Valve timing control system

Abstract: An intake- and/or exhaust-valve timing control system for an internal combustion engine comprises an inner sleeve (12) having an outer toothed portion, firmly connected to a front end of a camshaft (1), a cam sprocket (6, 9) having an inner toothed portion (10), connected through a timing chain to an engine crankshaft, and a ring gear mechanism (15) including inner and outer toothed portions respectively meshing with the outer toothed portion of the sleeve (12) and the inner toothed portion of the cam sprocket (6,9), for changing the intake and/or exhaust-valve timing of the engine. The valve timing control system also includes a knock-pin (22) provided on the front end of the camshaft (1) at a predetermined angular position of the camshaft and a positioning hole (23) formed in the sleeve (12), for press-fitting the knock-pin (22) thereinto, such that the location of the positioning hole (23) determines the relative phase angle relationship between the knock-pin (22) and a particular point on the outer cylindrical member (6) which defines a reference angular position of the outer cylindrical member (6). Further provided is an adjusting screw, which engages one end of the ring gear member to provide axial sliding movement of the ring gear member, for fine adjusting the relative phase angle between the sleeve and the cam sprocket after installation of the ring gear member between the sleeve and the cam sprocket.

Description: The present invention relates to an intake- and/or exhaust-valve timing control system which is optimally adapted for use in internal combustion engines. Particularly, to a system which is variably capable of controlling the intake- and/or exhaust-valve timing depending upon the operating state of the engine, for instance the magnitude of engine load or engine speed. Recently, there have been proposed and developed various intake- and/or exhaust-valve timing control systems for internal combustion engines for generating optimal engine performance depending upon the operating state of the engine. As is generally known, valve timing is usually determined such that optimal engine performance is obtained, however the predetermined valve timing is not suitable under all operating conditions. For example, when the engine is operating within a range of low revoiutions, higher torque will be obtained with an intake-valve timing earlier than the predetermined valve timing. Such a conventional intake- and/or exhaust-valve timing control system for internal combustion engines has been disclosed in US-A-4,231,330, on which the preamble of claim 1 is based. In this conventional valve timing control system, a cam sprocket having a driven connection with the engine crankshaft is rotatably supported through a ring gear mechanism at the front end of the cam shaft. The ring gear mechanism includes a ring gear having an inner toothed portion engaging another toothed portion formed on the front end of the camshaft and an outer toothed portion engaging an inner toothed portion formed on the inner peripheral wall of the cam sprocket. In this manner, the ring gear rotatably engages between the cam sprocket and the camshaft. The ring gear is normally biased in the axial direction of the camshaft by spring means, such as a coil spring. At least one of the two meshing pairs of gears is helical. The result is that axial sliding movement of the ring gear relative to the camshaft causes the camshaft to rotate about the cam sprocket and therefore the phase angle between the camshaft and the cam sprocket (and consequently, the phase angle between the camshaft and the crankshaft) is varied relatively. The ring gear moves as soon as one of the two opposing forces acting on it, namely the preloading pressure of the above spring means or the oil pressure applied from the oil pump through the flow control valve to the ring gear, exceeds the other. The conventional valve timing control system also includes an end disc locked on the front end of the camshaft by threading such that the end disc hermetically closes the front opening of the substantially cylindrical cam sprocket in an air-tight fashion. As is well known, when a crankshaft is connected through a timing chain or a timing belt to a camshaft, the phase angle between the crankshaft and the camshaft must be set to a predetermined value to obtain desirable valve timing. For this reason, timing marks may be indicated on the crank sprocket, the timing chain, and/or the cam sprocket for instance. However, in this conventional valve timing control system as previously described, when the end disc is screwed into the inner threaded portion formed in the center of the front end of the camshaft, the relative phase angle relationship between the cam sprocket and the camshaft is affected, and as a result the phase angle between the crankshaft and the camshaft is offset from the predetermined phase angle as well. Therefore, the phase angle between the camshaft and the cam sprocket must be adjusted after threading the end disc into the front end of the camshaft. Such phase angle adjustments are troublesome and time consuming. It is therefore, in view of the above disadvantages, an object of the present invention to provide an intake- and/or exhaust-valve timing control system for internal combustion engines, in which the phase angle between camshaft sprocket (or timing pulley) and camshaft, that is the preset intake and/or exhaust valve timing relative to the crank angle, is easily and precisely adjusted. The invention provides an intake- and/or exhaust-valve timing control system for an internal combustion engine comprising: an inner cylindrical member firmly connected to one end of a camshaft of the engine, the inner cylindrical member including an outer toothed portion at the outer peripheral surface thereof; an outer cylindrical member having a driven connection with a crankshaft of the engine, the outer cylindrical member including an inner toothed portion at the inner peripheral surface thereof, the outer cylindrical member being axially positioned between the inner cylindrical member and an end plate covering an open end thereof in a fluid-tight manner; and a ring gear member including inner and outer toothed portions at the inner and outer peripheral surfaces thereof, the inner and outer toothed portions of the ring gear member being respectively meshed with the outer toothed portion of the camshaft and the inner toothed portion of the outer cylindrical member, at least one of the two meshing pairs of toothed portions being helical to provide sliding movement of the ring gear member in the axial direction of the camshaft, for changing a relative phase angle between the two cylindrical members in such a manner as to control intake and/or exhaust-valve timing of the engine; characterised by means for finely adjusting an initial setting of a relative phase angle between the two cylindrical members after installation of said ring gear member between the two cylindrical members, said adjusting means including an adjusting screw engaging one end of said ring gear member to restrict a maximum amount of an axial sliding movement of said ring gear member. One form of intake and/or exhaust valve timing control system constructed in accordance with the invenion will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a cross sectional view of an intake- and/or exhaust-valve timing control system according to the invention; and Fig. 2 is a view in the direction of arrow A of Fig. 1. Fig. 1 shows the front end section of a camshaft 1 provided for opening and closing an intake- and/or exhaust-valve (not shown). As clearly seen in Fig. 1, the camshaft 1 is journalled by a cylinder head 2 and a bearing member 3. An annular disc 4 is integrally formed at the front end 1a of the camshaft 1. The annular disc 4 has an annular, front flat surface 4a. Reference numeral 6 denotes an outer cylinder including a cam sprocket 9 driven by a timing chain 8 for transmitting torque from an engine crankshaft. The outer cylinder 6 includes a relatively long inner toothed portion 10 axially extending along the inner peripheral wall thereof. The outer cylinder 6 also includes a rear bore 11 having an inner diameter greater than the inner peripheral wall thereof. Reference numeral 12 denotes an inner cylinder integrally formed with a flange 14 having an annular, flat rear surface 14a, an annular, flat front surface 14b, and an outer peripheral surface 14c. The inner cylinder 12 includes an outer toothed portion formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof. The inner cylinder 12 is connected to the annular disc 4 to rotate with the camshaft 1 in such a manner that the rear surface 14a of the flange 14 abuts the front surface 4a of the disc 4. While the outer circumferential portion of the flange 14 is rotatably fitted into the rear bore 11 of the outer cylinder 6 such that the outer peripheral surface 14c abuts the inner peripheral surface of the outer cylinder 6 defining the rear bore 11, in an airtight fashion. A ring gear mechanism 15 is provided between the outer cylinder 6 and the inner cylinder 12. The ring gear mechanism 15 includes a ring gear member 16 which is comprised of a first ring gear element 16a and a second ring gear element 16b. The first and second ring gear elements 16a and 16b are formed in such a manner as to divide a relatively large ring gear including inner and outer toothed portions 16c and 16d into two parts by cutting or milling. Therefore, the first and second ring gear elements 16c and 16d have essentially the same geometry with regard to the inner and outer teeth. These ring gear elements 16c and 16d are interconnected by a plurality of connecting pins 18 which are fixed on the second ring gear element 16b through the annular hollow defined in the first ring gear element 16a. The annular hollow is traditionally filled with elastic material, such as a cylindrical rubber bushing attached by vulcanizing. Alternatively, as shown in Fig. 1, a plurality of coil springs 17 may be provided in the annular hollow, while the springs 17 are supported by the heads of the connecting pins 18 serving as spring seats. When the first and second ring gear elements 16a and 16b, and the connecting pins 18 are assembled, the first and second ring gear elements 16a and 16b are interconnected in such a manner as to be slightly offset from each other. In other words, the angular phase relationship between the ring gear elements 16a and 16b is designed so as to be set an angular position slightly offsets from an angular position in which the tooth traces between the two ring gear elements 16a and 16b are exactly aligned with each other. In these constructions, when the ring gear member 16 is installed between the outer and inner cylinders 6 and 12, the inner and outer toothed portions 16c and 16d are respectively meshed with the inner toothed portion 10 of the outer cylinder 6 and the outer toothed portion 13 of the inner cylinder 12. At least one of the two meshing pairs of teeth (10,16d; 13,16c) is helical to provide axial sliding movement of the ring gear relative to the camshaft 1. Furthermore, since the previously described offset is preset to a slightly greater value than the offset of the ring gear member when meshed with its connecting toothed portions. The backlashes between the two meshing pairs of teeth (10,16d; 13,16c) are eliminated by the cylindrical rubber bushing or the coil springs 17 serving as a backlash eliminator. An annular end plate 7 is fitted through a seal ring 32 into the front end of the outer cylinder 6 in an airtight fashion. The end plate 7 and the inner cylinder 12 are fixed together on the disc 4 of the camshaft 1, through a relatively thick plain washer 21 having a high rigidity, by a bolt 20 such that the bolt 20 is screwed through the cylindrical hollow defined in the inner cylinder 12 into a threaded portion 5a formed at the outermost end of the inner bore 5 defined in the front end 1a of the camshaft 1. When the bolt 20 is screwed into the front end 1a of the camshaft 1, the annular end plate 7 is firmly fixed on the inner cylinder 12 in such a manner that the inner peripheral surface of the end plate 7 is press-fitted into the outer peripheral surface of the front end of the inner cylinder 12. The bolt is comprised of a head 20a, an intermediate shaft section 20b, and a threaded section 20c engaging with the threaded portion 5a of the camshaft 1. In these constructions, a pressure chamber 19 is defined by the inner wall of the end plate 7, the front end of the first ring gear element 16a, and the front end of the inner cylinder 12 for introducing working fluid fed from the oil pan (not shown) via the engine oil pump (not shown). As clearly seen in Fig. 1, the axially forward movement of the ring gear member 16 is restricted by the abutment between an adjusting screw 33 (which is further described below) and the front end of the first ring gear element 16a. Conversely, the axially backward movement of the ring gear member 16 is restricted by the abutment between the front surface 14b of the flange 14 and the the rear end of the second ring gear element 16b. As shown in Fig. 1, the inner cylinder 12 and camshaft 1 are interconnected through a knock-pin 22 serving as a positioning pin. The knock-pin 22 is press-fitted into a hole 4b bored through the front surface 4a of the disc 4 in the axial direction of the camshaft 1. The hole 4a is bored in a position corresponding to a particular phase angle of the camshaft 1. On the other hand, a positioning hole 23 for the knock-pin 22 is axially bored through the rear surface 14a into the flange 14 of the inner cylinder 12. As shown in Fig. 2, the hole 23 is designed to be bored in the flange 14 such that the hole 23 is offset by a predetermined angle ϑ from a datum line X, drawn from the center P of the sprocket 9 to the top of a predetermined tooth 9a (for instance, as marked by the timing mark) of the sprocket 9, under a condition wherein the inner and outer cylinders 6 and 12 and the ring gear mechanism 15 are assembled as a unit. The holes 4b and 23 are formed in a manner so as to essentially the same distance relative to the axis of the camshaft 1. In this manner, the phase angle between the camshaft 1 and the sprocket 9 can be set to be always constant. A ring gear drive mechanism for the previously described ring gear member 16 comprises a hydraulic circuit 24 for supplying and draining the working fluid from the oil pan to the pressure chamber 19, a compression spring 25 disposed between the second ring gear element 16b and the flange 14 for normally biasing the ring gear member 16 in an axially forward direction, and an electromagnetic flow control valve 30 for controlling the amount of the working fluid flowing through the hydraulic circuit 24. As shown in Fig.1, the hydraulic circuit 24 includes an oil supply passage 27 radially extending in the camshaft 1, an intermediate oil passage 28 defined between the outer periphery of the shaft section 20b of the bolt 20 and the inner peripheries of the inner cylinder 12 and the front end 1a of the camshaft 1, a communication passage 29 intercommunicating the pressure chamber 19 and the intermediate oil passage 28, and an exhaust passage 31 bored in the outer cylinder 6 in the vicinity of the sprocket 9 for intercommunicating a rear fluid chamber employing a return spring 25 and an internal space defined by the cylinder head 2 and the cylinder head cover (not shown). The oil supply passage 27 communicates upstream thereof through an annular oil passage 3a defined between the outer peripheral surface of the front journalled section of the camshaft 1 and the semi-circular curved surface of the cylinder head 2 and the bearing member 3, via the flow control valve 30, a main oil gallery 26, with the oil pump (not shown). The flow control valve 30 is controlled by a controller (not shown) which determines the operating state of the engine on the basis of signals output from various sensors, such as a crank angle sensor for monitoring the crank angle of the crankshaft, and an air flow meter for monitoring the amount of intake air introduced through the air cleaner. The intake- and/or exhaust-valve timing control system for internal combustion engines operates as follows. When the engine is operating under low load, the control signal from the previously described controller is in an OFF state, with the result that the flow control valve 30 blocks the flow of working fluid fed through the oil supply passage 27 to the pressure chamber 19. Since the oil within the pressure chamber is exhausted through apertures defined between the two meshing pairs of teeth (10,16d; 13,16c) via the exhaust passage 31 to the internal space defined by the cylinder head 2 and the cylinder head cover, the pressure within the pressure chamber 19 becomes low, while the working fluid flowing through the above mentioned apertures serves to lubricate the ring gear mechanism 15. As a result, as shown in Fig. 1, the ring gear member 16 is positioned at the leftmost position (viewing Fig. 1) by the spring 25. Under this condition, the relative phase angle between the sprocket 9 and the camshaft 1 is set to a predetermined phase angle in which intake- and/or exhaust-valve timing relative to the crank angle is initialized. Conversely, when the operating state of the engine is changed from a low load to a high load, the control signal from the controller is in an ON state, with the result that the pressurized working fluid from the oil pump (not shown) is through the main oil oil gallery 26, the flow control valve 30, the oil supply passage 27, to the pressure chamber 19, in that order. As a result, since the pressure within the pressure chamber 19 becomes high, the ring gear member 16 is moved in the right direction (viewing Fig. 1) against the spring force generated by the spring 25. Therefore, the phase angle between the outer cylinder 6 and the inner cylinder 12 (corresponding to the phase angle between the outer cylinder 6 and the camshaft 1) is relatively changed to a predetermined phase angle which corresponds to an optimal phase angle during high engine load conditions. In this manner, the intake- and/or exhaust-valve timing is variably controlled dependent upon the operating state of the engine. As will be appreciated from the above, if the knock-pin 22 is fitted into the positioning hole 23, when the inner and outer cylinders 6 and 12 and the ring gear mechanism 15 assembled as a unit is installed on the front end 1a of the camshaft 1, the phase angle between the sprocket 9 and the camshaft 1 is naturally set to a predetermined value to obtain an optimal intake- and/or exhaust-valve timing relative to the crank angle. As set forth above, since the phase angle between the sprocket 9 and the camshaft 1 is determined by only the two positioning holes 4b and 23 and the knock-pin 22, the complicated structure for fine adjusting phase angle between the sprocket 9 and the camshaft 1 is avoided. Although the knock-pin 22 is press-fitted into the hole 4b bored in the annular disc 4 in the axial direction of the camshaft 1, the knock-pin may also be press-fitted into a hole bored in the annular disc 4 in the radial direction of the camshaft 1 as a positioning device for determining the phase angle between the sprocket 9 and the camshaft 1. As shown in Fig. 1, an adjusting screw 33 including a head 33a and a threaded shaft 33b is attached to the end plate 7 and the positioning hole 23 is previously bored in the flange 14 of the inner cylinder 12. As previously described, the positioning hole 23 according to the first embodiment must be bored with an extremely high machining accuracy after the position of the hole 23 is precisely determined in a relative phase angle relationship between the knock-pin 22 and the predetermined tooth 9a of the sprocket 9 in accordance with the positioning method shown in Fig. 2, however assuming that the angular position of the hole 23 is slightly offset from a predetermined position, a device for fine adjusting or compensating the offset is included. The adjusting screw 33 is therefore provided for fine adjusting or compensating such an offset. The adjusting screw 33, for example, a hexagon socket head cap screw, adjusts the phase angle between the sprocket 9 and the camshaft 1 such that the the top end of the threaded shaft 33b of the adjusting screw 33 moves the ring gear member 16 in the axial direction in a manner so as to screw the head 33a around by means of a hexagon socket screw key. The phase angle between the sprocket 9 and the camshaft 1 is adjusted in accordance with the following procedure. First, the inner and outer cylinders 6 and 12, and the ring gear mechanism 15 are assembled as a unit. Under this condition, if the phase angle between the top of the predetermined tooth 9a of the sprocket 9 and the hole 23 is different from the predetermined phase angle ϑ, the adjusting screw 33 is for instance rotated clockwise and the top end of the threaded shaft 33b of the screw 33 pushes the front end of the first ring gear element 16a and therefore the ring gear member 16 is moved in the right direction (viewing Fig. 1). As a result, the outer cylinder 6 rotates in a predetermined direction depending upon the direction of the tooth traces of the helical gear, since at least one of the two meshed pairs of toothed portions (10,16d; 13,16c) is helical. While the screw 33 is rotated counterclockwise, the ring gear member 16 is returned to the left direction (viewing Fig. 1) by the spring 25 and as a result the outer cylinder 6 is rotated in a direction opposing the above mentioned predetermined direction. In this manner, the outer cylinder 6 is rotated relative to the inner cylinder 12 and thus the phase angle between the sprocket 9 and the camshaft 1 is fine adjusted such that the hole 23 is precisely offset by the predetermined phase angle ϑ from the datum line X as clearly seen in Fig. 2. After this, the fine adjusted unit is firmly secured to the front end 1a of the camshaft 1 by the bolt 20, while the knock-pin 22 is press-fitted into the hole 23. In this way, the phase angle between the sprocket 9 and the camshaft 1 is easily and precisely set to a predetermined value at the same time when the unit is assembled on the front end of the camshaft 1. In the above described embodiment, although a camshaft sprocket associated with a timing chain is used for the timing control system according to the invention, the camshaft sprocket may be replaced with a timing pulley associated with a timing belt.

Claims: An intake- and/or exhaust-valve timing control system for an internal combustion engine comprising: an inner cylindrical member (1) firmly connected to one end of a camshaft (1) of the engine, the inner cylindrical member including an outer toothed portion (13) at the outer peripheral surface thereof; an outer cylindrical member (6) having a driven connection (8) with a crankshaft of the engine, the outer cylindrical member including an inner toothed portion (10) at the inner peripheral surface thereof, the outer cylindrical member being axially positioned between the inner cylindrical member and an end plate (7) covering an open end thereof in a fluid-tight manner; and a ring gear member (16) including inner and outer toothed portions (16c, 16d) at the inner and outer peripheral surfaces thereof, the inner and outer toothed portions (16c, 16d) of the ring gear member (16) respectively meshed with the outer toothed portion (13) of the camshaft (1, 14) and the inner toothed portion (10) of the outer cylindrical member (6), at least one of the two meshing pairs of toothed portions being helical to provide sliding movement of the ring gear member in the axial direction of the camshaft, for changing a relative phase angle between the two cylindrical members in such a manner as to control intake and/or exhaust-valve timing of the engine; characterised by means (33) for finely adjusting an initial setting of a relative phase angle between the two cylindrical members after installation of said ring gear member (16) between the two cylindrical members (6, 12), said adjusting means including an adjusting screw engaging one end of said ring gear member to restrict a maximum amount of an axial sliding movement of said ring gear member (16). An intake- and/or exhaust-valve timing control system as claimed in claim 1, characterised by a knock-pin (22) provided on the said one end (4) of the camshaft, at a predetermined angular position of the camshaft; and a positioning hole (23) formed in the inner cylindrical member, for fitting the knock-pin (22) thereinto, the position of the positioning hole being determined in a relative phase angle relationship between said knock-pin and a particular point (9a) on the outer cylindrical member, which particular point defines a reference angular position of the outer cylindrical member.

Inventors: AKASAKA AKIO, KADOWAKI AKIRO, OHIZUMI KENZI, SUGA SEIJI, WASHIO MASAYUKI, AKASAKA, AKIO, KADOWAKI, AKIRO, OHIZUMI, KENZI, SUGA, SEIJI, WASHIO, MASAYUKI
Applicants: ATSUGI UNISIA CORP, UNISIA JECS CORPORATION
Application year: 1989
Main classification: F01L1
IPC codes: F01L1, F02F7