Torque converter provided with lock-up clutch and arranged for efficient heat dissipation

A torque converter provided with a lock-up clutch and including a pump impeller, a turbine runner, a turbine hub, a stator, a clutch piston rotatable with said turbine runner and cooperating with said pump impeller to define therebetween an engaging chamber, a front cover cooperating with said clutch piston to define therebetween a releasing chamber, and a friction member attached to one of said clutch piston and said front cover, and wherein said lock-up clutch is placed in a slipping state for slipping engagement of said clutch piston and said front cover with each other through said friction member, by a controlled difference between pressures of a working fluid in said engaging and releasing chambers, wherein an improvement comprises:

• said friction member being attached to said front cover;
• said pump impeller and said stator cooperating with each other to define therebetween one of a first fluid passage and a second fluid passage both of which communicate with said engaging chamber, while said stator and said turbine hub cooperating with each other to define therebetween the other of said first and second fluid passages;
• and
• said lock-up clutch being brought into said slipping state with a supply flow of the working fluid into said engaging chamber through said first fluid passage and a discharge flow of the working fluid from said engaging chamber through said second fluid passage.