Patents by Inventor Bodo Rörig

Bodo Rörig has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8136495
    Abstract: A switchable support element (1) for a valve train of an internal combustion engine, said support element (1) comprising a housing (2) that can be arranged through an outer peripheral wall (3) in a reception of the internal combustion engine and in whose bore (4) an axially movable inner element (6) extends, a head (5) of the inner element (6) protruding beyond an edge (7) of the housing (2), coupling elements (8) being associated to the inner element (6) for a selective coupling of the inner element (6) in an axially extended position of the inner element (6) to the housing (2), and said inner element (6) being biased by at least one lost motion spring (9) in a direction leading out of the housing (2), wherein the coupling elements (8) are at least one slide which, in case of uncoupling, is positioned in a guide (10) of the housing (2) extending in radial or secant direction and which comprises a flattened upper side (12) starting from a radially inner front end (11) of the slide, and this flattened upper si
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2012
    Assignee: Schaeffler KG
    Inventors: Joachim Seitz, Bodo Rörig
  • Patent number: 8006662
    Abstract: An inner lever (1) for a switchable finger lever (2) of a valve train of an internal combustion engine is provided, having a box-like main part (5) with two lateral walls (6), which are connected at a first end (7) by a transverse bar (8), which intrinsically includes a driver surface (9) for a coupling slide that can be guided longitudinally by the outer lever (3), and opposite from the first end (7), the lateral walls (6) have two strongly crimped together, thin-walled arms (10), which each extend in the direction toward the second end (11) of the inner lever (1) to form a longitudinal bar (12). The arms contact each other with their inner sides (15), and between the lateral walls (6), a cam contact surface (16) can be provided. The inner lever (1) made from thin-walled steel sheet metal at least to a large extent using punch-bending techniques.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2011
    Assignee: Schaeffler Technologies GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Bodo Rörig
  • Patent number: 7921821
    Abstract: A switchable finger lever (1) of a valve train of an internal combustion engine, said finger lever (1) comprising an outer lever (2) between whose arms (3) an inner lever (4) extends, a support (9) for at least one gas exchange valve being arranged on one end (7), said inner and outer levers (4, 2) extending on a common axle (10) in the region of said one end (7), said finger lever (1) further comprising a lost motion spring means (11) acting between said inner and outer levers (4, 2), said outer lever (2) possessing on the undersurface (8) on another end (12), a contact surface (13) for a support element, a coupling element (14) is arranged above or laterally of said contact surface (13), which coupling element (14), for realizing coupling, can be brought partially into engagement with an entraining surface (15) of an adjoining crossbar (16) of the inner lever (4), wherein the inner lever (4), starting from its crossbar (16) on the another end (12), merges into a box-like open center portion (17) having two
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2011
    Assignee: Schaeffler KG
    Inventors: Bodo Rörig, Joachim Seitz
  • Patent number: 7797830
    Abstract: According to the present invention, an outer lever (1) of a finger lever (2) 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 (16) that is formed in a first step of the method, running contact surfaces (14, 15) for cams, preferably high-lift cams, are generated on upper sides (12, 13) of arms (4, 5) of the outer lever (1). Through the deep drawing method of the invention, only relatively low fabrication costs are to be expected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2010
    Assignee: Schaeffler KG
    Inventors: Bodo Rörig, Peter Spitzer
  • Patent number: 7762224
    Abstract: A switchable support element (1) comprising a housing (2) in whose bore (4) an axially displaceable pressure piston (7) extends, said support element (1) comprising at least one coupling element (8) for an optional coupling of the pressure piston (7) in its axially extended position relative to the housing (2), said pressure piston (7) being biased in an outward direction from the housing (2) by at least one lost motion spring (9).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2010
    Assignee: Schaeffler KG
    Inventors: Bodo Rörig, Joachim Seitz, Robert Heinemann
  • Publication number: 20100059001
    Abstract: A switchable support element (1) for a valve train of an internal combustion engine, said support element (1) comprising a housing (2) that can be arranged through an outer peripheral wall (3) in a reception of the internal combustion engine and in whose bore (4) an axially movable inner element (6) extends, a head (5) of the inner element (6) protruding beyond an edge (7) of the housing (2), coupling elements (8) being associated to the inner element (6) for a selective coupling of the inner element (6) in an axially extended position of the inner element (6) to the housing (2), and said inner element (6) being biased by at least one lost motion spring (9) in a direction leading out of the housing (2), wherein the coupling elements (8) are at least one slide which, in case of uncoupling, is positioned in a guide (10) of the housing (2) extending in radial or secant direction and which comprises a flattened upper side (12) starting from a radially inner front end (11) of the slide, and this flattened upper si
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 4, 2007
    Publication date: March 11, 2010
    Inventors: Joachim Seitz, Bodo Rörig
  • Patent number: 7503300
    Abstract: A switchable finger lever (1) for a valve drive of an internal combustion engine is provided. The inner lever (3) of the finger lever includes a piston (6) on one end thereof, that can be longitudinally displaced, and acts as a coupling element. The coupling element can be partially brought into contact with a driving surface (7) of an outer lever (2), and is provided, for example, with a rising radial profile (13) in the coupling region thereof, and from the front (12) in the coupling direction. The driving surface (7) of the outer lever (2) also has a conical contour which follows the profile (13). During coupling, a contact point (K) of the piston (6) is located on the driving surface (7) in a region of half a depth thereof. In this way, the formation of undesired edge supports is prevented during coupling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2009
    Assignee: Schaeffler KG
    Inventors: Joachim Seitz, Bodo Rörig
  • Patent number: 6976461
    Abstract: The invention proposes a switchable finger lever (1) for a valve train of an internal combustion engine having a compact structure. Through the inner lever (5) of the finger lever (1) it is possible, on the one hand, to realize a support on a gas exchange valve and, on the other hand, a mounting on a head of a support element. An outer lever (2) surrounds the inner lever (5) in longitudinal direction with its arms (3a, 3b) and is pivoted away from the inner lever (5) for effecting uncoupling. The outer lever (2) is mounted for pivoting on a cross axle (14) that extends through the inner element (5) axially above the support (8) for the gas exchange valve. At the same time, coupling elements (6) displaceable in crosswise direction are arranged axially above a complementary surface (9) that serves as a support on the support element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2005
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2005
    Assignee: Ina-Schaeffler KG
    Inventors: Bodo Rörig, Michael Haas
  • Patent number: 6948466
    Abstract: The invention proposes a finger lever (1) of a valve train of an internal combustion engine, said finger lever (1) being switchable to different valve lifts for at least one gas exchange valve and comprising an outer lever (2) having two arms (3a, 3b) between which an inner lever (4) is arranged for pivoting relative to the outer lever (2), which outer and inner levers (2, 4) can be coupled to each other by a coupling means (15), the outer lever (2) comprising on one closed end (5), a support (5a) for a gas exchange valve and the finger lever (1) comprising on an opposite end (6), a complementary surface (7, 30) for a support element, the inner lever (4) having a fulcrum (10) in a region of the opposite end (6), and at least this inner lever (4) comprising a contact surface (11) for a cam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2005
    Assignee: INA-Schaeffler KG
    Inventors: Michael Haas, Martin Rauch, Bodo Rörig, Dieter Schmidt, Jens Artmann
  • Patent number: 6901894
    Abstract: A finger lever (1) of a valve train of an internal combustion engine, said finger lever (1) being switchable to different valve lifts for at least one gas exchange valve and comprising an outer lever (2) having two arms (3a, 3b) between which an inner lever (4) is arranged for pivoting relative to the outer lever (2), which outer and inner levers (2, 4) can be coupled to each other by a coupling means (15), the outer lever (2) comprising on one closed end (5), a support (5a) for a gas exchange valve and the finger lever (1) comprising on an opposite end (6), a complementary surface (7, 30) for a support element, the inner lever (4) having a fulcrum (10) in a region of the opposite end (6), and at least this inner lever (4) comprising a contact surface (11) for a cam whereby in the finger lever (1), the outer lever (2) has a substantially open fork-like configuration, the contact surface (11) for the cam on the inner lever (4) is configured as a rotatable roller (12) and the coupling means (15) comprises at le
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2005
    Assignee: INA-Schaeffler KG
    Inventors: Michael Haas, Martin Rauch, Bodo Rörig, Dieter Schmidt, Jens Artmann
  • Patent number: 6655333
    Abstract: In a valve train of an internal combustion engine having a switchable support element (1), the lost motion spring (18) of the support element (1) is arranged axially offset next to the support element (1) while being coupled to an inner element (3) of the support element (1) by a crossbar (20). Due to this externally positioned spring (18), the support element (1) requires only a relatively small design space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2003
    Assignee: Ina Walzlager Schaeffler oHG
    Inventors: Joachim Seitz, Michael Haas, Bodo Rörig, Dicter Schmidt
  • Patent number: 6460495
    Abstract: In a switchable support element (1) for a valve train of an internal combustion engine, the lost motion spring (8) of the valve train is made as a torsion spring. This spring is arranged outside of the support element (1) and only the legs and the arms of the spring engage a housing and a head, respectively. In this way, the support element (1) requires no substantially larger design space than non-switchable prior art elements, particularly in axial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2002
    Assignee: Ina Walzlager Schaeffler oHG
    Inventors: Joachim Seitz, Dieter Schmidt, Michael Haas, Bodo Rörig
  • Patent number: 6435148
    Abstract: A switchable support element (1) requiring only a small design space. For this purpose, a slide (12) that serves to couple an inner element (6) to an outer housing (3) in the support element (1) is positioned laterally in a housing (2) arranged in the cylinder head (5). At the same time, a bore (8) in the inner element (6) for the slide (12) is made as a pocket bore, the housing (2) being seated through an annular extension (11) directly in a bore (9) of the outer housing (3).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2001
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2002
    Assignee: INA Walzlager Schaeffler oHG
    Inventors: Michael Haas, Bodo Rörig, Dieter Schmidt, Joachim Seitz
  • Patent number: 6425358
    Abstract: A switchable, hydraulic support element (1) requiring only a small design space is proposed. For achieving this, a bore (16) for a slide (23) is arranged laterally of a pressure piston (10) of a hydraulic clearance compensation element (11) in the inner element (7) and is configured as a pocket bore. This dispenses with the stacked arrangement of the bore in the inner element and the clearance compensation element on top of each other as seen in prior art. At the same time, the slide (23) is installed in a housing (19) that extends in the cylinder head (5).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2002
    Assignee: Ina Walzlager Schaeffler oHG
    Inventors: Michael Haas, Bodo Rörig, Dieter Schmidt, Joachim Seitz