Schaeffler Technologies Ag & Co .kg

Ina Schaeffler Kg

Peter Spitzer

Bodo Rörig

Markus Proschko

Gerhard Eichner

According to the present invention, an outer lever () of a finger lever () that can be switched to different lifts for at least one gas exchange valve is made by a deep drawing method. A salient feature of the invention is that through a special trimming operation of the cup-shaped base body () that is formed in a first step of the method, running contact surfaces () for cams, preferably high-lift cams, are generated on upper sides () of arms () of the outer lever (). Through the deep drawing method of the invention, only relatively low fabrication costs are to be expected.

Method of making an outer lever of a switchable finger lever

According to the present invention, an outer lever () of a finger lever () that can be switched to different lifts for at least one gas exchange valve is made by a deep drawing method. A salient feature of the invention is that a cup-shaped base body () having an inverse U-shaped cross-section is deep drawn, and opposing running contact surfaces () for high-lift cams are created on arms () of the outer lever () by punching out a bottom () of the base body (). Through the deep drawing method of the invention, only relatively low fabrication costs are to be expected.

The invention concerns a finger lever () of a valve train of an internal combustion engine, said finger lever comprising two side walls () connected through a transverse portion (). The finger lever () further comprises on one end () of an underside () of the transverse portion (), a complementary cavity () for a head of a support element and additionally comprises on this one end (), a reception () for a coupling element () for optionally coupling the finger lever () to a further lever () for achieving different cam lifts. According to the invention, the two portions () are made in the form of a single assembled unit as a separate component. This is advantageous from the manufacturing point of view particularly if the levers () are made of sheet metal.

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Emskirchen, Germany

Peter Spitzer