Patent ID: 8065987

Claim:
Apparatus for converting an internal combustion engine from a normal engine operation to an engine braking operation, said engine including an exhaust valve train comprising an exhaust valve, a valve bridge and a cam, said apparatus comprising: (a) an actuator having a mechanical braking piston integrated into the valve bridge, said actuator having an inoperative position and an operative position; in said inoperative position said mechanical braking piston being retracted to form a gap between the exhaust valve and the cam, disengaged from the normal engine operation, and not subject to any load from the exhaust valve train; and in said operative position said mechanical braking piston being extended to take up said gap and to form a mechanical linkage for opening the exhaust valve for the engine braking operation, wherein the mechanical linkage has solid-to-solid contacts without a hydraulic linkage; (b) a lash adjusting mechanism for adjusting only said gap formed by the retraction of said mechanical braking piston, and (c) a controller for moving said actuator between said inoperative position and said operative position to achieve the conversion between the normal engine operation and the engine braking operation.