Patent ID: 7254943

Claim:
An arrangement for coupling an air compressor to the driving shaft of an internal combustion engine that is used as the drive engine of a vehicle, wherein the air compressor supplies a pneumatic device, said arrangement comprising: a controllable turbocoupling that includes a pump impeller, and a turbine wheel that is operatively connected to a driven shaft of the air compressor that is to be operated, wherein said pump impeller can be driven by said driving shaft of the internal combustion engine, wherein said pump impeller drives said turbine wheel via a fluid in the form of a working medium, wherein said turbine wheel is disposed on said driven shaft that is operatively connected with said air compressor such that said turbine wheel is fixed against rotation relative to said driven shaft, and wherein said pump impeller is rotatably mounted on said turbine wheel or on the shaft that is operatively connected to said air compressor, and is operatively connected with said driving shaft of the internal combustion engine, wherein said turbine wheel is formed by a first body of rotation that, when viewed in a direction of its axis of rotation, comprises at least two portions, wherein a first portion has a large diameter and a second portion has a diameter that is smaller than that of the first portion, wherein said pump impeller is formed by an annular body of rotation that is rotatably disposed on said turbine wheel in said second portion having the small diameter in such a way that respective lateral surfaces of said turbine wheel and said pump impeller respectively are directly adjacent to one another, wherein fluid chambers of said turbocoupling are disposed in said first portion of said turbine wheel and in said pump impeller, concentric to an axis of rotation of said turbocoupling, and essentially in halves, wherein the halves of said fluid chambers are disposed opposite one another and respectively extend through said adjacent lateral surfaces of said pump impeller and of said first portion of said turbine wheel, wherein at least one fluid feed channel is provided that is supplied from a fluid supply groove disposed in the vicinity of said driven shaft and that in turn supplies fluid to said fluid chambers, and wherein at least one fluid withdrawal channel is provided that withdraws the fluid from said fluid chambers into a fluid removal groove that is disposed remotely from said driven shaft.