Method and apparatus for controlling a switchable cam follower
An internal combustion engine is equipped to supply the camshaft bearings with pressurized oil via a first dedicated oil gallery independently of the hydraulic lash adjusters (HLAs) and any valve deactivation devices which are supplied from a second dedicated oil gallery. The galleries may be connected at their downstream ends and a flow restriction is placed in a connecting passage or within each HLA. An improved HLA is similar to a prior art HLA except that the prior art annular oil distribution groove in the outer surface of the HLA body is eliminated to prevent communication of the primary engine oil gallery with the HLA. The secondary gallery is formed remotely from the first oil gallery in the HLA residence bore in the engine, and the HLA is prevented from rotating within the residence bore.
The present invention relates to variable valve activation mechanisms for combustion valves of internal combustion engines; more particularly, to methods and apparatus for controllably supplying activating engine oil to such variable valve activation mechanisms including switchable cam followers; and most particularly, to an improved hydraulic lash adjuster and control scheme for such controllable valve actuation.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONMechanisms for varying the valve timing and/or lift of combustion valves in internal combustion engines are well known. A typical prior art selective valve deactivation mechanism includes a switchable cam follower such as an articulated two-step deactivation roller finger follower (DRFF) disposed between an engine camshaft lobe and a valve stem. The DRFF includes a hydraulically-actuated lock pin to engage or disengage the articulated members. In one example of a DRFF, the lock pin is engaged between the articulated members by a return spring, such that the valve train is in high-lift mode by default at shutdown or other times as desired. The lock pins are disengaged by application of high pressure hydraulic fluid, typically engine oil provided by the engine's oil distribution system to overcome the return spring. The DRFF is pivoted on a hydraulic lash adjuster (HLA) at an end opposite to the valve-engaging end. The HLA is mounted rotatably about its axis in a residence bore in the engine, typically in the engine head. The HLA is supplied with engine oil from a molded or bored engine gallery to feed the lash adjuster mechanism therein, and oil also flows from the HLA to the DRFF through a central opening in the ball head of the HLA and a mating passage in the DRFF. When oil is supplied through the engine gallery at low pressure, the lock pin spring overcomes the oil pressure and the DRFF is in high-lift mode. To overcome the lock pin spring, the oil pressure is increased via a regulating oil control valve (ROCV) to a higher pressure sufficient to cause the lock pin to be retracted, placing the DRFF in low-lift or no-lift mode. The engine oil gallery thus doubles as a switching gallery and an oil supply gallery for top engine functions such as camshaft bearings.
A problem arises in using a single oil gallery in such a dual mode in that the pressure logic of a deactivation application mandates that oil pressure in the gallery be low (lock pin engaged, valves actuated) at the highest engine speeds and load conditions. Under these conditions, the camshaft bearings, which are oiled from the same gallery, are subjected to highest load and lowest oil flow which can result in premature bearing wear or outright failure.
One known approach to preventing this problem is to provide a second gallery adjacent the first gallery specifically for supplying the DRFF and to relegate the primary gallery to satisfying the lash adjustment and camshaft bearing lubrication requirements. This approach avoids the necessity for an ROCV, which is both bulky and expensive, but it requires significant changes in the prior art HLA design to provide independent oil feeds for the lash adjustment and switching functions. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,047,925, depicting a dual feed HLA. Such designs significantly reduce the volume of the HLA low-pressure chamber, raising concerns for potential noise upon cold start of the engine. Further, it can be difficult and expensive to provide two adjacent galleries so close together within the engine block; and further, significant leakage can occur between the two galleries along the wall of the HLA residence bore.
Instead of using a ROCV, the function may be provided by a combination of a three-way on/off valve in the switching gallery coupled to a pressure relief valve and an in-line flow restrictor to maintain low switching pressure at between about 0.3 bar and about 0.8 bar. However, this approach can be difficult to package on existing engine block or head arrangements because of the common oil gallery shared by the HLAs and the cam bearings.
What is needed in the art is an HLA arrangement that may be packaged in an existing head wherein the camshaft bearings are lubricated via an existing first oil gallery and the HLA switching and lash adjusting functions are satisfied, at least in part, from a second, independently controlled oil gallery remote from the first oil gallery, and wherein the first and second galleries are readily purged of air.
It is a principal object of the present invention to separate the camshaft oil supply requirements from the HLA oil supply requirements while using a common engine oil pressurizing pump.
It is a further object of the present invention to readily and automatically purge all oil galleries of air.
It is a still further object of the present invention to require the minimum changes in prior art engine casting molds by utilizing the existing HLA oil supply gallery and providing a second oil supply gallery.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONBriefly described, an internal combustion engine is equipped to supply the camshaft bearings with pressurized oil via a first dedicated oil gallery independently of the hydraulic lash adjusters and any valve deactivation devices which are supplied from a second dedicated oil gallery. To improve air purging of both galleries, the galleries are connected and a small-orifice flow restriction is placed either in a connecting passage between the first and second galleries or within the HLAs themselves. In an aspect of the present invention, the primary engine oil gallery is as in the prior art, to minimize required retooling of engine molds. An improved hydraulic lash adjuster, formed in accordance with the invention, is identical with a prior art HLA except that the prior art annular oil distribution groove in the outer surface of the body is eliminated to prevent communication of the primary engine oil gallery with the HLA. The secondary gallery is formed remotely from the first oil gallery in the HLA residence bore in the engine, and the HLA is prevented from rotating within the residence bore. Thus, the HLA can communicate for actuation with only the new, second oil gallery. Forming the improved HLA requires only the omission of the prior art annular oil groove in the HLA body and provision for non-rotation of the improved HLA.
The present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
The advantages and benefits of an oil supply system in accordance with the invention may be better appreciated by first considering three prior art systems.
Referring to
Referring now to
There is no ROCV in this second prior art system. Rather, a three-way on/off valve 250 controlled by an engine control module (not shown) governs flow of oil into switching gallery 244. Oil flow into switching gallery 244 is either at high pressure 108 or a very low pressure 254. Although the three-way valve 250 is only either open or closed, a bypass “bleed” 252 preferably is provided to maintain a slight charge pressure 254 in switching gallery 244, as is desirable for some valve deactivation systems.
Prior art system 200 desirably divorces the lash adjusting and cam bearing lubrication functions from the valve deactivation functions. However, the presence of conventional oil gallery 112 where formed in existing engine heads leaves little room for the addition of a switching gallery 244 adjacent thereto. Further, a longer HLA is required, having in some designs a two-piece plunger, and the volume of the low-pressure reservoir is quite small, making an engine equipped with this system vulnerable to cold-starting clatter.
Referring to
Again, there is no ROCV in this third prior art system. Rather, a three-way on/off valve 350 governs flow of oil into switching gallery 244. Oil flow into switching gallery 244 is either at low pressure 334 (
Third prior art system 300 achieves the objective of divorcing cam bearing lubrication from HLA activities while utilizing a substantially unmodified production HLA such as HLA 116 (
Referring now to
As in prior art embodiment 300, there is no ROCV in first improved oil supply system 400. Rather, a three-way on/off valve 350 governs flow of oil into switching gallery 244. Oil flow into switching gallery 244 is either at low pressure 434 (
First improved oil supply system 400 achieves the objective of divorcing cam bearing lubrication from HLA activities while utilizing a minimally modified production HLA such as HLA 116 (
System 400 also provides several other important advantages not available in the prior art. First, any air bubbles in either of the oil galleries are automatically purged through pressure relief valve 356 when the system is in low pressure mode as shown in
Referring now to
As just described, in system 400 the ends of the conventional and switching galleries 112,244 are joined via a connector 453 containing flow restrictor 452. In the low pressure mode (
In system 500, the ends of galleries 112,244 are not joined except through the final HLA in an engine bank; thus there are still no dead flow legs. However, in this embodiment, the pressure reducing flow restrictions are located in the body of the HLA rather than in connector 453 as in system 400.
Each HLA 516 (
An added advantage of systems 400 and 500 is that in high-pressure mode (
The benefits of improved oil distribution systems in accordance with the invention may be summarized as follows:
a) they utilize a smaller, faster, and less expensive on/off OCV than the ROCV of the prior art;
b) they utilize two separate oil galleries to avoid cam bearing lubrication concerns, especially in valve-deactivation applications;
c) the conventional and switching oil galleries are in communication for excellent purging of air and have no dead legs;
d)) the conventional and switching oil galleries are on opposite sides of the residence bore for the HLA;
e) the low pressure limit for default operation of an associated DRFF can be set lower than for a prior art ROCV system, which aids switching performance;
f) The conventional oil gallery remains positioned as in prior art engines, requiring minimal retooling of engine molds; and
g) although a modified HLA is required, the necessary changes involve less risk than for the prior art dual feed system 200; further, only the HLA body requires modification, so the advantages of the prior art single-piece plunger can be retained.
While the invention has been described by reference to various specific embodiments, it should be understood that numerous changes may be made within the spirit and scope of the inventive concepts described. Accordingly, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the described embodiments, but will have full scope defined by the language of the following claims.
Claims
1. In an internal combustion engine having at least one camshaft bearing, at least one hydraulic lash adjuster disposed in a residence bore formed in said engine, and at least one switchable cam follower actuated by hydraulic fluid fed from the hydraulic lash adjuster, a system for controllably supplying hydraulic fluid to the camshaft bearing and to the hydraulic lash adjuster, comprising:
- a) a first hydraulic gallery in said engine for supplying said hydraulic fluid at a first pressure from a pressurized source to said camshaft bearing;
- b) a second hydraulic gallery in said engine for supplying said hydraulic fluid at a second pressure from said pressurized source to said hydraulic lash adjuster.
- c) a valve for variably connecting said second hydraulic gallery to said pressurized source; and
- d) a fluid connector in fluid communication with said first and second hydraulic galleries, said connector including a flow-restricting orifice,
- wherein said first and second hydraulic galleries are independently disposed on sides of said residence bore, and
- wherein said hydraulic lash adjuster includes a hydraulic lash adjuster mechanism, said lash adjuster further comprising a low pressure chamber in fluid communication with the hydraulic lash adjuster mechanism and the switchable cam follower.
2. A system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said valve is a three-way on/off valve.
3. A system in accordance with claim 2 further comprising a pressure relief valve in fluid communication with said three-way on/off valve for selective connection to said second hydraulic gallery.
4. A system in accordance with claim 3 wherein a first position of said three-way on/off valve prohibits flow of said hydraulic fluid from said pressurized source through said valve to said second hydraulic gallery, and wherein a second position of said three-way on/off valve permits flow of said hydraulic fluid from said pressurized source through said valve to said second hydraulic gallery.
5. A system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said hydraulic fluid is engine oil supplied from an engine sump.
6. A system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said fluid connecting passage is connected between the distal ends of said first and second hydraulic galleries.
7. A system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said flow-restricting orifice is formed in a body of said hydraulic lash adjuster.
8. A system in accordance with claim 7 wherein the first gallery intersects the resident bore and is in flow communication with said low pressure chamber through said orifice.
9. A system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said flow-restricting orifice is disposed in a connecting passage, said connecting passage connecting said first and second hydraulic galleries.
10. A system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said hydraulic lash adjuster includes a body having a cylindrical outer surface unfeatured by an annular groove.
11. A system in accordance with claim 8 wherein one of said hydraulic lash adjuster or said resident bore includes an anti-rotation feature whereby axial rotation of said body relative to said resident bore is limited.
12. A multiple-cylinder internal combustion engine comprising:
- a) at least one camshaft bearing;
- b) at least one hydraulic lash adjuster disposed in a residence bore formed in said engine;
- c) at least one switchable cam follower actuated by hydraulic fluid fed from said hydraulic lash adjuster; and
- d) a system for controllably supplying hydraulic fluid to said camshaft bearing and to said hydraulic lash adjuster, including a first hydraulic gallery in said engine for supplying said hydraulic fluid from a pressurized source to said camshaft bearing; a second hydraulic gallery in said engine for supplying said hydraulic fluid from said pressurized source to said hydraulic lash adjuster. a valve for variably connecting said second hydraulic gallery to said pressurized source; and a fluid connector in fluid communication with said first and second hydraulic galleries, said connector including a flow-restricting orifice, wherein said first and second hydraulic galleries are independently disposed on sides of said residence bore, and wherein said hydraulic lash adjuster includes a hydraulic lash adjuster mechanism, said lash adjuster further comprising a low pressure chamber in fluid communication with the hydraulic lash adjuster mechanism and the switchable cam follower.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 14, 2006
Publication Date: Feb 14, 2008
Inventor: Nick J. Hendriksma (Grand Rapids, MI)
Application Number: 11/503,776
International Classification: F01L 1/34 (20060101); F01L 1/14 (20060101);