The present invention relates to the technical field of an engine, in particular to a variable valve actuation mechanism for an engine. Also disclosed is an engine which comprises a variable valve actuation mechanism.
At present, there are many kinds of known variable valve technologies for engines, various variable valve technologies realize the variability of lift or timing of variable valve through different structural designs and control methods, so as to enable the engine to achieve better performance or some special functions, one of known type of variable valve technology, is to set cams with different contours on the camshaft of the engine, and switch the control device to make the valves of the engine get the driving lift of the cams with different contours. One of the variable valve technologies is to set a slidable cam on the camshaft, and use the control device to control the cam to slide to switch different cams, such as Audi's AVS device; another technology is that controlling the rocker arm mechanism to be connected together when in need to realize the switch of lift by setting different rocker arms, such as Honda's VTEC device; what's more, by arranging mechanical or hydraulic components in the valve's actuating device to achieve the actuation and stop of valve through locking and releasing the mechanical or hydraulic components.
However, the above-mentioned variable valve devices still have the following shortcomings: 1. Most of them were used in gasoline engines with small valve mechanism loads, and difficult to apply to heavy-duty diesel engines; 2. Multiple control devices with complex structure and high cost (such as AVS devices) are essential to be used, or limitations of the change of valve's lift (such as VTEC device); 3. The lift accuracy of valve is hard to be guaranteed because the valve device will be easily affected by oil temperature, viscosity, leakage, etc. when driven by hydraulic components.
The invention of the variable valve actuation mechanism for an engine is provided to solve the above deficiencies of the existing variable valve actuation mechanism. The mechanism realizes variable valve by controlling different cam-side rocker arms to transmit corresponding cam lift to valve-side rocker arm. The mechanism has a simple structure and low cost, especially suitable for heavy-duty engine applications.
The invention provides a variable valve actuation mechanism for an engine, the mechanism comprises a rocker arm mechanism, a camshaft, a rock arm shaft and a solenoid valve; wherein the rocker arm mechanism which is a combined rocker arm mechanism, includes one valve-side rocker arm and at least one cam-side rocker arm; both the valve-side rocker arm and the cam-side rocker arm are provided with rocker arm shaft mounting holes, the valve-side rocker arm and the cam-side rocker arm are installed side by side on the rocker arm shaft, and can be rotated on the rocker arm shaft; one end of the valve-side rocker arm which is close to the camshaft is provided with a beam structure, and the beam structure being located above the cam-side rocker arms and having a certain clearance with the cam-side rocker arms; the major structure of the cam-side rocker arm are all located on the side which is close to the camshaft, the camshaft is provided with a cam corresponding to each of the cam-side rocker arms, and the contours of each of the cams are different, and each of the cam-side rocker arm is driven up and down by the corresponding cam; sliding block and return springs are provided on the cam-side rocker arms, and the sliding block can move in the gap between the beam structure and the cam-side rocker arm; the rocker arm shaft is provided with a rocker arm shaft oil passage, the sliding block can be driven by the lubrication oil with pressure provided by the rocker arm shaft oil passage; the solenoid valve is provided on the rocker arm shaft oil passage, the rocker arm shaft oil passage is controlled by the solenoid valve in an off or on state.
Preferably, wherein the number of the cam-side rocker arm is two, one of which is the first cam-side rocker arm, and the other is the second cam-side rocker arm, when the oil passage controlled by the solenoid valve is in an off state, the sliding block of the first cam-side rocker arm and the second cam-side rocker arm have a first position under the drive of the preload of the return springs; when the oil passage controlled by the solenoid valve is in an on state, the sliding block of the first cam-side rocker arm and the second cam-side rocker arm have a second position under the drive of the lubrication oil, wherein:
the first position of the sliding block of the first cam-side rocker arm is located between the beam structure of the valve-side rocker arm and the first cam-side rocker arm, at this position, the sliding block eliminates the gap between the beam structure of the first cam-side rocker arm and the valve-side rocker arm, and enable the first cam-side rocker arms and the valve-side rocker arm to form a transmission chain, and enable the first cam-side rocker arms to be able to transmit the driving lift of the corresponding cam to the valve-side rocker arm; the first position of the sliding block of the second cam-side rocker arm is located below the beam structure of the valve-side rocker arm, and at a position staggered from the beam structure, at this position, the sliding block cannot eliminate the gap between the second cam-side rocker arm and the beam structure of the valve-side rocker arm, and the second cam-side rocker arm and the valve-side rocker arm cannot form a transmission chain;
the first position of the sliding block of the first cam-side rocker arm is located below the beam structure of the valve-side rocker arm, and at a position staggered from the beam structure, at this position, the sliding block cannot eliminate the gap between the first cam-side rocker arm and the beam structure of the valve-side rocker arm, and the first cam-side rocker arm and the valve-side rocker arm cannot form a transmission chain; the second position of the sliding block of the second cam-side rocker arm is located between the beam structure of the valve-side rocker arm and the second cam-side rocker arm, at this position, the sliding block eliminates the gap between the second cam-side rocker arm and the beam structure of the valve-side rocker arm, and enable the second cam-side rocker arm and the valve-side rocker arm to form a transmission chain, and enable the second cam-side rocker arm to be able to transmit the driving lift of the corresponding cam to the valve-side rocker arm; thus enabling the combined rocker arm mechanism to be able to selectively transmit the driving lift of a cam that corresponds to the first cam-side rocker arm or the second cam-side rocker arm to the valve-side rocker arm.
Preferably, wherein both of the upper part of the first cam-side rocker arm and the second cam-side rocker arm are provided with a plunger hole, and the plunger hole is a stepped hole; a driving plunger is slidably arranged in the plunger hole, the driving plunger of the first cam-side rocker arm is a stepped shaft, and the large-diameter section and the small-diameter section respectively have a gap match with the large-diameter hole and the small-diameter hole of the plunger hole; one end of the plunger hole with a larger-diameter of the first cam-side rocker arm is provided with a plug, the plug is provided with an exhaust hole; the return spring of the first cam-side rocker arm is located between the larger-diameter end of the driving plunger and the plug, and the smaller diameter end of the driving plunger of the first cam-side rocker arm is connected to the sliding block through the smaller diameter hole of the plunger hole;
one end of the plunger hole of the second cam-side rocker arm is a cylindrical hole, and the other end is a waist-shaped hole; one end of the cylindrical hole of the plunger hole of the second cam-side rocker arm is provided with a sealed plug, and the driving plunger of the second cam-side rocker arm is a stepped shaft, the large-diameter section of the stepped shaft is a cylinder, which has a clearance fit with the cylinder hole of the plunger hole, the two sides of the small-diameter section of the stepped shaft are processed to be flat, and the sectional area of the flat is smaller than that of the waist-shaped hole at the other end of the plunger hole; the return spring of the second cam-side rocker arm is located between the driving plunger and the waist-shaped hole at the other end of the plunger hole, the end of the driving plunger which is processed into a flat of the second cam-side rocker arm is connected with the sliding block through the waist-shaped hole at the other end of the plunger hole;
both of the first cam-side rocker arm and the second cam-side rocker arm are provided with rocker arm oil passage, one end of the rocker arm oil passage is connected to the cavity formed by the end of the driving plunger without return spring and the plunger hole, and the other end is connected to the rocker arm shaft oil passage.
Preferably, wherein the sliding block is a rectangular block with an arc surface or an inclined surface on one side; the end of the sliding block connected with the driving plunger is machined with a slot and a pin hole, and is connected with the driving plunger through a pin; the front end face of the sliding block in the forward direction which driven by the driving plunger is a circular arc surface or an inclined surface, the bottom surface of the sliding block is a plane, the top surface of the sliding block and the bottom surface of the beam structure of the valve-side rocker arm are planes, or the top surface of the sliding block is provided with an arc or wedge-shaped concave or convex, and the bottom surface of the beam structure of the valve-side rocker arm is provided with an arc or wedge-shaped convex which is matched with the top surface of the sliding block.
Preferably, wherein the combined rocker arm mechanism has two cam-side rocker arms, the rocker arm shaft is provided with one rocker arm shaft oil passage, the rocker arm shaft oil passage is provided with one solenoid valve, and the rocker arm shaft oil passage is connected to the rocker arm oil passages of both of the two cam-side rocker arms, or the rocker arm shaft is provided with two rocker arm shaft oil passages, both of the two rocker arm shaft oil passages are respectively provided with a solenoid valve, and both of the two rocker arm shaft oil passages are respectively connected with the rocker arm oil passage of the two cam-side rocker arms; when the combined rocker arm mechanism has more than two cam-side rocker arms, the rocker arm shaft is separately provided with a rocker arm shaft oil passage for each cam-side rocker arm, and respectively connected with the rocker arm oil passage of each cam-side rocker arm, and each rocker arm shaft oil passage is provided with a solenoid valve.
Preferably, wherein the middle part of the valve-side rocker arm is a gap, and a side wall is provided on both sides of the gap; the rocker arm shaft mounting hole is arranged on the side walls of the gap, the beam structure is located at the end of the valve-side rocker arm which near the camshaft, and the beam structure is connected with the two side walls of the valve-side rocker arm, the cam-side rocker arms are installed at the gap between the two side walls of the valve-side rocker arm.
Preferably, wherein the valve-side rocker arm is a plate structure, the rocker arm shaft mounting hole is arranged in the middle of the plate structure, the beam structure is T-shaped structure, the cam-side rocker arms are respectively installed on the left and right side of the valve-side rocker arm.
Preferably, wherein a rocker arm spring is arranged between the valve-side rocker arm and the cam-side rocker arm of the combined rocker arm mechanism, the rocker arm spring is a spiral spring or a torsion spring, the rocker arm spring is installed between the valve-side rocker arm and the cam-side rocker arm or on the rocker arm shaft, one end of the rocker arm spring acts on the valve-side rocker arm, and the other end acts on the cam-side rocker arm, the rocker arm spring has a certain preload force, so that the valve-side rocker arm is always kept in contact with the valve mechanism, and the cam-side rocker arm is always kept in contact with the cam.
Preferably, wherein the cam-side rocker arm is provided with a roller, which is in contact with the corresponding cam on the cam shaft and is driven by the cam, alternatively, the cam-side rocker arm is provided with a ball socket or a ball joint structure, and the ball socket or ball joint structure is connected with a push rod driven by the cam shaft, and the ball socket or ball joint structure is driven by the push rod.
The invention also provides a variable valve actuation mechanism for another engine, the mechanism comprises a rocker arm mechanism, a camshaft, a rock arm shaft and a solenoid valve; wherein the rocker arm mechanism which is a combined rocker arm mechanism, includes one valve-side rocker arm and two cam-side rocker arm which are the first cam-side rocker arm and the second cam-side rocker arm; the valve-side rocker arm and the cam-side rocker arm are installed side by side on the rocker arm shaft, and can be rotated on the rocker arm shaft; the major structure of the cam-side rocker arm are all located on the side which is close to the camshaft, the camshaft is provided with a cam corresponding to each of the cam-side rocker arms, and the contours of each of the cams are different, and each of the cam-side rocker arm is driven up and down by the corresponding cam; the tops of the first cam-side rocker arm and the second cam-side rocker arm are respectively provided with a lug boss, and the two lug bosses are staggered front and rear; the upper part of the valve-side rocker arm is provided with a plunger hole, and the plunger hole is a stepped hole; a driving plunger which is a step shaft which is slidably arranged in the plunger hole, one end of the driving plunger is connected to the sliding block through the plunger hole, and a return spring is installed at one end of the plunger hole, and the other end the plunger hole is connected with the rocker arm oil passage; the rocker arm oil passage is arranged in the valve-side rocker arm, the rocker arm oil passage is connected with the rocker arm shaft oil passage, the rocker arm shaft oil passage is arranged in the rocker arm shaft, the sliding block can be driven by the lubrication oil with pressure from the rocker arm shaft oil passage; the solenoid valve is provided on the rocker arm shaft oil passage, the rocker arm shaft oil passage is controlled by the solenoid valve in an off or on state;
when the rocker arm shaft oil passage is in an off state, the sliding block has a first position under the drive of the preload of the return spring, at this position, the sliding block eliminates the gap between the first cam-side rocker arm and the valve-side rocker arm, and enable the first cam-side rocker arm and the valve-side rocker arm to form a transmission chain; the upper part of the lug boss of the second cam-side rocker arm is a gap of the sliding block, and the second cam-side rocker arm and the valve-side rocker arm cannot form a transmission chain;
when the rocker arm shaft oil passage is in an on state, the sliding block has a second position under drive of the lubrication oil, at this position, the sliding block eliminates the gap between the second cam-side rocker arm and the valve-side rocker arm, and enable the second cam-side rocker arm and the valve-side rocker arm to form a transmission chain; the upper part of the lug boss of the first cam-side rocker arm is a gap of the sliding block, and the first cam-side rocker arm and the valve-side rocker arm cannot form a transmission chain.
Preferably, wherein one side of the lug boss of the cam-side rocker arm is a circular arc surface, and the center of the circular arc surface is concentric with the center of the rocker arm shaft hole; the sliding block is installed in a chute above the valve-side rocker arm, and located above the lug boss of the cam-side rocker arm; the sliding block is a cuboid block, and the left and right sides of the sliding block are respectively provided with a gap, a circular arc surface is provided on the gap at a position corresponding to the circular arc side surface of the upper lug boss of the cam-side rocker arm, and the circular arc surface has the same radius as the circular arc surface of the lug upper boss of the cam-side rocker arm.
The invention also provides an engine which includes any one of the above-mentioned variable valve actuation mechanism for the engine.
The attached drawings are intended to provide a better understanding of the invention and are used to describe and explain the invention together with the specific embodiments below, but do not constitute a limitation of the invention. In the attached drawings of different embodiments or design schemes, some parts have the same marks with other embodiments, which only means that they are parts with the same functions in different embodiments, but does not mean that they are the same part or have the same structure. The specific details shall be subject to the attached drawings and specifications. In the appended drawings:
The specific technical solution adopted in the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail and completely below with reference to the accompanying drawings of the present invention. In the description of the present invention, unless otherwise specified, the meaning of “plurality” refers to two or more, the terms of “upper”, “lower”, “left”, “right”, “inner”, “outer”, etc. are used to indicate the orientation or positional relationship only for the convenience of description and explanation. The orientation or positional relationship shown in the figures should not be construed as a specific orientation or positional relationship that the indicated device or element must have, and does not constitute a limitation to the present invention.
The valve-side rocker arm 11 is provided with a gap in the middle, a side wall is provided on each side, and a rocker shaft mounting hole is provided on the side wall. A beam structure 111 is provided at the end of the valve-side rocker arm 11 close to the camshaft 2, which is connected to the two side walls of the valve-side rocker arm. The beam structure 111 is located above the two cam-side rocker arms 12 and 13, and has a certain gap with the two cam-side rocker arms 12 and 13, and the two cam-side rocker arms 12 and 13 are located side by side on the gap between the two sides of the valve-side rocker arm 11, which are installed on the rocker arm shaft 3 together with the valve-side rocker arm 11 and can be rotated on the rocker arm shaft 3.
The main structures of the first cam-side rocker arm 12 and the second cam-side rocker arm 13 are both located on the side close to the camshaft 2, a cam 21 and cam 22 with different contours are provided at the position of the camshaft 2 corresponding to the position of the first cam-side rocker arm 12 and the second cam-side rocker arm 13. As shown in
The rocker arm shaft 3 is provided with a rocker arm shaft oil passage 31, which is connected to the lubricating oil with a certain pressure of the engine, the first cam-side rocker arm 12 and the second cam-side rocker arm 13 are provided with rocker arm oil passages 125 and 135. As shown in
When the solenoid valve 4 controls the rocker arm shaft oil passage 31 to close, there is no oil pressure in the rocker arm oil passage, the driving plungers 121 and 131 of the first cam-side rocker arm 12 and the second cam-side rocker arm 13 are preloaded by the return springs 122 and 132 to push the sliding block 123 and 133 to one end of the plunger hole. As shown in
The first position of the sliding block 123 of the first cam-side rocker arm 12 is located between the beam structure 111 of the valve-side rocker arm 11 and the first cam-side rocker arm 12. As shown in
The second position of the sliding block 123 of the first cam-side rocker arm 12 is located below the cross-beam structure 111 of the valve-side rocker arm 11 at a position staggered from the cross-beam structure, as shown in
In addition, rocker arm spring 14 and 15 are respectively provided between the valve-side rocker arm 11, the first cam-side rocker arm 12 and the second cam-side rocker arm 13 of the combined rocker arm mechanism 1, as shown in
In the first embodiment of the engine variable valve actuation mechanism provided by the present invention, the working process and principle of the device are as follows: when the engine is in normal operation, the solenoid valve 4 on the rocker shaft oil passage 31 is in a power-off state, at this time, the sliding block 123 and 133 of the first cam-side rocker arm 12 and the second cam-side rocker arm 13 are in the first position under the preloading force of the return springs 122 and 132, as shown in
When the engine needs to switch to the lift operation of the cam 22 corresponding to the second cam-side rocker arm 13, the solenoid valve 4 on the rocker arm shaft oil passage 31 is energized, and the rocker arm shaft oil passage 31 is filled with the lubricating oil with a certain pressure of the engine. The driving plungers 121 and 131 of the first cam-side rocker arm 12 and the second cam-side rocker arm 13 are hydraulically acted by the lubricating oil to push the sliding block 123 and 133 to the second position, as shown in
When the sliding block 123 and 133 of the cam-side rocker arm are switched from the first position to the second position, and the cam 21 and 22 corresponding to the first cam-side rocker arm 12 and the second cam-side rocker arm 13 are both in the base circle part, at this time, the valve is in the closed state, there is no force between the cam and the rocker arm, the sliding block does not receive resistance when moving, the position switch can be smoothly accomplished; when the cam 21 corresponding to the first cam-side rocker arm 12 has lift, at this time, the first cam-side rocker arm 12 is driving the valve-side rocker arm 11 to open or close the valve, there will be a large force between the sliding block of the first cam-side rocker arm 12 and the beam structure 111 of the valve-side rocker arm 11, but the driving force of driving plunger 121 from the lubrication oil is limited and cannot push the sliding block 123 to exit from the transmission chain.
Only when the cam 21 rotates to the base circle part, and there is no force between the sliding block 123 and the beam structure 111, the sliding block 123 can be pushed by the driving plunger 121 to exit from the transmission chain; on the contrary, when the sliding block 123 and 133 are switched from the second position to the first position, the same principle as before, only when the cam 22 corresponding to the second cam-side rocker arm 13 rotates to the base circle, the sliding block 133 can exit from the transmission chain. Therefore, the variable valve actuation mechanism for the engine of the present invention can avoid the impact damage of the valve train caused by the sudden change of the valve lift due to the fact that the cam is not in the base circle portion during switching. Further, the top surface of the sliding block and the bottom surface of the beam structure of the valve-side rocker arm 11 can be provided with arc or wedge-shaped protrusions or concave shapes that match with each other, so as to ensure that the sliding block will not accidentally exit during the transmission movement, which improves the reliability of the device.
In addition, when the sliding block of the cam-side rocker arm is switched between the first position and the second position, when the cam corresponding to the cam-side rocker arm in the lost motion state has a lift, and the cam corresponding to the cam-side rocker arm in the transmission chain is in the base circle part, at this time, the sliding block of the cam-side rocker arm in the transmission chain can smoothly exit from the transmission chain,
while the sliding block of the cam-side rocker arm out of the transmission chain is pushed by the drive plunger, at this time, it will be stopped by the beam structure 111 of the valve-side rocker arm 11, As shown in
Further, in the first embodiment of the present invention, the valve-side rocker arm 11 of the combined rocker arm mechanism 1 can be designed as a plate-like structure. As shown in
Further, in the first embodiment of the present invention, the rocker spring 14 and 15 can be designed as torsion springs. As shown in
Further, in the specific implementation, the number of the cam-side rocker arms in the combined rocker arm mechanism 1 can not only be set to two, but also can be set to have only one first cam-side rocker arm 12 or more than two. For the cam-side rocker arm, when there is only one first cam-side rocker arm 12, as shown in
Further, in the specific implementation, for the design of the rocker arm shaft oil passage 31 and the arrangement of the solenoid valve 4, when the combined rocker arm mechanism 1 has different numbers of cam-side rocker arms, there can be different design solutions: when the rocker arm mechanism 1 has two cam-side rocker arms, a rocker arm shaft oil passage can be provided in the rocker arm shaft 3. As shown in
Further, in the specific implementation, the structure of the cam-side rocker arm can be designed as a rocker arm with rollers, as shown in
When the rocker arm shaft oil passage 31 is closed, the movable block 114 has a first position under the action of the preload of the return spring 113, as shown in
In the second embodiment of the present invention, it has the same working principle and process as the first embodiment, which will not be repeated. The difference from the first embodiment is that a single movable block 114 disposed on the valve-side rocker arm 11 replaces the aforementioned sliding blocks respectively disposed on each cam-side rocker arm in this embodiment, thereby reducing the number of parts and making the structure of the cam-side rocker arm simpler.
In addition, the present invention also provides an engine including the above-mentioned variable valve actuation mechanism for the engine.
It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments are only preferred embodiments adopted to illustrate the design scheme and principle of the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. Under the premise, the technical solutions described in the above embodiments can still be further modified, or some of the technical features thereof can be replaced, combined, etc., and these should be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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201910993201.9 | Oct 2019 | CN | national |
This application is a continuation of International Patent Application Number PCT/CN2020/116234, filed on Sep. 18, 2020, which claims the benefit and priority of Chinese Patent Application Number 201910993201.9, filed on Oct. 18 2019. The entire disclosure of each of the foregoing applications is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/CN2020/116234 | Sep 2020 | US |
Child | 17659316 | US |