The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 31, 2017
Filed:
Feb. 17, 2016
Ford Global Technologies, Llc, Dearborn, MI (US);
Rick L. Williams, Canton, MI (US);
Jeffrey Eliot Chottiner, Farmington Hills, MI (US);
Ford Global Technologies, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US);
Abstract
It is common for crankshafts of internal combustion engines to have main bearing journals provided between each of the conrod bearing journals. However, to reduce engine friction, the fewest main bearing journals that can be used while still meeting the design targets is preferred. A crankshaft for an in-line, four-cylinder engine, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, has three main bearing journals. Bridges, one each located between first and second conrod bearing journals and between third and fourth conrod bearing journals. The bridges have a cross-section with at least two concavities to improve the strength of the bridge compared to, for example, a cylindrical bridge, without greatly increasing the mass of material used in the bridge. Furthermore, a locus of a centroid of cross sections through the bridge are not coincident with an axis of rotation of the crankshaft, but instead is displaced toward the nearer conrod bearing journal.