Exedy Corporation

Naoki Mizobuchi

Hideki Tanishiki

An impeller blade fixing method for a torque converter includes a fitting step and a caulking step. In the fitting step, projections (,), (,) and (,) of the impeller blades (,) are fitted into concavities (,), (,) and (,) formed on an inner surface of an impeller shell (,), respectively. In a caulking step, a portion (,) of the impeller shell (,) adjacent to one of the projections of each blade (,) is deformed thereby fixing each impeller blade (,) to the impeller shell (,). In the caulking step, only a portion of a surface (B) of the impeller shell (,) opposite the portion,is supported.

Method of fixing impeller blades of a torque converter

The invention relates to a boss formed on a front cover. The boss is formed by deforming a portion of a front cover material, at a central portion thereof, such that the boss is formed unitarily with the front cover. The boss is further deformed to form a central indentation on an end surface thereof. Further, the cylindrical sides of the boss are machined to form an alignment surface.

Front cover of a torque convertor having a boss formed on the front

A method of forming a driven plate (20) of a torque converter (1) has first, second and third steps. In the first step, a flat plate member (10) is cut into a predetermined configuration. In the second step, the plate member (10) is wound to form an annular member 11 that has slightly overlapping ends with a predetermined length (t). In the third step, resistance welding is performed on overlapping ends of the annular member (11), and thereby the opposite end portions are joined together to form a continuous annular member (12).

Method of forming an annular member of a torque converter

The present invention relates to a press working process whereby a front cover and an impeller shell are deformed such that corner portions are formed on a blank material whereby the corner portions undergo minimal reductions in thickness. In the press working method, compressive force is applied parallel to the thickness of the blank to circumvent reduction in thickness during the deforming process.

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Toyonaka, Japan

Naoki Mizobuchi