Method for controlling the power consumption of a hydrodynamic clutch by controlling the volumetric efficiency and a hydrodynamic clutch

摘要

The invention relates to a method for controlling the power consumption of a starting element (1) in the form of a hydrodynamic clutch (2). Said clutch comprises an impeller (4) and a turbine wheel (5), which together form at least one toroidal working chamber (6) that can be filled with an operating medium, and is located in a drive train (3) with at least one other drive motor that can be coupled to the hydrodynamic clutch. The method is characterized in that the power consumption can be freely adjusted as a function of the volumetric efficiency of the hydrodynamic clutch and said method has the following characteristics: the supply or evacuation of the operating medium to or from the working chamber is influenced by the generation and introduction of a static superposition pressure in the closed rotating circuit; the operating medium is supplied or evacuated to or from the working chamber by the application of a superposition or influencing pressure to the operating medium level in the operating medium reservoir (40).