JPH09112650A - Torque converter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To introduce an operating oil effectively to a one-way clutch by installing a holding member beside the outer race and inner race so that their movements in the axial direction are restricted, and furnishing an oil introducing groove which puts one side of the holding member from a part of the periphery to the one-way clutch side. SOLUTION: Beside an outer race 13 and an inner race 15, a holder flanges 23 is protrusively installed in a ring form so that their movements in the axial direction are restricted, and a thrust bearing 17 is held by this flange 23. An oil introducing groove 24 is furnished to put one side of the flange 23 in communication from a part of the periphery to the one-way clutch side. Thereby the operating oil can be introduced into the one-way clutch mechanism, which allows maintaining the rigidity of the retainer 12 to lead to prevention of bearing, etc., 17 from breakage.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a torque converter, and more particularly to a torque converter having an impeller and a turbine facing each other, and a stator arranged therebetween.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A torque converter is a device which has three types of impellers (impeller, turbine, stator) inside and which transmits power by means of hydraulic oil filled therein. In such a torque converter, a stator is arranged between the impeller and the turbine. The stator is fixed to a stator shaft fixed to the transmission housing via a one-way clutch. The one-way clutch is composed of an outer race fixed to a stator carrier, an inner race fixed to a stator shaft, and a plurality of sprags arranged between the races. Further, ring-shaped retainers are arranged on the sides of both races, and the retainers regulate the movement of both races in the axial direction.

The outer peripheral portion of the retainer is assembled inside the ring-shaped guide portion formed on the outer race, for example, by fitting a gap. The retainer is in contact with the other end surface of the thrust bearing attached to the impeller hub and the turbine hub. In such a torque converter, it is considered that a through hole for introducing oil is provided in the retainer and the working oil filled in the torque converter is introduced into the one-way clutch. Further, it is conceivable to provide an oil introduction groove on the inner peripheral surface of the retainer instead of the through hole.

[0004]

In the torque converter as described above, the vicinity of the outer peripheral portion of the retainer is assembled to the guide portion formed on the outer race near the one-way clutch, and the above-mentioned oil introducing through hole is provided. Must be located near the inner circumference of the retainer. In addition, a ring-shaped holding flange is provided on the side surface of the retainer so as to engage with one side surface of the thrust bearing. When the through hole for oil introduction as described above is arranged near the inner peripheral surface of the retainer, it is necessary to remove a part of the holding flange at a position corresponding to the through hole to configure the oil introduction passage. Come on. Also, when the oil introduction groove is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the retainer, it is necessary to remove a part of the holding flange similarly.

In such a retainer, the wall thickness is reduced due to the oil introduction passage, and there is a risk of deformation due to an axial compressive load between the turbine and the impeller when the torque converter is driven, especially Deformation in the peripheral part becomes a problem. For this reason, the outer peripheral contact of the roller of the bearing arranged between the retainer and the turbine hub tends to be strong, and the surface pressure of the roller locally increases, which may damage the bearing.

Even when a thrust washer instead of the thrust bearing is arranged between the retainer and the turbine hub, and when the retainer and the turbine hub are in direct contact with each other, the wear is increased and the damage may occur due to the same reason. There is. It is an object of the present invention to provide a torque converter that efficiently introduces hydraulic oil into a one-way clutch and maintains the rigidity of a retainer to prevent damage.

[0007]

A torque converter according to the present invention comprises a one-way clutch and a holding member. The one-way clutch includes an outer race fixed to the stator and an inner race arranged on the inner peripheral surface of the outer race, and allows the outer race to rotate only in one direction. The holding member is arranged laterally of the outer race and the inner race, and restricts the movement of both races in the axial direction. At least one of the holding members has an oil introduction groove communicating from a part of the outer circumference to the one-way clutch side.

Further, in the torque converter according to the second aspect of the present invention, at least one of the outer race and the inner race has an oil introduction groove communicating from a part of the inner circumference to the one-way clutch side. In the torque converter according to the present invention, the hydraulic oil filled inside is introduced into the one-way clutch via the oil introduction groove. The oil introduction groove is provided on a part of the outer circumference of at least one of the holding members or a part of the circumferential surface of at least one of the outer race and the inner race, and the rigidity of the holding member can be maintained and damage to the parts can be prevented. .

[0009]

1 shows a torque converter 1 in which an embodiment of the present invention is adopted, and O-O is a rotation center line thereof. In the drawing, in this torque converter, a hydraulic oil chamber is formed by a front cover 2 fixed to a member on the input side and an impeller shell 5a fixed to an outer peripheral wall 2a of the front cover 2. In the hydraulic oil chamber,
A torus 3 consisting of three types of impellers and a lockup device 4 are mainly arranged.

The torus 3 mainly comprises an impeller 5 and
It consists of a turbine 6 and a stator 7. The impeller blade 5b of the impeller 5 is fixed inside the impeller shell 5a. Further, the inner peripheral end of the impeller shell 5a is
It is fixed to the impeller hub 5c. The turbine 6 is arranged so as to face the impeller 5 in the hydraulic oil chamber, and mainly includes a turbine shell 6a and a plurality of turbine blades 6b fixed to the turbine shell 6a. An inner peripheral end of the turbine shell 6a is fixed to a flange 8a of the turbine hub 8 by a plurality of rivets 9. A spline hole 8b connected to a main drive shaft (not shown) extending from the transmission side is formed on the inner circumference of the turbine hub 8.

The stator 7 is arranged inward in the radial direction between the impeller 5 and the turbine 6, and is fixed on the annular stator carrier 7a and the stator carrier 7a and is returned from the turbine 6 to the impeller 5. A plurality of stator blades 7b for adjusting the direction of the hydraulic oil to be supplied. The stator 7 is fixed to a stator shaft (not shown) fixed to the housing of the transmission via the stator support structure 10.

The stator support structure 10 comprises a one-way clutch mechanism 11 and an annular retainer 12. The one-way clutch mechanism 11 is a mechanism for rotating the stator 7 in only one direction, and includes an outer race 13, an inner race 15, and a clutch member 14 disposed between the two races. The outer race 13 is fixed to the inner circumference of the stator carrier 7a by press fitting. Further, the right side portions of the outer race 13 and the inner race 15 in the figure are the stator carriers 7a.
It is supported by the disk-shaped receiving portion 7d. The disk-shaped receiving portion 7d of the stator carrier 7a is supported by the impeller hub 5c via the thrust bearing 16. On the other hand, the left end portions of the outer race 13 and the inner race 15 shown in the drawing contact the retainer 12, respectively, and the retainer 12 interposes a thrust bearing 17 on the turbine hub 8
It is supported by. As described above, the stator 7 and the stator support structure 10 include the impeller hub 5c and the turbine hub 8.
The thrust bearings 16 and 17 are axially positioned between and. Also, inner race 15
A spline hole 15a that engages with a stator shaft (not shown) is formed on the inner peripheral portion of the.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the retainer 12 is formed in a substantially disc shape having an opening 21 in the center. The opening 21 is formed with a step portion 22 for engaging the outer periphery of the inner race 15. On the side surface of the retainer 12, a holding flange 23 for holding the thrust bearing 17 is projected in a ring shape. A plurality (three in the figure) of oil introduction grooves 24 are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the retainer 12. The oil introduction groove 24 is extended to the one-way clutch mechanism 11 side, and the retainer 1
When the 2 engages with the outer race 13, the hydraulic oil chamber communicates with the inside of the one-way clutch mechanism 11.

In the torque converter according to the present invention as described above, when the front cover 2 is rotated by the rotation of the engine, the impeller 5 is rotated. This torque is transmitted to the turbine 6 via the working oil. The flow of hydraulic oil from the turbine 6 to the impeller 5 is adjusted by the stator 7. The rotational force of the turbine 6 is the turbine hub 8
Via a main drive shaft (not shown) of the transmission.

During such operation, part of the hydraulic oil is introduced into the one-way clutch mechanism 11 through the oil introduction groove 24 of the retainer 12. From this, in the present invention, it becomes possible to introduce hydraulic oil into the one-way clutch mechanism 11 without reducing the wall thickness of the retainer 12, maintain the rigidity of the retainer 12, and prevent damage to the bearings and the like. can do. [Other Embodiments] As shown in FIG.
It is also possible to form an oil conducting groove 25 communicating with the one-wen clutch mechanism 11 side on a part of the outer peripheral surface of the.

In this case, the oil introduction groove 2 of the retainer 12
4 may be omitted, or both may be used together to introduce the hydraulic oil to the one-way clutch mechanism 11 side. Instead of the oil introduction groove 24, an oil introduction groove communicating with the one-way clutch mechanism 11 side can be formed on the inner peripheral surface of the outer race 13.

[0017]

In the torque converter according to the present invention, the hydraulic oil is introduced into the one-way clutch through the oil introduction groove provided in the holding member for restricting the axial movement of the outer race and the inner race of the one-way clutch. It is possible to maintain the rigidity of the holding member and prevent damage to the bearing.

Further, when an oil introduction groove is provided in at least one of the outer race and the inner race, the working oil can be introduced into the one-way clutch side by the oil introduction groove, the rigidity of the holding member is maintained, and the parts are Can be prevented from being damaged.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view of a torque converter employing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a retainer.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a retainer.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 12 retainer 21 opening 22 step 23 holding flange 24 oil introduction groove

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A torque converter having an impeller and a turbine facing each other, and a stator arranged between the impeller and the turbine, the outer race fixed to the stator, and the inner peripheral surface of the outer race. A one-way clutch including an inner race and allowing rotation of the outer race only in one direction; and a holding member arranged laterally of the outer race and the inner race and restricting axial movement of both races. At least one of the holding members includes an oil introduction groove that communicates from a part of the outer periphery to the one-way clutch side. 2. A torque converter having an impeller and a turbine facing each other, and a stator arranged between them, wherein the outer race is fixed to the stator, and the inner race is arranged on the inner peripheral surface of the outer race. A one-way clutch including an inner race and allowing rotation of the outer race only in one direction; and a holding member arranged laterally of the outer race and the inner race and restricting axial movement of both races. At least one of the outer race and the inner race has an oil introduction groove communicating with the one-way clutch side in a part of the peripheral surface.