Fichtel & Sachs Ag

Mannesmann Sachs Ag

Uwe Dehrmann

Peter Volland

Rudiger Hinkel

Hans-Wilhelm Wienholt

Christoph Sasse

Wilfried Glock

Reinhold Weckesser

Wolfgang Kundermann

Roland Illig

Horst Breier

Ruthard Knoblach

Ruthard Schneider

Hans W Wienholt

Rothard Schneider

A lockup clutch in a hydrodynamic torque converter has an axially movable piston which can be pressed against a contact face of a flange of the converter housing in a switching position via at least one friction facing. At least one of the structural component parts of the flange of the converter housing or the piston serves as a carrier for a deformation element axially arranged between it and the other structural component part. The deformation element is connected with the carrier on at least one radial side and is in a working connection with the carrier at least at the other radial side via an elastic supporting device. The deformation element extends at least within the area of extension of the friction facing.

Lockup clutch for a hydrodynamic torque converter

A stator for a hydrodynamic torque converter which is produced by injection molding with axially drawn dies. The stator hub has stator blades produced by use of a thermoplastic material to fill the dies in the injection molding process. The stator blades are positioned relative to one another on the stator hub in such a way that the flow outlet of every stator blade is arranged at an offset of only the width of a gap relative to the flow inlet of the subsequent stator blade in the circumferential direction.

Stator produced by injection molding

A hydrodynamic torque converter with a converter circuit comprising an impeller, a turbine and a stator, wherein the stator is held by an axial bearing arrangement in the converter housing at a predetermined relative distance from the impeller and the turbine. The axial bearing arrangement has a grooved sliding bearing at each axial side of the stator. In at least one of the sliding bearings, the grooves are formed through only a part of the entire radial length of the sliding bearing.

Hydrodynamic torque converter with an axial bearing arrangement provided

A hydrodynamic torque converter has a converter circuit which is formed of an impeller wheel, a turbine wheel and a stator wheel. A driver for a piston of a lockup clutch is provided at the turbine wheel. The piston is rotatable in the circumferential direction and displaceable in the axial direction. The driver has at least one projection projecting in the direction of an associated recess in the piston in order to produce a connection forming a positive engagement in the circumferential direction while allowing a relative movement of the piston in the axial direction. The projection has at least two legs which are arranged at a distance from one another and extend at a predetermined angle relative to the circumferential direction. These legs are connected with one another, at least at their free ends, by a stiffener and have transmission surfaces at their sides remote of the stiffener. The transmission surfaces are provided for producing a working contact in each instance with an associated counter-surface of the recess of the piston, which counter-surface is adjacent to the transmission surface in the circumferential direction.

Hydrodynamic torque converter with a driver for the piston of a lockup

A pump impeller for a hydrodynamic torque converter with a flange and a hub located radially inside and extending in the axial direction. The hub has a seat for a bearing and a sleeve is connected by a pressure fit to the pump impeller. The sleeve extends in the direction of the hub and forms the seat of the bearing.

Pump impeller for a torque converter

A lockout clutch on a torque converter includes an axially deflectable piston through which torque can be transmitted from the drive side of the torque converter to its output side. The lockout clutch also has a torsional vibration damper having an input part connected to the piston and an output part connected to the turbine wheel of the torque converter. One of the input part and the output part includes a cover element with control elements for energy storage devices acting on the torsional vibration damper on at least one radial support of the cover element. The control elements are designed to project into the cover element with a depth at which the associated energy storage devices rests on a control element along substantially the extension width in the contact area of the control element. The control elements are also designed to avoid penetration to the axial support at least at the point where the other of the input and output elements engages the energy storage elements. This engagement occurs with substantially axial projections, on which axial securing devices to retain the energy storage devices are provided. The axial projection are designed so that pressurization of the energy storage devices is ensured over their entire width in the axial extension direction of the axial projections.

Lockup clutch with a torsional vibration damper

Hydrodynamic torque converter which comprises blade wheels in the form of a reactor, a pump wheel and a turbine wheel with individual blades which are connected to an outer wall, whereby a torque can be transmitted from the pump wheel to the turbine wheel by means of pressure medium which flows along a flow path from the pump wheel to the turbine wheel, and is transported via the reactor back to the pump wheel, whereby at least one blade wheel comprises at least one stabilizer ring which creates a connection of the individual blades on their exposed sides, and by means of which stabilizer ring the flow path of the pressure medium can be influenced to reduce the flow losses.

Hydrokinetic torque converter with stabilizer ring on the blade wheels

A hydrokinetic torque converter with a housing (23, 26) connected to an internal combustion engine; a turbine (21); and a bridge coupling or lock-up clutch (45) which has a plurality of friction linings (1, 7; 31, 39, 40; 54, 57) that can be brought in a predeterminable order and independent of one another into active connection with a particular associated friction surface for establishing a frictional connection between the housing (26) and the turbine wheel (21). Under pressure the converter bridge coupling acts initially as a single-surface and later as a double-surface converter coupling. In addition, the bridge coupling can have a low transmission capacity per pressure unit in the low pressure range and the transmission capacity can be increased disproportionately starting at a certain pressure range.

Hydrokinetic torque converter with bridge coupling

A lock-up clutch for a hydrodynamic torque converter which includes at least one piston which can be displaced in the axial direction and can be connected to the converter housing by means of at least one friction zone, which piston defines, by means of the side which faces the converter housing, a chamber in which, when the lock-up clutch is active, the pressure is lower than the pressure in the converter circuit, and which, in the vicinity of a friction zone, has at least one channel for the flow of hydraulic fluid from the converter circuit. The quantitative flow of hydraulic fluid is a function of the pressure exerted by the converter. The lock-up clutch further includes at least one friction zone which has at least one friction lining, whereby the lock-up clutch has a total of at least two friction linings of different axial dimensions which, in the event of different pressures acting in the converter, come into at least partial effective connection with the matching friction surfaces.

Lock-up clutch of a hydrodynamic torque converter

A hydrodynamic torque converter is designed with a lock-up clutch which comprises a piston which can be extended in the axial direction and can be connected by at least one friction lining to the converter housing. The friction lining is designed with a multiplicity of depressions for the flow of hydraulic fluid, preferably oil, from the converter circuit, whereby the depressions extend between the radially outside edge and the radially inside edge of the friction lining in the circumferential direction at a specified angle, with a changing radial distance from the axis of rotation of the friction lining. Each depression changes its longitudinal direction between each inlet and outlet for the oil at least once, so that its radial component is oriented opposite to its orientation before the change.

Hydrodynamic torque converter with lock-up clutch

A hydrodynamic torque converter consists of a pump wheel driven by an internal combustion engine, a turbine wheel coupled to a drive shaft, and a stator which can be blocked in one direction of rotation. These wheels, together form a converter circuit filled with a hydraulic fluid, preferably oil, which interacts with a lock-up clutch. This lock-up clutch is located axially between the outside of the turbine wheel and the inside opposite it of the converter housing which forms the connection between the pump wheel and the internal combustion engine, and a piston which, like the converter housing, can also be driven preferably with some slip in relation to the corresponding friction lining, can be displaced axially and with the converter housing defines a chamber, which piston can be brought into contact by means of a first friction lining with a plate which is non-rotationally fastened to the turbine wheel, which plate is engaged for its part with its other side by means of a second friction lining with the converter housing. In the area of contact of the converter housing with the second friction lining there are channels for the flow of oil, which can carry the flow of oil on account of the pressure gradient between the turbine wheel and the chamber from radially outward to radially inward, while in the area of contact between the piston and the plate, a flow of oil into the chamber can at least be reduced.

Hydrodynamic torque converter with lockup clutch

A hydrokinetic torque converter with a lock-up clutch which is located axially between the turbine wheel and the converter housing comprises a piston which, along with the converter housing, defines a chamber. The chamber is connected by means of at least one essentially radial flow guide to a longitudinal hole in the driven shaft. When oil which has been supplied by the converter circuit and has penetrated into the chamber in the vicinity of the friction lining flows through the chamber, the oil can be transported radially inward for discharge by means of the flow guide toward the converter axis, until it can be introduced into the driven shaft inside a ring-shaped zone surrounding the converter-axis which promotes the formation of a vortex when the converter housing is in rotation, and can then be transported via the longitudinal hole in the driven shaft to the reservoir.

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Wurzburg, Germany

Uwe Dehrmann