Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Guy Ernest Giannone

Gary Donnell Blake

Mark James Spath

Mark A Shost

Timothy Wilton Kunz

Michael E McCarroll

Richard Blanco Roe

Rick C Wirth

Ralph Lyle Clayson, Iii

John Castellana

Creighton A Mantey, Jr

Darryl J Campbell

Richard C Pickelhaupt

A roller cam follower has a transverse bearing shaft that is restrained against substantial lateral motion in a follower body supporting the shaft which rotatably carries a cam follower roller. The follower roller is rotatably mounted in a recess between opposite sides of the body on the transverse bearing shaft, which is supported in shaft bores through the sides of the body. One or more retainers are pressed onto the shaft within the recess and are operatively engageable with the sides of the body to limit axial motion of the shaft in said shaft bores. Various embodiments of retainers are disclosed as are applications to various types of roller cam followers, such as valve lifters, finger followers and rocker arms.

Roller cam follower bearing shaft retention

A cam follower roller bearing shaft is restrained against lateral motion in shaft support bores of the follower body by plugging the bore ends with retainer plugs in or adjacent the ends of the bores. Soft metal or plastic bearing materials may be pressed or molded in the bore ends or in recesses in the follower body at the ends of the bores. Other forms of mechanical retention are disclosed. A fixture for pressing in plugs cut from plastic strips is also disclosed. Applications of the plugs in roller valve lifters, roller finger followers and rocker arm roller followers are disclosed.

A roller cam follower, especially an engine hydraulic roller lifter, is restrained from rotation away from a position in which the roller rotates squarely on its associated cam by a retainer clip fixed on the lifter body and having a tang with flat sides engaging an axial groove in an associated bore of the engine lifter gallery. The retainer clip is a closed ring with opposite flexible hat sections connected by arches having inner edges that snap into a groove on the lifter body. The inner edges are preferably angled upward to aid installation and the hat sections preferably have squared inner ends that engage flats on the lifter body to prevent relative rotation of the body and clip.

Roller cam follower guide

A camshaft has, for each valve lifter, a high lift cam between two low lift cams, the high lift cam fitting within the envelope of the low lift cams. The lifter comprises an outer tappet elongated in the direction of the camshaft and slidably mounted in an elongated bore in a cam carrier. The outer tappet is contacted by both low lift cams and operates two valves simultaneously. An elongated bore extending transverse of the outer tappet carries an elongated inner tappet which is contacted by the high lift cam. A hydraulically actuated locking mechanism couples the tappets for movement together for high lift operation and unlocks for low lift operation to allow the inner tappet to idle in the outer tappet.

Two-step valve operating mechanism

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Bergen, NY, United States of America

Guy Ernest Giannone