AUTOMATIC POWER TRANSMISSION FOR TRANSVERSE ENGINE FOR FRONT-DRIVE VEHICLE

摘要

An automotive automatic power transmission system having a torque converter contained in a converter housing and a planetary gear system powered by the torque converter. The planetary gear system is contained in a gear housing detachably secured to the converter housing. The planetary gear system has an output shaft carrying an output gear meshing with an idler gear which is in turn in meshed relationship with a driven gear of a final drive unit. The aforesaid gears are of the helical type and are rotatable about parallel axes, with a resulting axial thrust on the output shaft in a direction towards the planetary gear system during rotation of the output gear in the forward direction. The output shaft is journalled between first and second thrust bearings, with the first thrust bearing being carried on a hollow member detachably fixed to the converter housing and protruding axially therein to support the torque converter stator on a one-way clutch. The second thrust bearing is radially and axially supported exclusively by the converter housing and is provided with a loading capacity greater than that of said first bearing.