Patent ID: 7980207

Claim:
A multi-link engine comprising: an engine block body including at least one cylinder; a control shaft rotatably supported on the engine block body by a control shaft support cap that is fastened to the engine block body by at least one bolt, the control shaft support cap and the engine block body having mating contact surfaces that intersect perpendicularly with a center axis of the cylinder; a crankshaft including a crank pin; a piston operatively coupled to the crankshaft to reciprocally move inside the cylinder of the engine; an upper link rotatably connected to the piston by a piston pin; a lower link rotatably connected to the crank pin of the crankshaft and rotatably connected to the upper link by an upper link pin; and a control link rotatably connected at one end to the lower link by a control link pin and rotatably connected at another end to the control shaft, the control shaft being positioned lower than a crank journal of the crankshaft and disposed on a first side of a plane that is parallel to the center axis of the cylinder and that contains a center rotational axis of the crank journal, while the center axis of the cylinder is located on a second side of the plane with the first side of the plane being opposite from the second side of the plane, and the control link having a center axis that is parallel to the center axis of the cylinder and perpendicular to the mating contact surfaces of the control support cap and the engine block body when the piston is near top dead center and when the piston is near bottom dead center.