JPH0788666A - Blade welding method for torque converter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the working efficiency by abutting bent flanges formed on blade base ends in the specified direction on the inside of a shell and allowing a laser beam to irradiate from the outside of the shell in the radial direction along the root parts of blades on which the bent flanges to perform through-welding. CONSTITUTION:After the blades 3 are arranged at the specified position of the shell inside 2A and the bent flanges 30 formed on the blade base ends are abutted on the shell inside 2A, the laser beam 4 or an electron beam is allowed to irradiate from shell outside 2B in the radial direction along the flanges 30 and the root parts of the blades 3. The blades 3 are welded to the shell 2 via beads 40 formed from the shell outside the root parts on which the flanges 30 are bent, According to the reaction force of operating oil applied to the blades 3, although the blades work maximum stress on the root parts of the flanges with the ends of the flanges 30 abutted on the shell inside as a fulcrum, since these root parts are supported by welding, the maximum strength is displayed with minimum bead areas.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement in a blade welding method for a torque converter for automobiles and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a torque converter has been widely adopted as an automatic transmission for vehicles such as automobiles. As an example of such a torque converter, as shown in FIG. 5, a symmetrical three-element one-stage torque converter is used. The constituting casing 1 is connected to an engine (not shown), and a large number of blades 3 are radially provided on the inner surface of a substantially bowl-shaped shell 2 integrally attached to the casing 1 to form a pump 5, Similar to the pump 5, a turbine 6 having a large number of blades 60 protruding in the radial direction is arranged at a position facing the pump 5, and the turbine 6 is connected to an output shaft 9 to a transmission (not shown). A stator 7 supported by a one-way clutch 8 is interposed between the pump 5 and the turbine 6.

As a method of welding the blade 3 to the shell 2 in such a torque converter, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 313684, it is known that a blade is fitted in a groove formed in a shell, a laser beam is irradiated from the outer surface of the shell, and a blade end is welded to the groove bottom.

[0004]

By the way, in vehicles such as automobiles, the output of the engine is increased with the increase in size of the vehicle body, and it is necessary to strengthen the mounting strength of the blades of the torque converter in order to cope with this output. Therefore, the mounting strength of the blade can be improved by increasing the number and width of the welding beads.

However, in the conventional blade welding method of the torque converter, not only the number of man-hours increases when the number and width of the welding beads are increased, but also the inner surface of the shell 2 between adjacent blades 3 is increased. Since the beads were melted, spatter was generated and adhered to the surface of the blade 3, sometimes complicating the post-treatment process.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a blade welding method for a torque converter capable of improving the mounting strength of the blade while suppressing a decrease in productivity. .

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a torque converter in which a large number of blades are radially arranged on the inner surface of a shell and a laser beam or an electron beam is irradiated from the outer surface of the shell to bond the blades to the inner surface of the shell. In the blade welding method, the flange formed by bending the blade base end is brought into contact with the inner surface of the shell in a predetermined direction, and the laser beam is radiated from the outer surface of the shell in a radial direction along the root of the blade where the flange bends. Alternatively, electron beam irradiation is performed to perform penetration welding.

[0008]

Therefore, according to the present invention, the blade is arranged at a predetermined position on the inner surface of the shell, and after the flange formed by bending the base end of the blade is brought into contact with the inner surface of the shell, the root portion of the flange and the blade is contacted. To radiate a laser beam or electron beam radially from the outer surface of the shell, the blades are welded to the shell along the bead formed by the outer surface of the shell along the root of the flange bend. With the reaction force of the hydraulic oil applied to the blade, the blade exerts maximum stress on the root of the flange with the end of the flange that contacts the inner surface of the shell as the fulcrum, but this root is welded and supported, so the minimum required Maximum strength can be achieved with a limited bead area.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the shell 2 constitutes the pump 5 of the tor converter shown in FIG. 5 in the above-mentioned conventional example, and the shell 2 has a plate-like member formed in a substantially bowl shape. Then, the blade 3 is attached and an inner surface 2A for containing the hydraulic oil and an outer surface 2B facing the outside of the tor converter are provided.

A large number of blades 3 are provided on the inner surface 2A of the shell 2.
Form a pump 5 by being projected in the radial direction. These blades 3 are plate-shaped members formed in advance into a predetermined shape by press molding or the like, for example, curved surfaces, and the blades 3 are arranged on the inner surface 2A substantially radially from the center of the shell 2 at equal intervals.

Flanges 30 and 30 bent at a predetermined width are formed at the base end of the blade 3, and the flange 30 has a predetermined width for abutting the inner surface 2A, and a notch between the flanges 30 and 30. 31 is provided with a predetermined width. The notch 31 is preset to have a predetermined width according to the required mounting strength of the blade 3, and also suppresses an increase in the welding area as described later.

The flange 30 is different in the arrangement direction in the pump 5 and the arrangement direction in the turbine 6 for the following reason, that is, the hydraulic oil filled in the casing 1 is different from that shown in the plan development view of FIG. As indicated by the middle arrow, the casing 1 and the shell 2 are rotated by an engine (not shown), and the hydraulic oil is pumped from the blade 3 of the pump 5. The hydraulic fluid from the pump 5 drives the turbine 6 via the blade 60 to drive the output shaft 9, and the flow direction is controlled by the stator 7 to re-operate the blade 3 again.
The torque that is returned to the rear surface of the pump 5 increases from the pump 5 to the turbine 6.

Here, since the blade 3 receives a reaction force due to the pressure of the hydraulic oil due to the rotation of the pump 5, the blade 3
A flange 30 is formed by bending the base end of the blade toward the side opposite to the rotation direction of the pump 5, and the flange 30 is welded to the inner surface of the shell 2 to improve the strength of the blade 3.

The blades 3 are welded to the shell 2 in a state where the blades 3 are arranged radially with respect to the axis of the shell 2 and the flanges 30 are arranged rearward with respect to the pressing force of the hydraulic oil applied to the blades 3. At this time, the blade 3 is held via a jig (not shown), and the outer surface 2B of the shell 2 is irradiated with a laser beam 4 from a laser beam welding device (not shown), as shown in FIGS.

The irradiation of the laser beam 4 is carried out along the root portion 3A of the flange 30 and the blade 3 by the outer surface 2B of the shell 2.
Then, the laser beam 4 is scanned substantially in the radial direction of the shell 2, for example, from the outer circumference to the inner circumference of the shell 2.

The shell 2 scanned by the laser beam 4 is subjected to the penetration welding shown in the above-mentioned conventional example, and as shown in FIG. 2, the base material is melted from the outer surface 2B to the inner surface 2A. The bead 40 is formed by melting to the root portion 3A of the flange 30 that is in contact with the inner surface 2A, and the blade 3 is joined to the inner surface 2A of the shell 2 via the bead 40 formed on the root portion 3A.

At this time, the scanning of the laser beam 4 is performed on the outer surface 2B along the root portion 3A of the flange 30, but in the scanning section corresponding to the cutout 31 formed between the flanges 30 and 30, the laser beam 4 is scanned. If the melting amount of the shell 2 in the section where the flange 30 does not abut is suppressed by reducing the output of the laser beam or increasing the scanning speed of the laser beam 4, spatter attached to the surface of the blade 3 can be suppressed, and welding can be performed. The quality can be improved.

Here, the width of the notch 31 is preset according to the mounting strength required for the blade 3, and at the same time, the increase of the welding area is suppressed and the efficiency of the welding work is improved.

Thus, when the blade 3 welded to the inner surface 2A by the bead 40 formed along the root portion 3A is assembled to the torque converter shown in FIG. 5,
Due to the rotation of the engine (not shown), the pressure P of the hydraulic oil is applied to the blade 3 as the impeller of the pump 5 in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 2, and the end of the flange 30 that abuts the inner surface 2A of the shell 2 serves as a fulcrum. A force for peeling off the portion 3A is applied, but the bead 40 formed on the base portion 3A supports the blade 3 against the tensile stress due to the pressure P of the hydraulic oil.

Therefore, by appropriately setting the width of the flange 30 according to the capacity of the torque converter, that is, the torque to be transmitted, the mounting strength of the blade 3 can be improved without increasing the width or the number of the beads 40. It is possible to suppress the increase in the total area of the bead 40 and improve the work efficiency of the welding process by the laser beam 4 or the electron beam, and to suppress the decrease in productivity and easily improve the strength of the blade 3. Therefore, it is possible to quickly cope with an increase in the output of the engine combined with the torque converter.

Although the blade 3 of the pump 5 shown in FIG. 5 is welded in the above-described embodiment, the blade 60 of the turbine 6 can be welded in the same manner as above.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, the flange formed by bending the blade base end is brought into contact with the inner surface of the shell in a predetermined direction, and the flange is radially extended along the root of the blade. In order to perform penetration welding by irradiating the laser beam or electron beam from the outer surface of the shell, the blade is welded to the shell through the bead formed from the outer surface of the shell to the root portion, and depending on the mounting strength required for the blade. By appropriately setting the width of the flange, it is possible to improve the mounting strength of the blade without increasing the width or the number of beads, and suppress the increase in the total area of the bead to weld with laser beam or electron beam. It is said that the work efficiency of the process can be improved, the reduction in productivity can be suppressed, and the blade mounting strength can be easily improved. A, it is possible to respond quickly and easily to the increase of the output of the engine to be combined to the torque converter.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an inner surface side of a shell showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the shell showing the scanning direction of the laser beam.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the shell.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a torque converter.

FIG. 6 is a development view of components similarly showing the operation of the torque converter.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Shell 2A Inner Surface 2B Outer Surface 3 Blade 3A Root 4 Laser Beam 30 Flange 40 Bead

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A blade welding method for a torque converter, comprising: arranging a number of blades radially on an inner surface of a shell and irradiating a laser beam or an electron beam from the outer surface of the shell to join the blades to the inner surface of the shell. The flange formed by bending at the end is brought into contact with the inner surface of the shell in a predetermined direction, and the laser beam or electron beam is radiated from the outer surface of the shell in the radial direction along the root of the blade where the flange bends to penetrate the shell. A method for welding a blade of a torque converter, which comprises welding.