Starting Element Piston Fluid Passage Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
The production of starting elements, such as torque converters, often involves time-consuming and contaminant-prone drilling processes for creating nozzle orifices, which can impair functionality and require extensive cleaning, and the assembly of tangential leaf springs is complex due to the need for precise openings.
Innovation Solution
A piston design where fluid passages are formed by inserting a passage component part into a receiving opening, allowing for the creation of larger, simpler passage openings and facilitating production, with the option for multiple fluid passages and varying materials like metals and plastics, and the use of frictional or positive engagements for connection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If drilling processes are used to create nozzle orifices in the piston, then fluid passages can be formed, but the production becomes time-consuming and contaminant-prone
Solution Approach 1:
The piston is divided into multiple components: a piston body and separate piston jets. The piston jets are inserted into receiving openings in the piston body, eliminating the need for complex drilling operations in the main piston structure. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured independently using simpler processes.
Solution Approach 2:
Piston jets serve as intermediary components that provide the fluid passages. Instead of drilling directly into the piston body, the piston jets are inserted as separate elements that contain the nozzle orifices, acting as mediators between the fluid supply and the piston chamber.
2Ease of manufacture
If drilling processes are used to create nozzle orifices in the piston, then fluid passages can be formed, but contamination occurs requiring extensive cleaning
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the fluid passage function into distinct piston jet components, the drilling and contamination risks are isolated to these removable parts rather than the main piston body. The piston jets can be manufactured separately with controlled contamination and then inserted into the clean piston body.
Solution Approach 2:
The potentially contaminating drilling operation is extracted from the piston body manufacturing process and relocated to the piston jet manufacturing process. The piston jets, which contain the drilled orifices, are then inserted into the piston body, leaving the main piston structure free from drilling contaminants.
3Ease of operation
If openings are provided in the piston for mounting tangential leaf springs, then assembly is enabled, but the structure becomes more complex with multiple sealed openings
Solution Approach 1:
The receiving openings in the piston body serve multiple functions: they accommodate the piston jets for fluid passage control and also provide mounting points for the tangential leaf springs. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate openings for each purpose, reducing structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The functions of fluid passage control and spring mounting are merged into the same structural feature (the receiving openings). The piston jets and leaf springs both utilize these openings, combining multiple requirements into a single design element rather than requiring separate features.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design simplifies the production of starting elements by reducing the complexity of creating fluid passages and assembly, potentially improving cooling efficiency and reducing contamination risks, while allowing for precise control of fluid flow through the use of valves.
Implementation Method 1
at least one fluid passage which allows the fluid at least occasionally to pass through the piston from the first volume into the second volume and/or from the second volume into the first volume
Implementation Method 2
a friction clutch arrangement, to initiate or cancel a frictionally engaging connection between an input shaft and an output shaft of the starting element
Implementation Method 3
a liquid can be provided in the interior of a starting element of this kind, for example, for transmitting power, for cooling, for lubrication or for other purposes
Data Source
AI summary
A starting element (100) for use, for example, in a drivetrain of a motor vehicle, includes a piston (310) which divides a first volume (560) that can be filled with a fluid from a second volume (570) that can be filled with a fluid, wherein the piston (310) comprises at least one fluid passage (640) which allows the fluid at least occasionally to pass through the piston (310) from the first volume (560) into the second volume (570) and/or from the second volume (570) into the first volume (560). The at least one fluid passage (640) comprises a passage component part (650) and a receiving opening (660) in the piston (310). The passage component part (650) is inserted into the receiving opening so that at least one passage opening (670) is formed which allows the fluid to pass through at least occasionally.