Schaeffler Technologies Ag & Co .Kg

William Carter

Jesse Myers

Henning Karbstein

David Kehr

Richard Baker

Mark D Sullivan

Michael Turner

Lutz Kirbach

James Westbrook

Benjamin McAuley

A rocker arm assembly which has an anti-inversion part that prevents a support pin from inverting and, thus, ensuring proper orientation of the support pin, on which a rocker arm is rotatably mounted, is maintained. The anti-inversion part can be incorporated on the support pin, the inner sleeve or the outer sleeve and/or a combination of the support pin, the inner sleeve and/or the outer sleeve.

Rocker arm assembly with integrated support pin anti-inversion feature

The rocker arm assembly has an anti-inversion part that prevents a support pin from inverting, ensuring proper orientation of the support pin, on which a rocker arm is rotatably mounted, is maintained. The anti-inversion part can be a washer, a plate, a plug, or a sleeve. The washer, which has a flat face and a curved face, is intended for use with a cylindrical support pin which matches the curved face of the washer. The plate can include various combinations of tabs, flanges, and/or protrusions that extend in different directions. The plug can resemble any desirable shape, and is removed prior to final assembly. The sleeve can be hollow and is removable.

Rocker arm assembly with an anti-inversion feature

The invention proposes a valve train () of an internal combustion engine comprising a tappet () and a tappet pushrod () that is actuated by said tappet (), said tappet pushrod () being at least partly hollow and comprising on one end (), a first support () for a pressure piston () of a hydraulic lash adjuster () of said tappet () that follows a periodic driving element such as a cam. A second support () for a follower member () such as a rocker arm is arranged on a further end () of the tappet pushrod (). The first support () comprises a passage () for hydraulic medium that can be routed out of the pressure piston () during operation of the internal combustion engine into an interior () of the tappet pushrod (), a one-way valve means () being installed in the tappet pushrod () for retaining a hydraulic medium column during a standstill of the internal combustion engine. In this way, an additional reservoir for hydraulic medium is created that serves for the rapid filling of the pressure piston () immediately after a re-starting of the internal combustion engine.

Valve train of an internal combustion engine comprising a tappet and a tappet pushrod

The invention proposes a valve train of an internal combustion engine comprising a tappet () and a tappet pushrod () that is actuated by said tappet (), said tappet pushrod () being at least partly hollow and comprising on one end (), a first support () for an at least indirectly contacting pressure piston () of a hydraulic lash adjuster () of said tappet () that follows a periodic driving element, typically a cam. A second support () for a follower member (), typically a rocker arm, is arranged on a further end () of the tappet pushrod (). The first support () comprises a passage () for hydraulic medium that can be routed out of the pressure piston () during operation of the internal combustion engine into an interior () of the tappet pushrod (), wherein a pipette means () is installed in the tappet pushrod () for retaining a hydraulic medium column during a standstill of the internal combustion engine. Through the pipette means () of the invention, an additional volume of hydraulic medium is available for a rapid filling of the reservoir enclosed by the pressure piston () with pressure medium after a re-starting of the internal combustion engine, so that a proper lash adjusting operation is guaranteed from the very beginning.

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Cheraw, SC, United States of America

William Carter