JPH0821510A - Torque converter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve transmission efficiency by reducing fluid loss at a stator. CONSTITUTION:In the case of a torque converter equipped with the three elements of a pump impeller 2, a turbine runner 3 and a stator 4, the inner periphery surface 1 of a stator shell side member 4a is formed with such a curved surface as coincides with the extension line tops of the inner periphery surfaces of pump impeller, turbine runner shells 2a, 3a, and a stator core side member 4b is, likewise, formed with such a curved surface as coincides with the extension line tops of core inner periphery surfaces, and meanwhile, extension portions 13 are formed at both ends of the core side member 4b, and a polymerization seal portion 14 is constituted among these extension portions 13 and the pump impeller, turbine runner cores 2b, 3b.

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 torque converter that transmits power by using a fluid.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to transmit a torque generated by a vehicle engine to an automatic transmission and a propeller shaft, a torque converter as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-92145 is provided in a drive system. .

As shown in FIG. 7, a pump impeller 2 mounted on a converter cover 1 which is rotationally driven by an engine includes a pump shell 2a on the outer side and a core 2 on the inner side.
b, and pump vanes 2c, this pump shell 2
The turbine runner 3 disposed so as to face a is also composed of a turbine shell 3a, a core 3b, and a turbine blade 3c, and is coupled to the pump impeller 2 and a hub 5 coaxial with the transmission input shaft (not shown). ) And rotate together. The stator 4 between the pump impeller 2 and the turbine runner 3 includes a shell side ring 4a and a core side ring 4b.
And a stator blade 4c, and is supported by a housing (not shown) coaxially with the input shaft via a one-way clutch 6.

The rotation of the pump impeller 2 causes the fluid to flow to the turbine runner 3, rotate the turbine runner 3 in the same direction, and further flow from the turbine runner 3 into the stator 4 so that the flow direction is the rotational direction of the pump impeller 2. After that, the flow again flows into the pump impeller 2, and thus the rotational force is transmitted from the pump impeller 2 to the turbine runner 3.

[0005]

By the way, in order to integrally produce the stator main body and the core side ring provided on the outer peripheral portion of the stator 4, the stator 4 is cast by pulling the mold in the axial direction of the stator. However, for this reason, in the connection portion of the shell-side ring 4a and the core-side ring 4b of the stator 4 and the shells 2a and 3a of the pump impeller 2 and the turbine runner 3 and the cores 2b and 3b, a flow path having smoothly continuous curves is formed. Could not be formed, a step was formed, and fluid separation and turbulence occurred at this portion.

On the other hand, when the casting mold of the stator 4 is pulled out in the radial direction, the flow path of the stator 4 can be made into a curved surface that is smoothly continuous with the pump impeller 2 and the turbine runner 3, but in this case, The core-side ring cannot be integrally cast, and therefore, as a core-side ring, a headband ring was wound around the core side to form a flow path.

However, in this case, due to the pressure difference between the inlet and the outlet of the stator 4, the headband ring and each core 3
A fluid loss occurred in the stator 4 due to a leakage flow passing through the outside of the stator 4 from the gaps between b and 2b.

The present invention has been proposed to solve such a problem, and an object thereof is to reduce fluid loss in the stator and improve the transmission efficiency.

[0009]

A first aspect of the present invention is a torque converter including three elements of a pump impeller, a turbine runner and a stator, wherein a shell side member of the stator is extended from a meridional surface of a shell of the pump impeller and the turbine runner. The core side member of the stator is also formed to have a curved line that matches the extension line of the inner peripheral surface of the core of the pump impeller and the turbine runner, while it is formed on both ends of the core side member of the stator. Forming an extension,
Both extensions are bent and formed inside each core of the pump impeller and turbine runner so as to overlap with each other with a predetermined gap,
An overlapping seal portion is formed between these extensions and the pump impeller and the core of the turbine runner.

In a second aspect based on the first aspect, the core-side member of the stator is integrally formed by press molding and fitted around a stator blade formed by casting.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in a torque converter including three elements, a pump impeller, a turbine runner and a stator, the shell side member of the stator is aligned with the extension line of the meridional surface of the shell of the pump impeller and the turbine runner. Similarly, the stator core-side member is formed into a curve that matches the extension line of the inner peripheral surface of the core of the pump impeller and the turbine runner, while the pump impeller and the turbine are formed inside the core-side member of the stator. The core extension with the runner faces each other, and a partition wall inserted into the central part of the core side member with a predetermined gap between these two extensions is projected, and a superposed sealing portion is provided between the two extension walls. Make up.

In a fourth aspect based on the third aspect, the partition wall is formed by press molding so that the central portion of the core side member is substantially V-shaped.
It is formed by bending it into a letter shape.

In a fifth aspect based on the third aspect, the partition wall is formed by laminating a pair of press-molded L-shaped members constituting the core side member.

In a sixth aspect based on the third aspect, the partition wall is formed by fixing a partition piece having an L-shaped cross section to the outside of the core side member formed by press molding.

[0015]

In the first aspect of the invention, the shell-side member and the core-side member of the stator have continuous curved surfaces and are smoothly connected to the turbine runner and the pump impeller to prevent flow separation and turbulence on the connection surface and to prevent fluid loss. To reduce.

Further, since the connecting portion from the turbine runner to the stator is formed as a smoothly continuous curved surface to eliminate the step, the flow of fluid into the connecting gap is reduced, and the extension portion of the core side member and the turbine runner and the core of the pump impeller are reduced. Since the overlapped seal portion is formed by and, the flow passing through the outside of the stator can be minimized, and the transmission efficiency of the torque converter can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the stator is divided into press molding and casting, so that the curved surfaces of the shell side member and the core side member of the stator can be easily and accurately manufactured.

In the third invention, as in the first invention, the separation and turbulence of the fluid at the connecting portion of the stator are prevented, and the flow passing through the outside of the stator is reduced to improve the transmission efficiency of the torque converter. Can be made.

In the fourth invention, the core side member can be easily manufactured by press molding.

In the fifth invention, the core side member can be easily manufactured by press molding, and the productivity is also improved.

In the sixth aspect, the core side member can be easily manufactured by press molding, and the productivity is also improved.

[0022]

FIG. 1 shows the first embodiment of the present invention.
The pump impeller 2 attached to the converter cover 1 connected to the engine crankshaft is composed of an outer pump shell 2a, an inner core 2b, and pump vanes 2c. The turbine runner 3 arranged to face the pump shell 2a includes an outer turbine shell 3a,
It is composed of an inner core 3b and turbine blades 3c, is coupled to a hub 5 coaxial with the pump impeller 2, and rotates integrally with a transmission input shaft (not shown). The stator 4 sandwiched between the pump impeller 2 and the turbine runner 3 is composed of a shell side member 4a, a core side member 4b, and a stator blade 4c, and a housing (not shown) is coaxial with the input shaft. It is supported via the one-way clutch 6.

The shell side member 4a of the stator 4
Inner surface that defines the flow path of (the wall surface that regulates the outside of the flow path)
Reference numeral 11 is formed in a curve that matches the extension line of the meridional surface of the pump shell 2a of the pump impeller 2 and the turbine shell 3a of the turbine runner 3, and the core side member 4
The outer peripheral surface (wall surface that regulates the inside of the flow path) 12 of b is also the core 2b of the pump impeller 2 and the core 3b of the turbine runner 3.
It is formed into a curve that matches the extension line of the inner peripheral surface of
From pump impeller 2 to turbine runner 3, stator 4,
The flow path of the fluid circulating to the pump impeller 2 is formed by a smoothly curved continuous curved surface.

The core side member 4b of the stator 4 and the cores 2b and 3b of the pump impeller 2 and turbine runner 3 are also included.
In order to secure the sealing property in the connection part between
Extension parts 13 are formed at both ends of the core-side member 4b so as to extend a predetermined amount to the outside of the blade width of the stator blades 4c. The extension parts 13 have a certain gap outside the cores 2b and 3b (with respect to the flow path). It is bent and formed so as to overlap with each other, and the overlapped seal portion 14 is formed between them.

The core side member 4b is integrally formed by press molding, and is fitted and fixed from the outside of the stator blade 4c. Further, the arc-shaped inner peripheral surface 11 of the shell-side member 4a of the stator 4 is used for molding the stator 4 by casting without the core-side member 4b. It can be formed by dividing the mold in the radial direction (radial direction) and punching. In this case, the inlet and outlet of the adjacent stator blades 4c can be overlapped in the axial direction to increase the outflow angle of the stator blades 4c, and the slip of the fluid at the stator outlet can be minimized. it can.

With this configuration, when the pump impeller 2 rotates, the fluid to which kinetic energy has been applied flows to the turbine runner 3, causing the turbine runner 3 to rotate in the same direction, and further from the turbine runner 3 to the stator 4. It flows in, changes the flow direction to the rotation direction of the pump impeller 2, and then flows into the pump impeller 2 again.

When the fluid flows through the stator 4, the inner and outer peripheral surfaces 11 of the shell side member 4a and the core side member 4b of the stator 4 are
And 12 have continuous curved surfaces and are smoothly connected to the shells 3a, 2a and the cores 3b, 2b of the turbine runner 3 and the pump impeller 2, so that turbulence and separation do not occur in the flow on these connection surfaces, Stable flow in the stator 4.

FIG. 2 shows the static pressure distribution of the fluid along the flow path of the torque converter. The pressure of the fluid is increased by the pump impeller 2 and then the rotational energy is applied to the turbine runner 3. Then, the pressure is further reduced by the stator 4, and becomes the lowest pressure near the inlet of the pump impeller 2.

There is a significant pressure difference between the inlet and outlet of the stator 4, which causes the flow leaking from the turbine runner 3 to the pump impeller 2 through the outside of the stator 4 to the efficiency of the torque converter. Lead to a decline.

However, from the turbine runner 3 to the stator 4
Is connected to the outer peripheral surface 1 of the core 3b and the core side member 4b.
Since the two are on the same curved surface that is continuous and there is no step, the fluid does not easily flow into this gap, and the core side member 4
A seal is formed by an overlapping seal portion 14 formed by the extension portion 13 of b and the core 3b, and a seal is also formed by an overlapping seal portion 14 of the extension portion 13 on the opposite side and the core 2b at the inlet portion of the pump impeller 2. Is formed,
The flow passing through the outside of the core side member 4b of the stator 4 is minimized.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 3, the torque capacity in the low and medium speed ratio ranges is lower than in the conventional case, while the torque ratio is increased, and the transmission in the high speed ratio range is further increased. Efficiency is improved.

Next, the embodiment of FIG. 4 will be described. In this embodiment, inside the core side member 4b of the stator 4, the opposing portions of the pump impeller 2 and the turbine runner 3 between the cores 2b and 3b are horizontally extended. The extension portions 15 and 16 are formed, and the extension portions 15 and 16 are opposed to each other with a predetermined gap,
A partition wall 17 is formed so as to project from the central portion of the core side member 4b of the stator 4, and the partition wall 17 is inserted between the extension portions 15 and 16 with a predetermined gap, respectively.
The overlapping seal portion 18 is formed between the partition walls 17 and 5.

In this case, the core side member 4b is press-molded, and the partition wall 17 is integrally formed by bending the central portion of the core side member 4b into a substantially inverted V shape. However, the core side member 4b
The outer peripheral surface 12 of the turbine runner 3 and the pump impeller 2 are
The same curved surface is formed on the extension lines of the cores 3b and 2b.

In this way, the flow at the connecting portion to the stator 4 is made smooth, the fluid from the turbine runner 3 is prevented from flowing into the gap of the core side member 4b, and this gap is superposed by the partition wall 17. By sealing with the seal portion 18, the amount of leakage that passes through the outside of the stator 4 can be reduced, the fluid loss in the stator 4 can be reduced, and the transmission efficiency of the torque converter can be increased.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the core side member 4b is formed by press-molding a plate member into a substantially L-shape.
a and 21b are formed so that the bent pieces 22 thereof are bonded to each other to form a partition wall 23.

Further, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, an L-shaped bent segment 24 is welded to a press-molded core side member 4b, and a partition wall 25 is formed by this segment 24.

In any case, press molding of the core side member 4b is facilitated and productivity is improved.

[0038]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in the torque converter including the three elements of the pump impeller, the turbine runner, and the stator, the shell side member of the stator is provided on the meridian surface of the shell of the pump impeller and the turbine runner. The stator core side member is also formed so that it matches the extension line of the inner peripheral surface of the core of the pump impeller and the turbine runner, while both ends of the stator core side member are formed. To form an extension,
Both extensions are bent and formed inside each core of the pump impeller and turbine runner so as to overlap with each other with a predetermined gap,
Since the overlapping seal portion is configured between the extension portion and the pump impeller and the core of the turbine runner, the shell side member and the core side member of the stator have continuous curved surfaces, and are smoothly connected to the turbine runner and the pump impeller, Prevents flow separation and turbulence on the connection surface, and reduces the flow of fluid into the connection gap as well as the extension of the core side member by eliminating the step by making the connection part from the turbine runner to the stator a smoothly continuous curved surface. The overlapping seal portion formed by the turbine runner and the core of the pump impeller can minimize the flow passing through the outside of the stator and improve the transmission efficiency of the torque converter.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the core side member of the stator is integrally formed by press molding and is fitted around the cast stator blade, so that the stator is manufactured by press molding and casting. By separating, the curved surfaces of the shell side member and the core side member of the stator can be easily and accurately manufactured.

According to the third aspect of the invention, in the torque converter including the three elements of the pump impeller, the turbine runner and the stator, the shell side member of the stator is aligned with the extension line of the meridional surface of the shell of the pump impeller and the turbine runner. Similarly, the core side member of the stator is formed into a curve that matches the extension line of the inner peripheral surface of the core of the pump impeller and the turbine runner, while the pump impeller is formed inside the core side member of the stator. The core extension part of the turbine runner and the core extension part of the turbine runner face each other, and a partition wall inserted in the central part of the core side member with a predetermined gap between the extension parts is projected, and the extension wall and the partition wall are superposed. Since the seal portion is configured, like the first invention,
It is possible to prevent separation and turbulence of the fluid at the connecting portion of the stator, reduce the flow passing through the outside of the stator, and improve the transmission efficiency of the torque converter.

According to the fourth invention, since the partition wall is formed by bending the central portion of the core side member into a substantially V shape by press molding, the core side member can be easily manufactured by press molding. You can do it.

According to the fifth invention, since the partition wall is formed by laminating a pair of press-molded L-shaped members constituting the core side member, it is easy to manufacture the core side member by press molding. , Productivity is improved.

According to the sixth aspect, since the partition wall is formed by fixing a partition piece having an L-shaped cross section to the outside of the core side member formed by press molding, the core side formed by press molding. The members can be easily manufactured and the productivity is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a characteristic diagram showing a static pressure distribution of the torque converter.

FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing performance characteristics of a torque converter in comparison with a conventional one.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a main part of a third embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a main part of a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 pump impeller 2a impeller shell 2b core 3 turbine runner 3a turbine shell 3b core 4 stator 4a shell side member 4b core side member 4c stator blade 11 inner peripheral surface 12 outer peripheral surface 13 extended portion 14 overlapping seal portion 15 extended portion 16 extended portion 17 Partition wall 18 Overlapping seal part 23 Partition wall 25 Partition wall

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A torque converter including three elements, a pump impeller, a turbine runner, and a stator, wherein a shell side member of the stator is formed in a curve that coincides with an extension line of a meridional surface of the shell of the pump impeller and the turbine runner. Similarly, the core side member of the stator is formed into a curved line that coincides with the extension line of the core inner peripheral surface of the pump impeller and the turbine runner, while the extension parts are formed at both ends of the core side member of the stator, and both extension parts are formed. The present invention is characterized in that the cores of the pump impeller and the turbine runner are bent and formed so as to overlap with each other with a predetermined gap, and a superposed seal portion is formed between these extensions and the core of the pump impeller and the turbine runner. Torque converter. 2. The torque converter according to claim 1, wherein the core-side member of the stator is integrally formed by press molding and is fitted around a cast stator blade. 3. A torque converter comprising three elements, a pump impeller, a turbine runner and a stator, wherein the shell side member of the stator is formed by a curve that coincides with an extension line of a meridional surface of the shell of the pump impeller and the turbine runner. Similarly, the core side member of the stator is formed into a curve that coincides with the extension line of the inner peripheral surface of the core of the pump impeller and the turbine runner, while the core of the pump impeller and the turbine runner is formed inside the core side member of the stator. The extension parts are opposed to each other, and a partition wall is inserted in the central part of the core-side member with a predetermined gap between the extension parts so that the overlapping seal part is formed between the extension parts and the partition wall. A torque converter characterized by. 4. The torque converter according to claim 3, wherein the partition wall is formed by bending the central portion of the core-side member into a substantially inverted V shape by press molding. 5. The torque converter according to claim 3, wherein the partition wall is formed by laminating a pair of press-molded L-shaped members forming a core side member. 6. The torque converter according to claim 3, wherein the partition wall is formed by fixing a partition piece having an L-shaped cross section to the outside of the core-side member formed by press molding. .