Roller finger follower having a bearing sleeve for a floating axle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10113584-B2
Application number	US-201615282529-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 30, 2016
Priority date	Sep 30, 2016
Publication date	Oct 30, 2018
Grant date	Oct 30, 2018

Abstract

A roller finger follower includes a housing and a roller assembly. The roller assembly includes a roller positioned between a pair of sidewalls of the housing, an axle extending through opposing holes in the sidewalls of the housing and the roller, and preferably includes a plurality of needles positioned between the axle and the roller for rotatably mounting the roller on the axle. The roller assembly also includes a first bearing sleeve positioned in the first hole and a second bearing sleeve positioned in the second hole. Ends of the axle are respectively positioned in and rotatable relative to the first bearing sleeve and the second bearing sleeve such that the axle is rotatable relative to the housing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A roller finger follower, comprising:
a housing including a pair of sidewalls connected by a transverse wall, the pair of sidewalls including a first sidewall including a first hole and a second sidewall including a second hole; and
a roller assembly including:
a roller positioned between the pair of sidewalls;
an axle extending through the first hole, the second hole, and the roller rotatably mounted on the axle; and
a first bearing sleeve positioned in the first hole and a second bearing sleeve positioned in the second hole,

wherein ends of the axle are respectively positioned in and rotatable relative to the first bearing sleeve and the second bearing sleeve such that the axle is rotatable relative to the housing.

2. The roller finger follower of claim 1 , wherein the bearing assembly further includes a plurality of needles positioned between the axle and the roller for rotatably mounting the roller on the axle.

3. The roller finger follower of claim 1 , wherein the first bearing sleeve is press-fit into the first hole and the second bearing sleeve is press-fit into the second hole.

4. The roller finger follower of claim 3 , wherein a cylindrical height of the first bearing sleeve is equal to a thickness of the first sidewall in the area of the first hole.

5. The roller finger follower of claim 1 , wherein the axle further includes a first enlarged end at an outer side of the first sidewall and a second enlarged end at an outer side of the second sidewall which retain the axle to the housing.

6. The roller finger follower of claim 5 , wherein the first bearing sleeve includes a first retention lip positioned between an outer surface of the first sidewall and the first enlarged end and the second bearing sleeve includes a second retention lip positioned between an outer surface of the second sidewall and the second enlarged end.

7. The roller finger follower of claim 6 , wherein the first retention lip is positioned in a first counterbore in the outer surface of the first sidewall and the second retention lip is positioned in a second counterbore in the outer surface of the second sidewall.

8. The roller finger follower of claim 7 , wherein a cylindrical height of the first bearing sleeve is equal to a thickness of the first sidewall in the area of the first hole.

9. The roller finger follower of claim 6 , wherein the first retention lip is a cylindrical flange which extends perpendicularly from an outer end of the first bearing sleeve.

10. The roller finger follower of claim 1 , wherein the housing is formed from sheet metal and the bearing sleeves are machined from a steel alloy.

11. A valve train, comprising:
a rotatable cam;
a support member;
a valve including a valve stem; and
a roller follower finger connected to the support member at one end and the valve step at another end and configured to receive input from the cam, the roller finger follower comprising:
a housing including a pair of sidewalls connected by a transverse wall, the pair of sidewalls including a first sidewall including a first hole and a second sidewall including a second hole; and
a roller assembly including:
a roller positioned between the pair of sidewalls;
an axle extending through the first hole, the second hole, and the roller rotatably mounted on the axle; and
a first bearing sleeve positioned in the first hole and a second bearing sleeve positioned in the second hole,

wherein ends of the axle are respectively positioned in and rotatable relative to the first bearing sleeve and the second bearing sleeve such that the axle is rotatable relative to the housing.

Assignees

• Schaeffler Technologies Ag

Inventors

• Ahmed Faheem

Classifications

• F01L1/2405

  by means of a hydraulic adjusting device located between the cylinder head and rocker arm · CPC title

• F16C19/46 Primary

  with one row or needles · CPC title

• F01L1/047

  Camshafts · CPC title

• F01L1/181

  Centre pivot rocking arms · CPC title

• F01L1/185 Primary

  Overhead end-pivot rocking arms · CPC title