Dana Corporation

J Dudley Binford

David F Fiedler

Philip L Bond

Ivan J Bruns

A piston assembly such as that used with an internal combustion engine includes an annular cylinder having an inner cylinder wall defining a bore. An annular piston is reciprocal along a longitudinally extending axis within the bore of the cylinder. The piston includes two grooves that define the angled walls of a generally keystone wedge. A single strip of metal is formed into a one-piece split annular top land type piston ring with little or no intrinsic load. The piston ring is adapted to be received within the grooves of the piston to provide sealing engagement between the piston and the cylinder wall. The shape of the piston ring and the wedge of the piston provide a smooth sliding movement between the mating components as a dynamic force component is created in a radial direction in response to piston reciprocation along the longitudinal axis of the cylinder.

Low emission piston ring

A valve stem seal assembly includes a rigid cylindrical shell and an annular resilient seal body supported within an endwall of the shell. The resilient seal body includes an exterior circumferential groove, and the endwall contains an aperture adapted for being received in the groove. The circumference of the aperture in the endwall is greater than the circumference of the bottom of the groove. A predetermined radial clearance is thereby created to provide that the resilient seal body remains concentric with a reciprocating valve stem, notwithstanding the fact that the stem may be eccentric relative to a valve guide to which the assembly is affixed.

Floating valve stem seal

A valve stem seal assembly includes a rigid cylindrical shell and an annular resilient seal body contained entirely within the shell. Integral to the seal body is a frustoconical sealing element adapted to engage a valve guide of an internal combustion engine. The sealing element converges radially inwardly, and upon installation of the assembly on a valve guide the outer surface of the sealing element bends further radially inwardly to effectively seal the top surface of the guide. The seal body includes a stem sealing aperture, which in one preferred embodiment is designed to engage the valve stem without a spring. In a same or similar embodiment, the shell contains a circumferential array of tangs for retention of the assembly on the guide.

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Richmond, IN, United States of America

J Dudley Binford