FR2666390A1 - HYDRAULIC CLUTCH. - Google Patents

Abstract

- The invention relates to a hydraulic clutch. - The object of the invention is a hydraulic clutch comprising a drive device (1), a rotary shaft (2) driven in rotation by said drive device, a drive disc (5) driven in rotation by said rotary shaft, a housing (4) in which is mounted said drive disc and which is rotatably mounted around said shaft defining the axis of rotation of the assembly, a fan (15) fixed to said housing, and 'oil filling a torque transmission gap delimited between said drive disc and the housing for transmitting the drive torque from said drive disc to said housing, characterized in that oil supply means (17, 18, 20) are arranged so as to convey said oil from the outside to the inside of said crankcase (4) and said oil supply means are connected to said crankcase by means of an oil supply line (16). - Application in particular to motor vehicles.

Description

HYDRAULIC CLUTCH

  The present invention relates to a hydraulic clutch and more particularly to a clutch

  hydraulic arrangement arranged to transmit a drive torque from a drive disk to a casing secured to a fan by means of oil filling a torque transmission interval of the casing.

  Japanese Patent Application No. 63-21048, for example, has already described a coupling device comprising a casing whose interior is divided by a separation wall between a torque transmission chamber and a reservoir chamber. oil, a drive disk disposed in the transmission chamber to be rotated through a drive device, oil stored in a reservoir chamber being delivered, via a controlled flow orifice in the separating wall, the transmission chamber and the oil in the transmission chamber and returned by a suitable circuit to the oil reservoir chamber. In accordance with the coupling device of this type, the driving torque 20 of the drive disk is transmitted to the crankcase via the oil supplied by the oil reservoir chamber to the transmission chamber, in order to drive r in rotation the ventilator secured to the casing, for example, in order to cool a motor vehicle engine. In a coupling device of the type described above, the atmospheric temperature is detected by means of a bi-directional detector. metal and, if the temperature 2 is high, the degree of opening of the flow control port is increased to increase the amount of oil in the transmission chamber, and this increases the number of crankcase turns This causes the fan to rotate at a higher speed so as to improve the cooling effect. However, a motor vehicle engine is driven under various conditions. For example, when the drive disk is rotated at a high speed. when the vehicle is traveling on the highway, it is not necessary to drive the fan in rotation at such a high speed, since the cooling effect is increased by In addition, during a cold start, it may be desirable to rotate the fan at low speed, since a high rotational speed of the fan will prevent operation under normal temperature and will cause also fan noises It is therefore desirable to have optimal control depending on the various

  In order to meet these requirements, it is not sufficient to control the amount of oil solely as a function of the atmospheric temperature.

  Moreover, since the control is carried out from oil trapped in the crankcase in the current systems, the oil

  tends to degrade and control of the amount of oil with very good accuracy, in order to impose a limit to this control, is impossible.

  On the other hand, in current devices, since the drive source rotates the drive disk, vibrations or shocks from the drive source are directly transmitted to the bearings supporting the drive disk shaft. which poses a problem with regard to endurance. The present invention has been made in consideration of the operating conditions of the hydraulic clutch of the above type, and one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a hydraulic clutch to obtain optimal control by adjusting the amount of hydraulic clutch. Another object of the present invention is to provide a hydraulic clutch having excellent reliability. The above object is achieved according to a first aspect of the present invention by a hydraulic clutch comprising a driving device, a rotary shaft driven in rotation from the driving device, a driving disk driven in rotation by via the rotary shaft, a housing in which is mounted the drive disc and which is rotatably arranged around said shaft constituting the axis of rotation of the assembly, a fan secured to the housing, and oil filling a torque transmission gap defined between the drive disk and the housing for transmitting drive torque from the drive disk to the housing, characterized in that oil supply means are arranged for supplying oil from the outside to the inside of the housing and these oil supply means are connected to the housing via an oil supply pipe. The object of the invention can also be achieved, according to a second aspect of the present invention, by a hydraulic clutch comprising a driving device, a rotary shaft driven in rotation from the driving device, a cooling device. for cooling the drive device, a drive disk rotated by the rotary shaft, a housing in which the drive disk is mounted and which is rotatably arranged about said shaft constituting the axis of rotation of the drive shaft; the assembly, a fan secured to the housing, and oil filling a torque transmission gap delimited between the drive disk and the housing to transmit the driving torque of the drive disk to the housing, characterized in it comprises means for supplying oil from the outside to the inside of the casing and a control means for controlling the supply of oil by said oil supply means according to at least the number of revolutions of the fan, the number of revolutions of the shaft and the temperature of the cooling water of the drive device. The object of the invention can also be achieved, according to a third aspect of the present invention, by a hydraulic clutch 4 comprising a driving device, a rotary shaft driven by the driving device, a cooling device for cooling the drive device, a drive disk rotated by the rotary shaft, a housing in which the drive disk is mounted and which is rotatably mounted around the shaft constituting the axis of rotation of the assembly, a fan integral with the housing and oil filling a torque transmission gap, delimited between the drive disc and the housing to transmit the driving torque of the drive disc to the housing, characterized in that it comprises oil supply means for delivering oil, via the oil supply pipe, from the outside to the inside of the housing, yens for calculating control data taking into account, as control signals, at least the number of revolutions of the fan, the number of revolutions of the rotary shaft and the temperature of the cooling water of the cooling device, and calculating the control data relating to the control of the oil supply means and a control device for controlling the oil supply means from the control data from the means for calculating said data. The object of the invention can be achieved, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, by a hydraulic clutch comprising a housing in which is mounted a drive disk, a drive device connected via a flexible connection to the housing or disk, bearings rotatably mounting a fixed part, one or other of the two bodies and oil supply means to route the oil from the outside to the torque transmission interval delimited between the opposing faces of the housing and the disc. The object of the invention can be achieved, according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, by a hydraulic clutch comprising a housing in which is mounted a drive disk, a drive device connected via a flexible connection to the housing or disk, bearings rotatably mounting a fixed part of one or the other of the two above bodies and means for supplying oil to convey the oil of the outside to a torque transmission interval defined between the facing faces of the housing and the disk and control means for controlling the supply of oil5 by the oil supply means according to at least the number of revolutions of the fan, the number of crankcase revolutions and the temperature of the cooling water of the driving device. According to the first aspect of the present invention, the rotating shaft is rotated by the drive device and the disk is rotated by the

  rotation of said shaft The oil is conveyed from the outside via an oil supply pipe and fills the defined torque transmission gap between the drive disc and the housing which surrounds the disc. training.

  The driving torque of the drive disc is transmitted through the oil and the housing is

  rotated by the rotation of the drive disk 20 and the fan secured to the housing is rotated.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the drive torque transmission oil of the crank drive disc is delivered by the oil supply means from the outside to the torque transmission gap delimited between Then, the delivery of the oil is controlled by control means taking into account at least the number of revolutions of the fan, the number of revolutions of the shaft driven in rotation by the device. drive and cooling water temperature of the device

  In this way, the amount of oil is appropriately controlled with very high accuracy and the fan is rotated according to various types of operating conditions.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the oil is conveyed by the oil supply means from the outside to the torque transmission gap defined between the drive disc and the housing to transmit the torque of the oil. In this case, the control data are calculated by the data calculation means taking into account at least the number of revolutions of the fan, the number of revolutions of the rotary shaft and the speed of rotation. Then, since the oil is conveyed by the oil supply means

  As a function of control data obtained from the calculation means, the quantity of oil is appropriately controlled with great accuracy and the fan is rotated according to various types of operating conditions.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the disk or housing is rotated by the drive device via a flexible link which does not transmit vibrations from the drive device to the crankcase. or the disk, and the crankcase or

  the ventilator integral with the disc enclosed in the casing is rotated by the oil conveyed by the oil supply means from the outside to the torque transmission interval delimited between the facing surfaces of the casing and the disc.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the disk or housing is rotated by the drive device via the flexible link which does not transmit vibrations from the drive device to the housing or the housing. The housing or fan integral with the disk enclosed in the housing is rotated by the oil conveyed by the oil supply means from the outside to the torque transmission interval delimited between the surfaces facing the housing. and the disk, by the control means

  at least the number of rotations of the fan integral with the housing or disk, the number of crankcase revolutions and the temperature of the cooling water of the drive device.

  These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the

  description of preferred embodiments of devices according to the present invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

  Figure 1 is a view illustrating the arrangement of a first embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a view illustrating a variant of the first embodiment according to the present invention; Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the first embodiment according to the present invention; 4 is a characteristic diagram relating to the number of revolutions and the temperature corresponding to the first embodiment according to the present invention; FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram relating to the number of revolutions of a fan corresponding to the first embodiment according to FIG. present invention; Figure 6 is a view illustrating the arrangement of a second embodiment according to the present invention; Figure 7 is a view illustrating a variant of the second embodiment according to the present invention; Figure 8 is a view illustrating the arrangement of a third embodiment according to the present invention; Figure 9 is a view illustrating a variant of the third embodiment according to the present invention; Figs. 1a to 1c are views illustrating a first variant of the pumping device of the third embodiment according to the present invention; Figs. 11a to 11c are views illustrating a second variant of the pumping device of the third embodiment according to the present invention; Fig. 12 is a view illustrating a third variant of the pumping device of the third embodiment according to the present invention; Fig. 13 is a view illustrating a fourth variant of the pumping device of the third embodiment according to the present invention; Figure 14 is a view illustrating a fifth variant of the pumping device of the third embodiment according to the present invention; Figures 15a and 15b are views illustrating a sixth variant of the pumping device of the third embodiment according to the present invention; Figures 16a and 16b are views illustrating a seventh variant of the pumping device of the third embodiment according to the present invention; Figures 17a and 17b are views illustrating an eighth variant of the pumping device of the third embodiment according to the present invention; Figs. 18a and 18b are views illustrating a ninth variant of the pumping device of the third embodiment according to the present invention; Fig. 19 is a view illustrating the operation of a fourth embodiment according to the present invention; Fig. 20 is a view illustrating the arrangement of a fifth embodiment according to the present invention; FIG. 21 is a view illustrating a variant of the

  fifth embodiment according to the present invention.

  Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

  Referring firstly to a first embodiment, FIG. 1 is a view illustrating the arrangement of this embodiment in which a rotating shaft is rotated by a motor 1 constituting the

  drive device, a cylindrical housing 4 rotatably mounted via bearings 3 about the axis of said shaft constituting the axis of rotation of the assembly A drive disc 5 is fixed at one end of the rotary shaft 2 arranged in the casing 4.

  The interior of the housing 4 is divided via a partition wall 6 into a torque transmission chamber 7 and an oil supply chamber 8, the torque transmission chamber 7 and the feed chamber. in the oil 8 being in communication with each other via a communication channel 10 The drive disk 5 is disposed inside the torque transmission chamber 7 so as to define a range of 35 transmission of torque between the outer circumferential surface and the faces of the drive disk and the inner circumferential surface and the opposite faces of the torque transmission chamber 7 A connecting pipe 12 is connected to the feed chamber oil40 8 on the front face of the housing 4 and the latter is mounted

  9 rotating through bearings 13 on the conduit 12.

  In this way, the casing 4 is rotatably mounted by means of the bearings 3 and 13 each disposed around the axis common to the shaft 2 and the duct 12 and a fan 155 is fixed to the casing 4.

  A supply pipe 16 is attached to one end of the connecting pipe 12 and connected at its other end, via a pump 17, to an oil reservoir 18 containing silicone oil. 17 is driven by a motor 20 and is responsible for sending the silicone oil from the tank 18 into the casing 4, via the pipe 16, or to bring back the silicone oil from the inside of the casing 4 into the tank 18, via said pipe 16 The rotation of the motor 20 is controlled by a control signal from a control device 21 and the control device 21 receives detection signals from a detector 22 of the number of revolutions of the fan 15, a detector 23 of the number of revolutions of the rotary shaft 2, and a detector 24 of

  the cooling water detecting the temperature of the engine cooling water 1.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but the supply pipe

  The oil can be connected to the side of the shaft 2 as illustrated in FIG.

  For this purpose, a rotary joint 25 is disposed on the rotary shaft 2 and the oil supply pipe 16 is connected to the rotary joint 25. In the rotary shaft 2 are provided a plurality of oil channels 2 arranged radially and an oil pipe 2b in communication with the radial channels is formed in the central axis of the assembly In addition, at least one through hole 5a communicating with the channel 2b is formed radially in the drive disk 5 and opens out at the outer periphery thereof. Other features are similar to those illustrated in FIG. 1. A plug 26 is disposed to close off the end of the channel 2b. The operation of this embodiment illustrated by FIGS. 1 and 2 will now be described with reference to

at drawings.

  FIG. 3 is an operating diagram of this embodiment, FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram of the operation of the embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram illustrating a relationship between the number of turns of the input shaft. and the number of revolutions of the fan in this embodiment 1 In this embodiment, the detection data from the cooling water detector 24, the revolution detector 23, and the detector 22 of the number 10 of The fan revolutions are input to the controller 21 at each pre-determined time interval, and stored in the controller 21. In step 51 of Fig. 3, a comparison is made between the temperature data of the controller. water from the cooling water detector 24 and the previously recorded water temperature data and determining whether the difference between these data exceeds According to this comparison, a tolerable upper limit value and a tolerable lower limit value for the engine cooling water 1 are determined. If the result of step 51 is yes, the process proceeds to step 52, in which a comparison is made between the data relating to the number of revolutions from the detector 23 and the data relating to the number of previous revolutions, and it is determined whether or not one is in a phase of If the result of step 52 is no, the process proceeds to step 53, in which a comparison is made between the data relating to the number of fan revolutions from the detector 22 and the number data. of previous rounds and it is determined whether the difference between these data exceeds a predetermined reference value. If the result of step 3 is no, the process proceeds to step 54 in which the pump 17 is driven by the motor 20 which is controlled from the control signal from the controller 21 and the silicone oil of the tank 18 is sent to the inside of the housing via the pipe 16 If, on the other hand, the result of step 53 is yes, the process goes to step 11 in which the pump 17 is driven by the motor 20 actuated by the control signal from the control device

  control 21, in order to return the silicone oil from the casing 4 to the oil reservoir via the pipe 16.

  The amount of silicone oil supplied from the tank 18 inside the casing, or the amount of silicone oil brought from the inside of the casing 4 to the tank 18, is determined from detection data from the detector 24 of cooling water, the detector of number of revolutions 23 and the detector 22 of the number of revolutions of the fan. If the result of step Si is no, or if the result of step 52 is yes, the process proceeds to step 58 in which it is determined whether the silicone oil is to be brought back from housing 4 into reservoir 18 Then, if the result of step 58 is yes, the process goes to step 57 to keep things in the state. If the result of step 58 is no, the process goes to step 56 in wherein the direction of rotation of the pump 17 is driven so that the silicone oil is returned from the housing 4 into the reservoir 18 by the control signal from the control device 21. The duration of the oil return phase in step 57, or the amount of silicone oil supplied to the casing 4 in step 56, is determined from the detection data from the cooling water detector 24, the revolution detector 23 and of the detector 22 of the number of revolutions of the fan. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, if the rate of increase of the temperature of the cooling water is close to the upper limit value for the temperature of the cooling water of the engine 1, the number of On the other hand, if the temperature of the cooling water is lowered, the number of revolutions of the fan is decreased. Moreover, if the number of revolutions of the shaft increases abruptly, the

  The fan is controlled to reduce its number of turns as illustrated by the dashed line to achieve a reduction effect of the fan revolutions, as illustrated by the hatched surface.

  In addition, in the rotational characteristics of the shaft 2 and the fan 15 illustrated in FIG. 5, if the temperature of the cooling water of the engine 1 is a normal temperature, a control is effected in the zone B, while the control is carried out in zone A, if the temperature of the cooling water exceeds the upper limit value. With such a command, the amount of silicone oil in the casing 4 is changed with excellent precision and in a wide range by sending oil from the tank 18 into the interior of the casing 4 or by bringing oil from the inside of the casing 4 in the reservoir 18. Consequently, a suitable amount of silicone oil, corresponding to the temperature of the cooling water of the engine 1, to the number of revolutions of the shaft 2 (proportional to the number of turns of the motor 1) and the number of revolutions of the fan 15, is supplied from the communication channel 10 or through hole 5a inside the torque transmission chamber 7, or is removed from the torque transmission chamber 7, via the communication channel 10 or through hole 5a, so

  The amount of oil in the torque transmission chamber 7 is appropriate. Next, the torque of the drive disc 5 is transmitted through the appropriate amount of silicone oil into the transmission chamber 7 to the crankcase. to drive the fan 15.

  In this way, the number of revolutions of the fan 15 is controlled so that it does not change significantly, as illustrated in FIG. 4, so that the silicone oil is present in the transmission chamber 7. optimum amount according to the temperature of the cooling water of the engine 1, the number of revolutions of the engine 1 and the number of revolutions of the fan 15. The temperature of the cooling water of the engine 1 is also maintained substantially constant, the order is made optimally taking into account also the

  cold start and highway traffic, the noise of the fan 15 is lowered and unnecessary fuel consumption can be avoided.

  In spite of the explanations given in this embodiment, especially with regard to the amount of oil in the crankcase which is controlled as a function of the engine cooling water temperature, the number of engine revolutions and the number of engine revolutions. For example, the control parameters may also incorporate other additional parameters such as the amount of airflow caused by the movement of the vehicle, the atmospheric temperature, intake air temperature, vehicle speed, opening rate

  of the butterfly valve, the atmospheric pressure, the absence or the presence of rattling, the operation of an air conditioner, the presence of an exhaust brake, etc. We will describe, now, a second mode of Embodiment of the present invention with reference to Figures 6 and 7.

  This second embodiment is substantially identical to the first embodiment described above with reference to

  Figure 1 and further comprises an additional arrangement 20 described below.

  A gas evacuator 30 is disposed through the casing 4 in the torque transmission chamber 7. The gas evacuator 30 is arranged such that when the pressure in the torque transmission chamber 7 increases and exceeds a value predetermined upper limit, only the gas in the torque transmission chamber 7 is vented to the outside of the housing 4, via the evacuator 30 and that when the pressure in the torque transmission chamber 7 lowers and is below a predetermined lower limit value, atmospheric air passes through the evacuator 30 towards the torque transmission chamber 7. The evacuator gas 30 is preferably arranged, as in the embodiment shown, on the front and rear faces of the casing 4, but it may be sufficient to dispose at least on the opposite side to that facing the supply pipe. If a vent 31 is disposed through the drive disc 5 in the vicinity of the central axis, the silicone oil can penetrate and flow more evenly through the supply pipe. 16. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment but the oil supply line 16 can be connected to the shaft side 2 (corresponding to the arrangement of FIG. 2). Other features of the second embodiment are identical to those of the first embodiment described above. In the second embodiment, when the pressure in the torque transmission chamber 7 increases beyond

  of the pre-determined upper limit value, the gas in the torque transmission chamber 7 is discharged through the evacuator 30 towards the outside of the casing 4 and, consequently, the oil can penetrate and be evenly distributed. .

  On the other hand, if the pressure in the torque transmission chamber 7 falls below the pre-determined lower limit value, because outside air enters through the evacuator 30 inside the chamber torque transmission 7, a negative pressure is not established in this room and the oil can be routinely routed. Other features and advantages of this second mode

  embodiments are identical to those of the first embodiment described above.

  A third embodiment according to the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 18.

  In the third embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 8, a valve 25 acting as a pumping device is placed on the inner circumferential wall of the casing 4, at the level of an oil supply orifice 7a. communicating a channel 10 with a torque transmission chamber 7 and the valve 25 pumps the oil on the side of the torque transmission chamber 7 towards the oil supply channel side 8 A connecting conduit 12 is integral with the central part of the oil supply channel 8 and a casing 4 is rotatably mounted by means of bearings 13 on the connection duct 12. In this way, the casing 4 is rotatably secured by the bearings 3 13, being centered on both the shaft 2 and the conduit 12 and a fan 15, constituting the driven element, is fixed to the housing 4. On the other hand, an oil supply port 7 b is arranged on the circumferential wall the internal housing 4 in a position preferably substantially opposite that of the oil supply port 7a and an oil supply channel 4a is formed between the orifice 7b and the connecting duct 12 of the 4.10 Other features of the third embodiment are identical to those of the first embodiment described above. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but the supply line

  oil 16 can be connected to the side of the shaft 2 as shown in Figure 9 (corresponding to Figure 2).

  In this case, a recess 5 'is provided on the outer circumferential wall of a drive disk 5 on the rear side of a through hole 5a, in the direction of rotation, and a valve 25 is freely mounted in the recess 5 'Other characteristics are identical to those shown in Figure 8 A plug 26 is provided to close the end of the conduit of the oil channel 2b. In the present invention, the embodiment shown in FIG. 8 and that represented in FIG. 9 can be combined. In other words, it is possible to connect the oil supply pipe 16 to the housing side and the shaft 2 side. and the oil is sent into or out of the torque transmission chamber by the pump 17, or the oil is sent to the shaft 2 side and recovered from the housing side 4, or contrary, the oil is supplied on the side of the casing 4 and recovered on the side of the shaft 2. During the operation of this third embodiment, the pump 17 is driven by the motor 20, itself actuated by signals from the control device 21 in step 55 of the diagram of FIG. 3, and the silicone oil in the casing 4 is pumped by the valve 25 and returns via the oil supply channel 8 and from the line 16 to the h tank 18. In this case, the suction effect of the pump 17 is increased by the pumping effect of the valve 25 disposed between the orifice 7a and the drive disc 5 and the silicone oil of the casing 4 is brought back regularly and rapidly into the reservoir 18. In the third embodiment, with respect to the rotation characteristics of the shaft 2 and the fan 15 shown in FIG. 5, the temperature of the cooling water of the engine 1 is ordered in zone B for

  usual temperature values, but if the temperature of the cooling water exceeds the upper limit value, the control is carried out in the zone A, in the same way as in the first embodiment.

  In this case, since the valve 25 has a pumping function and is disposed between the orifice 7a and the disc

  5, the silicone oil in the housing 4 is returned regularly and quickly to the oil reservoir 20 18.

  On the other hand, the silicone oil is conveyed from the tank 18 to the casing 4 via the oil supply channel 8 and this can be achieved even more regularly by the addition of at least one channel supplying oil 4a and oil supplying port 7a. Other characteristics and advantages of the third embodiment are identical to those of the first embodiment described above. In the embodiment above, the valve 25 given as an example of a pumping device is disposed in the vicinity of the However, in order to further improve the pumping function, the valve 25 may be shaped in the general L-shape as illustrated by FIGS. 1a, lob, or well in general U shape as illustrated by the

  In addition, the oil supply port 7a is disposed laterally on the outer circumference of the housing 4 in this modified embodiment.

  Other embodiments will now be explained in which the valve acting as pumping device is freely mounted in the recess 5 'formed in the drive disc 5, with reference to FIGS. 11 to 14.5. A recess 27 is provided on the outer circumferential wall of a drive disk 5, laterally to a valve, which serves to pressurize the oil supplied by the valve to be conveyed more efficiently to the oil supply port 7 a As shown in FIG. 11b, if the orifice 7a is open, while the other end is closed, the pressure effect on the oil at

  the orifice 7a on the side of the casing 4 is further improved. The valve 25 is constantly in contact with the opposite inner circumferential wall of the casing 4 during the rotation, because of the centrifugal force and / or the force applied by a spring 28.

  In addition, such valves 25 may be provided at a plurality of locations in the outer circumferential wall of the drive disc 5, if necessary, and a plurality of oil supply ports 7a may be provided. As a result of the centrifugal force, the valve 25 may be provided with a weight of 25 a, as shown in FIG. 12, or the valve itself may constitute a weight. This is particularly effective in one case, illustrated in FIG. the oil supply line 16 is connected to the shaft 2 side, and oil is conveyed through the through hole 5a to the drive disk 5 as shown in FIG. if a sliding pad 25b is disposed laterally, in sliding contact with the inner circumferential wall of the casing 4, as illustrated in FIG. 13, it is particularly effective to combine

  the embodiments of FIGS. 8 and 9, in which case the through hole 5a is disposed on the drive disc 5, while the oil supply port 7a is provided on the side of the housing 4 in order to simultaneously route the oil on the side of the shaft 2 and the side of the casing 4.

  Furthermore, the valve 25 may consist, as illustrated in FIG. 14, of three distinct pieces, namely a central piece 25 'whose sidewalls comprise an inclined surface towards the outside, and two lateral pieces 18 25 'b 25' c having an inclined surface in correspondence with the inclined surface of the central piece 25 'a giving an outer width I to each side piece 25' b 25 'c and a width L to the outer face of the piece 25 'a central, in a relationship: L> 1, if abrasion is caused by friction between the central piece a' and the side parts 25 'and 25' c vis-à-vis the inner circumferential wall of the housing 4, the central piece a is preferably abraded so that a constant seal is obtained due to the wedge effect provided by the inclined surface of the central piece 25 ', the reference 28' designating a spring pressing towards the outside 25a, which may be replaced by a weight as shown in Figure 12.15. In addition, the pumping device is not limited to the single embodiment described above but may be modified by For example, a plurality of gear teeth 29, such as a pinion or a ring gear, are disposed on the outer circumferential wall of the drive disk 5 as illustrated in FIGS. b, or so that a plurality of radially extending grooves are provided on at least one of the sides of the outer circumferential wall of the drive disk 5 as illustrated by FIGS. 16a, 16b, or 25 of FIG. In addition, the pumping effect can also be obtained by forming grooves 32 in the radial direction, at least on one of the internal faces of the groove.

  outer circumference of the housing 4 as illustrated by FIGS. 18a, 18b.

  In addition, the pumping device may also be suitably formed by combining the gears 29, the valve 25, the fins 31, the grooves 30, 32, described above. As described above, the oil may be extracted particularly regularly from the torque transmission chamber 7 by various types of pumping arrangement, as well as the oil can be conveyed particularly smoothly into the torque transmission chamber 7 by providing separately the oil supply channel 4a and the supply port

  of oil 7b, so that the volume of the pump 17 and the motor 20 of the pump 17 can be reduced. The fourth embodiment will now be described.

  The fourth embodiment comprises data calculation means taking into account, as control signals, at least the number of revolutions of the fan, the number of revolutions of the rotary shaft and the temperature of the cooling water. of the driving device and calculating control data relating to the control of the oil supply means, from said signals. This embodiment is designed so that the oil supply means is driven from the data of The control features provided by the data computation means. Other features of the fourth embodiment are similar to those of the first embodiment described above. FIG. 19 is a view illustrating the control operations of the fourth embodiment. In this fourth embodiment, a fan speed signal Nf (fan revolutions), a motor speed signal Ne (number of revolutions). the shaft 2), and a water temperature signal Tw (cooling water temperature of the cooling device) are inputted as control signals S in a control device 21 in a data calculation circuit characteristics of the control device 21, data characteristic fan speed / engine speed (A), characteristic data fan speed / cooling water temperature (B) and characteristic data engine speed / time (C) , illustrated in Fig. 19 (D), are calculated as characteristic data based on the control signals mentioned above. Control data are calculated from the characteristic data D, A, B, C and control signals S (Ne, Tw, Nf), in the control data calculating device of the control device 21, and the motor 20 is controlled from the resulting control data to control the sending or return of the oil Plus 40, particularly in a step S11 of FIG. 19, it is determined whether the engine is in the acceleration phase from the signal Engine speed and characteristic data C (engine speed / time), depending on the condition d Ne / dt> dne / dt.5 If the result of step 511 is yes, the process continues with step 512 in which the speed Nf of the fan is displayed at the minimum speed Noff: Nf = Noff, then, the process proceeds to step 515. Depending on the characteristics of the vehicle, the arrangements can be made, for example -after In particular, if the result of step 511 is yes, the process proceeds to step 512 while maintaining high engine revolutions, acceleration, starting and / or after acceleration, or the process is held at step 12 for a period of time. However, even if the result of step 511 is yes, the process can return to step 513, while the temperature of the cooling water is excessively high and the temperature of the cooling water is excessively high. / or the air conditioner in use

  In addition, the process may proceed to a step 515 displaying Nf = No.

  Then, in step 515, a command is made from the comparison between the fan speed signal Nf and the calculated speed signal Nf and, depending on the result of step 515, current is sent to the step 516 to the engine 20.

  If the result of step S1 is no, the process proceeds to step 513 in which the maximum speed of the non fan and the minimum speed of the Noff fan are calculated, and then the process proceeds to step 514 in which the fan speed Noff is calculated. calculated fan speed is determined by nf = f (Noff, No, Tw, Tl, T 2) For example, in the case of controlling the fan speed versus the cooling water temperature in a system linear, the computation is developed from the relation nf = Noff + (No Noff) x Tw Tl / T 2 Tl Then, the process proceeds to step 515 in which a command is computed from the comparison of the

  the resulting calculated fan speed nf and the fan speed signal Nf input and, depending on the result of step 515, current is sent to the motor 20 in step 516.

  Other features and advantages of the fourth embodiment are similar to those of the first embodiment described above; A fifth embodiment will now be described with reference to FIGS. 20 and 21. As illustrated in FIG. 20, a disk 5 is attached to one end of a rotating shaft 2 and a fan 15 is attached to the other end of the shaft. the shaft A cylindrical casing 4 of small length and large diameter is rotatably mounted, with the disk 5 arranged inside, on the shaft 2, by means of bearings 3 The shaft 2 is supported substantially in its central part by means of bearings 40 arranged in a bearing 9 secured to a fixed part, for example of a vehicle chassis or of a motor unit An oil channel 2 passing axially through the shaft 2 is arranged in the axis of rotation of the shaft 2 and is connected to the disk 5, a closure plug 26 being provided in the disc 5 opposite said end of the channel 2 at the outer end of the channel 2a is connected , via bearings Il and a connecting pipe 13, to a at least one through-hole 5 a communicates with the oil channel 2 a and is disposed in the disc 5 so that the outer circumferential surface opens in the torque-transmitting chamber 7 and a torque transmission gap 7 'is delimited between the outer circumferential surface of the disk 5 and the inner circumferential surface of the

  In addition, a rotary shaft of a motor 1 constituting the driving device is connected to the casing 4 via a flexible joint 1A comprising a coupling sleeve, a spiral spring and a hollow hollow shaft.

  A pump 17 driven by a motor 20 is connected to the oil supply pipe 16, and the pump 17 is connected to an oil reservoir 18 containing a silicone oil A 24 cooling water temperature detector, at the detection of the temperature of the cooling water of the engine 1 is fixed on the engine 1, a detector of number of revolutions for detecting the number of revolutions of the casing 4 is fixed on the casing 4 and a detector 22 number of revolutions of the fan, for detecting the number of revolutions of the fan 15 is fixed on this

  The respective output terminals of the cooling water temperature detector 24, the revolution detector 23 and the fan speed detector 22 are connected to a control device 21 for controlling the rotation of the fan. motor 20.

  In such an arrangement, the rotation of the motor 1 is transmitted through the flexible seal 1A to the casing 4, without any shock, in a stable manner and without vibration, so as to drive the casing 4, via the Bearings 3, around the shaft 2 constituting the axis of rotation of the assembly On the other hand, the motor 20 is driven under the control of the control device 21 which operates on receiving detection signals from the detector 24 of 15 temperature of the cooling water, the detector 23 and the detector 22 of the number of revolutions of the fan The pump 17 is actuated by the rotation of the motor 20 to deliver the silicone oil from the reservoir 18, by the intermediate of the oil supply pipe 16,20 of the connecting pipe 13, the oil channel 2a and the through hole 5a, to the transmission chamber of

  torque 7 in the casing 4, or to bring the silicone oil from the torque transmission chamber 7, via the above-mentioned flow ducts, towards the oil reservoir 18.

  Then, because the transmission ratio of the rotational torque of the casing 4 to the disc 5 is adjusted according to the

  the amount of the silicone oil in the torque transmission interval 7 ', the speed of rotation of the fan 15 driven by the rotation of the disk 5 can always be controlled to the desired value.

  The present invention is not limited solely to the embodiment of FIG. 20, but may also be applied to a hydraulic clutch of the type shown in FIG. 21, in which the driving force of a motor 1 is transmitted to a disk 5 and the transmission torque is

  transmitted to the casing 4 via a torque transmission interval 7 'and a torque transmission chamber 7.

  In FIG. 21, the rotation of the motor 1 is transmitted via a flexible seal 1A to a drive shaft 5 'in order to drive the disc 5 fixed to the end in rotation. The rotation of the disc 5 is transmitted via the silicone oil of the torque transmission interval 7 'of the torque transmission chamber 7 to the casing 4 The casing 4 is rotatably mounted, by means of bearings 41, on a part such as a vehicle chassis or an engine block.10 The interior of the housing 4 is divided into a torque transmission chamber 7 and an oil channel 8 via a partition wall 6, the channel 8 being connected via a connecting pipe 13 to an oil supply pipe 16, while being in communication with the outer circumference of the latter with the channels 8a, 8b and open on the room

  torque transmission 7 A valve 25 or the like acting as a pumping device is disposed behind the outlet of the communication channel 8a on the inner circumferential surface of the casing 4.

  Bearings 3 and 3a are arranged respectively between the connecting pipe 13 and the casing 4 and between the casing 4

  and the drive shaft 5 'and bearings 26' are arranged to rotatably support the housing 4 on a fixed portion, which bearings may be used in place of or with the bearings 10 '.

  The operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 21 is substantially identical to that of the embodiment shown in FIG. 20, in which the silicone oil is supplied to the transmission chamber 7 by the pump 17 via the channel. of oil 8 and

  8a and 8b communication channels, while the silicone oil is recovered through the communication channel 8a by the reverse rotation of the pump and the pumping function of the valve 25 or the like.

  In the case where the pump is not actuated, the silicone oil enters through the valve 25 via the channel

  8 in the channel 8 and 8 flows in the direction of the torque transmission chamber 7 via the communication conduit 8 b.

  The operation of the fifth embodiment is identical to that of the first embodiment described above with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5. In the fifth embodiment, because the casing 4 or the disc 5 is mounted on a part fixed, a flexible joint transmitting only the rotation of the engine 1 can be used and, therefore, even in the case of a transmission via a direct coupling device with the crankshaft of the engine, solidarity bearings of the shaft 2 do not receive shocks or vibrations during the drive by the motor 1, which

  increases the service life and improves the reliability of the bearings which are of a high cost, thus reducing production costs. Other features of the fifth embodiment are identical to those of the first embodiment described above. .

  As has been described above in particular in accordance with the present invention, since an oil supplied from the outside to a torque transmission gap delimited between a drive disc and a housing is controlled according to the present invention. of driving conditions of the driving device, it is possible to transmit a driving torque of the drive disk, corresponding to the driving conditions, under optimum conditions to the housing and to obtain optimum operation of the drive. clutch in different driving conditions, so that various effects and benefits are achieved such as reduced fan noise, fuel economy, as well as improved acceleration. Also, according to the present invention, because of that the housing is rotatably mounted on a fixed part, the

  The loads on the integral bearings of the rotary shaft are reduced, and since the hydraulic clutch and the motor are connected by means of a flexible joint, the bearings do not withstand shocks or vibrations and their duration of operation. life can be improved as well as their reliability.

Claims (7)

R E V E N D I C A T IO N S   Hydraulic clutch comprising a driving device (1), a rotary shaft (2) driven in rotation by said driving device, a driving disc (5) rotated by said rotary shaft, a housing (4). in which is mounted said drive disc and which is rotatably mounted about said shaft defining the axis of rotation of the assembly, a fan (15) fixed on said housing, and oil filling a torque transmission gap defined between said drive disk and the casing for transmitting the driving torque of said drive disk to said casing, characterized in that oil supply means (17, 18, 20) are arranged to conveying said oil from the outside to the inside of said housing (4) and said oil supplying means are connected to said housing by   via an oil supply pipe (16).   2 Hydraulic clutch comprising a driving device (1), a rotary shaft (2) rotated by said driving device, a cooling device for cooling said driving device, a driving disk (5) driven in rotation by said rotary shaft, a housing (4) in which is disposed said drive disk and which is rotatably mounted about said shaft (2) constituting the axis of rotation of the assembly, a fan (15) integral with said housing and oil filling a torque transmission gap delimited between said drive disk and the housing to transmit the driving torque of said drive disc to said housing, characterized in that it comprises means for supplying oil (17,18,20) conveying said oil from the outside to the inside of said housing (4) and control means (21) for controlling the supply of said oil through said oil supply means according to at least the number of revolutions of said fan (15), the number of revolutions of said rotary shaft (2) and the temperature of the cooling water of said cooling device. Hydraulic clutch according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a gas evacuator (30) is arranged   in the torque transmission gap, allowing the flow of gas between the torque transmission gap and the outside atmosphere.   Hydraulic clutch according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a pumping device (25) is arranged on at least one of the outer circumferential faces of the drive disk (5) and the inner housing (4). Hydraulic clutch according to Claim 4, characterized in that the pumping device comprises a valve (25) arranged near the oil supply opening (7 a) of the casing (4). Hydraulic clutch according to Claim 5, characterized in that the valve (25) has a substantially L-shaped or U-shaped cross section. 7 Hydraulic clutch according to Claim 4, characterized in that the pumping device comprises a   valve (25) freely mounted in a recessed portion (5 ') formed on the outer circumferential wall of the drive disc (5).   Hydraulic clutch according to Claim 7, characterized in that the hollow part (5 ') is arranged   between the valve (25) and the outer circumferential wall of the drive disc (5).   9 hydraulic clutch according to claim 7, characterized in that the valve comprises three separate parts (25 'a, 25' b, 25 'c), each of the side faces of a central piece (25' a) having a sloped surface in the direction of the outside, while the other parts   (25 'b, 25' c) have an inclined surface in correspondence with the inclined surface of the central piece (25 'a).   Hydraulic clutch according to Claim 4, characterized in that the pumping device comprises   pinion or crown teeth (29) disposed on the outer circumferential wall of the drive disc (5).   Hydraulic clutch according to Claim 4, characterized in that the pumping device comprises a plurality of fins or grooves (30, 31) extending radially and disposed on at least one side of at least the outer circumferential portion. of the drive disk (5). Hydraulic clutch according to claim 4, characterized in that the pumping device comprises a plurality of radially extending grooves (32) disposed on at least one inner side of at least the outer circumferential portion of the drive disc. Hydraulic clutch according to Claim 4, characterized in that the oil supply means comprise at least one oil supply channel (4 a) and an oil supply port (7 b) in communication with said pipe. supplying oil and arranged in the housing (4). Hydraulic clutch comprising a driving device (1), a rotary shaft (2) rotated by said driving device, a cooling device for cooling said driving device, a driving disk (5) driven in rotation by said rotary shaft, a housing (4) in which said drive disc is disposed and which is rotatably mounted about said shaft constituting the axis of rotation of the assembly, a fan (15) integral with said housing and of the oil filling a torque transmission gap delimited between said drive disk and the housing in order to transmit the driving torque of said drive disk to said housing, characterized in that it comprises means for supplying oil (17,18,20) for supplying said oil from the outside to the inside of said housing (4) via an oil supply pipe (16), data calculation means for calculating control data taking into account as control signals at least the number of revolutions of the fan (15), the number of revolutions of the rotary shaft (2) and the cooling temperature of the cooling device and calculating the control data relating to the control of the oil supply means and a control device (21) for operating the oil supply means (17, 18, 20) from the data obtained by the data calculation means . Hydraulic clutch characterized in that it comprises a casing (4) with a disk (5) incorporated therein, a driving device (1) connected via a flexible seal (1 A) in said housing (4) or disc (5), bearings (40) for rotatably mounting on a fixed part of the disc or housing and means (17, 18, 20) for supplying oil for delivering oil from outside to a torque transmission gap (7 ') delimited between the opposite faces of said housing and disk.  16 Hydraulic clutch characterized in that it comprises a casing (4) with a disc (5) incorporated therein, a drive device (1) connected via a flexible seal (l A) to said housing or disc, bearings (40) for rotatably mounting on a stationary portion of the disc or housing and oil supplying means (17, 18, 20) for supplying oil outside to a torque transmission gap (7 ') delimited between the opposite faces of said housing and disc and   control means (21) for controlling the supply of the oil by said oil supply means taking into account at least the number of revolutions of said fan (15), the number of revolutions of said casing (4) and the temperature cooling water of the driving device (1).