Camshaft alignment means and working method

Abstract: A camshaft 10 has alignment formations 18 at one axial end for enabling the camshaft 10 to be correctly aligned with another component during assembly. In the invention, the alignment formations comprise two bores 18 of the same diameter but different depth.

Description: The present invention relates to the alignment of a camshaft with another component during assembly. The phasing of a camshaft in relation to an engine crankshaft is of critical importance to engine operation and it is important to be able to position the camshaft in a predetermined orientation during its assembly with other components such as the gear that forms part of its drive train. In DE-A-3.926.430 it is proposed to provide tapering slots in the axial ends of two parallel camshafts on one side of the engine. A tool is inserted into the slots for correctly orienting the camshafts relative to each other. Although this method of orienting the shafts may work perfectly well for the engine described, it will be evident that it would not be acceptable for an engine in which the camshaft needs to have a unique orientation relative to a crankshaft, such as with four-stroke engines. It indeed is observed in DE-A-3.926.430 that, due to the slot, each camshaft may take up two different positions, these positions being turned relative to each other over 180°. Machining a slot in a camshaft moreover is an expensive and time consuming production step. US-A-5.247.737 shows an installation tool also employing grooves in an axial end of the camshaft in combination with an orientation finger engaging a camshaft drive gear to correctly orient the shaft. If the drive gear is not pre-assembled on the camshaft but has to be mounted in situ on the engine, then the installation tool has to be removed, which complicates the assembly of the engine. It is therefore an object of the present invention to facilitate the manufacturing and assembly of a camshaft in an engine. According to a first aspect of the present invention, a camshaft is provided comprising means at one axial end of the camshaft for driving the camshaft and alignment formations located at the opposite axial end of the camshaft for supporting the camshaft and serving to enable the camshaft to be oriented in relation to another component during assembly. The camshaft is characterized in that said alignment formations consist of two bores of the same diameter but different depth. The means for driving the camshaft may conveniently comprise a collar formed integrally with the camshaft and a gear secured to the collar and meshing with a gear fitted directly to one end, preferably the flywheel end, of the crankshaft. The alignment formations are preferably located diametrically opposite each other. When two bores of the same diameter are used as alignment formations, they can be drilled using the same tool thereby simplifying the manufacture of the camshaft while still enabling the camshaft to be located in a unique angular position by the use of a jig having two prongs of unequal length. According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of assembling an engine having a camshaft according to claim 1. The method is characterized in that it comprises the steps of : mounting the crankshaft in the engine block; positioning the crankshaft with a predetermined orientation in the engine block; inserting the camshaft into the engine block; positioning the camshaft in a predetermined orientation in relation to the engine block with the aid of a jig engaging said alignment formations; said alignment formations being provided at the non-driven axial end of the camshaft; while maintaining said predetermined orientation of the camshaft by means of said jig, placing a drive gear on the camshaft to mesh with a gear on the crankshaft while also the crankshaft is held in its predetermined position; and securing the drive gear to a collar on the camshaft for rotation therewith. The invention will now be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an exploded view of a camshaft, a camshaft drive gear and a thrust plate to retain the camshaft in an engine block, Figure 2 is a schematic perspective view of the camshaft of Figure 1 mounted in an engine with the block omitted in the interest of clarity, and Figure 3 is a section through one end of the crankshaft of the engine shown in Figure 2, showing the crank gear and the collar in more detail. Figure 1 shows a camshaft 10 having cams 12 and support bearings 14 of larger diameter than the lobes of the cams 12. The camshaft is designed to be slid into an engine block from one end. In the engine illustrated in Figure 2, the camshaft is inserted from the back end of the engine but this is not essential. The support bearing 14 at one end of the camshaft has two diametrically opposed bores 18 of the same diameter but different depths. The bores 18 can be used to support the camshaft and act as alignment formations as will be described in more detail below. A collar 20 is formed on the other end of the camshaft 10 and a gear 22 is fitted to the collar 20 by means of bolts 24. The relative orientation of the camshaft 10 and the collar gear 22 is important because the latter drives the camshaft 10 and meshes directly, as described below, with a gear on the crankshaft. In the illustrated preferred embodiment of the invention, a dowel pin 26 is used to ensure the alignment of the cog 22 and the collar 20 but this is not essential. In principle, if the crankshaft and the camshaft are exactly positioned during factory assembly with a predetermined orientation by means of a very precise jig, a dowel pin would not be needed because on alignment of a single marking provided on a crankshaft gear 42 with two markings provided on the cam gear 22, the bores in the gear 22 and the collar 20 would match perfectly. However, the provision of a dowel pin assists dismantling and reassembling the engine in a workshop not equipped with an accurate alignment jig. The camshaft 10 is retained in the engine block by means of a thrust plate 28 secured to the engine block by bolts 30 that can be tightened even after the gear 22 has been secured to the collar 20 by insertion of a socket spanner through cut-outs 32 formed in the gear 22. As seen from Figure 2, when the camshaft 10 is inserted in the engine block, the gear 22 meshes with the gear 42 that is directly mounted on the crankshaft 44. The gear 22 also meshes with other cogs 48 and 50 that drive ancillary equipment of the engine, such as a fuel pump. The crankshaft gear 42, as better shown in the section of Figure 3, is located behind a collar 46 that is mounted on the crankshaft at the rear end of the engine to receive a flywheel. The flywheel damps oscillations of the crankshaft and positioning the cam drive gear 22 at the rear of the engine in this way serves to reduce noise and wear. However, because the collar 46 has a larger diameter than the camshaft gear 42, the gear 22 can only be mounted on the camshaft collar 20 when the camshaft is in situ. The collar 46 needs to have a relatively large diameter to be able to receive the bolts for fixing the flywheel to it. The diameter of the camshaft gear 42 could be increased so that it would become equal to or even larger than the diameter of the collar 46. However, then the centres of the crankshaft 44 and camshaft 10 would then either need to be moved further apart from each other, necessitating a totally different engine block casting, or one or more idler gears would be needed between the crankshaft gear 42 and the camshaft gear 22, adding to the complexity of the engine. In order to set the timing correctly, as already mentioned, the crankshaft gear 42 has a single marking on the radial side of one of its teeth. If the crankshaft gear 42 and the collar 46 were to abut each other, then it would be impossible to see this marking. For this reason, as shown in Figure 3, a space is left between the gear 42 and the collar 46. Moreover, the collar 46 is formed with a chamfered edge on its side facing the gear 42 to improve visibility further. The bores 18 in the camshaft 10 allow it to be picked up and correctly oriented by a jig having two prongs that engage in the bores. If the prongs are of different depth and they penetrate fully into the bores, then it is ensured that the camshaft can only be held in the jig in a unique orientation. Lastly, one hole is used to feed back to the engine block any oil that has squeezed out of the tail end of the bushing oil feed, which improves bushing life. The crank gear 42 is attached to the crankshaft 44 in the following manner. The gear 42 is first heated, pressed onto the crankshaft 44 and then cooled. As already mentioned, there is a single marking on the gear 42, but none on the crankshaft 44. To achieve correct orientation of the gear 42 on the crankshaft 44, the crankshaft is positioned in a jig with a predetermined orientation, and then the gear is presented to the shaft again with a predetermined orientation by using a suitable tool. The crank gear 42 and the collar 46 are heated and pressed onto the crankshaft 44 separately because the force needed to push on the collar 46 is higher than that required to push on the gear 42 and the larger force could damage the gear 42. The thrust plate 28 could in principle be mounted on the engine block before the gear 22 is fitted to the camshaft 10. This would obviate the need for the cut-outs 32 in the gear 22. However, to be able to rotate and axially shift the camshaft 10 more easily during assembly, the bolts 30 are fastened only after the gear 22 has been attached to the camshaft 10. The sequence in which the elements are mounted in the engine block is therefore as follows. After the crank gear 42 and the collar 46 have been fitted to the crankshaft 44, the crankshaft 44 is mounted onto the engine block. The camshaft 10 is slid into the engine block from the rear end of the engine, i.e. from the side of the flywheel. By using the bores 18 with different depths, the crankshaft is positioned with a predetermined orientation in the engine block. The gear 22 is then attached to the camshaft 10 with the line passing through the centres of the bores 18 pointing in a predetermined direction e.g. to the right. With such orientation, it is possible to insert the bolts 24 for attaching the gear 22 as the bores in the gear 22 and the collar 20 will overly each other. While sliding the cam gear 22 in place, it is assured that the single alignment marking on the crankshaft gear 42 is located between the two markings of the cam gear 22 in order to obtain the correct valve timing.

Claims: A camshaft comprising means (22) at one axial end of the camshaft (10) for driving the camshaft and alignment formations (18) located at the opposite axial end of the camshaft (10) for supporting the camshaft and serving to enable the camshaft (10) to be oriented in relation to another component (44) during assembly, and characterized in that said alignment formations consist of two bores (18) of the same diameter but different depth. A camshaft according to claim 1, characterized in that the two bores (18) are located diametrically opposite each other. An engine having a camshaft according to claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the camshaft (10) is driven by means of a gear (22) located at the flywheel end of the engine. An engine according to claim 3, characterized in that a gear (42) on the crankshaft (44) has a smaller diameter than a collar (46) provided at the end of the crankshaft (44) to receive the engine flywheel. An engine according to claim 4, characterized in that said gear (22) located at the flywheel end of the engine meshes directly with said gear (42) mounted on the crankshaft (44) behind the flywheel mounting collar (46). An engine according to claims 4 or 5, characterized in that the flywheel mounting collar (46) on the crankshaft (44) is spaced from the camshaft driving gear (42) on the crankshaft (44) to allow timing markings on the meshing gears (42, 22) on the crankshaft (44) and the camshaft (10) to be seen with the crankshaft collar (46) in situ. An engine according to claim 6, characterized in that the flywheel mounting collar (46) on the crankshaft (44) is chamfered on its side facing the crankshaft gear (42). A method of assembling an engine having a camshaft (10) according to claim 1, and characterized in that said method comprises the steps of : mounting the crankshaft (44) in the engine block; positioning the crankshaft (44) with a predetermined orientation in the engine block; inserting the camshaft (10) into the engine block; positioning the camshaft (10) in a predetermined orientation in relation to the engine block with the aid of a jig engaging said alignment formations (18); said alignment formations (18) being provided at the non-driven axial end of the camshaft (10); while maintaining said predetermined orientation of the camshaft (10) by means of said jig, placing a drive gear (22) on the camshaft (10) to mesh with a gear (42) on the crankshaft (44) while also the crankshaft (44) is held in its predetermined position; and securing the drive gear (22) to a collar (20) on the camshaft (10) for rotation therewith.

Inventors: ANTCLIFF GARY S, NYDEGGER HANS-JURG, SMITH DAMIAN P, ANTCLIFF, GARY S., NYDEGGER, HANS-JURG, SMITH, DAMIAN P.
Applicants: CNH UK LTD, CUMMINS ENGINE CO LTD, IVECO UK LTD, CNH U.K. LIMITED, CUMMINS ENGINE COMPANY, LTD., IVECO (UK) LTD.
Application year: 1999
Main classification: F01L1
IPC codes: F01L1, F16C3