other for relative rotation, which includes an inner member mounted on one end of the drive shaft for rotation therewith and having an eccentric cylindrical support portion the central axis of which is radially displaced from the central axis of the drive shaft, an outer cylindrical casing coaxially connected to one end of the driven shaft for rotation therewith and being arranged in surrounding relationship with the support portion of the inner member, the casing having a number of internal teeth formed therein, an inscribed gear rotatably carried by the support portion of the inner member and being in meshing engagement with the internal teeth of the casing to transfer the power only from the drive shaft to the driven shaft in response to the difference in rotational speed between the shafts, and a separator rotatably carried by the support portion of the inner member and having a guide portion disposed between a portion of the external teeth and a portion of the internal teeth to maintain the meshing engagement of the external teeth with the internal teeth at their other portions.

Coupling device for power transfer

An apparatus for absorbing torque vibration comprises inertial bodies comprising first and second flywheels, and a damper mechanism, torque limiting mechanism and hysteresis mechanism interposed between the first and second flywheels. The rotation is transmitted between both flywheels via damper mechanism, torque limiting mechanism and hysteresis mechanism. Resilient members are secured to spring seats, which are engaged with both ends of a spring of the damper mechanism, at an inner-half portion of the spring seat closer to the axis of said flywheels than an axial line of the spring. Excess compression of the resilient members is prevented.

Apparatus for absorbing torque variation

A flywheel device with a torsional damper including a driving side flywheel and a driven side flywheel, a first spring mechanism directly connecting the driving and driven side flywheels, and a second spring mechanism connecting the driving and driven side flywheels via a friction mechanism. The second spring mechanism and the friction mechanism are arranged in series with each other and the series combination of the second mechanism and the friction mechanism is arranged in parallel to the first spring mechanism. The first spring mechanism includes at least one combination of two springs arranged in series with each other. The two springs have a different spring constant or a different maximum angular stroke. Thus, a spring constant of the first spring mechanism changes at a predetermined torsional angle whereby a torque capacity of the flywheel is greatly increased.

Flywheel device with a torsional damper

A torsional damper type flywheel device wherein at least one of flywheel device components, for example, a spring connecting a drive side and a drive side of the flywheel device is asymmetric with respect to an axis of rotation of the flywheel device to form a total, original imbalance with respect to the axis of rotation. The flywheel device includes a compensating imbalance which is equal and opposite to the original imbalance as a vector and is equally divided into two portions each distributed to each of the drive side and the driven side. The compensating imbalance is formed in the drive side and the driven side before assembly of the flywheel device. When the drive side and driven side rotate relative to each other by a torsional angle .theta. and thus a gravity center of the asymmetrically arranged spring rotates by an angle .theta./2 about the axis of rotation, a vector defined by the two portions of the compensating imbalance also rotates by the angle .theta./2 about the axis of rotation. As a result, the flywheel device is maintained in balance at all torsional angles.

Torsional damper type flywheel device

A control coupling for torque transmission between a pair of rotary members coaxially arranged for relative rotation, which includes a cylindrical casing mounted on one of the rotary members for rotation therewith, a friction clutch assembled within the casing, a piston axially slidably coupled within the casing for rotation therewith and being in engagement with the friction clutch, an end wall member coupled with the casing for rotation therewith and spaced from the piston to form a fluid chamber filled with an amount of viscous fluid, and a rotor disposed in the fluid chamber and mounted on the other rotary member for rotation therewith. The rotor has a plurality of radial blades extending radially outwardly therefrom and being disposed between the piston and the end wall member. The radial plates each have a base portion thickened in an axial direction to increase the amount of viscous fluid stored in the fluid chamber and an outer end portion formed thinner than the base portion, and each internal surface of the piston and end wall member exposed to the fluid chamber is formed to correspond with the opposite surfaces of the radial blade.

Control coupling for torque transmission

A flywheel device with a torsional damper having a first spring mechanism with a synthetic spring constant K1 and a second spring mechanism with a synthetic spring constant K2, arranged in series with each other as a spring combination. The second spring mechanism is controlled so as to be changed in operation between effective and ineffective states by a second spring mechanism operation controlling device. Thus, the vibrational characteristic of the flywheel device includes two characteristics, that is, spring constant K1 and spring constant K3 which is a synthesis of the spring constants K1 and K2. When the rotational speed of the flywheel device passes through the resonance speed of the vibrational characteristic with spring constant K1, the characteristic of the flywheel device is shifted to spring constant K3 and, as a result, there is no notable resonance speed throughout the entire range of rotational speeds. Due to this shift mechanism, it is not necessary to provide a continuously sliding friction mechanism against the flywheel device. Further, due to this omission of the continuously sliding friction mechanism, the torque variation absorbing effect at the standard range of rotational speeds is greatly improved.

Flywheel with a torsional damper

A rotating member such as a sprocket to be coupled with a shaft is formed with a fitting bore which extends on the center axis and opens at at least one of its axial end portions. The rotating member is arranged in and rotatably held by a case such that its fitting bore opens toward the outside of the case. The shaft is inserted into and coupled with the fitting bore held in the case such that it can rotate integrally with the rotating member. This rotating member is formed with an air communication portion for providing communication between the inside and outside of the fitting bore and equipped with a valve for opening or closing the air communication portion. The valve may be opened in response to the rise or drop in the internal pressure of a fitting bore, by the pressure of the shaft or by a centrifugal force. With the valve being closed, lubrication oil in the case is prevented from leaking. When the valve is opened, on the other hand, the air in the fitting bore is released, or the atmospheric air is introduced into the fitting bore. As a result, the insertion or extraction of the shaft is prevented from being obstructed even with fluctuations in the internal pressure of the fitting bore.

Coupling structure for a rotating member and a shaft

A variable speed manual transmission includes an input shaft having a first drive gear for low speed drive and a second drive gear for high speed drive fixed thereon, an output shaft located under the input shaft and in parallel therewith and having at least a pair of axially spaced changed-speed driven gears fixed thereon, a first coutershaft arranged in parallel with the input and output shafts and having a first driven gear fixed thereon and continuously engaged with the first drive gear, a pair of axially spaced low speed drive gears rotatably mounted thereon and continuously engaged with the change-speed driven gears on the output shaft, and a first synchronizer coupling provided thereon to selectively connect the low speed drive gears to the first countershaft, and a second countershaft arranged in parrallel with the input and output shafts and having a second drive gear fixed thereon and continuously engaged with the second drive gear on the input shaft, a pair of axially spaced high speed drive gears rotatably mounted thereon and continuously engaged with the change-speed driven gears on the output shaft, and a second synchronizer coupling provided thereon to selectively connect the high speed drive gears to the second countershaft.

Manual transmission for motor vehicle

A manual transmission includes an input shaft having first and second drive gears fixed thereon, an output shaft arranged in parallel with the input shaft having at least a pair of change-speed driven gears fixed thereon, a first countershaft arranged in parallel with the input and output shafts at one side thereof and having a first driven gear fixed thereon and engaged with the first drive gear, a pair of low speed drive gears rotatable thereon and engaged with the change-speed driven gears, and a first synchronizer coupling adapted to selectively connect the low speed drive gears to the first countershaft, and a second countershaft arranged in parallel with the input and output shafts at the other side thereof and having a second driven gear fixed thereon and engaged with the second drive gear, a pair of high speed drive gears rotatable thereon and engaged with the change-speed driven gears, and a second synchronizer coupling adapted to selectively connect the high speed drive gears to the second countershaft, wherein an additional change-speed driven gear is fixed on one end of the output shaft and engaged with an additional high speed drive gear rotatable on one end of the second countershaft and connectable thereto.

A center differential for a four-wheel drive vehicle comprises three members, i.e.: an input member rotatably connected for rotations to the output shaft of a transmission; a first output member for transmitting rotation of the input member to a rear wheel output shaft; and a second output member for transmitting rotation of the input member to a front wheel output shaft. Frictional engaging elements are interposed between any two of those three members, and a applying force transforming device for generating a force to engage the frictional engaging elements on the basis of a tangential force which is generated relatively between any of the three members are also provided. Thus, when tangential force generated as a torque is transmitted among the three members, an axial force is generated as a component of the tangential force to increase the engaging force of the frictional engaging elements so that a differential lock is established to automatically adjust the torque distribution ratio between the rear and front wheels to a proper value.

Center differential for four-wheel drive vehicle

In combination with a power transfer device, a power transmission includes a first shaft rotatably mounted within a housing and having an input end for connection to an output shaft of the transmission and an output end for drive connection to a pair of rear road wheels, a second shaft rotatably mounted within the housing in parallel with the first shaft for drive connection to a pair of rear road wheels, a drive member rotatable on the first shaft, a driven member mounted on the second shaft for rotation therewith and being drivingly connected to the drive member, a limited-clip differential in the form of viscous clutch coupling having an outer casing mounted on the first shaft for rotation therewith and coupled in a liquid-tight manner with an inner sleeve rotatably on the first shaft for defining a viscous fluid chamber and for relative rotation thereto, and a clutch sleeve axially movably mounted on a hub portion of the drive member for rotation therewith and shiftable between a first position where it is engaged with both the outer casing and inner sleeve of the coupling and a second position where it is engaged with only the inner sleeve of the coupling.

Power transfer device for four-wheel drive

In a gear synchronizer mechanism including a gear member rotatable on a shaft and having a cylindrical hub portion, a hub member mounted on the shaft for rotation therewith, a clutch sleeve formed at its one side with an internal conical surface and at its inner periphery with internal spline teeth in continual engagement with external spline teeth of the hub member and being axially shiftable on the hub member to be engaged at its internal spline teeth with external spline teeth of the hub portion, and a synchronizer ring formed with an external conical surface for frictional engagement with the internal conical surface of the sleeve and being axially movable on the hub portion to establish synchronization between the shaft and the gear when engaged with the sleeve, the hub portion of the gear is formed at its inner periphery with an annular groove and has a plurality of circumferentially spaced radial grooves defined therein, each of which receives therein a corresponding radially movable key element, and the key elements are supported by a radially contractible annular spring disposed within the annular groove of the hub portion and are resiliently engaged with the ring under the biasing force of the spring in such a manner as to restrict axial movement of the ring in shifting operation of the clutch sleeve.

Gear synchronizer mechanism

A manual transmission includes an input shaft having first and second drive gears fixed thereon respectively for low speed drive and high speed drive, an output shaft arranged in parallel with the input shaft and having at least a pair of axially spaced change-speed driven gears fixed thereon, a first countershaft arranged in parallel with the input and output shafts at one side thereof and having a first driven gear fixed thereon and in mesh with the first drive gear, a pair of axially spaced low speed drive gears rotatably mounted thereon and in mesh with the change-speed driven gears, and a first synchronizer coupling adapted to selectively connect the low speed drive gears to the first countershaft, and a second countershaft arranged in parallel with the input and output shafts at the other side thereof and having a second driven gear fixed thereon and in mesh with the second drive gear, a pair of axially spaced high speed drive gears rotatably mounted thereon and in mesh with the change-speed driven gears, and a second synchronizer coupling adapted to selectively connect the high speed drive gears to the second countershaft, wherein the input shaft has a reverse drive gear fixed thereon and the output shaft has a reverse driven gear axially slidably mounted thereon to be brought into engagement with the reverse drive gear.

In a gear synchronizer, a clutch sleeve has internal splines in continual engagement with external splines of a hub member fixed to a shaft and is axially shiftable to be engaged at its internal splines with external splines of a spline piece integral with a gear member rotatable on the shaft. The gear synchronizer includes a support ring encircling the spline piece and having a radial projection axially movable in a corresponding radial recess in the spline piece, a first synchronizer ring coupled with the support ring and having an external frustoconical surface for frictional engagement with an internal frustoconical surface formed on one side of the clutch sleeve, a second synchronizer ring axially movably coupled with the first synchronizer ring for relative rotation and coupled with the support ring for rotation therewith and having an internal frustoconical surface for frictional engagement with an external frustoconical surface formed on the one side of the clutch sleeve, and an annular waved spring disposed between the synchronizer rings. When shifting, the second synchronizer ring is brought into frictional engagement with the external frustoconical surface of the clutch sleeve against the waved spring after frictional engagement of the first synchronizer ring with the internal frustoconical surface of the clutch sleeve.

Gear synchronizer for power transmission

In a gear synchronizer, a clutch sleeve has internal splines in continual engagement with external splines of a hub member fixed to a shaft and is axially shiftable to be engaged at its internal splines with external splines of a spline piece mounted on a hub portion of a gear member rotatable on the shaft. The gear synchronizer includes a support ring encircling a frustoconical portion integral with the spline piece and having external splines engageable with the internal splines of the clutch sleeve, a synchronizer ring coupled with the support ring and having an internal frustoconical surface for frictional engagement with the frustoconical portion of the spline piece, an operation ring coupled with the support and synchronizer rings in such a manner as to be axially displaced in response to relative rotation thereof to the synchronizer ring, a connecting ring rotatably mounted on one side of the hub member and connected to the synchronizer ring, the connecting ring having an external frustoconical surface for frictional engagement with an internal frustoconical surface of the operation ring, and an annular waved spring disposed between the support and operation rings. In shifting operation, the operation ring is brought into frictional engagement with the connecting ring against the waved spring after frictional engagement of the synchronizer ring with the spline piece.

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Toyota, Japan

Masaki Inui