Abstract: This invention provides a product comprised of a substrate with a rubber composition attached to the substrate by at least one interlayer of a polysilsesquioxane composition having phosphate cross-linkages. The at least one polysilsesquioxane layer having phosphate cross-linkages is produced from a mixture of a silane coupling agent and a phosphatizing reagent.

Abstract: A high strength, low friction engineered material includes a low friction material filling interstices of a metal microlattice. The metal typically comprises 5 volume % to 25 volume % and the interstices typically comprise 75 volume % to 95 volume %, based on the total volume of the metal microlattice and the interstices. The low friction material preferably fills 100 volume % of the interstices. The metal microlattice can be formed of a single layer, or multiple layers, for example layers of nickel, copper, and tin. The low friction material is typically a polymer, such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyamide (PAI), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polyethylene (PE), or polyoxymethylene (POM). The low friction material can also include additive particles to modify the material properties. The engineered material can be used in various automotive applications, for example as a bearing, or non-automotive applications.

Abstract: A wrist pin and method of reducing wear between members thereof, a piston, a connecting rod, and methods of construction thereof are provided. The wrist pin has a first portion extending between opposite ends configured for receipt in piston pin bores and a second portion extending between opposite ends configured for receipt in the pin bores. The second portion is configured for relative movement with the first portion. The piston includes a piston body having axially aligned pin bores, wherein at least one of the pin bores has a feature to prevent relative rotation of a wrist pin member. The connecting rod includes a connecting rod body having small end bore. The small end bore has a contour to allow relative rotation of a first wrist pin member therein and a feature to prevent relative rotation of a second wrist pin member therein.

Abstract: A vehicle lamp socket assembly includes a housing, a body, a sealant, and a terminal blade. The housing has a cavity and has a connector with a socket. The housing also has a pass-through spanning between the cavity and the socket. In assembly, the body is received in the housing and has a retainer that holds a vehicle lamp. The sealant is located at the pass-through and fills a section or more of the pass-through. And the terminal blade extends through the pass-through and through the sealant.

Abstract: An optical coupler for a vehicle lighting system includes a housing having first and second openings, each opening having an optical axis passing through the opening into the housing, with the optical axes of the openings forming an obtuse angle. The optical coupler has one or more optics carried by the housing and arranged between the openings such that light entering the first opening along its optical axis passes through the one or more optics and exits through the second opening along the other optical axis. The optic(s) may include a first Fresnellian surface adjacent the first opening and a second Fresnellian surface adjacent the second opening such that light passing through the optical coupler from the first opening to the second opening passes through both Fresnellian surfaces and is redirected from the optical axis of the first opening to the optical axis of the second opening.

Abstract: A method of making a windscreen wiper device is provided. The method includes the step of preparing a wiper strip and at least one carrier element in engagement with the wiper strip. The at least one carrier element extends in a longitudinal direction between opposite ends to bias the wiper strip into a predetermined configuration. The method proceeds with sliding a first component of a frame structure onto one of the ends of the at least one carrier element and sliding a second component of the frame structure onto one of the ends of the carrier element. The method continues with the step of coupling the first and second components of the frame structure with one another only after the first and second components are both slid into engagement with the at least one carrier element.

Abstract: A method of constructing a piston, piston formed thereby, and piston body portions are provided. The method includes providing an upper crown portion at least one annular upper rib depending from the upper combustion wall to a free end having a tapered peak. The method further includes providing a lower crown portion having at least one annular lower rib extending to a free end having a tapered peak. Then, moving the upper crown portion and the lower crown portion toward one another and initiating contact between the upper crown portion and the lower crown portion at their respective tapered peaks. Then, continuing moving the upper crown and the lower crown further toward one another after making initial contact at their respective tapered peaks and forming a friction weld joint between the free ends of the at least one upper rib and the at least one lower rib free end.

Abstract: A steel piston with an oil gallery, and process for forming a steel piston oil gallery channel, which corresponds to the complex shape of the combustion bowl in the piston crown. The oil gallery channel is first forged to the basic shape that corresponds to the shape of the walls of the combustion bowl. Machine-turning surfaces in the oil gallery channel can be machine-finished as desired. Surfaces in the oil gallery which cannot be machined with conventional turning operations, such as recesses and protrusions into the channel, are left in the original forged condition.

Abstract: A piston ring is provided having a bottom surface, a top surface, an inner diameter surface and at least one running surface. A wear protection coating substantially entirely of cobalt is applied to the at least one running surface to protect the base material of the piston ring. Specifically, during operation of an engine, the more durable cobalt wear resistant coating, not the base material which may be steel or cast iron, is in sliding contact with a cylinder wall. The cobalt coating may be applied through, for example, electrodeposition or plasma spraying.

Abstract: A piston ring for sealing a cylinder wall to a piston body is provided. The piston ring includes a ring body that extends about an axis and has inner and outer faces. The inner face presents a pair of ridges that extend in a radially inward direction, and the outer face presents a groove. A spring of an elastomeric material substantially circumferentially surrounds the ring body and is seated in the groove on the inner face. The spring biases the ring body in the radially inward direction to seal the ridges against the piston body. The ring body also has at least one oil drainage port which extends at an angle relative to the radially inward direction from the inner face to a location on the outer face on one axial side of the spring for conveying oil out of a space between the ridges.

Abstract: A cylinder liner for an engine block assembly of an internal combustion engine is provided. The cylinder liner includes a liner member formed of cast iron and presenting an outer surface. A first portion of the outer surface of the liner member is machined to a reduced outside diameter. An aluminum-based material is then thermally sprayed onto the machined first portion, while a second portion of the outer surface remains uncoated. The coated cylinder liner is then placed in a mold, and another aluminum-based material is cast around the coated cylinder liner to form the engine block assembly. During the casting process, the two aluminum-based materials form a strong intermetallic bond between the liner member and the engine block.

Abstract: A piston ring formed of cast iron provides improved machinability and exceptional performance and minimum costs. The cast iron includes 2.2 to 2.9 wt. % carbon, 3.2 to 4.2 wt. % silicon, 0.75 to 1.25 wt. % copper, 1.0 to 1.5 wt. % manganese, 0.09 to 0.15 wt. % sulfur, not greater than 0.2 wt. % phosphorous, and an average carbon equivalent of 3.8. The cast iron preferably includes a matrix of martensite with MnS and carbides dispersed therein. The matrix is also preferably free of ferrite, austenite, and steadite. The cast iron is formed by casting, austenitizing, quenching, and tempering the alloy.

Abstract: A piston assembly having a piston member and a connecting rod. The piston member has a crown portion and a lower portion bonded together with a cooling gallery formed between them. The connecting rod has a ball end which is positioned in a socket in the piston member. In one embodiment, the ball end can have two flat surfaces and be held in position by C-clips. In another embodiment, the ball end is cylindrically shaped and the socket has a corresponding shape.

Abstract: An ultrasonic welding tool fabricated of powder metal material includes a body and a welding tip extending axially from the body to a working end. The powder metal material can be ferrous-based and admixed with additives, such as alumina, carbide, ferro-molybdenum, ferro-nickel, chrome or tribaloy. An exposed surface of the welding tip can comprise Fe3O4 oxides. The tool is compacted to the desired shape and sintered. The body can include a different second material compacted separately from the welding tip and then joined to the tip and sintered.

Abstract: A piston assembly transportation and assembly apparatus and methods of transporting and installing a piston assembly therewith are provided. The apparatus maintains a piston assembly in its assembled state during transportation without allowing damage and contamination to the piston assembly. The apparatus also facilitates storage and installation of the piston assembly into a cylinder bore. The apparatus includes a housing having a bore bounded by an inner cylindrical surface extending from a first end of the housing toward a second end of the housing. A chamfered surface diverges radially outwardly from the first end to mate with an upper surface of a stuffing cone during assembly. The second end has a wall extending radially inwardly from the inner cylindrical surface to axially confront an upper crown of the piston assembly to both prevent the piston assembly from passing though the apparatus and to prevent contamination from entering the apparatus.

Abstract: A piston for an internal combustion engine is provided. The piston includes a piston body which is made of steel. The piston body has a crown portion with an upper combustion surface, a pair of skirts which depend from the crown surface, a pair of pin bosses for receiving a wrist pin and a plurality of pin boss bridges which extend from the pin bosses to the skirts. Each of the pin boss bridges extends axially to a lower end which is opposite of the crown portion and has a rib with an increased thickness at its lower end. At least one of the pin boss bridges has a generally flat counter-bore surface for providing a reference location for machining of the piston body.

Abstract: A self-locating light source module for an automotive lamp assembly having a reflector and housing to which the module is mounted. The light source module includes a socket and a light source holder captively retained in an aperture of the socket. The light source holder can undergo limited movement relative to the socket along a plurality of axes, including a central axis of the socket. The light source holder and central passage in the reflector having complementary tapered surfaces with the holder being biased into engagement with the passage such that the tapered surfaces and permitted relative movement of the holder allow the light source to self-locate at the desired position within the reflector.

Abstract: The invention provides a low tension piston ring having a finished outer diameter and negligible tangential tension. The method includes the steps of machining a stock bar to an initial outer diameter slightly greater than the finished outer diameter of the piston ring, finishing the initial outer diameter of the stock bar to a rounded profile having a nominal diameter equal to the finished outer diameter, and machining the stock bar to the preferred cross-section. Dykes-type piston rings can have keystone or semi-keystone shaped cross-sections. The method continues by detaching the piston ring from the stock bar using a parting tool in response to completing all tension inducing operations including the steps recited above. The method continues with the steps of lapping the piston ring to a final longitudinal thickness and cutting the piston ring longitudinally to form a final gap.

Abstract: A steel piston with an oil gallery, and process for forming a steel piston oil gallery channel, which corresponds to the complex shape of the combustion bowl in the piston crown. The piston crown is made by a cast metal or powder metal forming process. The oil gallery channel is formed to the basic shape that corresponds to the shape of the walls of the combustion bowl. Machine-turning surfaces in the oil gallery channel can be machine-finished as desired. Surfaces in the oil gallery which cannot be machined with conventional turning operations, such as recesses and protrusions into the channel, are left in the original as-formed condition.

Abstract: An engine maintenance kit and multi-use container assembly (28). The multi-use container (28) includes a base (30) and a separable lid (32) that is fitted at its uppermost end with a pour spout (46). A funnel portion (50) is formed integrally in the lid (32) and serves to facilitate the filling of fresh, unused oil from a bottle (24) into an engine (12). The base (30) serves as an oil pan for capturing waste oil (56) during the maintenance process. Following an oil change, the lid (32) is returned to the base (30) for securely transporting the waste oil (56) to an appropriate collection center.