Patent ID: 7845325

Claim:
A valve actuating mechanism for an engine, said engine comprising a cylinder having a plurality of intake valves; a camshaft having a first cam and a second cam for each of said intake valves, respectively; a rocker arm shaft extending parallel to the camshaft; a pair of rocker arms supported on the rocker arm shaft; said rocker arms being rockable about the rocker arm shaft and being movable in the axial direction thereof, the rocker arms being configured to be selectively contacted by one of the first or second cams to open and close the valves according to a rotational movement of the camshaft; and said rocker arms being movable in the axial direction to one of a first operating position in which the rocker arms come in contact with the first cams, and a second operating position in which the rocker arms come in contact with the second cams such that the one of the cams selectively opens and closes the valves; said valve actuating mechanism comprising: a first rocker arm moving device which moves said rocker arms from the first operating position toward the second operating position; a second rocker arm moving device which moves said rocker arms from the second operating position toward the first operating position; and a rocker arm movement restraining device which restrains the movement of said rocker arms in the axial direction; wherein the rocker arm movement restraining device comprises: an arm member which engages said rocker arms for restraining the axial movement thereof; and a third cam disposed on the camshaft for activating said arm member and releasing the engagement of the rocker arms with the arm member when the camshaft is rotated; and wherein said arm member releases the engagement thereof with the rocker arms when the valves are closed, such that the rocker arms are moved to the corresponding operating position by one of the first rocker arm moving device and the second rocker arm moving device.