METHOD FOR INSTALLING A CAMSHAFT MODULE

Abstract

A method for mounting a camshaft module may involve a module that includes a module cover in which a camshaft is accommodated. The camshaft may comprise a main shaft and a plurality of displacement elements with cam tracks formed thereon for valve-control purposes. The displacement elements may be arranged at predetermined positions in the module cover. The main shaft may be guided along a shaft axis through accommodating passages of the displacement elements. The method may involve arranging a first displacement element in the module cover, introducing the main shaft into the module cover and guiding the main shaft through the accommodating passage of the first displacement element, arranging a second displacement element in the module cover, rotating the main shaft about the shaft axis by an angular amount, and advancing and guiding the main shaft through the accommodating passage of the second displacement element. Further, the displacement elements are arranged in the model cover with an identical rotary orientation about the shaft axis.

Claims

1.-7. (canceled)

8. A method for mounting a camshaft module comprising a module cover in which a camshaft is configured to be received, the camshaft comprising a main shaft and a plurality of displacement elements with cam tracks formed thereon for valve-control purposes, wherein the plurality of displacement elements are disposed at predetermined positions in the module cover, wherein the main shaft is guided along a shaft axis through accommodating passages of the plurality of displacement elements, wherein the method comprises: positioning a first of the plurality of displacement elements in a first position in the module cover; introducing the main shaft into the module cover and guiding the main shaft through the accommodating passage of the first of the plurality of displacement elements; positioning a second of the plurality of displacement elements in a second position in the module cover such that rotary orientations of the first and second of the plurality of displacement elements about the shaft axis as positioned in the module cover are the same; rotating the main shaft about the shaft axis by an angular amount; and advancing the main shaft and guiding the main shaft through the accommodating passage of the second of the plurality of displacement elements.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising repeating the positioning, rotating, and advancing steps until all of the plurality of displacement elements are accommodated on the main shaft, wherein each of the plurality of displacement elements is positioned in the module cover at an identical rotary orientation about the shaft axis.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the main shaft is rotated about the shaft axis with the first of the plurality of displacement elements.

11. The method of claim 8 wherein the main shaft is rotated about the shaft axis with the first of the plurality of displacement elements.

12. The method of claim 8 wherein a gripper is used to position the plurality of displacement elements in the module cover at an identical rotary orientation about the shaft axis.

13. The method of claim 8 wherein all of the plurality of displacement elements to be mounted on the main shaft are positioned in the module cover before introducing and guiding the main shaft through the accommodating passages of the plurality of displacement elements, wherein the main shaft is rotated between each successive displacement element.

14. The method of claim 8 wherein the angular amount corresponds to an angular offset between the first and second of the plurality of displacement elements during operation of the camshaft module in an internal combustion engine.

15. The method of claim 8 wherein the angular amount is 90°.

16. The method of claim 8 wherein guiding the main shaft through the accommodating passages and rotating the main shaft comprises meshing an external longitudinal toothing arrangement of the main shaft with internal toothing arrangements of the accommodating passages of the plurality of displacement elements.

17. The method of claim 8 wherein the module cover comprises bearing bridges, wherein the plurality of displacement elements are positioned in a rotatable manner on the bearing bridges in the same rotary orientation about the shaft axis.

18. A method for mounting a camshaft module comprising a module cover configured to receive a camshaft along a shaft axis, the camshaft comprising a main shaft and a plurality of displacement elements with cam tracks formed thereon, the method comprising: positioning the plurality of displacement elements in the module cover at a rotary orientation that is the same for each of the plurality of displacement elements; and guiding the main shaft through accommodating passages of the plurality of displacement elements, wherein as the main shaft is guided between successive displacement elements the main shaft is rotated about the shaft axis by an angular amount.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the main shaft is rotated about the shaft axis with one of the plurality of displacement elements.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein the main shaft is rotated about the shaft axis with a first of the plurality of displacement elements through which the main shaft is guided.

21. The method of claim 18 wherein a gripper is used to position the plurality of displacement elements in the module cover at the same rotary orientation about the shaft axis.

22. The method of claim 18 wherein all of the plurality of displacement elements to be mounted on the main shaft are positioned in the module cover before guiding the main shaft through any of the accommodating passages of the plurality of displacement elements.

23. The method of claim 18 wherein only some of the plurality of displacement elements to be mounted on the main shaft are positioned in the module cover before guiding the main shaft through any of the accommodating passages of the plurality of displacement elements.

24. The method of claim 18 wherein the angular amounts correspond to angular offsets between the plurality of displacement elements during operation of the camshaft module in an internal combustion engine.

25. The method of claim 18 wherein at least one of the angular amounts is 90°.

26. The method of claim 18 wherein guiding the main shaft through the accommodating passages and rotating the main shaft comprises meshing an external longitudinal toothing arrangement of the main shaft with internal toothing arrangements of the accommodating passages of the plurality of displacement elements.

27. The method of claim 18 wherein the module cover comprises bearing bridges, wherein the plurality of displacement elements are positioned in a rotatable manner on the bearing bridges in the same rotary orientation about the shaft axis.

Description

PREFERRED EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

[0021] Further, invention-improving measures will be presented in more detail hereinbelow together with the description of a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention and with reference to the figures, in which:

[0022] FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a camshaft module with a module cover and with four displacement elements arranged in the module cover, wherein a main shaft is being fed from the outer side of the module cover,

[0023] FIG. 2 shows the view of the camshaft module according to FIG. 1, the main shaft having been guided through a first displacement element,

[0024] FIG. 3 shows the view of the camshaft module according to FIG. 2, the main shaft having been guided through a further displacement element,

[0025] FIG. 4 shows the view of the camshaft module according to FIG. 3, the main shaft having been guided through a further displacement element, and

[0026] FIG. 5 shows the view of the camshaft module with a main shaft which has been guided through all the displacement elements, this resulting in a finished camshaft in the module cover.

[0027] FIGS. 1 to 5 each show a schematic view of a camshaft module 1, in which by way of example a single camshaft 11 is arranged by way of the steps illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 5. The camshaft module 1 serves to be arranged on a cylinder head of an internal combustion engine, and the camshaft 11, shown in full in FIG. 5, serves for activating gas-exchange valves of the internal combustion engine.

[0028] The camshaft module 1 comprises a frame-like module cover 10, and the module cover 10 contains bearing bridges 17, which serve for accommodating displacement elements 13.1, 13.2, 13.3 and 13.4 in a rotatable manner. The displacement elements 13.1, 13.2, 13.3 and 13.4 comprise cam tracks 14, which, as shown in FIG. 1, in order to prepare for the assembly of the camshaft 11, are all oriented in a common, identical direction. The displacement elements 13.1, 13.2, 13.3 and 13.4 can be inserted into the bearing bridges 17 by a gripper, wherein, in contrast to the illustration in FIG. 1, it is also possible for the displacement elements 13.1, 13.2, 13.3 and 13.4 to be inserted one after the other into the bearing bridges 17, in which case it would also be possible in the first instance for just the first displacement element 13.1 to be arranged in the bearing bridge 17.

[0029] The displacement elements 13.1, 13.2, 13.3 and 13.4 are shown only schematically with the cam tracks 14, and the illustration of the cam tracks 14 in the shape and number shown serves only to illustrate the rotary position of the displacement elements 13.1, 13.2, 13.3 and 13.4 about the shaft axis 16; furthermore, for the sake of simplicity, there are no control curves shown. In particular, the compact illustration of the displacement elements 13.1, 13.2, 13.3 and 13.4 with the displacement capability missing from the illustration serves merely to simplify the figures, and the shape and size of the individual components in relation to one another, in particular of the displacement elements 13.1, 13.2, 13.3 and 13.4, of the cam tracks 14 and of the bearing bridges 17, are not to scale in relation to one another.

[0030] A main shaft 12 is guided in from an outer side, as illustrated by an arrow. The main shaft 12 serves to be guided through accommodating passages 15, which are formed in the displacement elements 13.1, 13.2, 13.3 and 13.4. The individual steps of the installation method will be described hereinbelow with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

[0031] FIG. 1 shows the main shaft 12 arranged outside the displacement elements 13.1, 13.2, 13.3 and 13.4. The exemplary embodiment shows the full arrangement of the displacement elements 13.1, 13.2, 13.3 and 13.4 in the module cover 10, and the main shaft 12 can be guided, as illustrated in FIG. 2, through the accommodating passage 15 in the first displacement element 13.1. Once the main shaft 12 has been guided through the accommodating passage 15 of the first displacement element 13.1, the main shaft 12 is rotated by an angular amount A, illustrated by a rotary arrow, for example having a value of 90 degrees.

[0032] There is no illustration given of an internal toothing arrangement in the accommodating passages 15 of the displacement elements 13.1, 13.2, 13.3 and 13.4, and the main shaft 12 is designed with an external longitudinal toothing arrangement so that, once the main shaft 12 has been guided through the accommodating passages 15, the displacement elements 13.1, 13.2, 13.3 and 13.4 are arranged in a rotationally fixed and axially displaceable manner on the main shaft 12. Consequently, the first displacement element 13.1 rotates by the identical angular amount A about the shaft axis 16, and the transition between the illustration in FIG. 2 and the illustration in FIG. 3 shows that the main shaft 12, with the displacement element 13.1, has been rotated by 90 degrees before the main shaft 12 has been advanced further into the accommodating passage 15 of the second displacement element 13.3. Then, as the transition between FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 shows, the main shaft 12, with the displacement elements 13.1 and 13.2, is rotated again by the angular amount A, for example 90 degrees, about the shaft axis 16, and therefore the cam tracks 14 have each been rotated through 90 degrees in relation to the preceding figure, and for example the cam track of the displacement element 13.1 in FIG. 3 has been rotated out of the section plane, and by way of a further rotation by the angular amount A with a value of 90 degrees FIG. 4 shows the cam track 14 of the displacement element 13.1 in a 180-degree position in relation to the position of the cam track 14 of the displacement element 13.1 in FIG. 2.

[0033] FIG. 4 transitioning into FIG. 5 shows the further advancement of the main shaft 12, through the accommodating passages 15, into the further displacement elements 13.3 and 13.4. Once the main shaft 12 has been guided through the accommodating passage 15 in the displacement element 13.4, there is no further rotation of the main shaft 12 by an angular amount A since, as illustrated on the cam tracks 14 of the displacement elements 13.1, 13.2, 13.3 and 13.4 in FIG. 5, the rotary orientations of the cam tracks 14 have been offset in each case by 90 degrees, as is required for the subsequent operation of the internal combustion engine. The camshaft module 1 with the camshaft 11 formed in this way can then be brought into operation, and the displacement elements 13.1, 13.2, 13.3 and 13.4 are in the rotary orientation in relation to one another which is necessary in each case for the subsequent valve operation of the internal combustion engine.

[0034] The invention is not restricted to the preferred exemplary embodiment given above. Rather, a number of variants which make use of the solution illustrated, even in the case of fundamentally different types of design, are conceivable. All the features and/or advantages which can be gathered from the claims, from the description or from the drawings, including design details or spatial arrangements, may be essential to the invention both in their own right and in a wide variety of different combinations. In particular, there is no need for the full number of displacement elements 13.1, 13.2, 13.3 and 13.4 shown to be already arranged in the respective bearing bridges 17; it is also possible for them to be arranged one after the other once the main shaft 12 has been guided through the respective displacement element and once the main shaft 12 has been rotated by the angular amount A.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0035] 1 Camshaft module [0036] 10 Module cover [0037] 11 Camshaft [0038] 12 Main shaft [0039] 13.1 Displacement element [0040] 13.2 Displacement element [0041] 13.3 Displacement element [0042] 13.4 Displacement element [0043] 14 Cam track [0044] 15 Accommodating passage [0045] 16 Shaft axis [0046] 17 Bearing bridge