Block mounted overhead cam support system for internal combustion engines

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020003084-A1
Application number	US-201916568815-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 12, 2019
Priority date	Mar 16, 2017
Publication date	Jan 2, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems, devices, and methods are disclosed for supporting one or more camshafts by the engine block in overhead arrangement relative to the cylinder heads and valve train.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An overhead cam support system, comprising:
a carrier housing including a lower end positionable on an engine block independently of a cylinder head of the engine, the carrier housing rotatably supporting at least one camshaft on the engine block for engagement with at least one valve of the cylinder head.

2 . The overhead cam support system of claim 1 , further comprising a valve cover engaged to an upper end of the carrier housing that is opposite the lower end of the carrier housing.

3 . The overhead cam support system of claim 2 , wherein the carrier housing includes a flange extending over an upper surface of the cylinder head, and further comprising a seal between the flange and an upper surface of the cylinder head.

4 . The overhead cam support system of claim 2 , wherein the carrier housing includes at least one cam support arm extending outwardly therefrom adjacent the upper end of the carrier housing, and the camshaft is supported on the at least one cam support arm.

5 . The overhead cam support system of claim 4 , further comprising a camshaft retaining cap engaged to the cam support arm and the camshaft retaining cap extends around the at least one camshaft.

6 . The overhead cam support system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one camshaft includes first and second camshafts including respective ones of first and second cam gears or phasers that are engaged to an idler gear mounted to the carrier housing.

7 . The overhead cam support system of claim 1 , wherein the carrier housing includes first legs and second legs extending on opposite sides of the cylinder head and a first flange and a second flange extending along opposite sides of the cylinder head connecting the first legs and the second legs, respectively.

8 . The overhead cam support system of claim 1 , wherein the engine block includes at least eight cylinders and each cylinder head extends over two cylinders.

9 . The overhead cam support system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one camshaft includes at least two camshaft sections connected to one another in an end-to-end manner.

10 . The overhead cam support system of claim 9 , further comprising a camshaft coupling that includes a center hub with splined sections extending axially in opposite directions from the center hub, and each camshaft section includes a longitudinal bore configured to receive respective ones of the splined sections.

11 . The overhead cam support system of claim 10 , wherein each splined section includes a key projecting radially outwardly therefrom that is received in a keyway along the longitudinal bore of the respective cam section.

12 . The overhead cam support system of claim 10 , wherein each splined section includes a non-circular cross-section that is received in a complementary shaped one of the longitudinal bores.

13 . The overhead cam support system of claim 9 , wherein a first camshaft section is sized to extend along three cylinder pairs and a second camshaft section is sized to extend along two cylinder pairs, and the first and second camshaft sections are connected in end-to-end relation.

14 . The overhead cam support system of claim 9 , wherein a first camshaft section is sized to extend along two cylinder pairs and a second camshaft section is sized to extend along two cylinder pairs, and the first and second camshaft sections are connected in end-to-end relation.

15 . The overhead cam support system of claim 9 , wherein a first camshaft section is sized to extend along two cylinder pairs and a second camshaft section is sized to extend along one cylinder pair, and the first and second camshaft sections are connected in end-to-end relation.

16 . The overhead cam support system of claim 9 , wherein a first camshaft section is sized to extend along three cylinders and a second camshaft section is sized to extend along three cylinders, and the first and second camshaft sections are connected in end-to-end relation.

17 . The overhead cam support system of claim 1 , wherein the carrier housing includes a plurality of bores for receiving fasteners to secure the carrier housing to the engine block.

18 . The overhead cam support system of claim 1 , wherein the engine block is configured for an in-line engine cylinder arrangement,

19 . The overhead cam support system of claim 18 , wherein the number of cylinders is at least six.

20 . The overhead cam support system of claim 1 , wherein the engine block is configured for an V-shaped engine cylinder arrangement.

21 . The overhead cam support system of claim 1 , wherein the camshaft is a single piece, single overhead camshaft.

22 . The overhead cam support system of claim 1 , wherein the camshaft includes at least two camshafts positioned in a double overhead arrangement and each of the at least two camshafts is a single piece camshaft.

23 . The overhead cam support system of claim 1 , further comprising a cam-less valve train.

24 . An overhead cam support system, comprising:
a carrier housing configured to extend around a cylinder head of an engine, the carrier housing including a lower end supported on an engine block of the engine independently of the cylinder head, the carrier housing including at least one cam support arm extending over the cylinder head that rotatably supports at least one camshaft on the engine block.

25 . The overhead cam support system of claim 24 , further comprising a camshaft retaining cap engaged to the cam support arm and the camshaft retaining cap extends around the at least one camshaft.

26 . The overhead cam support system of claim 24 , wherein the carrier housing includes a plurality of first legs and a plurality of second legs on opposite sides of the cylinder head, wherein the plurality of first and second legs each define a bore for receiving a fastener to secure the carrier housing to the engine block.

27 . The overhead cam support system of claim 24 , wherein the carrier housing includes a flange extending over an upper surface of the cylinder head, and further comprising a seal between the flange and an upper surface of the cylinder head.

28 . An overhead cam support system, comprising:
a lower carrier housing section that includes a plurality of legs with lower ends supported on an engine block along opposite sides of a cylinder head of an engine independently of the cylinder head, the lower carrier housing further comprising flanges extending between and connecting adjacent pairs of the plurality of legs; and an upper carrier housing section mounted on the lower carrier housing section, the upper carrier housing section including opposite sidewalls and opposite endwalls connecting the opposite sidewalls, wherein the opposite endwalls are configured to rotatably support at least one camshaft along the cylinder head.

29 . The overhead cam support system of claim 28 , wherein at least a portion of the plurality of legs include a bore for receiving a fastener to secure the lower carrier housing section to the engine block.

30 . The overhead cam support system of claim 28 , wherein the upper carrier housing section includes at least one cam support arm extending from one of the opposite sidewalls over the cylinder head and the camshaft is supported on the at least one cam support arm.

Assignees

• Cummins Inc

Inventors

• Richards Kieran J
• Burge Simon Anthony

Classifications

• F01L2001/054

  Camshafts in cylinder block · CPC title

• F01L2001/0537

  Double overhead camshafts [DOHC] · CPC title

• F01L1/053 Primary

  overhead type · CPC title

• F01L2001/0471

  Assembled camshafts · CPC title

• F01L1/026 Primary

  Gear drive · CPC title