WO2014098353A1 - Torque converter for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a torque converter for a vehicle, which can reduce manufacturing costs and increase a degree of freedom in the design by simplifying a one-way clutch structure of a reactor. The torque converter for the vehicle of the present invention comprises a front cover, an impeller, a turbine, and a reactor, wherein the reactor comprises an outer race which is coupled along an inner circumference of the reactor and has a first tapering part provided on an inner circumference thereof; and an inner race which comes in contact with the inner circumference of the outer race and has a second tapering part corresponding to the first tapering part.

Description

Automotive Torque Converter

The present invention relates to a vehicle torque converter that can simply configure a one-way clutch structure for supporting the reactor to increase the cost reduction and design freedom.

In general, the torque converter is installed between the engine of the vehicle and the transmission to transmit the driving force of the engine to the transmission using a fluid. Such a torque converter receives a driving force of an engine, a turbine that rotates by an impeller that is rotated by oil discharged from an impeller, and a reactor that increases the rate of change of torque by directing the flow of oil flowing back to the impeller in a direction of rotation of the impeller ('stator' "Also".

In general, torque converters are equipped with a lock-up clutch (also called a 'damper clutch'), which is a means of connecting directly between the engine and the transmission, as the load on the engine may decrease power transmission efficiency. The lockup clutch is disposed between the turbine and the front cover that is connected to the engine so that the rotational power of the engine can be transmitted directly to the turbine.

This lockup clutch includes a piston that is movably coupled in the axial direction. And a torsional damper capable of absorbing shock and vibration acting in the rotational direction of the shaft when the lockup clutch is operated may be coupled to the lockup clutch.

In the reactor described above, the one-way clutch is disposed on the inner circumferential surface (the rotation center side). Wenway clutches include inner races, multiple bearings and outer races from the center of rotation. That is, since the outer race of the one-way clutch is coupled to the inner circumferential surface of the reactor, the reactor is installed in a structure capable of rotating only in one direction.

The structure using the conventional one-way clutch has a problem in that the cost of expensive components is increased and the space required for securing the space due to the complicated structure is inferior in design freedom.

The present invention has been proposed to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a torque converter for a vehicle to reduce the cost and at the same time increase the design freedom through a simple structure that can omit and replace the one-way clutch It is.

In order to achieve the object of the present invention as described above, the present invention is a front cover, the impeller coupled to the front cover to rotate, the turbine disposed in the position facing the impeller to rotate together in accordance with the rotation of the impeller, the impeller And a reactor positioned between the turbine and the turbine to change the flow of oil from the turbine to the impeller, a lockup clutch for directly transmitting a driving force of the front cover to a transmission, and springs coupled to the lockup clutch and disposed in the circumferential direction of the shaft. It includes a damper to absorb vibration and shock in the rotational direction,

The reactor includes an outer race coupled to the inner circumferential surface of the reactor and having an inner race provided with a first tapered portion on the inner circumferential surface, and an inner race having a second tapered portion contacting the inner circumferential surface of the outer race and corresponding to the first tapered portion. Provide a converter.

Preferably, the first tapered portion is provided at the inner diameter of the outer race, and the second tapered portion is provided at the outer diameter of the inner race.

Preferably, the first taper portion and the second taper portion are positioned at the center portions of the outer race and the inner race, and both side sides of the first taper portion and the second taper portion are horizontal portions.

The first taper portion and the second taper portion are preferably smaller in diameter toward the front cover side.

It is preferable that the said 1st taper part and the said 2nd taper part become the range of inclination of 0.5-2 degrees.

In the present invention, the reactor can remain locked or freely rotated due to the difference between the ratio of the impeller rotation speed and the turbine rotation speed, thereby reducing costs and increasing design freedom through a simple structure. It works.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a torque converter for explaining an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is an enlarged view of an inner race and an outer race which are main components of the present invention.

3 is a view showing the oil flow when the rotational speed of the turbine is relatively slow with respect to the rotational speed of the impeller.

4 is a view showing the direction of the force acting on the outer race when the rotational speed of the turbine is relatively slow or close to the rotational speed of the impeller.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the oil flow when the rotational speed of the turbine approaches the rotational speed of the impeller.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. In the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted in order to clearly describe the present invention, and like reference numerals designate like elements throughout the specification.

FIG. 1 is a half sectional view of a vehicle torque converter cut in an axial direction to explain an embodiment of the present invention.

The torque converter according to the embodiment of the present invention is disposed at a position facing the impeller 6 and the impeller 6, which are connected to the crankshaft of the engine to rotate and the front cover 4, which is connected to the front cover 4 to rotate together. Turbine (8) and a reactor (also referred to as a "stator") located between the impeller (6) and the turbine (8) to divert the flow of oil from the turbine (8) to the impeller (6). Include. The reactor 10 delivering oil to the impeller 6 side has the same center of rotation as the front cover 4. And the torque converter of the embodiment of the present invention is provided with a lockup clutch 14 as a means of directly connecting the engine and the transmission. This lockup clutch 14 is arranged between the front cover 4 and the turbine 8.

The lockup clutch 14 is formed in a substantially disk shape and has a piston 16 that can move in the axial direction.

And the torsional damper 20 is coupled to the lockup clutch 14.

The torsional damper 20 transmits the driving force transmitted through the lockup clutch 14 to the turbine 8 to absorb the torsional force acting in the rotational direction of the shaft and to damp vibration.

The lockup clutch 14 described above comprises a friction plate 33 disposed between the front cover 4 and the piston 16. The friction plate 33 is coupled to the friction material 35 on both sides. Therefore, when the piston 16 moves in the direction toward the front cover 4 by the hydraulic pressure, the lockup clutch 14 is brought into close contact with the front cover 4 and the piston 16 and the front cover 4. The transmitted driving force may be transmitted to the friction plate 33.

The torsional damper 20 includes a drive plate 37, a cover plate 39, an outside spring 41, an inside spring 43, and a driven plate 45, as shown in FIG. 1. can do.

The drive plate 37 may be coupled to the friction plate 33 of the lockup clutch 14 to receive a driving force.

The drive plate 37 is coupled to the cover plate 39 can be integrally rotated.

The cover plate 39 may be disposed in plural in pairs, and the outside spring 41 and the inside spring 43 may be disposed in the circumferential direction. The outside spring 41 is preferably disposed in the circumferential direction on the outer circumferential side of the inside spring 43. These outside springs 41 and inside springs 43 can absorb vibrations and shocks in the rotational direction by elastic force when the lock-up clutch 14 operates.

The driven plate 45 may elastically support one side of the outside spring 41 and the inside spring 43. In addition, the driven plate 45 may be connected to the spline hub 47 that transmits the driving force to the transmission to transmit the driving force.

That is, the driven plate 45 may receive the driving force through the outside spring 41 and the inside spring 43 and transmit the driving force to the spline hub 47.

On the other hand, the outer race 49 and the inner race 51 is disposed on the rotation center axis of the reactor 10.

The outer race 49 is disposed on the inner circumferential surface of the reactor 10. The inner race 51 is disposed on the inner circumferential surface of the outer race 49.

The outer race 49 has a substantially cylindrical shape and is provided with a first taper portion 49a at the center of the inner circumferential surface. As shown in FIG. 2, the 1st taper part 49a is provided in the middle part a of the outer race 49, and is made into the shape which diameter becomes small toward the front cover 4 side. In addition, both side portions t1 and t2 of the first tapered portion 49a of the outer race 49 are made up of the horizontal portion 49b. That is, the inner diameter of the outer race 49 is circular in the horizontal portion 49b disposed on both sides of the first taper portion 49a. The horizontal portion 49b disposed on both sides of the first taper portion 49a may serve to maintain the center of the outer race 49 and the inner race 51.

The inner race 51 is disposed in the inner diameter of the outer race 49 in a structure corresponding to the outer race 49. That is, the inner race 51 is provided with the 2nd taper part 51a in the outer peripheral surface, and the other horizontal part 51b is provided in the both sides of the 2nd taper part 51a. Since the second tapered portion 51a and the other horizontal portion 51b of the inner race 51 correspond to the first tapered portion 49a and the horizontal portion 49b of the outer race 49 described above, a detailed description thereof will be provided. Will be omitted.

On the other hand, it is preferable that the angle which the 1st taper part 49a and the 2nd taper part 51a make is about 0.5-2 degrees.

Referring to the operation of the embodiment of the present invention made as described above are as follows.

When the lockup clutch 14 is not operated, the driving force of the engine is the front cover 4, the impeller 6, the turbine 8, the cover plate 39, the outside spring 41 and the inside spring 43. The driving force is transmitted to the transmission through the driven plate 45 and the spline hub 47. In this process, the outside spring 41 and the inside spring 43 may absorb vibration and shock in the rotational direction.

When the lockup clutch 14 is operated, the piston 16 moves to the front cover 4 side by hydraulic pressure. Then, the friction materials 35 provided on both sides of the friction plate 33 are in close contact with one side of the front cover 4 and one side of the piston 16, and the driving force of the front cover 4 is transmitted to the friction plate 33. And the driving force transmitted to the friction plate 33 is transmitted to the drive plate 37. Since the drive plate 37 is integrally formed with the cover plate 39, the driving force is transmitted to the cover plate 39.

The cover plate 39 compresses the outside spring 41 and the inside spring 43. At this time, the outside spring 41 and the inside spring 43 absorbs vibration and shock in the rotational direction.

In addition, since the outside spring 41 and the inside spring 43 are elastically supported by the driven plate 45, the driving force is transmitted to the driven plate 45.

The driving force transmitted to the driven plate 45 is transmitted to the transmission through the spline hub 47.

A state in which the outer race 49 and the inner race 51 are locked will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3 to 5 as follows.

When the rotation speed of the turbine 8 is relatively low compared to the rotation speed of the impeller 6, the fluid moving from the impeller 6 side to the turbine 8 side is the blade b1 of the turbine 8. Guided to move to the impeller (6) side at this time, the moving energy of the fluid acts on the impeller (6) side.

 In this case, the fluid enters the inner direction B of the blade b2 of the reactor 10 by the difference in rotational speeds of the impeller 6 and the turbine 8, and passes through the reactor 10. Due to the shape of the blade b2 of (10), this fluid also moves in the direction of the impeller 6 while moving in the A direction, so that the moving energy Fs of this fluid also acts in the direction of the impeller 6 (see Fig. 3). )

Then, the moving energy of the fluid generated when the fluid moves from the turbine 8 side to the impeller 6 side and the moving energy generated while the fluid moves from the reactor 10 side to the impeller 6 side are added to the outer force. It acts to move the race 49 in the direction of the impeller 6.

As a result, the friction force acts on the first taper portion 49a of the outer race 49 and the second taper portion 51a of the inner race 51 (see FIG. 2). Therefore, the outer race 49 and the inner race 51 do not rotate but are in a locked state. This action is to act the same as the one-way clutch used in the conventional torque converter.

When the rotation speed of the turbine 8 changes to 80% or more compared with the rotation speed of the impeller 6, the load of the fluid in the turbine 8 acts in the direction of the impeller 6 by the blade shape.

At this time, the moving energy of the fluid from the turbine 8 side to the impeller 6 side is the same in the same direction as in the above case, the fluid flowing into the reactor 10 side as shown in FIG. Since it flows to the back side of the blade b2 of 10), the moving energy Fs according to the movement of the fluid acts in the left direction (turbine direction) as shown in FIG.

Therefore, since the opposite two-way fluid flows occur, the moving energy of the fluids of the two fluid flows is canceled so that the force acting on the outer race 49 is not generated.

Then, as described in the above case, the outer race 49 and the inner race 51 are changed into a state in which the outer race 49 can freely rotate in the locked state. (One-way clutch used in the conventional torque converter) Is realized)

Therefore, the embodiment of the present invention can perform the work performed by the conventional one-way clutch through a simple structure, and is particularly suitable for a system that does not use much of the lockup clutch function. This embodiment of the present invention can replace the conventional one-way clutch with a simple structure can increase the cost reduction and design freedom.

In addition, the embodiment of the present invention can eliminate the thrust needle bearing disposed between the impeller (6) and the reactor (10) can reduce the number of parts, the structure is simpler, it is possible to improve the productivity.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the claims and the detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings. Naturally, it belongs to the scope of the invention.

Claims (5)

Front cover, An impeller coupled to the front cover and rotating; A turbine disposed at a position facing the impeller and rotating together with the rotation of the impeller, A reactor located between the impeller and the turbine to change the flow of oil from the turbine to the impeller side, A lockup clutch for directly transmitting the driving force of the front cover to a transmission; and Comprising a spring damper coupled to the lock-up clutch and disposed in the circumferential direction of the shaft to absorb vibration and shock in the rotation direction, The reactor has An outer race coupled to the inner circumferential surface of the reactor and provided with a first taper portion on the inner circumferential surface, An inner race in contact with an inner circumferential surface of the outer race and having a second taper portion corresponding to the first tapered portion Vehicle torque converter comprising a. The method according to claim 1, The first tapered portion Is provided in the inner diameter of the outer race, The second taper part A torque converter for a vehicle provided to an outer diameter of the inner race. The method according to claim 1, The first taper portion and the second taper portion Located in the middle of the outer race and inner race, Both side sides of the first tapered portion and the second tapered portion is a vehicle torque converter. The method according to claim 1, The first taper portion and the second taper portion A torque converter for a vehicle, the diameter of which decreases toward the front cover side. The method according to claim 1, The first taper portion and the second taper portion Automotive torque converter with a slope of 0.5 to 2 °.

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