Liquid cooled fan clutch
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsMeisam Mehravaran, Gregory Bowlby
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A liquid cooled viscous fan clutch transfers torque from a driving plate driven by an engine crankshaft to a driven plate connected to a cooling fan. Heat generated in a working fluid is transferred to a second fluid, such as engine coolant or transmission fluid, flowing through a cooling jacket. The cooling jacket is located in a stationary housing which may be fixed to the engine. The working fluid circulates through a working zone, a passageway in the stationary housing, and a passageway in the driving plate. Rotation of the driving plate provides the motive force to circulate the fluid, independent of the rotation speed of the driven plate. A controllable valve may be closed to block circulation, trapping working fluid in a reservoir, to disengage the clutch.
Claims18
A viscous fan clutch comprising:
- input and output shafts;
- a drive plate fixed to the input shaft and having a first plurality of cylindrical ridges, the drive plate and input shaft defining a first fluid passageway from a first inlet port to a first outlet port located radially inside an innermost ridge of the first plurality of ridges;
- a driven plate fixed to the output shaft and having a second plurality of cylindrical ridges interspersed with the first plurality of ridges such that viscous shear acting on a working fluid between the first and second pluralities of ridges exerts torque on the driven plate;
- and
- a stationary housing defining a second fluid passageway from a second inlet port located radially outside the first outlet port to a second outlet port adjacent to the first inlet port such that rotation of the drive plate and driven plate relative to the housing propels the working fluid through the first passageway, between the first and second pluralities of ridges, and through the second passageway.
A clutch comprising:
- a housing defining a passageway;
- a driven plate supported within the housing for rotation relative to the housing;
- a driving plate supported within the housing for rotation relative to the housing in proximity to the driven plate to define a working zone, the driving plate configured to circulate a working fluid through the working zone and the passageway;
- and
- a valve configured to selectively block flow of the working fluid;
- wherein the passageway runs from an inlet port radially outside the working zone, through the housing, across a gap between the housing and the driven plate, through the driven plate, to an outlet port radially inside the working zone.
A powertrain comprising:
- an engine having a crankshaft and an accessory drive shaft driven by the crankshaft;
- a cooling fan;
- a viscous clutch configured to selectively transfer torque from the accessory drive shaft to the cooling fan, the viscous clutch having a housing fixed to the engine and defining a cooling jacket;
- a transmission driven by the crankshaft;
- and
- plumbing configured to route transmission fluid from the transmission through the viscous clutch.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.