Patent ID: 6851532
Filing Date: 2005-02-08
Classification: F16H

Abstract:
1. A hydrokinetic torque converter, comprising: a housing rotatable about a predetermined axis; a friction lining associated with said housing and shaped as a ring bounded by an inner circular border and an outer circular border; a pump rotatable by said housing about said axis; a turbine rotatable in said housing about said axis by and relative to said pump; means for rotating said housing; an output element rotatable about said axis and arranged to receive torque from said turbine, said clutch including a first part rotatable with said housing, a second part rotatable with said output element, and friction generating means operable to transmit torque between said parts with or without slip with attendant generation of friction heat during operation with slip; first and second plenum chambers containing bodies of hydraulic fluid at variable pressure with the provision for fluid flow between said chambers past said friction generating means, wherein said housing includes a cooling surface which engages said clutch and includes radially directed grooves configured in the manner of rays which originate from an inner circle radially inside said inner circular border and which terminate at an outer circle radially outside said outer circular border.