Lock-up damper of torque converter

Abstract

A lock-up mechanism,of a torque converter,has a piston,with a lock-up damper,. The lock-up damper,includes a drive member and a hub flange,with the elastic members or torsion springs,operatively coupled therebetween to dampen vibrations in the torque converter,. The drive member and the hub flange,both have a plurality of window holes,and,that are arranged circumferentially for receiving the corresponding torsion springs,. The drive member includes a clutch plate,and a retaining plate,. The clutch plate,of the drive member has a plurality of holes or cutouts,arranged radially outward of the window holes,. These holes or cutouts,are arranged to reduce the weight of the clutch plate,, while maintaining the stresses around the window holes,of the clutch plate,within an allowable stress range. The retaining plate,of the drive member also has a plurality of holes or cutouts,that are arranged radially outward of the window holes,. These holes or cutouts,are arranged to reduce the weight of a retaining plate,, while maintaining the stresses around the window holes,of the retaining plate,within an allowable stress range. The hub flange,of the lock-up damper,also include a plurality of holes or cutouts,that are circumferentially arranged between the window holes,in the hub flange,. These holes or cutouts,are arranged to reduce the weight of a hub flange,, while maintaining the stresses around the window holes,of the hub flange,within an allowable stress range.