JPH0532688Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a torque converter with a lock-up clutch used in automobiles and the like.

(Prior art and its problems) In general, in a torque converter with a lock-up clutch, the hydraulic pressure in a hydraulic chamber formed between a piston clutch plate and a front cover is transferred to a hydraulic oil chamber formed between a piston clutch plate and a turbine. The clutch is connected and disconnected by increasing and decreasing the hydraulic pressure relative to the hydraulic pressure of the clutch.

However, in conventional torque converters with lock-up clutches, the piston clutch plate is provided with a gap between the cylindrical circumferential wall extending toward the turbine side on its outer periphery and the circumferential wall of the front cover extending toward the turbine side. When the clutch is connected by reducing the oil pressure in the hydraulic chamber relative to the oil pressure in the hydraulic oil chamber, hydraulic oil flows out from the gap between the impeller outlet and the turbine inlet due to centrifugal force. It flows into the hydraulic chamber through the gap between the cylindrical circumferential wall and the circumferential wall, making it difficult to quickly reduce the hydraulic pressure in the hydraulic chamber relative to the hydraulic pressure in the hydraulic oil chamber. There have been cases where it has been difficult to connect and operate the lock-up clutch in response to the driving conditions of the vehicle. In order to solve this problem, the gap between the cylindrical circumferential wall and the circumferential wall can be narrowed, but it is difficult and difficult to form the entire piston clutch plate or the entire front cover with high dimensional accuracy. It was troublesome. Note that the outer diameter of the piston clutch plate and the torus outer diameter of the torque converter were set to be approximately the same.

(Purpose of the invention) The present invention is a torque converter with a lock-up clutch in which a piston clutch plate is provided with a gap between its outer cylindrical circumferential wall and the circumferential wall of a front cover. It is an object of the present invention to suppress the flow of hydraulic oil from an oil chamber into a hydraulic chamber, and to quickly perform a clutch connecting operation.

(Structure of the invention) The invention consists of a torque converter main body having an impeller, a turbine, and a stator, a front cover that is connected to the impeller and constitutes an input section of the torque converter, and a torque converter body that is arranged between the front cover and the turbine. Equipped with lockup clutch,
The piston clutch plate of the lock up clutch is
In a torque converter with a lock-up clutch, the torque converter has a cylindrical peripheral wall extending toward the turbine side along the peripheral wall of a front cover on its outer periphery, and is provided with a gap between the cylindrical peripheral wall and the peripheral wall of the front cover. A torque converter with a lock-up clutch is characterized in that an edge of the cylindrical peripheral wall on the turbine side is curved outward so as to narrow a gap between the cylindrical peripheral wall and the peripheral wall of the front cover.

(Function) The hydraulic oil that flows out from the gap between the impeller outlet and the turbine inlet and flows into the turbine side part of the gap between the cylindrical circumferential wall of the piston clutch plate and the circumferential wall of the front cover is Most of it collides with the upwardly curved turbine side edge of the cylindrical peripheral wall. Therefore, the hydraulic fluid hardly flows into the gap between the cylindrical peripheral wall and the peripheral wall. Furthermore, the piston clutch plate is pushed more strongly toward the front cover due to the collision of the hydraulic oil with the end edge.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a partial vertical sectional view showing a torque converter with a lock-up clutch according to the present invention. The front cover 1 is a member that constitutes an input section of a torque converter, and is connected to an output section of an engine (not shown). A front cover 1 includes an end wall 3 extending approximately in the radial direction of an output shaft 2 (only the center line is shown).
and a peripheral wall 5 extending from the outer periphery of the end wall 3 toward the torque converter main body 4 side. As is well known, the torque converter main body 4 includes an impeller 6, a turbine 7, and a stator 8, and the tip of the peripheral wall 5 is fixed to the shell 25 of the impeller 6.

A lock-up clutch 10 is arranged between the end wall 3 and the turbine 7. The clutch 10 includes a piston clutch plate 11, an output member 12, and a damper spring 13. The piston 11 is formed by integrally forming an annular plate portion 11a extending generally in the radial direction of the torque converter, and a cylindrical peripheral wall 11b extending approximately parallel to the peripheral wall 5 toward the turbine 7 along the outer periphery of the plate portion 11a. The piston 11 has a cylindrical peripheral wall 11b with a gap 10 with respect to the peripheral wall 5.
0. A gap 10 is formed at the end edge 11c of the cylindrical peripheral wall 11b on the turbine 7 side.
It is curved upward to narrow the 0. Further, a friction facing 15 is attached to the surface of the outer peripheral portion of the plate portion 11a on the end wall 3 side. and piston 11
is formed so that its outer diameter D1 is reliably larger than the torus outer diameter D2 of the torque converter. The output member 12 is a bent plate located between the piston 11 and the turbine 7, and
2a, a claw portion 12b, and a protrusion 12c are integrally provided. The damper spring 13 is arranged adjacent to the piston 11 and the output member 12, and connects them in the circumferential direction.

In order to connect the piston 11 and the damper spring 13, a connecting member 19 is fixed to the outer circumference of the piston 11 with a rivet 18. The connecting member 19 is a plate-like member having a plurality of bent claws, and holds the damper spring 13 from the outside and inside in the radial direction.
3 in the circumferential direction. Further, the main body 12a of the output member 12 is seated in close contact with a portion of the back surface of the turbine shell 26 (the surface opposite to the impeller 6) near the outer periphery. The claw portion 12b is attached to the main body 1
2a extends radially outward of the torque converter, and is further bent and extends axially toward the damper spring 13 side.
The connecting member 19 is engaged with the connecting member 19 from the opposite side. The protrusion 12c extends from the outer periphery of the main body 12a toward the outer periphery of the turbine shell 26, and is in close contact with the back surface of the turbine shell 26.

The interior of the torque converter can be divided into three types of chambers: an internal chamber 20, a hydraulic oil chamber 21, and a hydraulic chamber 22.

The internal chamber 20 is a space surrounded by an impeller shell 25 and a turbine shell 26, and rotational force is transmitted from the impeller 6 to the turbine 7 via the hydraulic oil filled therein. In order to supply and discharge hydraulic oil to and from the internal chamber 20, an inlet oil passage 31 and an outlet oil passage 32 are formed on both sides of a one-way clutch 30 built into the inner periphery of the stator 8. The hydraulic oil chamber 21 is a space formed between the piston 11 and the turbine shell 26.

The hydraulic chamber 22 is a space formed between the piston 11 and the end wall 3, and in order to control the hydraulic pressure in the hydraulic chamber 22, a control oil passage 35 communicating with the inner circumference of the hydraulic chamber 22 is connected to the turbine hub 17. It is formed between the inner peripheral part of the end wall 3. This control oil passage 35 is connected to the output shaft 2
It is connected to an external hydraulic control mechanism (not shown) via an internal oil passage or the like.

In the above structure, the connection/disconnection operation of the clutch is performed as follows.

That is, when hydraulic oil is supplied from the control oil passage 35 to the hydraulic chamber 22 to increase the hydraulic pressure in the hydraulic chamber 22 relative to the hydraulic pressure in the hydraulic oil chamber 21, the piston 11 is pushed by the hydraulic pressure in the hydraulic chamber 22, Friction facing 1
5 separates from the end wall 3 and the clutch is disconnected. At this time, the hydraulic oil flows from the hydraulic chamber 22 through the gap 100, the hydraulic oil chamber 21, and the internal chamber 20, and is discharged from the outlet oil passage 32. Conversely, inlet oil path 3
When hydraulic oil is supplied from 1 to increase the hydraulic pressure in the hydraulic oil chamber 21 relative to the hydraulic pressure in the hydraulic chamber 22, the piston 11 is moved into the hydraulic chamber 22 by the hydraulic oil pressure in the hydraulic oil chamber 21.
is pushed toward the end wall 3 while discharging the hydraulic fluid from the control oil passage 35, the friction facing 15 comes into pressure contact with the end wall 3, and the clutch is connected. As a result, the rotational force of the end wall 3 is transmitted from the friction facing 15 to the piston 11, and from the piston 11 to the connecting member 19,
It is transmitted to the turbine 7 via the damper spring 13 and the output member 12, and is transmitted from the turbine hub 17 to the output shaft 2.

The above-mentioned clutch connecting operation is then quickly performed as follows. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the main part of FIG. 1.

That is, the end edge 11c of the cylindrical peripheral wall 11b forms the gap 10.
Since it is curved upward to narrow the 0,
Most of the hydraulic oil that flows out of the gap 200 between the outlet of the impeller 6 and the inlet of the turbine 7 due to centrifugal force and flows into the part of the gap 100 on the turbine 7 side as shown by the arrow in FIG. Edge 11c
This will cause a collision. Therefore, through the opening surface 100a of the gap 100 on the turbine 7 side, the gap 100
The amount of hydraulic oil that flows into the tank is small. Moreover, the piston 11 is pushed more strongly toward the end wall 3 by the hydraulic fluid colliding with the end edge 11c. Furthermore, since the piston 11 is formed so that its outer diameter D1 is reliably larger than the torus outer diameter D2 of the torque converter, the flow of hydraulic oil from the gap 200 toward the gap 100 is directed to the opening surface 100 of the gap 100.
With respect to a, the angle α is smaller than that of the conventional example in which the outer diameter D1 is set to be approximately the same as the outer diameter D2.
(Figure 2). Therefore, the amount of hydraulic oil per unit area that reaches the opening surface 100a is smaller than in the conventional example. Gap 20 like this
0 and flowing into the portion of the gap 100 on the turbine 7 side hardly flows into the gap 100, and moreover acts to push the piston 11 toward the end wall 3 side. Therefore, during the clutch engagement operation, the hydraulic fluid in the hydraulic chamber 22 is transferred to the friction facing 1.
The piston 11 is quickly discharged from the control oil passage 35 until it comes into pressure contact with the end wall 3, and the piston 11 is pushed more strongly toward the end wall 3, so that the clutch connection operation is performed quickly.

In the above embodiment, the end edge 11c is curved outward and the outer diameter D1 of the piston 11 is certainly larger than the torus outer diameter D2 of the torque converter, but only one of the configurations is adopted. Also, it is possible to sufficiently suppress the hydraulic oil flowing out from the gap 200 from flowing into the gap 100.

(Effect of the invention) As described above, according to the invention, the end edge 11c of the cylindrical peripheral wall 11b of the piston clutch plate 11 is connected to the gap 1.
00 is curved outward to narrow the gap 200, it is possible to prevent the hydraulic oil flowing from the gap 200 from flowing into the hydraulic chamber 22 through the gap 100 during the clutch engagement operation, and also to collide with the edge 11c. The piston 11 can be pushed more strongly toward the end wall 3 by the hydraulic oil. Therefore, the clutch connection operation can be performed quickly. Moreover, since it is only necessary to curve the end edge 11c of the cylindrical peripheral wall 11b, processing is simple and there is no problem in assembly.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional partial view showing the torque converter with a lock-up clutch of the present invention, and Fig.
It is an enlarged view of the main part of the figure. 1... Front cover, 4... Torque converter body, 5... Surrounding wall, 6... Impeller, 7...
Turbine, 8... Stator, 10... Lock-up clutch, 11... Piston clutch plate, 11
b...Cylindrical peripheral wall, 11c...Edge, 100, 20
0...Gap.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] The lock-up clutch includes a torque converter main body having an impeller, a turbine, and a stator, a front cover connected to the impeller and forming an input section of the torque converter, and a lock-up clutch disposed between the front cover and the turbine. A lock in which the piston clutch plate of the clutch has a cylindrical peripheral wall extending toward the turbine side along the peripheral wall of the front cover on its outer periphery, and a gap is provided between the cylindrical peripheral wall and the peripheral wall of the front cover. A torque converter with a lock-up clutch, characterized in that an edge of the cylindrical peripheral wall on the turbine side is curved outward so as to narrow a gap between the cylindrical peripheral wall and the peripheral wall of the front cover.