JP2014077498A - Torque converter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize the weight reduction of a ring gear for a stater and thereby improve the fuel consumption.SOLUTION: A torque converter includes: a front cover 3 to which torque is input from the engine side; an impeller 4 in which an outer peripheral part is fixed to the front cover 3 by welding; a turbine 5 which is disposed facing the impeller 4; a stator 6 which is disposed between inner peripheral parts of the impeller 4 and the turbine 5; and a ring gear 40 for a starter which is fixed to the front cover 3 or the outer peripheral part of the impeller 4 and is formed by a sheet metal.

Description

  The present invention relates to a torque converter, and more particularly to a torque converter provided with a lock-up clutch.

  The torque converter is a device that transmits torque from the engine to the transmission side via an internal working fluid, and mainly includes a front cover, an impeller, a turbine, and a stator.

  As shown in Patent Literature 1, the torque converter is provided with a ring gear for starting the engine. A pinion gear provided on the output shaft of the starter motor can mesh with the ring gear. When the engine is started, the pinion gear meshes with the ring gear, and the rotation of the starter motor is transmitted to the engine crankshaft via the ring gear and the torque converter.

JP 2003-106404 A

  A conventional ring gear fixed to a torque converter is formed by gear cutting after a rod-shaped member is formed in an annular shape. Such a conventional ring gear is difficult to reduce in weight.

  Here, the torque converter is provided with a lock-up clutch device. However, in recent years, the dimensions of the torque converter main body tend to be reduced by improving the lock-up clutch device. If a ring gear is provided in such a miniaturized torque converter and this ring gear is to be meshed with a pinion gear having a conventional structure, the outer diameter of the ring gear must be the same as the conventional outer diameter. .

  In the situation as described above, the ring gear increases in weight and becomes more difficult to reduce in weight. For this reason, fuel consumption is reduced.

  An object of the present invention is to reduce the weight of a starter ring gear and to improve fuel consumption.

  A torque converter according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a front cover to which torque from the engine side is input, an impeller having an outer peripheral portion fixed to the front cover by welding, a turbine disposed to face the impeller, A stator disposed between the inner peripheral portion of the impeller and the turbine, and a ring gear for a starter made of sheet metal fixed to the outer peripheral portion of the front cover or the impeller.

  Here, since the ring gear for the starter is made of sheet metal, the ring gear can be easily manufactured and reduced in weight as compared with a case where a conventional rod-shaped member is cut.

  The torque converter according to the second aspect of the present invention is the torque converter according to the first aspect, wherein the starter ring gear is fixed to the outer peripheral portion of the impeller by welding.

  The torque converter according to a third aspect of the present invention is the torque converter according to the first or second aspect, wherein the starter ring gear extends in the axial direction and is fixed to the outer peripheral portion of the impeller, and the inner peripheral cylindrical portion. It has the disc part extended to an outer periphery from a cylindrical part, and the tooth profile part formed in the outer peripheral part of a disc part.

  In this starter ring gear, the inner peripheral cylindrical part is fixed to the outer peripheral part of the impeller by welding or the like, and the tooth profile part formed on the outer peripheral part of the disk part meshes with the pinion gear of the starter motor.

  The torque converter according to the fourth aspect of the present invention is the torque converter according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the tooth profile portion of the starter ring gear is formed by a tooth forming shape by a transfer press.

  The torque converter according to the fifth aspect of the present invention is the torque converter according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the tooth profile portion of the starter ring gear is thickened at the outer peripheral portion of the disc portion by a plurality of thickening steps. In addition, the thickened portion is formed by gear cutting.

  In the present invention as described above, the starter ring gear can be reduced in weight with a simple configuration. For this reason, fuel consumption can be improved.

The longitudinal cross-section block diagram of the torque converter by one Embodiment of this invention.

[overall structure]
FIG. 1 shows a longitudinal section of a torque converter 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. An engine (not shown) is arranged on the left side of FIG. 1, and a transmission (not shown) is arranged on the right side of the figure. Further, OO shown in FIG. 1 is a rotation axis of the torque converter 1.

  The torque converter 1 is a device for transmitting torque from a crankshaft (not shown) on the engine side to a drive shaft 2 of a transmission, and includes a front cover 3 to which torque from the engine is input and three types of impellers. A torque converter main body 7 including an impeller 4, a turbine 5, and a stator 6, and a lockup clutch 8 are included.

  The front cover 3 is a disk-shaped member, and mainly includes a disk part 3a and an outer peripheral cylindrical part 3b that is formed on the outer peripheral part of the disk part 3a and protrudes toward the axial transmission side. ing. The outer peripheral cylindrical portion 3b is fixed to the outer peripheral portion of the impeller 4 by welding.

  The impeller 4 has an impeller shell 10 and a plurality of impeller blades 11 fixed to the inside thereof. As described above, the outer peripheral portion of the impeller shell 10 is welded to the distal end portion of the outer peripheral cylindrical portion 3b of the front cover 3.

  The turbine 5 is disposed to face the impeller 4 in the fluid chamber. The turbine 5 includes a turbine shell 13, a plurality of turbine blades 14 fixed to the turbine shell 13, and a turbine hub 15 fixed to the inner peripheral portion of the turbine shell 13.

  The turbine hub 15 has a cylindrical portion 15a extending in the axial direction and a disk-shaped flange portion 15b extending radially outward from the cylindrical portion 15a. A spline hole 15c is formed in the inner peripheral portion of the cylindrical portion 15a, and the drive shaft 2 of the transmission can be engaged with the spline. An inner peripheral portion of the turbine shell 13 is fixed to the flange portion 15 b by a rivet 16.

  The stator 6 is a mechanism for adjusting the flow of hydraulic oil that is disposed between the impeller 4 and the inner peripheral portion of the turbine 5 and returns from the turbine 5 to the impeller 4. The stator 6 mainly includes an annular stator carrier 18 and a plurality of stator blades 19 provided on the outer peripheral surface thereof. The stator carrier 18 is supported by a fixed shaft (not shown) via a one-way clutch 20 so as to be rotatable in one direction.

  Further, a thrust washer 22 is provided between the front cover 3 and the tip of the cylindrical portion 15a of the turbine hub 15 in the axial direction. Further, a first thrust bearing 23 is provided between the flange portion 15 b of the turbine hub 15 and the one-way clutch 20, and a second thrust bearing 24 is provided between the stator carrier 18 and the impeller shell 10.

[Lock-up clutch]
The lockup clutch 8 is a device for mechanically connecting the front cover 3 and the turbine 5. The lock-up clutch 8 mainly elastically connects the piston 30 and the retaining plate 31 to which torque is input from the front cover 3, the driven plate 32, and the retaining plate 31 and the driven plate 32 in the rotational direction. And a plurality of torsion springs 33.

  The piston 30 is a disk-shaped plate member, and a friction member 34 is fixed to the outer peripheral portion. The piston 30 moves in the axial direction by controlling the oil pressure on the front cover 3 side and the turbine 5 side, and presses the friction member 34 against the side surface of the front cover 3 (the lock-up clutch is on (connected)). Alternatively, it can be separated from the side surface of the front cover 3 (the lock-up clutch is off (disengaged)).

  An outer peripheral cylindrical portion 30a extending toward the axial transmission side is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the piston 30, and an inner peripheral cylindrical portion 30b extending in the same direction is provided on the inner peripheral portion. The inner peripheral cylindrical portion 30b is supported on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 15a of the turbine hub 15 so as to be slidable in the axial direction.

  A seal member 36 is provided between the inner peripheral cylindrical portion 30 b of the piston 30 and the cylindrical portion 15 a of the turbine 15.

  The retaining plate 31 is disposed on the inner peripheral side of the outer peripheral cylindrical portion 30 a of the piston 30 on the turbine 5 side of the piston 30. The retaining plate 31 includes a holding portion 31 a that holds a plurality of torsion springs 33, and an engaging portion 31 b that engages with the rotation direction end of the torsion spring 33. Further, the inner peripheral portion 31 c of the retaining plate 31 is fixed to the piston 30 by a rivet 35.

  The driven plate 32 is a disk-shaped plate member, and is disposed between the piston 30 and the turbine 5. The driven plate 32 has an inner peripheral portion 32 a fixed to the turbine hub 15 flange portion 15 together with the turbine shell 14 by rivets 16. A plurality of engaging portions 33 b that engage with both ends of the torsion spring 33 are formed on the outer peripheral portion of the driven plate 32.

  The torsion spring 33 is composed of a coil spring that absorbs and attenuates minute torsional vibration caused by fluctuations in engine rotation and vibration caused by shock when the lockup clutch 8 is connected. The torsion spring 33 elastically deforms between the spring holding portion 31a of the retaining plate 31 and the engaging portion 33b of the driven plate 33 to elastically connect the piston 30 and the driven plate 32 in the rotational direction. To do.

[Ring gear for starter]
A ring gear for starter (hereinafter referred to as “ring gear”) 40 is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the impeller shell 10. The ring gear 40 includes a cylindrical portion 41 formed on the inner peripheral portion and extending toward the front cover 3, a disc portion 42 extending from the cylindrical portion 41 to the outer peripheral portion, and a tooth profile formed on the outer peripheral portion of the disc portion 42. Part 43. The inner peripheral cylindrical portion 41 is fitted into a flat portion of the outer peripheral portion of the impeller shell 10, and both are fixed by welding between the inner peripheral cylindrical portion 41 and the impeller shell 10. The tooth profile 43 is formed with a plurality of teeth that can mesh with a pinion gear of a starter motor (not shown).

  The ring gear 40 can be formed of an annular sheet metal by press working or a glove forming method.

  For example, when forming by press work, the inner peripheral cylindrical part 41 is formed by squeezing the inner peripheral part of the annular and plate-shaped material sheet metal by drawing. Next, the tooth profile portion 43 is sequentially formed on the outer peripheral portion of the material sheet metal on which the inner peripheral cylindrical portion 41 is formed by transfer press. Further, when forming by glove processing, after forming the inner peripheral cylindrical portion 41 on the inner peripheral portion of the raw sheet metal by draw processing as described above, the outer peripheral portion of the raw sheet metal is subjected to a predetermined thickness by a plurality of thickness increasing steps. To. Thereafter, the tooth profile 43 is formed by gear cutting with a hobbing machine.

[Operation]
About operation | movement of a torque converter, it is the same as that of the past. That is, torque from the crankshaft on the engine side is input to the front cover 3. As a result, the impeller 4 rotates and hydraulic oil flows from the impeller 4 to the turbine 5. The turbine 5 rotates by the flow of the hydraulic oil, and the torque of the turbine 5 is output to the drive shaft 2 connected to the turbine hub 15.

  Further, when the speed ratio of the torque converter increases and the drive shaft 2 reaches a constant rotational speed, the hydraulic fluid in the space between the piston 30 and the front cover 3 is drained, and between the piston 30 and the turbine 5. Hydraulic fluid is supplied to the space. As a result, the hydraulic pressure in the space on the turbine 5 side of the piston 30 becomes higher than the hydraulic pressure in the space on the front cover 3 side, and the piston 30 is moved to the front cover 3 side. Then, the friction member 34 fixed to the piston 30 is pressed against the side surface of the front cover 3. Thereby, the torque from the engine is transmitted from the front cover 3 to the piston 30 and the retaining plate 31, and further output to the drive shaft 2 via the torsion spring 33, the driven plate 32 and the turbine hub 15.

  Further, when the engine is started, the pinion gear is driven by the starter motor, and the ring gear 40 meshing with the pinion gear is rotated. As a result, the front cover 3 is rotated, and the crankshaft of the engine connected to the front cover 3 by a drive plate (not shown) or the like is rotated.

  In the above embodiment, since the ring gear 40 is formed of sheet metal, it is possible to reduce the weight as compared with that formed by a conventional bar-shaped member. In particular, when the torque converter is miniaturized, the distance from the impeller shell 10 to the meshing position of the pinion gear, that is, the disc portion 42 of the ring gear 40 becomes long, but here the thickness of the disc portion 42 becomes thin, The effect of weight reduction is great.

[Other Embodiments]
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes or modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

  The specific configuration of the torque converter is not limited to the above embodiment, and the present invention can be applied to various torque converters.

  In the above embodiment, the ring gear 40 is fixed to the outer periphery of the impeller 4, but the ring gear may be fixed to the outer periphery of the front cover 3. In this case, the direction of the ring gear is opposite to that of the above embodiment, and is C-shaped. Further, as a fixing method, a method other than welding may be used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Torque converter 3 Front cover 4 Impeller 5 Turbine 6 Stator 40 Starter ring gear 41 Inner peripheral cylindrical part 42 Disk part 43 Tooth profile part

Claims (5)

A front cover to which torque from the engine is input,
An impeller having an outer peripheral portion fixed to the front cover by welding;
A turbine disposed opposite the impeller;
A stator disposed between the inner periphery of the impeller and the turbine;
A ring gear for a starter made of sheet metal fixed to the outer periphery of the front cover or the impeller;
Torque converter with   The torque converter according to claim 1, wherein the starter ring gear is fixed to an outer peripheral portion of the impeller by welding. The starter ring gear is
An inner peripheral cylindrical portion extending in the axial direction and fixed to the outer peripheral portion of the impeller;
A disk part extending from the inner cylindrical part to the outer periphery;
A tooth profile portion formed on the outer periphery of the disk portion;
The torque converter according to claim 1, comprising:   4. The torque converter according to claim 1, wherein a tooth profile portion of the starter ring gear is formed by a tooth forming shape by a transfer press. 5.   The tooth profile of the starter ring gear is formed by increasing the thickness of the outer peripheral portion of the disk portion by a plurality of thickness increasing steps, and cutting the increased thickness portion. Torque converter according to the above.

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