Patent ID: 7634910

Claim:
A torque converter for a motor vehicle, comprising a housing and a pump located therein, a turbine, a stator, and a bridging clutch, wherein the pump, the turbine and the stator together form a torus, where the stator has respective pluralities of inlet openings and outlet openings, wherein an output height at the plurality of output openings of the stator is greater than an input height at the plurality of input openings of the stator, wherein an outer ring-shaped boundary surface for the stator is disposed, with respect to an axis of rotation for the torque converter, radially outside of an inner ring-shaped boundary surface for the stator, wherein the outer ring-shaped boundary surfaces forms a portion of the input and output openings of the stator, and wherein a first radial distance, from the axis of rotation to the outer ring-shaped boundary surface at the input openings is less than a second radial distance from the axis of rotation to the outer ring-shaped boundary surface at the output openings.