Patent ID: 6851531

Claim:
A hydrodynamic coupling device comprising: a housing rotatable about an axis of rotation; a turbine wheel arranged for rotation about said axis of rotation in said housing; and a lock-up clutch for transmitting torque between the turbine wheel and the housing, said lock-up clutch comprising a plurality of essentially annular friction elements connected to said trubine wheel for rotation with said turbine wheel about said axis of rotation, each said friction element having at least one friction surface region; a contact element connected to said housing radially outside of said friction surface regions for rotation essentially together with said housing about said axis of rotation, said contact element being engageable with said friction surface region to transmit torque between the turbine wheel and the housing; and an intermediate friction element extending radially between friction surface regions of each pair of adjacent said friction elements, each said intermediate friction element being connected to said element for rotation essentially together with said contact element.