Clutch balance dam with cooling flow valve

Abstract

A clutch assembly includes a shaft, a backing plate fixed to the shaft, a plurality of clutch plates, a hydraulic piston, and a balance dam. The hydraulic piston is sealed to the shaft and axially slidable on the shaft to clamp the plurality of clutch plates against the backing plate to close the clutch assembly. The balance dam is fixed to the shaft and disposed axially between the backing plate and the hydraulic piston. The balance dam has a cooling flow orifice and a cooling flow valve for adjusting cooling oil flow through the cooling flow orifice. In some example embodiments, the cooling flow valve is a reed valve with a displaceable steel plate fixed to the balance dam and preloaded against the balance dam to cover the cooling flow orifice.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.