Did You Know...
...that the Eveready Battery began as an invention called the "electric flowerpot," which was a tube with a battery and light bulb inside? The idea was to fasten this gizmo to the side of a flowerpot so it would illuminate the flowers from the bottom. The idea died on the vine and the businessman who licensed the flower pot, Conrad Huber, was left with a pile of useless tubes -- until he found a way to market them as batteries to light the world!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7644812 | Using inferred torque converter impeller speed to control an impeller clutch A method for controlling an impeller clutch of a torque converter includes determining a function relating a K-factor of the torque, determining a current engine torque, determining a desired impeller clutch slip, using the function determine the actual impeller spe... | 01/12/2010 |
| 7286922 | Method of and apparatus for transmitting torque in vehicular power trains The magnitude of torque which can be transmitted by a bypass clutch between the housing and the turbine of a torque converter between a prime mover, such as an engine, and an automatic transmission in the power train of a motor vehicle is selectively regulatable by ... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7234577 | Torque converter A torque converter, which can prevent an oil pressure required for shifting a lock-up clutch from being made high, is provided. A converter chamber is formed between an outside circular-plate portion of a front cover and an impeller shell. A lock-up clutch constitut... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7222706 | Lockup device for hydraulic torque transmission device In a lockup device, a drive plate has a frictional coupling portion adjacent to a friction surface, and can provide torque to a turbine. The piston is a disk-like member arranged between a front cover and the turbine, has a pressing portion arranged on a side of the... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7195456 | Turbine engine guide vane and arrays thereof An exit guide vane array for a turbine engine includes a set of guide vanes 28 having a solidity and defining fluid flow passages 74 with a chordwisely converging forward portion 80. The high solidity and convergent passage portion 80 res... | 03/27/2007 |
| 7165567 | Valve apparatus for compensating centrifugal forces A control valve apparatus for a rotating clutch includes a valve having a spool portion and a mass portion. The spool portion provides a control function to distribute pressure from a static source to a chamber of the clutch. The valve also has a mass associated the... | 01/23/2007 |
| 7028820 | Hydrodynamic clutch arrangement with a clutch device inside the clutch housing A hydrodynamic clutch arrangement is provided with at least a pump wheel and a turbine wheel to form a hydrodynamic circuit in a clutch housing, the drive-side wall of the housing being connected on the side facing the drive unit, such as an internal combustion engi... | 04/18/2006 |
| 7017722 | Hydrodynamic torque converter To control one clutch (2) in a hydrodynamic torque converter, the pressure acting upon one first piston area (4) is supplied to a control unit which, depending on the pressure, adjusts the pressure acting upon a second piston area (5). It is pos... | 03/28/2006 |
| 6951101 | Method and device for controlling a hydrodynamic clutch A method for controlling and filling a hydrodynamic clutch. A set variable can be preset for a variable which at least indirectly characterizes the functional state of the hydrodynamic clutch and which serves as an input variable of a control device assigned to the ... | 10/04/2005 |
| 6848548 | Hydraulic regulating system for a vehicle transmission Hydraulic control system for a vehicle transmission connected to an output shaft from a hydraulic torque converter (1) with a hydraulically operated disc clutch for locking the torque converter and which has two hydraulically operated disc clutches for shifti... | 02/01/2005 |
| 6843745 | Automatic transmission An automatic transmission for vehicles is equipped with a housing in which a number of clutches and brakes, as well as an input shaft and an output shaft and at least one torque-controlling shaft (1), are positioned. The torque-controlling shaft (1) is... | 01/18/2005 |
| 6736746 | Vehicle-running control device In a vehicle wherein the output of an engine is transmitted to an output shaft via a torque converter and clutches, for forward/reverse change-over, a control device is provided which can control a creep phenomenon. The control device comprises a change-over ... | 05/18/2004 |
| 6443275 | Power transmission apparatus for a vehicle In a power transmission apparatus for a vehicle having a gear transmission capable of transmitting power from a crankshaft of an engine to driving wheels by selectively establishing a plurality of shift stages of gear trains and a clutch for cutting power... | 09/03/2002 |
| 6431335 | Hydrodynamic torque converter A hydrodynamic torque converter having a converter housing defining interior space for receiving a converter work fluid, a turbine wheel arranged in interior space of the converter housing and rotatable with respect to the converter housing, a lockup clut... | 08/13/2002 |
| 6405844 | Working vehicle A working vehicle including a power transmission system capable of surely preventing a slip is provided. For this purpose, the working vehicle is a working vehicle having a modulating clutch (2) which flexibly changes traveling power transmitted from an e... | 06/18/2002 |
| 6301538 | Swap shift multiple-ratio automatic transmission A multiple-ratio automatic transmission comprising a first multiple-ratio gear unit and a second simple planetary gear unit arranged in series in a torque flow path, each gear unit having a reaction brake that can be selectively activated and deactivated ... | 10/09/2001 |
| 5835875 | Swap-shift control system for a multiple ratio transmission An automatic transmission having a multiple ratio gearset arranged in series with an overdrive gearset wherein ratio upshifts and downshifts are effected by separate reaction brakes for each gearset, each brake being independently controlled to achieve an... | 11/10/1998 |
| 5809442 | Multiple ratio transmission having swap-shift controls with optimum ratio upshifts A multiple ratio transmission having a main gear unit with at least three forward driving ratios and a single reverse drive ratio and a simple planetary gear unit in series with the main gear unit, the simple planetary gear unit being downshifted and the ... | 09/15/1998 |
| 5802490 | Torque converter regulator and clutch lockout system for an automotive vehicle A system for controlling operation of a bypass clutch for a torque converter in an automatic transmission includes a clutch capacity control valve, which connects a source of fluid pressure to a space between a converter clutch friction surface and an imp... | 09/01/1998 |
| 5699887 | Hydrokinetic torque converter with an impeller clutch and a bridge coupling A hydrokinetic torque converter has a main impeller driven by an internal combustion engine, an auxiliary impeller that can be engaged into drive connection with the main impeller by an impeller clutch, a turbine coupled to an output shaft, and a stator w... | 12/23/1997 |
| 5662194 | Hydrokinetic torque converter A hydrokinetic torque converter has a rotary housing which is connectable to the crankshaft or camshaft of a combustion engine in a motor vehicle to drive the input shaft of the transmission. The housing confines a turbine, a pump, a stator (if necessary)... | 09/02/1997 |
| 5642283 | Multiple ratio transmission with swap-shift controls A multiple ratio transmission having a main gear unit with at least three forward driving ratios and a single reverse drive ratio and a simple planetary gear unit in series with the main gear unit, the simple planetary gear unit being downshifted and the ... | 06/24/1997 |
| 5613581 | Electrohydraulic control device for a drive train of a machine An electrohydraulic control device for a drive train of a machine including an engine, a transmission, a torque converter, and an impeller clutch is disclosed. A manually operated impeller clutch pedal produces an impeller clutch pedal signal in response ... | 03/25/1997 |
| 5605210 | Torque converter with a lockup mechanism A torque converter having a lockup mechanism makes it possible to positively and forcibly suppress the frictional heat and others generated on the frictional surfaces of the lockup clutch and its counterpart while the lockup clutch is in operation, partic... | 02/25/1997 |
| 5433304 | Viscous coupling by-pass element having variable drive capability A viscous coupling (29) is disclosed for use as a by-pass element in a torque converter (15). The viscous coupling (29) includes a body member (31) and a cover member (33), with an annular clutch member (35) being disposed in a viscous shear area defined ... | 07/18/1995 |
| 5400884 | Torque convertor A torque convertor includes a torque convertor body and a power disconnecting clutch. The torque convertor body is connected to an input-side member for transmitting power to the power disconnecting clutch. The power disconnecting clutch has a drive-side ... | 03/28/1995 |
| 5386896 | Torsional vibration damping device and lock-up clutch in torque converter A torsional vibration damping device located between an input member and an output member of a power transmission device comprises a case and a slider. The case is connected to either the input or output member, extends circumferentially and contains flui... | 02/07/1995 |
| 5361880 | Viscous converter clutch with O-slip capability A bypass assembly (27) is disclosed for use in a torque converter (15) of an automatic transmission. The assembly includes a fluid coupling (29) and a driveplate assembly (31) which cooperate with the torque converter and its housing (22) to define a rele... | 11/08/1994 |
| 5343990 | Control system for lock-up torque converter for automatic transmissions A control system for a lock-up clutch employed in a lock-up torque converter for an automotive automatic transmission includes a lock-up control valve for controlling a lock-up of the lock-up clutch, a duty-ratio controlled lock-up solenoid, and a control... | 09/06/1994 |
| 5330038 | Torque converter clutch A torque converter clutch has a selectively engageable friction torque transmitting portion and a viscous torque transmitting portion. The friction and viscous portions are serially arranged between a clutch input and a clutch output. Apply pressure enfor... | 07/19/1994 |
| 5307727 | Neutral to drive shift time control In a neutral to drive shift timing control mechanism, a flow control arrangement is utilized in an electro-hydraulic control system for controlling a clutch fill period of a neutral to drive shift sequence. The hydraulic control system provides a pressure... | 05/03/1994 |
| 5226514 | Mounting for rotating spiral spring A torsion isolator assembly (30) for reducing driveline torsionals includes a vane damper (36) including improved valving (40d,40e) for increasing the damping factor of the damper, improved spiral springs (32,34 or 80,82) for reducing spring stress primar... | 07/13/1993 |
| 5213186 | Control system and method for automatic transmission A control system for use in an automatic transmission which is connected to an engine comprises: a fluid coupling for transmitting a torque between an input member and an output member; a lock-up clutch adapted to be selectively engaged with and released ... | 05/25/1993 |
| 5186292 | Torque converter and clutch with compliance interface A torque converter and clutch assembly incorporates a selectively engageable clutch pressure plate which enforces frictional engagement between a clutch disc, mounted on the pressure plate, and the input shell of the torque converter. An elastomer lined c... | 02/16/1993 |
| 5174422 | Transmission equipped with torque converter A transmission equipped with torque converter having a forward/backward change valve for supplying working oil selectively to any one of a forward clutch or a backward clutch. A shock diverter valve is installed between the forward/backward change valve a... | 12/29/1992 |
| 5145045 | Control system for lock-up clutch of automatic transmission A control system for a lock-up clutch of an automatic transmission is provided which serves to change a variation rate of control pressure between partial engagement operation and full engagement operation, which adjusts a degree of lock-up clutch engagem... | 09/08/1992 |
| 5090527 | Pressure control system for lock-up clutch in automotive automatic power transmission with compensation of fluid pressure in low engine speed range A pressure control system for a lock-up clutch includes a variable flow restriction orifice disposed in a lubricating circuit. The variable flow restriction orifice is operated depending upon a discharge rate of an oil pump so that working fluid flow thro... | 02/25/1992 |
| 5086894 | Lock-up clutch control system for automatic power transmission A lock-up clutch control system for an automatic power transmission includes a torque converter mode, a full lock-up mode and a clip lock-up mode for controlling operation of a lock-up clutch which is disposed between a pump impeller and a turbine runner ... | 02/11/1992 |
| 5058716 | Control system for a hydrokinetic torque converter lock-up clutch A control system for a torque converter lock-up clutch operates in a hydraulic circuit having line pressure applied to a lock-up clutch control valve and supplied selectively to a clutch-apply pressure chamber or a clutch-release pressure chamber. The con... | 10/22/1991 |
| 5044477 | Torque converter viscous coupling bypass element with improved seal arrangement A bypass element (27) for a torque converter (15) is provided in which the bypass element comprises a viscous coupling (29). The viscous coupling includes a housing assembly comprising a body member (35) and a cover member (37), defining a viscous chamber... | 09/03/1991 |
