ROLLER FINGER FOLLOWER WITH SWIVELABLE VALVE PALLET
A finger follower having an inner and outer body and a torsional lost motion spring acting between the bodies is provided. A roller cam follower is connected to the inner body. The inner body is switchable from a fixed state, in which it moves with the outer body to transfer a cam lift to a valve stem, to a released state, in which the inner body can move relative to the outer body so that the cam lift is not transferred to the valve stem. A separate valve pallet that acts on the valve stem is press fit or otherwise rotationally fixed on a pivot pin connecting the inner and outer bodies.
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The following documents are incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth: U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/589,505, filed Jan. 23, 2012.
FIELD OF INVENTIONThe invention relates to roller finger followers that are used in overhead cam type internal combustion engines and, more particularly, to switchable roller finger followers that have a lift and a no lift mode.
BACKGROUNDSwitchable roller finger followers that have at least one lift mode and a no lift mode are known. Typically, such finger followers have an outer elongated body, one end of which contacts a valve stem and operates on the valve stem, and a second end which is in contact with a hydraulic lash adjuster. The end which contacts the valve stem is formed on the outer elongated body and includes side walls to ensure that its position on the valve stem is maintained. This requires complex machining or formation of the outer elongated body. An inner elongated body is located in the outer elongated body and houses a cam follower that is contacted by the cam so as to provide motion to the finger follower to open or close the valve. The inner elongated body has two modes, a locked mode and an unlocked mode. A latching mechanism on the outer elongated body is used to lock the inner elongated body in a fixed position relative to the outer body. When the inner elongated body is locked in a stationary position, the cam which is fixed to the cam shaft of the engine translates movement to the finger follower which in turn translates into movement of the valve via the valve stem. In order to deactivate the finger follower, the latching mechanism is released and the inner elongated body is unlocked and can travel freely up and down in conjunction with the cam without transferring the cam motion to the outer body and valve stem.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,909,007 discloses a roller finger follower of this type. This provides a lost motion spring to maintain contact between the cam follower and the cam.
It would be desirable to provide a finger follower of the type noted above with simpler manufacturing and reduced costs.
SUMMARYA switchable roller finger follower is provided having an outer elongated body with a valve stem end, a lash adjuster end and two outer elongated body side walls. A first inner cavity is located in said outer elongated body. An inner elongated body is positioned in the first inner cavity and has a first end pivotally attached to the outer elongated body at the valve stem end via a pin. A second end of the inner elongated body is located adjacent to the lash adjuster end of the outer elongated body. A lost motion spring is located between the inner and outer elongated bodies. A latching mechanism is provided to lock the inner elongated body in a fixed position relative to the outer elongated body, and can be released in order to allow movement between the inner and outer elongated bodies. A valve stem pallet is located between the two outer elongated body side walls and is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the pivot pin. The valve stem pallet can be separately manufactured via cold forming, machining, punching and/or bending up sheet metal, or by various other methods. By separately forming the valve stem pallet from the outer elongated body, manufacturing is simplified and costs are reduced.
In another aspect of the invention, the motion of the valve stem pallet is limited by stops on or connected to the outer elongated body.
Other aspects of the invention are described below and in the claims, and have not been repeated here.
The foregoing Summary and the following detailed description will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention. In the drawings:
Certain terminology is used in the following description for convenience only and is not limiting. The words “front,” “rear,” “upper” and “lower” designate directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words “inwardly” and “outwardly” refer to directions toward and away from the parts referenced in the drawings. A reference to a list of items that are cited as “at least one of a, b, or c” (where a, b, and c represent the items being listed) means any single one of the items a, b, or c, or combinations thereof. The terminology includes the words specifically noted above, derivatives thereof and words of similar import.
An inner elongated body 40 is positioned in the first inner cavity 30. The inner elongated body 40 has a first end which is pivotally attached to the valve stem end 22 of the outer elongated body 20, by a pin 41, a second end which is adjacent to the lash adjuster end 24, and two inner elongated side walls. A center cam follower in the form of a roller 56 is mounted in the inner elongated body 40. A latch assembly 58 forms part of the outer elongated body 20. The latch assembly 58 is a conventional latch assembly which is operated in a conventional manner in order to lock the inner elongated body 40 to the outer elongated body 20 for transferring movement from the cam to the valve stem 16. When the latch assembly 58 is unlocked, the cam movement simply results in the inner elongated body 40 pivoting up and down inside the outer elongated body.
A lost motion torsional spring 60 is located between the inner and outer elongated bodies, and includes helical spring parts 62 and 63 positioned on pins 32 and 34 respectively. The action of the spring 60 is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 7.909,007, which is incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth.
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As a further alternative, the guides provided on the valve stem pallets discussed above that are adapted to capture the ends of the valve stem 16 can be eliminated from the valve stem pallets according to the invention, and instead be provided as downwardly directed extensions of the sidewalls 126, 128 or 146, 148 of the outer or inner elongated bodies 120, 140 on either side of the valve stem pallet that are adapted to capture an end of the valve stem.
Having thus described the present invention in detail, it will be appreciated and apparent to those skilled in the art that many physical changes, only a few of which are exemplified in the detailed description of the invention, could be made without altering the inventive concepts and principles embodied therein. It is also to be appreciated that numerous embodiments incorporating only part of the preferred embodiment are possible which do not alter, with respect to those parts, the inventive concepts and principles embodied therein. The preferred embodiments and optional configurations are therefore to be considered in all respects as exemplary and/or illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all alternate embodiments and changes to this embodiment which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of said claims are therefore to be embraced therein.
Claims
1. A switchable roller finger follower comprising:
- an outer elongated body having a valve stem end, a lash adjuster end and two outer elongated body side walls;
- a first inner cavity in said outer elongated body;
- an inner elongated body positioned in said first inner cavity and having a first end pivotally attached to said outer elongated body at said valve stem end via a pin, a second end adjacent said lash adjuster end of said outer elongated body, and two inner elongated body sidewalls;
- a lost motion spring located between the inner and outer elongated bodies;
- a latching mechanism used to lock the inner elongated body in a fixed position relative to the outer elongated body; and
- a valve stem pallet located between the two outer elongated body side walls and connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the pivot pin.
2. The switchable roller finger follower of claim 1, further comprising at least one rotation limiter that limits a pivoting movement between the valve stem pallet and the outer elongated body.
3. The switchable roller finger follower of claim 1, wherein the valve stem pallet includes a sidewalls with a cross member defined therebetween, the cross member includes a convex surface adapted to contact a valve stem.
4. The switchable roller finger follower of claim 3, wherein the sidewalls extend past the convex surface to define guides adapted to maintain a valve stem in position.
5. The switchable roller finger follower of claim 1, wherein the valve stem pallet includes a cylindrical casing and an intermediate cross member adapted to contact a valve stem.
6. The switchable roller finger follower of claim 1, wherein the valve stem pallet is a formed sheet metal part having bent-up flanges with holes that are connected to the pivot pin, with a base extending between the flanges, and side members bent around along an underside of the base in an area beneath the flanges that are adapted to maintain a valve stem in position.
7. The switchable roller finger follower of claim 1, wherein the pivot pin includes a head that is fixed to the outer elongated body to at least limit a pivoting movement of the pivot pin relative to the outer elongated body.
8. The switchable roller finger follower of claim 1, wherein guides extend from the outer or inner elongated bodies on either side of the valve stem pallet that are adapted to capture an end of the valve stem.
9. The switchable roller finger follower of claim 1, further comprising at least one rotation limiter that limits a pivoting movement between the valve stem pallet and the outer elongated body, the at least one rotation limiter is formed on the outer elongated body at the valve stem end as an inwardly directed flange having a shape adapted to limit a pivoting movement of the valve stem pallet via contact with an adjacent edge of the valve stem pallet.
10. A valve stem pallet for a finger follower having a valve stem end, a lash adjuster end and two outer elongated side walls, the valve stem pallet comprising:
- a body having sidewalls with a cross member defined therebetween, the cross member includes a convex surface adapted to contact a valve stem; and
- at least one opening defined through the sidewalls for a pivotal connection to the outer elongated side walls of the finger follower at the valve stem end.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 16, 2013
Publication Date: Jul 25, 2013
Applicant: SCHAEFFLER TECHNOLOGIES AG & CO. KG (Herzogenaurach)
Inventor: Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG (Herzogenaurach)
Application Number: 13/742,477
International Classification: F01L 1/18 (20060101);