Patent ID: 6305519
Filing Date: 2001-10-23
Classification: F16D

Abstract:
A viscous fluid coupling connected to an engine, comprising: a drive shaft connected to a rotation shaft of the engine; a housing rotatably supported to said drive shaft;an operation plate set in said housing and dividing a space defined by said housing into a reservoir and an operation chamber, said operation plate comprising a communication hole communicating the reservoir and the operation chamber;viscous fluid in the reservoir and the operation chamber;a rotor disposed in the operation chamber and being fixed to said drive shaft;a valve mechanism closing and opening the communication hole according to ambient temperature of said housing to control a flow rate of said viscous fluid from the reservoir to the operation chamber;a driven wheel fixed to said housing and being located between said operation plate and said rotor; anda torque transmitting section including a plurality of first annular projections concentrically formed on an outer peripheral portion of said driven wheel and a plurality of second annular projections concentrically formed on an outer peripheral portion of said rotor, the first annular projections being overlappedly adjacent with the second annular projections and being fluidly coupled with the second annular projections through said viscous fluid, a part of said torque transmitting section being located inside of an outermost portion of the reservoir in a radial direction.