Patent ID: 6907853

Claim:
A variable valve timing control device comprising: a housing unitarily rotatable either one of a crankshaft or a camshaft of an internal combustion engine; a rotor unitarily rotatable with the other of the crankshaft or the camshaft of the internal combustion engine; a first shoe portion positioned between first and second fluid pressure chambers provided between the housing and the rotor in a circumferential direction of the housing, the first fluid pressure chamber being located at one circumferential side of the first shoe portion and the second fluid pressure chamber being located at an opposite circumferential side of the first shoe portion; a plate member for closing at least one axial end surface of the housing; plural fixing members for unitarily fixing the housing and the plate member; each of the first and second fluid pressure chambers being divided into an advance angle chamber and a retarded angle chamber by a respective vane; a relative rotation control mechanism including a lock plate movable in a radial direction of the housing and a retraction groove provided at the first shoe portion for permitting movement of the lock plate in the radial direction, the retraction groove opening on both sides in a central axial direction of the housing and on a sliding surface of the shoe portion facing the rotor, and relative rotation between the housing and the rotor being restricted by engagement of the lock plate with an engagement groove provided on the rotor in accordance with a supply of fluid; wherein one of the fixing members is provided between the first fluid pressure chamber and the retraction groove and another of the fixing member members is provided between the retraction groove and the second fluid pressure chamber.