Patent ID: 6209509
Filing Date: 2001-04-03
Classification: F01L,F01M

Abstract:
A cam shaft bearing insert for use in an internal combustion engine, the engine including a cylinder head and a cam shaft rotatably supported by the cylinder head at multiple aligned bearing locations, the cylinder head including a bearing support structure at each of the bearing locations and having an oil port in each bearing support structure for passing oil to the associated bearing location, comprising:a thin-walled cylindrical sleeve formed from thin flat stock into a cylindrical tubular shape that is adapted to fit into a selected one of the bearing support structures and form a bearing suitable for operably engaging and supporting the cam shaft, the sleeve having an outer surface shaped to non-rotatably engage the one bearing support structure and having an aperture therein so that, when the aperture is aligned with the oil port of the one bearing support structure, oil can pass from the oil port to the associated bearing location; andthe sleeve including a wall with a longitudinally extending slit that extends between abutting opposing edges of the sleeve, and wherein the wall of the sleeve is resiliently flexible, such that the wall can flex to spread apart the abutting edges and to open the slit for positioning the sleeve on a journal of the cam shaft, and further such that the wall can reversely flex thereafter to fit tightly into the bearing support structure.