Delphi Technologies, Inc.

Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Carl Ralph Kangas

Albert C Stone

Mark James Spath

William Dean Bauman

Nick J Hendriksma

Hermes A Fernandez

Andrew J Lipinski

Gerald R Stabel

David M McCarthy

Cynthia A Tawaf

Fred C Schouw

Eric G Wilusz

The mechanical lifter generally includes an inner lift member, an outer lift member, and a roller. The inner lift member is at least partly made of a metallic material. The outer lift member is at least partly made of a polymeric material and surrounds the inner lift member. The roller is rotatably coupled with respect to the inner lift member and is partly disposed within the inner lift member. The inner lift member is configured to move a first component in response to a force applied to the roller by a second component.

Mechanical lifter

A two-step roller finger follower having a high-lift follower portion that pivots on a pivot shaft disposed on a low-lift follower portion, and having a lost-motion spring disposed between the high-lift follower and the low-lift follower to bias the high-lift follower toward the high lift cam lobe. Various bearing cups and roller shaft sleeve embodiments are shown, all of which allow for improved shaft and needle bearing arrangements. A z-stop formed by the bearing cups and/or the shaft sleeve limits the range of travel of the high-lift follower with respect to the low-lift follower. Various z-stop embodiments are provided including a non-contacting roller shaft sleeve that grounds the high-lift follower to the low-lift follower independent of the roller shaft.

Roller bearing and z-stop for a two-step roller finger follower

An improved pin housing sub-assembly configured for reliable assembly and stability as an intermediate sub-assembly. The length of the plunger return spring is greater than the diameter of the spring well in the pin housing, such that the spring cannot be accidentally installed sideways in the well. During assembly, the non-compressed longer spring places the pushrod seat flush with the end of the pin housing. A shallow annular groove is provided in the inner wall of the pin housing near the outer end thereof, and an expansion ring may be installed therein when the plunger return spring is slightly compressed. The expansion ring holds the sub-assembly together as an intermediate but is displaced by the spring tower in a subsequent assembly step to become the locking ring between the pin housing and the spring tower, as in the prior art.

Pin housing sub-assembly for an hydraulic valve lifter

Oil metering valve means in a hydraulic valve lifter configured such that a metering plate cooperates with a pushrod seat to meter the flow of oil in a forward direction. The metering means is also conducive to the flow of oil in the reverse direction, permitting an oil reservoir in the lifter to be filled by reverse oil flow, either after assembly of the lifter or upon engine shutdown. Embodiments of such oil metering valve means may include: a metering plate having one or more notches around its periphery to permit oil to flow past the plate and a feature supporting the plate; a metering plate having one or more apertures to permit oil to flow through the plate; a metering plate having one or more nonplanar areas along the edges of the plate to prevent sealing of the plate against the supportive feature; and a metering-plate supportive feature having one or more irregularities, such as grooves, bumps, or undulations to permit flow around the edge of the plate past the irregularities.

Refillable metering valve for hydraulic valve lifters

A valve-deactivation hydraulic valve lifter including a conventional hydraulic lash adjuster means disposed within a pin housing slidably disposed in a lifter body. A transverse bore in the pin housing contains opposed locking pins for selectively engaging a circumferential groove including a locking surface in the lifter body whereby the lifter body and the pin housing may be engaged or disengaged to activate or deactivate a pushrod controlling an engine valve. Ends of the locking pins are spherical so that the pins cannot become stuck in corners in the groove. The groove corner is rounded be either a positive radius or a negative radius to remove a sharp corner known to be an originating and propagating point for stress failure of the lifter body in prior art lifters. The edge of each pin and the edge of the locking surface are chamfered to prevent damage to these edges during locking and unlocking. A second surface intermediate an outer surface of the pin housing and the transverse bore is also provided. A retaining ring holding the lifter assembly together may be augmented by a spacer whose thickness is selected to yield a predetermined amount of mechanical lash in the deactivation lifter.

Valve-deactivating lifter

A deactivation hydraulic valve lifter includes an elongate lifter body having a substantially cylindrical inner wall. The inner wall defines at least one annular pin chamber therein. The lifter body has a first end configured for engaging a cam of an engine. An elongate pin housing includes a substantially cylindrical pin housing wall and pin housing bottom. The pin housing wall includes an inner surface and an outer surface. The pin housing bottom defines a radially directed pin bore therethrough. The pin housing is concentrically disposed within the inner wall of the lifter body such that the outer surface of the pin housing wall is adjacent to at least a portion of the inner wall of the lifter body. A plunger having a substantially cylindrical plunger wall with an inner surface and an outer surface is concentrically disposed within the pin housing such that the outer surface of the plunger wall is adjacent to at least a portion of the inner surface of the pin housing wall. A deactivation pin assembly is disposed within the pin bore and includes two pin members. The pin members are biased radially outward relative to each other. A portion of each pin member is disposed within the annular pin chamber to thereby couple the lifter body to the pin housing. The pin members are configured for moving toward each other when the pin chamber is pressurized, thereby retracting the pin members from within the annular pin chamber and decoupling the lifter body from the pin housing.

Growing community of inventors

Sand Lake, MI, United States of America

Carl Ralph Kangas