Patent ID: 7220196

Claim:
A chain drive for an internal combustion engine, said chain drive comprising a driving wheel, a driven wheel, an endlessly circulating chain that connects the driving wheel and the driven wheel, a chain tensioner acting on a slack strand of the chain, and an additional tensioning device that is loaded by a spring and acts on a tight strand of the chain while being arranged for displacement by one of pivoting motion, linear motion or elastic deflection, at least one further driven wheel is installed in a tight strand of the chain drive, wherein the further driven wheel is coaxially fixed on a rotatably mounted compensating shaft of the internal combustion engine, wherein the additional tensioning device that acts on the chain comprises a guide rail that is mounted for displacement, wherein the additional tensioning device that acts on the chain is arranged between the driving wheel and the further driven wheel that is connected to the compensating shaft, wherein a stationery guide rail for the chain is arranged between the driven wheel and the further driven wheel that is connected to the compensating shaft.