Asha Corporation

Other

Mclaren Automotive Group, Inc.

Theodore E Shaffer

Murat N Okcuoglu

A control valve (,) of a hydraulic coupling (,) controls pumping from a casing inlet port (,) by a hydraulic pump (,) through a casing outlet port (,) to control coupling between two rotary members such as by operation of a clutch (,). The casing (,) is connected to one of the rotary members while a pumping component embodied by an impeller (,) is connected to the other rotary member and meshed with an internal ring gear (,) having one more tooth than the number of impeller teeth to provide sufficient pumping capacity so that the pump can act as a brake while still having relatively constant pumping pressure. The control valve (,) includes an elongated valve element (,) mounted within a recess (,) to provide accurate control of its closure when the pumped hydraulic fluid reaches a predetermined pressure corresponding to a predetermined extent of relative rotation between the two drivetrain members.

Hydraulic coupling for vehicle drivetrain

A vehicle shock absorber assembly (20) for use with a vehicle suspension system (12) having a lower unsprung mount (14) and an upper sprung mount (16) is constructed to provide height adjustment by introduction or removal of hydraulic fluid from an enclosed chamber (44) defined between a cylinder housing (22) of a shock absorber (20) and a height adjustment cylinder (36). A spring seat (56) connected to the shock absorber cylinder housing (22) seats the lower end of a suspension spring (18) whose upper end is seated with respect to the upper sprung mount (16).

Vehicle shock absorber assembly having height adjustment

A vehicle drivetrain differential (22) driven by a rotary drive member (24) rotatively drives a pair of rotary members (26, 28) and includes a housing (30) for containing hydraulic fluid and in which a hydraulic coupling (32) is received. A casing (34) of the hydraulic coupling has a ring gear (44) rotatively driven by the rotary drive member (24). A planetary gear set (36) of the bevel gear type is located within the casing (34) and includes a pair of bevel gears (124, 126) having associated spline connections (128, 130) to the pair of rotary members (26, 28), and the planetary gear set also includes planet gears 132 that revolve with the casing 34 and are meshed with both bevel gears to provide a differential gear action. A fluid inlet 58 and an outlet port 78 of the casing are provided with a gerotor type pump (48) provides pumping of hydraulic fluid into and out of the casing. A control valve (80) opens and closes the outlet port (78) in response to the relative rotation between the pair of rotary members to control operation of the pump as a brake in coupling the pair of rotary members (26, 28) to each other.

Vehicle drivetrain differential

A control valve (80) of a hydraulic coupling (32) controls pumping from a casing inlet port (58) by a hydraulic pump (48) through a casing outlet port (78) to control coupling between two rotary members such as by operation of a clutch (68). The casing (34) is connected to one of the rotary members while a pumping component embodied by an impeller (50) is connected to the other rotary member and meshed with an internal ring gear (54) having one more tooth than the number of impeller teeth to provide sufficient pumping capacity so that the pump can act as a brake while still having relatively constant pumping pressure. The control valve (80) includes an elongated valve element (82) mounted within a recess (98) to provide accurate control of its closure when the pumped hydraulic fluid reaches a predetermined pressure corresponding to a predetermined extent of relative rotation between the two drivetrain members. This elongated valve element (82) is made from a bimetallic strip so as to be temperature compensated and the outlet port (78) is provided with a main passage (94) as well as a bleed passage (96,96') that is cleaned when the valve element is opened. One construction has a valve body defining both the main passages (94) and the bleed passage (96) of the port, while another construction has the valve body defining the main passage (94) and the valve element (82) defining the bleed passage (96'). Another construction has the recess (98) provided with an inclination extending from the port (78) and has a flat elongated valve element (82) that may be either straight or curved.

A hydraulic coupling (32,32a) includes a lock (204) for selectively preventing the level of torque transmitted from a coupling casing (34) to a pair of rotary members (26,28) from affecting torque transfer between the rotary members. The coupling (32) also includes an adjuster (216) for adjusting resistance of fluid flow from a hydraulic pump (48) through ports of the coupling to control coupling of the pair of rotary members (26,28) to each other. One embodiment of the coupling (32) operates in a supercharged pumping manner, while another embodiment of the coupling (32a) pumps the fluid through a clutch actuating piston (72) of the coupling.

Vehicle drivetrain coupling

A hydraulic coupling (32) includes a control valve (80) that controls pumping from a casing inlet port (58) by a hydraulic pump (48) through a casing outlet port (78) to control operation of a clutch (68) for coupling between two rotary members. The casing (34) is connected to one of the rotary members while a pumping component embodied by an impeller (50) is connected to the other rotary member and meshed with an internal ring gear (54) having one more tooth than the number of impeller teeth to provide sufficient pumping capacity so that the pump can act as a brake while still having relatively constant pumping pressure. The control valve (80) includes a by metallic valve element (82) mounted within a recess (98) to provide accurate temperature compensated control of its closure when the pumped hydraulic fluid reaches a predetermined pressure corresponding to a predetermined extent of relative rotation between the two drivetrain members. The outlet port (78) is disclosed as extending through an actuating piston (72) of the clutch in certain embodiments and also through the casing back to the hydraulic pump in another embodiment to provide a supercharged circuit.

A hydraulic coupling (32) includes a control valve (80) that controls pumping from a casing inlet port (58) by a hydraulic pump (48) through a casing outlet port (78) to control coupling between two rotary members. The casing (34) is connected to one of the rotary members while an impeller (50) having between five and seven external teeth is connected to the other rotary member and meshed with an internal ring gear (54) having one more tooth than the number of impeller teeth to provide sufficient pumping capacity so that the pump can act as a brake while still having relatively constant pumping pressure. The control valve (80) includes a bimetallic valve element (82) that compensates for temperature changes and may also include a speed sensitive valve closure (104) for providing immediate coupling without delay above certain speeds of operation. Mounting of the bimetallic valve element (82) of control valve (80) within a recess (98) provides accurate control of the temperature compensation.

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Santa Barbara, CA, United States of America

Theodore E Shaffer