Patent ID: 8770362

Claim:
A hydrodynamic retarder comprising: a first blade wheel comprising a first base body and a plurality of first blades permanently attached to the first base body; and a second blade wheel comprising a second base body and a plurality of second blades permanently attached to the second base body, the second blade wheel being concentric to the first blade wheel, the first and second blade wheels configured to form a hydrodynamic circuit and arranged around a common axis of rotation; a fluid inlet configured to supply fluid to the hydrodynamic circuit, the fluid inlet comprising an inlet spiral configured to create a tangential fluid flow; a fluid outlet configured to discharge fluid from the hydrodynamic circuit, the fluid outlet comprising an outlet spiral configured to create a tangential fluid flow; and a flow guide configured to introduce the fluid into the hydrodynamic circuit comprising at least one axial component assigned at least to the inlet spiral, wherein the inlet spiral is arranged radially inside the hydrodynamic circuit and the outlet spiral is arranged radially outside the hydrodynamic circuit, wherein the flow guide is provided as an axial projection on the first base body and projects beyond the external contour of the first blade wheel toward the second blade wheel, the axial projection configured to engage in a recess in the second blade wheel, wherein the flow guide is configured as a stator blade wheel and the second base body is configured as a rotor blade wheel, and the flow guide is configured to engage in the recess in the rotor blade wheel wherein the first base body has an arcuate contour and the axial projection continues the arcuate contour so that the axial projection projects away from the axis of rotation.