JPH09177929A - Torque converter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To minimize the amount of deformation of the torque converter itself even when the engine is rotated at high engine speeds, reduce the manufacturing cost, prevent the torque converter from unnecessarily interfering with an automatic transmission, and prevent the torque converter fro reducing its transmission performance. SOLUTION: The torque converter 1 is provided with a pump impeller 2 which is installed on the engine side near an oil pump housing 11 of an automatic transmission 10 and connected to a crankshaft of the engine together with a front cover 6, a turbine runner 3 connected to an input shaft 12 of the automatic transmission, and a stator 4 connected to a stator shaft 13 of the automatic transmission so that it can rotate only in one direction, and changes the output of the engine to transmit it to the automatic transmission. A thrust bearing 20 is provided near the stator shaft 13 between the pump impeller 2 and an oil pump cover 14.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a torque converter used in an automatic transmission.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional torque converter compatible with a high rotation input, for example, a torque converter disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 5-312246 is known. FIG. 2 shows a conventional example. In the above-mentioned conventional source, a thrust bearing is provided between the pump impeller and the oil pump housing in the vicinity of the input shaft of the automatic transmission.

[0003]

However, in such a conventional torque converter compatible with a high rotation input, the thrust bearing is installed between the impeller sleeve and the oil pump housing.
When a load acts on the thrust bearing to suppress the deformation of the torque converter at high rotation input, the oil pump housing deforms, the clearance between the oil pump gear and the oil pump housing decreases, and the drive torque of the oil pump increases only. However, there is a possibility that the function as an oil pump may not be fulfilled.

[0004]

In order to solve the above problems, in the torque converter according to the first aspect of the present invention, the thrust bearing is interposed between the impeller sleeve and the oil pump cover.

[0005]

The operation of the present invention will be described. Even if the engine rotates at a high speed and the torque converter deforms and the pump impeller tries to move, the thrust bearing constrains the pump impeller in position, so that the amount of deformation of the torque converter is suppressed. Further, since the reaction force for suppressing the deformation amount of the torque converter is transmitted to the transmission case through the oil pump cover, the performance of the automatic transmission does not deteriorate without affecting the oil pump.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (Embodiment 1) First, the configuration will be described. FIG. 1 shows a torque converter according to a first embodiment of the present invention, which corresponds to the first aspect of the present invention. The torque converter 1 is installed on the engine side near the oil pump housing 11 of the automatic transmission 10, and is connected to the crankshaft of the engine and the front cover 6 together with the pump impeller 2 and the turbine connected to the input shaft 12 of the automatic transmission. The runner 3 and the stator shaft 13 of the automatic transmission are provided with a stator 4 that is rotatably connected only in one direction.

The pump impeller 2 is supported by the impeller shell 5, and an impeller sleeve 5a is continuously provided on the rear side of the impeller shell 5 on the side of the oil pump housing 11, and the impeller sleeve 5a and the oil pump housing 1 are provided.
A liquid-tight seal is provided between 1 and 1. Further, the impeller shell 5 has a shield structure integrated with the front cover 6 in a shell shape by welding or the like. The turbine runner 3 is engaged with the damper clutch 8 by rivets, serrations or the like to engage / disengage the front cover 6 and the damper clutch 8.
The stator 4 is connected to the stator shaft 13 via the one-way clutch 7, and is configured to rotate only in one direction. A thrust bearing 20 is provided in the vicinity of the stator shaft 13 between the impeller sleeve 5 a of the impeller shell 5 supporting the pump impeller 2 and the oil pump cover 15.

Next, the operation will be described. The engine rotates at a high rotational speed, the pump impeller 2 rotates at a high speed accordingly, and the impeller sleeve 5a of the impeller shell 5 causes the oil pump cover 15 to rotate due to the internal pressure generated by the centrifugal force of the ATF.
If it tries to move to the side, the thrust bearing 20 blocks this movement. Furthermore, since the reaction force of the force for preventing this movement is transmitted to the transmission case 16 through the oil pump cover 15, it does not affect the oil pump.

As described above, the torque converter of the first embodiment exerts the effects listed below. (1) Even if the engine rotates at a high rotational speed, the amount of deformation of the torque converter can be suppressed to a small amount, and manufacturing costs can be suppressed because reinforcement is not required, and unnecessary interference with the automatic transmission can be prevented. It never happens. (2) Since the reaction force for suppressing the amount of deformation of the torque converter is transmitted to the transmission case through the oil pump cover, the performance of the automatic transmission does not deteriorate without affecting the oil pump.

[0010]

According to the present invention as set forth in claim 1, since the thrust bearing is provided near the stator shaft between the impeller sleeve and the oil pump cover, even if the engine rotates at a high rotational speed. The amount of deformation of the torque converter can be kept small, the manufacturing cost can be kept low because reinforcement is not required, and the amount of deformation of the torque converter can be kept small without causing unnecessary interference with the automatic transmission. Since the reaction force is transmitted to the transmission case through the oil pump cover, it is possible to provide a torque converter that does not deteriorate the performance of the automatic transmission without affecting the oil pump.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a cross section of a torque converter of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a cross section of a conventional torque converter.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Torque Converter 2 Pump Impeller 3 Turbine Runner 4 Stator 5 Impeller Shell 5a Impeller Sleeve 6 Front Cover 7 One-way Clutch 8 Damper Clutch 10 Automatic Transmission 11 Oil Pump Housing 12 Automatic Transmission Input Shaft 13 Stator Shaft 14 Oil Seal 15 Oil Pump Cover 16 Transmission case 20 Thrust bearing

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pump impeller, which is installed on the engine side near an oil pump housing of an automatic transmission and is coupled with a crankshaft and a front cover of the engine, a turbine runner and an automatic transmission which are coupled with an input shaft of the automatic transmission. A stator shaft rotatably coupled only in one direction to a stator shaft of the engine, the torque converter transmitting the output of the engine to an automatic transmission in the vicinity of the stator shaft between the pump impeller and the oil pump cover. A torque converter characterized in that a thrust bearing is interposed in the torque converter.