Annular Expander Nested In Annular Groove Of The Piston Ring Patents (Class 277/472)
  • Patent number: 11193588
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a sealing ring assembly having a sealing ring and a reinforcement, configured to seal a high-pressure region from a lower pressure region of a piston and cylinder device. The sealing ring may be segmented, and a metal layer, wire, or other reinforcement may be affixed to the ring. The reinforcement is placed into tension against the sealing ring, which is correspondingly placed into compression. The composite structure of a relatively brittle sealing ring and reinforcement provides for reduced tensile loads in the sealing ring, thus extending life and reducing the likelihood of failure. The brittle portion of the sealing ring assembly may include a polymer or ceramic such as graphite, which is relatively less strong in tension than compression.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: Mainspring Energy, Inc.
    Inventors: Matt Svrcek, Jodie Prudhomme, Jerry DeJong, Tom Hasler
  • Patent number: 10584796
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a valve assembly that includes a retaining ring disposed within a cavity formed by adjoining a retainer and a disk member. The retaining ring can be disposed at a slant with respect to an inner surface of the cavity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2020
    Assignee: GE AViation systems, ILC
    Inventors: Jerry Hielkema, Matthew Lindsay, Scott Johnson, Roy Ott, Joseph Popham
  • Publication number: 20140326131
    Abstract: In a piston-ported engine, a sealing ring may be placed in a groove in the cylinder. As the groove is of greater diameter than the cylinder, the sealing ring overlaps into a helix allowing it to be enter the cylinder. However, such a helix does not fit into a groove without when in the helix. Alternatively, a shorter sealing ring is placed into the groove. However, the gap is too large. According to one embodiment, a groove of double the width of the ring is provided and the helical ring is installed and caused to unwind in the groove so that the ring sits in a plane. A spacer ring is placed in the groove to fill the extra space in the groove. An elastomeric material or a tension spring in an outer groove in the sealing ring can be used to cause the ring to press against the piston.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 2, 2014
    Publication date: November 6, 2014
    Applicant: EcoMotors, Inc.
    Inventors: Peter Hofbauer, Diana Brehob
  • Patent number: 8616556
    Abstract: A combined oil ring includes an oil ring having upper and lower rails formed integrally at an outer circumferential side of the oil ring to slide on a cylinder wall; a coil expander installed at an inner circumferential side of the oil ring to force the oil ring radially outwards; and a side rail installed at an upper side of the oil ring and having no torsion along an axial direction of the oil ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2013
    Assignee: Teikoku Piston Ring Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Masaki Hayashi
  • Patent number: 8561999
    Abstract: A sealing device is provided which is capable of reducing its sliding resistance. In a sealing device 1 which is fitted into an annular groove formed in one of a housing with a shaft hole and a shaft inserted into said shaft hole and serves to seal an annular gap between these two members, and which includes a seal ring 2 made of a resin that is in sliding contact with the other of the two members, and an elastic ring 3 that is fitted between the seal ring 2 and the annular groove, the seal ring has a plurality of concave portions 22 formed on its sliding surface 20 which is in sliding contact with the other member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2013
    Assignee: NOK Corporation
    Inventors: Toshiyuki Maeda, Yoshiyuki Abe
  • Publication number: 20120261886
    Abstract: A multi-piece oil ring includes an oil ring main member in which two rails are connected together by a columnar part and which has a roughly I-shaped cross section; and a coil expander disposed in an inner circumferential groove formed on the inner circumferential surface of the columnar. Each rail in the oil ring main member possesses a sliding section protuberance whose tip possesses a jutting portion. The axial length of the jutting portion is 0.02-0.18 mm. The change rate of the axial length of the individual jutting portion is in the range of 0 to 80% at least in a region of from its sliding surface to be faced to a cylinder, which is positioned at the tip of the jutting portion, to a position of 0.03 mm away from the aforementioned sliding surface in the radial direction of the oil ring main member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 26, 2010
    Publication date: October 18, 2012
    Applicant: NIPPON PISTON RING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Atsushi Chiba, Kazuhiro Fujimura, Iwao Hiraishi, Makoto Kajiwara
  • Publication number: 20120085313
    Abstract: A piston assembly for use in an internal combustion engine is provided by the present disclosure. The piston assembly includes a piston body having an extended piston mantel, a piston face, an internal cavity, and a wrist pin support. Two oil retainer seals are located concentrically about the extended piston mantel near a distal end, each oil retainer seal having an internal groove and being formed of a polymer material. Two compression clips are disposed within the internal grooves of the two oil retainer seals and are adapted to assist the oil retainer seals in establishing contact with an inner wall of a cavity in a cylinder of the internal combustion engine. The piston body is formed of an engineered composite material.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 12, 2010
    Publication date: April 12, 2012
    Inventor: Heinz-Gustav A. Reisser
  • Patent number: 7954822
    Abstract: A wire material for a coil expander capable of manufacturing a coil expander that is unlikely to cause disadvantages such as abnormal wear and resultant reduction in strength The wire material for a coil expander is used for a coil expander of a combination piston ring having a piston ring and the coil expander for pressing and urging the piston ring outward in the radial direction thereof, wherein a cross-sectional shape thereof is a rectangular shape, and when the coil expander is formed by using the wire material for a coil expander, the surface of the wire material for a coil expander, constituting an outer peripheral surface of the coil expander, is formed into a convex curved shape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2011
    Assignees: Nippon Piston Ring Co., Ltd., Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Nobuyuki Matsushima, Chikako Sasao, Takao Suzuki
  • Patent number: 7520538
    Abstract: A purge gas introduction system for an orbital tube welding setup is provided, configured to inject high purity inert purge gas to the interior volume of a tube or tubular component. An o-ring is interposed between an annular base and an annular ring, their junction forming an annular o-ring groove, each part forming one sidewall, with the o-ring fully recessed within the groove, protecting the o-ring during the insertion and removal of a tube. The annular base and an annular ring are configured to receive a tube terminus. The sidewalls of the o-ring groove are divergent one to the other, wherein as the annular ring is drawn towards the annular base, the o-ring is forced partially out of the groove, forming a substantially leak tight seal between the tube and the o-ring. A purge gas from an external source is transmitted to the annular base through a purge connector, then, in turn, introduced to the interior volume of the tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2009
    Inventor: Kevin David McGushion
  • Publication number: 20080296848
    Abstract: Apparatus and method for providing a sealing member with enhanced hoop strength. In some embodiments, a valve assembly includes a piston and first means for establishing a fluid-tight seal when the piston is in a closed position and for preventing a blow out condition when the piston is transitioned to an open position. In other embodiments, a sealing member is characterized as an endless annular ring which extends about a central axis, the sealing member comprising an elongated circle cross-sectional shape while the sealing member is maintained in an uncompressed state. In other embodiments, a method comprises extruding a sealing material through an extrusion assembly to form an endless annular ring which extends about a central axis, the extrusion assembly imparting a desired amount of curvilinearity along a longitudinal length of the material to form an orthogonal seam when a leading and trailing edge of the material are adjoined.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 1, 2007
    Publication date: December 4, 2008
    Applicant: Taylor Innovations, L.L.C.
    Inventor: JULIAN S. TAYLOR
  • Patent number: 7429047
    Abstract: A piston ring assembly includes an upper ring, a lower ring and an expander disposed between the upper and lower rings. When assembled, the piston ring assembly is positioned with a groove of a piston. During down stroke of the piston, the upper and lower rings radially compress. This radial compression induces axial expansion of the expander, thereby urging the upper and lower rings against upper and lower surfaces of the groove. The piston ring assembly provides a seal between not only an outer periphery and a wall of a cylinder, but also between the piston ring assembly and the annular groove of the piston to prevent escape of oil and gases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2003
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2008
    Assignee: Mahle Engine Components USA, Inc.
    Inventor: Daniel Wilkinson
  • Patent number: 7306234
    Abstract: The invention relates to an oil control ring for pistons of internal combustion engines. The aim of the invention is to provide an improved shape-adaptation capacity in comparison to prior art, with a tangential force that enables the ring to guarantee low friction and also low oil consumption during the operation of the engine. To achieve this, the inventive oil control ring comprises a solid bearing surface that lies against the cylinder wall, in addition to parallel ring flanks, between which a radial recess that runs around the periphery is configured in the rear of the ring, said recess being designed to receive a coil spring. The peripheral region of the ring flanks is provided with undulating end faces that face towards the rear of the ring. Said undulating end faces of the upper and lower ring flanks are offset out of phase with one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2004
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2007
    Assignee: Mahle GmbH
    Inventors: Holger Franz, Martin Strauss
  • Patent number: 7306233
    Abstract: In mounting a combined oil control ring in a ring groove formed in a piston, the combined oil control ring is mounted in a form that an opening between but ends of an oil ring body is widened. In such an operation, it is likely that a coil expander falls off the oil ring body thus making the mounting operation cumbersome. To overcome such a drawback, a relationship L1<L2 is established. Here L1 means a axial distance between open peripheries of the groove portion and L2 means a maximum axial distance between peripheries of the groove portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2004
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2007
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Riken
    Inventor: Miyuki Usui
  • Patent number: 7252292
    Abstract: An oil ring for an internal combustion engine, comprising a metallic annular body (10) to be mounted around a piston (P) reciprocating inside a cylinder (C) of the engine, said annular body (10) having opposite lateral faces (11), an internal face (12) onto which will be seated a resilient expander (M), and an external contact face (13) to be seated against the internal face of the cylinder (C) and having a height (h) that is substantially smaller than the height (H) of the internal face (12). Each lateral face (11) is defined by one or more lateral face portions (11a, 11b), which are designed to reduce the moment of inertia of the annular body (10), giving higher conformability to the latter. Preferentially, but not exclusively, the annular body (10) can be further provided with channels (15, 16), extended along at least part of the ring hight and which are radially spaced back in relation to the external contact face (13).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2007
    Assignee: Mahle Components de Motores do Brasil LTDA
    Inventors: Renato Panelli, André Ferrarese
  • Patent number: 7188841
    Abstract: A secondary seal is provided for an internal combustion engine having a piston, cylinder bore, ring seal, secondary seal, and leak path. Forces are applied from the combustion side of the piston through a cylinder gap and a leak path to the secondary seal. The secondary seal, seated on the piston and ring seal, transmits the forces generally axially to the piston and ring seal, thereby controllably limiting the radial force between the ring seal and cylinder bore.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2007
    Assignee: Dana Corporation
    Inventors: Steven J. Sytsma, Jason Bieneman
  • Patent number: 6860485
    Abstract: The present invention provides a piston ring comprising a piston ring main body and an expander ring arranged on an inner peripheral surface thereof, the expander ring comprising two oil expander rings, one of which is housed in a space in a spiral of the other. The expander ring is formed so that the pressing force in the diameter expanding direction is larger in a high temperature state than in a low temperature state. The expander comprises two different kinds of expander members. One of these expander members has the same functions as those of a conventional expander, and the other is a member in which there occurs a change in tension in the diametral direction with temperature. As a result, the pressing force of the master expander member having the same effects as those of the conventional expander is made variable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2003
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2005
    Assignee: Nippon Piston Ring Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tetsuo Masuyama, Nobuyuki Matsushima
  • Patent number: 6655697
    Abstract: An oil control ring for a piston of an internal combustion engine has an annular body defining a central axis. The ring has a U-shaped cross-section formed of a centrally positioned web extending parallel to the axis and a pair of axially spaced rail portions integrally connected to the web. Each rail portion extends radially outwardly with respect to the web, and an extremity of each rail portion defines a land extending parallel to the axis and adapted to sealingly engage a cylinder wall. Each land defines a pair of spaced chamfered sidewalls. Each sidewall extends contiguously from each land to define a chamfered edge adjacent the land. Finally, each chamfered edge defines a concave annular sidewall. The result is a reduction of land surface area in contact with the cylinder walls of an engine to provide improved performance, particularly during the engine break-in period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2003
    Assignee: Dana Corporation
    Inventors: Stephane Héraud, William Spengler
  • Patent number: 6378872
    Abstract: In an annular groove carried by one of a pair of reciprocally movable members, a pin extending into the annular groove and a sidewall of the other one of the pair of reciprocally movable members, a seal assembly comprising a ring carried by an annular body mounted in the annular groove for sealing the reciprocally movable members for minimizing fluid leakage between the members, wherein the pin extends into and through a notch carried by the annular body and an end gap of the ring for retarding rotation of and between the annular body and the ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2002
    Inventor: Maurice J. Moriarty
  • Patent number: 6283070
    Abstract: An improved sealing means for internal combustion engines comprising a combination of a metal primary sealing ring positioned substantially within a groove on the piston, and a compliant secondary sealing ring positioned in the groove behind the primary compression ring so that the compressed combustion gases force the compliant secondary sealing ring to form a seal between the groove and the primary sealing ring. In the preferred embodiment, the gapped ring is non-planar in order to provide effective sealing in a ported fixed-piston, rotating and translating cylinder engine such as the Deckard engine. Alternate embodiments include gapless rings with only a primary compression ring, and gapless rings with a compliant secondary sealing ring. An alternate embodiment is a single piece metal-capped compliant secondary sealing ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 1999
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2001
    Inventors: Carl Robert Deckard, Dimitrios Dardalis
  • Patent number: 6206248
    Abstract: A piston for dispensing material from a commodity container includes a nose section connected to a piston shaft. A recessed channel is located between the nose section and piston shaft. In the channel, there is a seal lifter over which a solid wiping seal is placed. Upon inflation, the seal lifter forcers the wiping seal to extend beyond the periphery of the piston to come into sealing contact with the interior wall of the container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2001
    Inventors: James L. Popp, Carolyn Popp, James A. Dean