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: 7900591
    Abstract: The invention proposes a switchable component (1) for a valve train of an internal combustion engine, said component (1) comprising a housing (2) in whose bore (3) an axially displaceable inner element (4) comprising coupling elements (5) is received, said coupling elements (5), for effecting coupling, being able to be brought partially into engagement with an entraining surface (6) of the housing (2), the inner element (4) being biased in outward direction from the housing (2) by a lost motion spring (7), and an (outer) anti-rotation device (11) extending from an outer casing (10) of the housing (2) projects beyond a surrounding structure (12a), the outer anti-rotation device (11) is configured as a C-shaped, thin-walled ring (13) comprising a slit (12), said ring (13) extends after the manner of a clip in an annular groove (14) in the outer casing (10) of the housing (2) parallel to a transversal plane of the component (1) and, for effecting outer anti-rotation, said ring (13) projects with a sickle-like po
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2011
    Assignee: Schaeffler KG
    Inventors: Bodo Roerig, Joachim Seitz, Robert Heinemann
  • Patent number: 7827953
    Abstract: The invention proposes a switchable support element (1) for a valve train of an internal combustion engine, said support element comprising a housing (2) in whose bore (3) an axially displaceable inner element (4) is received, a coupling means (6) extending in the inner element (4) can be brought partially into engagement with an entraining surface (7) of the housing (2) for achieving coupling, and said support element (1) further comprising at least one vertical stop means (10) that overlaps an annular groove (9) between the inner element (4) and the housing (2) for defining a coupling position of said coupling means (6) with coupling lash relative to said entraining surface (7), the vertical stop means (10) is constituted by at least one thin-walled ring comprising a slot (11), the ring is placed or slipped, slot (11) ahead, onto an outer peripheral surface (12) of the housing (2) to extend parallel to a transverse plane of the support element (1), the housing (2) comprises at least one aperture (13) throug
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2010
    Assignee: Schaeffler KG
    Inventors: Bodo Roerig, Joachim Seitz, Matthew Evans, Robert Heinemann, Tracy Novinski
  • 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
  • Publication number: 20090095240
    Abstract: The invention proposes a switchable component (1) for a valve train of an internal combustion engine, said component (1) comprising a housing (2) in whose bore (3) an axially displaceable inner element (4) comprising coupling elements (5) is received, said coupling elements (5), for effecting coupling, being able to be brought partially into engagement with an entraining surface (6) of the housing (2), the inner element (4) being biased in outward direction from the housing (2) by a lost motion spring (7), and an (outer) anti-rotation device (11) extending from an outer casing (10) of the housing (2) projects beyond a surrounding structure (12a), the outer anti-rotation device (11) is configured as a C-shaped, thin-walled ring (13) comprising a slit (12), said ring (13) extends after the manner of a clip in an annular groove (14) in the outer casing (10) of the housing (2) parallel to a transversal plane of the component (1) and, for effecting outer anti-rotation, said ring (13) projects with a sickle-like po
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 9, 2008
    Publication date: April 16, 2009
    Applicant: SCHAEFFLER KG
    Inventors: Bodo ROERIG, Joachim SEITZ, Robert HEINEMANN
  • 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
  • Publication number: 20090013943
    Abstract: The invention proposes a switchable support element (1) for a valve train of an internal combustion engine, said support element comprising a housing (2) in whose bore (3) an axially displaceable inner element (4) is received, a coupling means (6) extending in the inner element (4) can be brought partially into engagement with an entraining surface (7) of the housing (2) for achieving coupling, and said support element (1) further comprising at least one vertical stop means (10) that overlaps an annular groove (9) between the inner element (4) and the housing (2) for defining a coupling position of said coupling means (6) with coupling lash relative to said entraining surface (7), the vertical stop means (10) is constituted by at least one thin-walled ring comprising a slot (11), the ring is placed or slipped, slot (11) ahead, onto an outer peripheral surface (12) of the housing (2) to extend parallel to a transverse plane of the support element (1), the housing (2) comprises at least one aperture (13) throug
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 8, 2008
    Publication date: January 15, 2009
    Applicant: SCHAEFFLER KG
    Inventors: Bodo ROERIG, Joachim SEITZ, Matthew EVANS, Robert HEINEMANN, Tracy NOVINSKI
  • Patent number: 7302924
    Abstract: A switchable drag lever (1) of a valve timing mechanism of an internal combustion engine having an outer lever (2), and inner lever (5) extending in the cut-out (3) of the said outer lever (2) between its side walls (4), the drag lever (1) having a rest (9) for a gas exchange valve on an underside (7) at one end (8) and a pivoting bearing (11) for supporting element at the other end (10) with the levers (2,5) extending at the end (8) on a common pin (12).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2007
    Assignee: Schaeffler KG
    Inventors: Bodo Roerig, Stefan Gemein, Nicola Morelli
  • Patent number: 7240652
    Abstract: A switchable drag lever (1) of a valve timing mechanism of an internal combustion engine is proposed, having an outer lever (3) and an inner lever (4) which is arranged between the said outer lever (3). The drag lever (1) has a rest (7) for a gas exchange valve on an underside (5) at one end (6), and a pivoting bearing (9) for a supporting element on an underside (5) at the other end (8). The levers (3, 4) extend at one end (6) on a common pin (10). Receptacles (10a, 10b) for coupling means are provided which extend longitudinally at the end (8) facing away from the pin (10) and are aligned with respect to one another in the cam base circle. The side walls (2) of the outer lever (3) have contact faces (12) for lifting cams on their upper sides (11).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2007
    Assignee: Schaeffler KG
    Inventors: Bodo Roerig, Stefan Gemein, Nicola Morelli
  • Publication number: 20070028879
    Abstract: A switchable drag lever (1) of a valve timing mechanism of an internal combustion engine is proposed. The said switchable drag lever (1) has an outer lever (2), an inner lever (5) extending in the cut-out (3) of the said outer lever (2) between its side walls (4). The drag lever (1) has a rest (9) for a gas exchange valve on an underside (7) at one end (8) and a pivoting bearing (11) for a supporting element at the other end (10). The levers (2, 5) extend at the end (8) on a common pin (12). Receptacles (13, 14) for a coupling means are provided which extend longitudinally at the end (10) facing away from the pin (12) and are aligned with respect to one another in the cam base circle, which coupling means can be displaced for coupling in sections in or below the receptacle (14, 13) which lies opposite. The levers (2, 5) have cam contact faces (17, 18) on their upper sides (15, 16).
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 4, 2006
    Publication date: February 8, 2007
    Inventors: Bodo Roerig, Stefan Gemein, Nicola Morelli
  • Publication number: 20070000460
    Abstract: A switchable drag lever (1) of a valve timing mechanism of an internal combustion engine is proposed, having an outer lever (3) and an inner lever (4) which is arranged between the said outer lever (3). The drag lever (1) has a rest (7) for a gas exchange valve on an underside (5) at one end (6), and a pivoting bearing (9) for a supporting element on an underside (5) at the other end (8). The levers (3, 4) extend at one end (6) on a common pin (10). Receptacles (10a, 10b) for coupling means are provided which extend longitudinally at the end (8) facing away from the pin (10) and are aligned with respect to one another in the cam base circle. The side walls (2) of the outer lever (3) have contact faces (12) for lifting cams on their upper sides (11).
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 4, 2006
    Publication date: January 4, 2007
    Inventors: Bodo Roerig, Stefan Gemein, Nicola Morelli
  • 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