Patent ID: 7412952

Claim:
A poppet valve operating system for an internal combustion engine, comprising: a plurality of poppet valves; a plurality of compression springs for urging said poppet valves into a closed position; at least one rocker shaft adapted for mounting to a cylinder head of an engine, with said rocker shaft having a cylindrical outer surface; a plurality of indexing reliefs formed in the outer cylindrical surface of said at least one rocker shaft; and a plurality of rocker arms for actuating said poppet valves, with said rocker arms rotatably mounted to said at least one rocker shaft, and with each of said rocker arms comprising: a rocker arm body having a circular bore corresponding to the outer cylindrical surface of said at least one rocker shaft; and a resiliently biased, telescoping pin housed in said rocker arm body, with said telescoping pin having an inner end projecting into said circular bore and extending into one of said indexing reliefs, wherein each of said indexing reliefs extends about the periphery of said outer cylindrical surface of said rocker shaft for a distance sufficient to accommodate a rotational arc traversed by each of said rocker arms as the rocker arms actuate said poppet valves.