192 clutches and power-stop control – Elements – Clutch element resiliently carried on hub
Reexamination Certificate
2000-10-05
2002-09-10
Rodriguez, Saúl (Department: 3681)
192 clutches and power-stop control
Elements
Clutch element resiliently carried on hub
C192S003290, C192S003300, C192S212000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06446779
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a damper assembly for a starting clutch in an automatic transmission and a damper assembly for a lock-up clutch.
2. Related Background Art
In the past, a damper assembly comprising a plurality of springs, in which an input member and an output member are elastically interconnected via springs in a rotational direction, has been used for absorbing abrupt fluctuation in torque to be inputted.
As such a damper assembly, for example, a damper assembly as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-338475 has been developed.
FIG. 7
is a sectional view of a lock-up clutch
101
in which a damper assembly
127
is incorporated.
In the damper assembly, a plurality of spring holding portions
115
,
121
are provided in an input member (piston plate
109
, friction material
113
, hold plate
114
) and an output member (driven plate
110
), respectively, in a circumferential direction, and a plurality of springs
111
are held in the spring holding portions in series, so that the input and output members are elastically interconnected in a rotational direction and the springs
111
held in series are interconnected via an intermediate member
123
rotatable relative to the input and output members.
Further, the intermediate member
123
is constituted by a cylindrical connecting portion
124
rotatably housed in a gap d (refer to
FIG. 8
) between an outer periphery of the hold plate
114
and an inner periphery of a cylindrical portion
112
of the piston plate
109
, and a plurality (four) of pawls
125
bent radially inwardly in a substantially L-shape at one side of the connecting portion
124
.
Each of the pawls
125
of the intermediate member
123
has a tapered tip end and is inserted between the springs
111
held in the spring holding portions
115
,
121
so that, when the input and output members are rotated relative to each other, the springs
111
are operated in series without deforming the springs in a curved form as less as possible. On the other hand, the connecting portion
124
of the intermediate member
123
serves to interconnect all of the pawls
125
in an annular fashion so that, when the input and output members are rotated relative to each other, all of the pawls
125
are synchronized to operate the springs
111
held in the spring holding portions
115
,
121
in series, similarly.
With an arrangement as mentioned above, when the piston plate
109
is advanced by control oil pressure acting on a back side of the piston plate
109
, the friction material
113
on a front side of the piston plate
109
is engaged by an inner surface
102
a
of a converter cover
102
, with the result that the converter cover
102
and a turbine
104
, i.e., a pump
103
and the turbine
104
are directly interconnected mechanically through the lock-up clutch
101
, thereby establishing a lock-up condition. In this condition, the torque inputted to the piston plate
109
of the lock-up clutch
101
is transmitted, through the plurality of springs
111
, to the driven plate
110
and then to the turbine
104
. In this case, the pair of springs
111
housed in the corresponding spring holding portions
115
,
121
of the hold plate
114
and the driven plate
110
act in series via the intermediate member
123
to absorb the transmitted torque with the total length of both springs
111
.
However, in the above-mentioned conventional damper assembly, during the operation, if excessive load is received from the engine, the springs of the damper assembly may be closely contacted (i.e., over compressed) to damage the springs. Further, if spring constants of two springs arranged in series are different, the springs having smaller spring constant may be closely contacted firstly to damage them.
Furthermore, in the conventional damper assembly, since the connecting member is disposed in the cylindrical gap between the outer periphery of the hold plate
114
and the cylindrical portion of the piston plate
109
, outer diameters of the springs to be inserted are limited or the entire dimension of the damper assembly becomes bulky.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a damper assembly in which springs of the damper assembly are prevented from being closely contacted to prevent damage of the springs even if excessively load is received from an engine during the operation of the damper assembly.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a damper assembly in which, even when spring constants of two springs arranged in series are changed, the springs having smaller spring constant are prevented from being closely contacted to prevent damage of such springs.
A further object of the present invention is to make the entire damper assembly compact.
To achieve the above objects, according to the present invention, there is provided a damper assembly comprising a retainer plate and a driven plate, and wherein springs are held in series through an intermediate member, and a relative angle between the retainer plate and the intermediate member is regulated by engaging a first projection provided on the intermediate member with a containing portion provided in the retainer plate, and a relative angle between the retainer plate and the driven plate is regulated by engaging a second projection provided on the retainer plate with an abutment portion provided on the driven plate.
With this arrangement, the first projection provided on the intermediate member is regulated by the containing portion of the retainer plate, and, further, the abutment portion provided on the driven plate is received by the second projection of the retainer plate, so that the relative angles of the intermediate member and the driven plate with respect to the retainer plate can be regulated.
Since the connecting portion of the intermediate member is disposed inwardly of the springs, an outer diameter of the damper assembly is not changed. Thus, the damper assembly can be made more compact.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4716998 (1988-01-01), Tsukamoto et al.
patent: 5080215 (1992-01-01), Forster et al.
patent: 5246399 (1993-09-01), Yanko et al.
patent: 5456343 (1995-10-01), Murata et al.
patent: 5655635 (1997-08-01), Yuergens et al.
patent: 5682972 (1997-11-01), Sasada
patent: 6050376 (2000-04-01), Yabe
patent: 8-338475 (1996-12-01), None
Miles & Stockbridge P.C.
NSK-Warner K.K.
Rodríguez Saúl
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