In an electromagnetic latch assembly of a type that includes an armature, an electromagnet operative to actuate the armature, a latch pin, and a rigid metal structure that supports both the electromagnet and the latch pin, the latch pin is attached to the armature through a bendable connection. The electromagnet may be mounted to or housed within the metal structure. The latch pin may protrude from the rigid metal structure and may be guided by the metal structure. The bendable connection couples translation of the armature to translation of the latch pin while allowing the two parts to move independently to some degree. The bendable connection may reduce forces on the armature that could cause the armature to bend or stick. Those forces may result from misalignment between the latch pin and the armature or from the latch pin being driven off axis under load.

A tappet assembly including an outer cup having a substantially cylindrical side wall, an annular lip portion disposed at a first end of the side wall, and an annular ledge disposed on the side wall, the annular ledge being disposed in a plane that is transverse to a longitudinal center axis of the tappet assembly. An inner cup includes an annular lip extending outwardly therefrom and a pair of shaft apertures, and is disposed in the outer cup so that the lip abuts the annular ledge of the outer cup and is non-rotatably fixed thereto by the annular lip of the outer cup which abuts the lip of the inner cup. A shaft is received in the shaft apertures, and a roller tappet is rotatably received on the shaft such that a portion of the roller tappet extends axially outwardly beyond the annular lip portion of the outer cup, and an anti-rotation feature formed in the outer cup, wherein the outer surface of the outer cup is an unground surface.

A spool valve assembly, configured to control the flow of fluid, includes a spool valve, configured to move axially along an axis to control fluid flow, having a spool cavity and a plurality of spool apertures that communicate fluid between the spool cavity and an outside surface of the spool valve; a valve sleeve, in which the spool valve is concentrically positioned, that slidably receives the spool valve; and a valve plug, received within the spool cavity, having at least one plug aperture and a plug cavity, wherein the spool apertures at least partially overlap the plug aperture(s) in a radial direction to permit the flow of fluid between the plug cavity and the outside surface within a defined flow rate variance regardless of the angular position of the valve plug relative to the angular position of the spool valve.

A method for producing a reduced friction sliding surface on a machine element includes applying a coating comprising amorphous carbon to a surface of the machine element and locally heating the coating with a laser. The coating is heated to a temperature below an evaporation temperature of the coating to achieve a local volumetric increase in the coating and a local increase in a layer thickness of the coating. A surface structure of the coating includes a multiplicity of elevations resulting from a local phase transformation of the coating from amorphous carbon into graphite due to the locally heating.

An actuating device for a camshaft timing apparatus, having a movable actuating member being supported displaceable along a translational axis, and a force generator for generating a force driving the actuating member along the translational axis, wherein the actuating member is supported rotatable about a rotational axis and wherein the actuating device comprises a torque generator for subjecting the actuating member to a torque about the rotational axis.

A rocker arm swingably supported by an arm shaft and operating a valve by rotation of a cam includes an arm body part including a bearing portion supported by the arm shaft, a cam-side arm portion extending from the bearing portion toward a first side, and a valve-side arm portion extending from the bearing portion toward a second side, an arch part extending over the bearing portion and connecting the cam-side arm portion and the valve-side arm portion, and a lightweight part disposed in a space defined between the arm body part and the arch part and having a reduced weight compared with a case where the space is filled with the same material at the same thickness as the arch part.

A cam follower is provided. The cam follower includes a polycrystalline diamond element, including an engagement surface. The engagement surface of the polycrystalline diamond element is positioned on the cam follower for sliding engagement with an opposing engagement surface of a cam. The cam includes at least some of a diamond reactive material.

A sliding member of the present invention includes a coating on a base material. The coating contains hard metal particles and corrosion-resistant metal particles that have hardness lower than that of the hard metal particles. The hard metal particles contain particles that have at least Vickers hardness of 600 Hv or higher. The corrosion-resistant metal particles are made of at least one kind of metal selected from the group consisting of copper (Cu), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), and nickel (Ni), or are made of an alloy containing said metal. The coating has a cross section in which the hard metal particles are dispersed in an island manner in a particle aggregate of the corrosion-resistant metal particles and in which an area ratio of the corrosion-resistant metal particles is 30% or larger. Thus, corrosion of the hard metal particles in the coating is prevented, whereby the sliding member maintains wear resistance for a long time.

Raw material powder containing iron powder, copper powder, and tin powder is compressed to form a green compact. The green compact is sintered in a temperature range of from 750 to 900° C., to bond iron structures to each other with copper and tin.

A device for adjusting camshaft phase is proviced that includes a stator, a rotor and two guard caps that limit the rotor are fixedly provided at axial ends of the stator. The device further includes a belt pulley that is sleeved on the periphery of the stator and the guard caps and fixedly connected to the stator or the guard caps. An annular seal is disposed on the device and includes a first sealing portion and a second sealing portion located at axial ends. The seal body is fixedly provided between the stator, the guard caps and the belt pulley, and the annular seal encloses a sealed cavity. The stator, the rotor and the guard caps are fixedly provided in the sealed cavity.