A piston is provided with a gapless ring positioned in a subport position. Specifically, the gapless ring is positioned between the air ports and the crankcase of the engine. The gapless ring includes a rail and an annular ring received within the rail. The ring includes a ring gap and the rail includes a rail gap. When the rail receives the annular ring, the ring gap and rail gap are spaced apart in a circumferential direction such that the gaps do not overlap. In certain embodiments, the rail includes a notch. When the annular ring is received within the notch, the annular ring and rail are biased against rotating with respect to each other. In certain other embodiments, the gapless ring includes an oil scraping surface.

A piston is provided with a gapless ring positioned in a subport position. Specifically, the gapless ring is positioned between the air ports and the crankcase of the engine. The gapless ring includes a rail and an annular ring received within the rail. The ring includes a ring gap and the rail includes a rail gap. When the rail receives the annular ring, the ring gap and rail gap are spaced apart in a circumferential direction such that the gaps do not overlap. In certain embodiments, the rail includes a notch. When the annular ring is received within the notch, the annular ring and rail are biased against rotating with respect to each other. In certain other embodiments, the gapless ring includes an oil scraping surface.

Provided is a combined oil ring that can provide reduction in oil consumption of the engine oil without degrading the oil sealing performance between the lower surface of the side rail and the lower surface of the oil ring groove even when the tension of the combined oil ring is reduced. The combined oil ring includes: a pair of upper and lower side rails fitted in an oil ring groove of a piston, the side rails each being formed in a planar and annular shape and having a sliding contact portion in sliding contact with a cylinder; and a spacer expander disposed between the pair of upper and lower side rails and having a seating tab portion, the seating tab portion including an upper seating tab portion and a lower seating tab portion for pressing the side rails outward, wherein, each in the pair of upper and lower side rails has, in a sectional shape of the sliding contact portion taken along an axial direction of the piston, an outermost diameter portion located below a center of an axial direction width of the side rail, and the combined oil ring includes an anti-tilt device at positions where the upper seating tab and the lower seating tab portion come into contact with inner peripheral sides of the side rails.

Provided is a combined oil ring that can provide reduction in oil consumption of the engine oil without degrading the oil sealing performance between the lower surface of the side rail and the lower surface of the oil ring groove even when the tension of the combined oil ring is reduced. The combined oil ring includes: a pair of upper and lower side rails fitted in an oil ring groove of a piston, the side rails each being formed in a planar and annular shape and having a sliding contact portion in sliding contact with a cylinder; and a spacer expander disposed between the pair of upper and lower side rails and having a seating tab portion, the seating tab portion including an upper seating tab portion and a lower seating tab portion for pressing the side rails outward, wherein, each in the pair of upper and lower side rails has, in a sectional shape of the sliding contact portion taken along an axial direction of the piston, an outermost diameter portion located below a center of an axial direction width of the side rail, and the combined oil ring includes an anti-tilt device at positions where the upper seating tab and the lower seating tab portion come into contact with inner peripheral sides of the side rails.

In a sliding structure for an internal combustion, a cylinder has recesses in a stroke center region. Piston rings have inclined surfaces on an outer circumferential surface, and a lubricating oil flows between the inner wall surface and the outer circumferential surface that relatively move via the inclined surfaces. At any RPM equal to or greater than at idle, a center friction coefficient at the stroke center region through which the piston rings pass at the highest speed is less than a center friction coefficient when no recesses are formed in the stroke center region. Contrarily, at the RPM, an outside friction coefficient when the piston rings pass through a region outside the stroke center region is less than an outside friction coefficient when the recesses are formed in the outside region. As a result, further improved low fuel efficiency is achieved for the dimple liner technique.

The present invention addresses the problem of providing a piston ring covered with a DLC coating that has excellent wear resistance and shows a low attacking property on a cylinder bore sliding surface. The problem is solved by a piston ring which is used in the presence of an engine lubricating oil and includes a DLC coating on an outer peripheral sliding surface. The DLC coating has an sp.sup.2 component ratio of 0.5 to 0.85 as determined from a TEM-EELS spectrum obtained by a combination of a transmission electron microscope (TEM) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), as well as a coating hardness of 12 GPa to 26 GPa and a Young's modulus of 250 GPa or less as measured by a nanoindentation method.

A piston ring, and in particular a compression piston ring, has a running face, upper and lower flank regions, an inner circumferential surface and a joint, wherein at least the running face is provided with at least one wear-resistant PVD or CVD layer, wherein the PVD or CVD layer extends at a predefinable layer thickness across a circumferential length of more than 95%, but less than 100% of the piston ring, and defined circumferential sections are designed in a layer-free manner in the region of the joint.

A piston ring, and in particular a compression piston ring, has a running face, upper and lower flank regions, an inner circumferential surface and a joint, wherein at least the running face is provided with at least one wear-resistant PVD or CVD layer, wherein the PVD or CVD layer extends at a predefinable layer thickness across a circumferential length of more than 95%, but less than 100% of the piston ring, and defined circumferential sections are designed in a layer-free manner in the region of the joint.

An oil control ring according the present disclosure includes a pair of side rails, and a spacer expander disposed between the pair of side rails. The spacer expander includes a plurality of sets and each set includes a lug part and a rail facing part. For each set, the lug part is in contact with an inner circumferential surface of either of the pair of the side rails, and the rail facing part is provided adjacent to the lug part and faces a side surface of either of the pair of the side rails. The lug part satisfies a following condition (1):

W/H≥1.5   (1)

In condition (1), W indicates a width of the lug part at a position 0.05 mm away from a highest position of the lug part in a direction towards the rail facing part, and H indicates a height difference between a highest position of a region on the rail facing part adjacent to the lug part and the highest position of the lug part.

In this piston ring combination, a second outer peripheral surface, which is the outer peripheral surface of a second ring, has a second protruding surface curved into a convex shape, and a pair of third outer peripheral surfaces, which are the outer peripheral surfaces of a pair of segments, each have a third outer peripheral area in which a third protruding surface is formed, the third protruding surfaces being curved into convex shapes. In at least one of the pair of third outer peripheral surfaces, the peripheral edge on a crank-chamber side is positioned farther outward in the diametrical direction than the peripheral edge on a combustion-chamber side, and a peak of the third protruding surface is positioned nearer to the crank chamber than the center of the third outer peripheral surface.