Patent Publication Number: US-2012031355-A1

Title: Engine including partial integrated intake manifold

Description:
FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to air intake arrangements for internal combustion engines. 
     BACKGROUND 
     This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art. 
     Internal combustion engines may combust a mixture of air and fuel in cylinders and thereby produce drive torque. Air and fuel flow into and out of the cylinders may be controlled by a valvetrain. The valvetrain may include a camshaft that actuates intake and exhaust valves and thereby controls the timing and amount of air and fuel entering the cylinders and exhaust gases leaving the cylinders. 
     SUMMARY 
     An engine assembly may include an engine block, a cylinder head coupled to the engine block, and first and second intake valves supported by the cylinder head. The engine block may define a first set of cylinder bores arranged longitudinally in series and including a first cylinder bore and a second cylinder bore adjacent the first cylinder bore. The cylinder head may define a cavity forming an intake manifold region, a first intake runner extending laterally inward from the intake manifold region toward the first cylinder bore and a second intake runner extending laterally inward from the intake manifold region toward the second cylinder bore. The first intake valve may selectively provide communication between the first intake runner and the first cylinder bore. The second intake valve may selectively provide communication between the second intake runner and the second cylinder bore. 
     Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way. 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic section view of an engine assembly according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is perspective view of the cylinder head from the engine assembly shown in  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 3  is an additional section view of a portion of the engine assembly shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Examples of the present disclosure will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses. 
     Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes, well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are not described in detail. 
     When an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “engaged to,” “connected to” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to,” “directly connected to” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. 
     Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments. 
     With reference to  FIG. 1 , an engine assembly  10  is illustrated. The engine assembly  10  may include a cam-in-block design having a V-configuration. The engine assembly  10  may include an engine structure  12  defining cylinder bores  14 , pistons  16  disposed within the cylinder bores  14 , a crankshaft  18 , connecting rods  20  coupling the pistons  16  to the crankshaft  18 , and a valvetrain assembly  22 . The engine structure  12  may include an engine block  24  defining the cylinder bores  14  and cylinder heads  26  coupled to the engine block  24 . The engine block  24  may define a V-configuration having first and second banks  28 ,  30  of cylinder bores  14  disposed at an angle relative to one another. The first bank  28  may define a first set of cylinder bores  14  arranged longitudinally in series and the second bank  30  may define a second set of cylinder bores  14  arranged longitudinally in series. However, it is understood that the present disclosure is not limited to engines including a cam-in-block design with a V-configuration. 
     With additional reference to  FIG. 3 , the first set of cylinder bores  14  may include first, second, third and fourth cylinder bores  14 A,  14 B,  14 C,  14 D. The first cylinder bore  14 A may be located at a first longitudinal end of the engine block  24  and the second cylinder bore  14 B may be adjacent the first cylinder bore  14 A. The third cylinder bore  14 C may be located at a second longitudinal end of the engine block  24  opposite the first longitudinal end, forming a last of the first set of cylinder bores  14 . The cylinder head  26  may include a first region  27  extending over the first cylinder bore  14 A, a second region  29  extending over the second cylinder bore  14 B, a third region  31  extending over the third cylinder bore  14 C and a fourth region  33  extending over the fourth cylinder bore  14 D. The first region  27  may be located at a first longitudinal end of the cylinder head  26  and the second region  29  may be adjacent the first region  27 . The third region  31  may be located at a second longitudinal end of the cylinder head  26  opposite the first longitudinal end. While illustrated as an eight cylinder engine, it is understood that the present disclosure is not limited to such arrangements and applies equally to engines having any number of piston-cylinder arrangements. 
     The valvetrain assembly  22  may include a camshaft  32 , intake and exhaust valves  34 ,  36 , and a valve actuation assembly  38 . The camshaft  32  may include intake and exhaust lobes  40 ,  42 . The valve actuation assembly  38  may be engaged with the intake and exhaust lobes  40 ,  42  and the intake and exhaust valves  34 ,  36  to selectively open the intake and exhaust valves  34 ,  36 . The valve actuation assembly  38  may include valve lift mechanisms  44  and rocker arms  46 . The valve lift mechanism  44  may include a pushrod  48  engaged with the rocker arm  46  and a lifter  50  engaged with the camshaft  32 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the cylinder head  26  may define first pushrod passages  52  associated with the first cylinder bore  14 A, second pushrod passages  54  associated with the second cylinder bore  14 B, third pushrod passages  56  associated with the third cylinder bore  14 C, and fourth pushrod passages  58  associated with the fourth cylinder bore  14 D. The cylinder head  26  may further define a cavity forming an intake manifold region  60 , first intake runners  62  extending laterally inward from the intake manifold region  60  toward the first cylinder bore  14 A and first region  27 , second intake runners  64  extending laterally inward from the intake manifold region  60  toward the second cylinder bore  14 B and second region  29 , third intake runners  66  extending laterally inward from the intake manifold region  60  toward the third cylinder bore  14 C and third region  31 , and fourth intake runners  68  extending laterally inward from the intake manifold region  60  toward the fourth cylinder bore  14 D and fourth region  33 . 
     First intake valves  34  associated with each of the first intake runners  62  may selectively provide communication between the first intake runners  62  and the first cylinder bore  14 A. Second intake valves  34  associated with each of the second intake runners  64  may selectively provide communication between the second intake runners  64  and the second cylinder bore  14 B. Third intake valves  34  associated with each of the third intake runners  66  may selectively provide communication between the third intake runners  66  and the third cylinder bore  14 C. Fourth intake valves  34  associated with each of the fourth intake runners  68  may selectively provide communication between the fourth intake runners  68  and the fourth cylinder bore  14 D. 
     First pushrods  48  extend through the first pushrod passages  52  and are engaged with the first intake valves  34 . Second pushrods  48  extend through the second pushrod passages  54  and are engaged with the second intake valves  34 . Third pushrods  48  extend through the third pushrod passages  56  and are engaged with the third intake valves  34 . Fourth pushrods  48  extend through the fourth pushrod passages  56  and are engaged with the fourth intake valves  34 . 
     The intake manifold region  60  may extend longitudinally along a lateral end  70  of the cylinder head  26  from the first cylinder bore  14 A (and first region  27 ) to the third cylinder bore  14 C (and third region  31 ) and may form a common air inlet for each of the first set of cylinder bores  14 . The intake manifold region  60  may form a continuous opening longitudinally along the lateral end  70  from the first cylinder bore  14 A (and first region  27 ) to the third cylinder bore  14 C (and third region  31 ). A first wall  72  formed in the cylinder head  26  separating the first and second intake runners  62 ,  64  may terminate at a location laterally inward from the lateral end  70 , forming a first chamber  74 . A second wall  76  formed in the cylinder head  26  separating the third and fourth intake runners  66 ,  68  may terminate at a location laterally inward from the lateral end  70 , forming a second chamber  78 . A third wall  80  formed in the cylinder head  26  separating the second and fourth intake runners  64 ,  68  may terminate at a location laterally inward from the lateral end  70 , forming a third chamber  82 . 
     Therefore, the first chamber  74  extends laterally from the intake manifold region  60  to one of the first intake runners  62  and one of the second intake runners  64 . Similarly, the second chamber  78  extends laterally from the intake manifold region  60  to one of the third intake runners  66  and one of the fourth intake runners  68  and the third chamber  82  extends laterally from the intake manifold region  60  to one of the second intake runners  64  and one of the fourth intake runners  68 . 
     The first chamber  74  may be located longitudinally between the first and second cylinder bores  14 A,  14 B and longitudinally between the first and second regions  27 ,  29 . The first chamber  74  may additionally be located longitudinally between and laterally aligned with the first and second pushrod passages  52 ,  54 . The second chamber  78  may be located longitudinally between the third and fourth cylinder bores  14 C,  14 D and longitudinally between the third and fourth regions  31 ,  33 . The second chamber  78  may additionally be located longitudinally between and laterally aligned with the third and fourth pushrod passages  56 ,  58 . The third chamber  82  may be located longitudinally between the second and fourth cylinder bores  14 B,  14 D and longitudinally between the second and fourth regions  29 ,  33 . The third chamber  82  may additionally be located longitudinally between and laterally aligned with the second and fourth pushrod passages  54 ,  58 . 
     The engine assembly  10  may additionally include an intake manifold  84  coupled to the cylinder head  26  at the intake manifold region  60 . The intake manifold  84  may include an air inlet  86  and may cooperate with the intake manifold region  60  of the cylinder head  26  to define a common volume of air in communication with each of the first, second, third and fourth intake runners  62 ,  64 ,  66 ,  68 .