A variable compression ratio engine includes an extra chamber formed at a cylinder head, an extra valve being able to open/close the extra chamber, and an actuator being able to open/close the extra chamber by driving the extra valve.

A method for operating an internal combustion engine having a camshaft phase adjuster, including: providing a nonlinear final control element model, which indicates via a functional relationship an angular velocity of a relative adjustment of the camshaft phase adjuster as a function of an actuator correcting variable for the control of the camshaft phase adjuster; carrying out a control based on a deviation between a predefined camshaft angle adjustment setpoint value, and a camshaft angle adjustment actual value, to obtain as a control output a setpoint positioning rate of the camshaft phase adjuster; calculating the actuator correcting variable as a function of the setpoint positioning rate using an inverted final control element model; applying a predefined correction variable to the actuator correcting variable; controlling the camshaft phase adjuster using the actuator correcting variable to which the correction variable has been applied, to operate the internal combustion engine.

A variable compression ratio engine includes an extra chamber formed at a cylinder head, an extra valve being able to open/close the extra chamber, and an actuator being able to open/close the extra chamber by driving the extra valve.

Systems and method for a cam phaser are provided. In some configurations, the cam phaser includes a drive member having a first mating surface, a driven member having a second mating surface, and a locking mechanism arranged between the first mating surface and the second mating surface. The locking mechanism is operable to contact the first mating surface and the second mating surface, in response to an outside force applied to the driven member that loads the locking mechanism. The cam phaser further includes an engaging member. The engaging member is configured to selectively actuate the locking mechanism to enable rotation of the driven member relative to the drive member. The cam phaser may include a reaction mechanism configured to receive additional force from an input mechanism and selectively transmit the additional force to the driven member to unload the locking mechanism.

Methods and systems are provided for a valve system for actuating two cylinder valves in an engine. In one example, the valve system may include a single pump and a solenoid valve capable of non-concurrently actuating the two cylinder valves coupled to separate cylinders.

In a valve drive system, a rocker arm is swung by a cam. An exhaust valve abuts on a first end portion of the rocker arm. A second end portion of the rocker arm is supported by a lash adjuster. The lash adjuster includes a bottomed cylindrical body, a plunger that is contained in the body and that is biased in a direction in which the plunger abuts on the rocker arm, a pooling chamber that is formed in the plunger, a filling chamber that is formed by the plunger and a bottom surface of the body, and a valve body that blocks inflow of oil from the pooling chamber to the filling chamber when the plunger is put in the body. The oil supply to the pooling chamber is stopped when an exhaust throttle valve is closed for actuating an exhaust brake.

A method for controlling intake and exhaust valves of an engine may include: determining, by a controller, a target opening duration of the intake and exhaust valves based on an engine load and an engine speed; modifying, by an intake continuous variable valve duration (CVVD) device and by an exhaust CVVD device, current opening and closing timings of the intake valve and/or exhaust valve based on the target opening duration of the valves; and advancing or retarding, by the intake and/or exhaust CVVD devices, the current opening timing of the intake and exhaust valves while simultaneously retarding or advancing the current closing timing of the intake and exhaust valve by a predetermined value based on the target opening duration.

A variable valve timing control device includes a phase detecting portion; a phase control portion driving an electromagnetic solenoid while obtaining a detection signal detected by the phase detecting portion to set a spool to one of a phase control region and a lock region; and a boundary memory portion memorizing a boundary electric current value for referring a boundary between the phase control region and the lock region when the phase control portion operates a phase control; and a characteristic calculation portion obtaining the boundary electric current value by calculation, the boundary electric current value supporting the boundary between the phase control region and the lock region based on solenoid characteristic information of the electromagnetic solenoid and valve characteristic information of an electromagnetic control valve, the characteristic calculation portion memorizing the boundary electric current value to the boundary memory portion.

An apparatus for controlling a variable valve timing (VVT) in an internal combustion engine, which varies an opening and closing time of an intake valve and an exhaust valve by controlling a rotation phase of a camshaft with respect to a crankshaft of the internal combustion engine, includes a controller configured to determine whether an engine state enters a scavenging region or not in an overlap area of the intake valve and the exhaust valve and to control the VVT to reduce a valve overlap period depending on a period of time elapsed after the engine state enters the scavenging region.

A method of operating a cam shaft phaser including a stator including a radially inwardly extending protrusion, a rotor including a radially outwardly extending protrusion and a slot in the radially outwardly extending protrusion, a cover non-rotatably connected to the stator, a chamber circumferentially bounded by the radially inwardly extending protrusion and the radially outwardly extending protrusion, a pin disposed in the slot, and a first channel connecting the chamber with the slot. The method comprises: blocking, with the locking pin, rotation of the rotor with respect to the stator; applying pulse width modulation voltage to a control valve as a non-rectangular wave form; flowing fluid from the control valve to the chamber; flowing the fluid through the first channel to the slot; axially displacing the locking pin with the fluid; disengaging the locking pin from the cover; and rotating the rotor with respect to the stator.