Patent ID: 8596053

Claim:
A fluidic torque transfer device, comprising: a pump impeller that includes a pump shell, a pump blade attached to the pump shell, and a pump core attached to the pump blade; a turbine runner that includes a turbine shell, at least first and second turbine blades attached to the turbine shell along respective first and second outer contour lines, and a turbine core attached to the turbine blades; and a stator that includes a stator blade and rectifies a flow of a hydraulic fluid from the turbine runner to the pump impeller, wherein an attachment angle of the turbine blades at a fluid outlet of the turbine runner is smaller than the attachment angle of the turbine blades at a fluid inlet of the turbine runner, the attachment angle being defined as an average of (a) an absolute value of an angle of an endpoint of the first turbine blade with respect to a perpendicular in a y-direction, and (b) an angle formed by a tangent to a point of contact between the adjacent second turbine blade and an inscribed circle with respect to the perpendicular in the y-direction when the inscribed circle contacting the first turbine blade outer contour line adjacent to the first turbine blade endpoint is drawn, and the turbine runner is structured so that a cross-sectional area St of a turbine flow path defined by the turbine shell, adjacent turbine blades, and the turbine core, which is perpendicular to a centerline of the turbine flow path, satisfies |St−Sref|/Sref≦0.2, where a reference area Sref is an average of maximum and minimum values of a cross-sectional area of a pump flow path defined by the pump shell, adjacent pump blades, and the pump core of the pump impeller, which is perpendicular to a centerline of the pump flow path.