Patent ID: 6651329
Filing Date: 2003-11-25
Classification: B21D,B23P,F01L,Y10T

Abstract:
A method of making a lever-type cam follower out of thin-walled light-weight sheet metal for loading at least one gas exchange valve of an internal combustion engine, said cam follower comprising two side walls which, together with a crossbeam that connects these side walls to each other, form a U-shaped cross-section profile pointing away from the gas exchange valve, the cam follower further comprising two finger-like tabs for receiving a stem end of the gas exchange valve, which tabs are configured on one end of the cam follower as extensions of the side walls and are bent through 180Â° onto an undersuface of the crossbeam, said method comprising the following steps:a) punching out a blank out of sheet metal with the tabs being bulged outward in arc-shaped curves that are configured as mirror images of each other in respect of a central longitudinal axis of the cam follower, b) bending or deep drawing the side walls so that the side walls extend at right angles to the cross beam, and c) bending the tabs onto the undersurface of the crossbeam.