Valve-actuating lever for reciprocating-piston internal combustion engines

Abstract

A valve-actuating lever for reciprocating-piston internal combustion engines is proposed, wherein this lever is supported on a cylinder head of the internal combustion engine or a part of this cylinder head, is in active connection with a cam of a camshaft, has an essentially inverted U-shaped cross section, is made from steel sheet metal by a punching, bending, and/or deep-drawing measure, and has, in addition to a support plate (5) for a shaft of a gas-exchange valve or for an intermediate piece, lateral guide cheeks (3, 4). A height of the lateral guide cheeks (3, 4) can be changed with regard to the support plate (5) by an embossing procedure.

Claims

1. A valve-actuating lever for reciprocating-piston internal combustion engines, wherein the valve-actuating lever is supported on a cylinder head of the internal combustion engine or a part of the cylinder head and contacts a cam of a camshaft, the valve-actuating lever comprising an essentially inverted U-shaped cross section formed from steel sheet metal that is at least one of punched, bent, or deep-drawn, and includes a support plate defining a support surface for a shaft of a gas-exchange valve or an intermediate piece, and lateral guide cheeks, and a height of the lateral guide cheeks with respect to the support plate is changed by embossing an opposite side of the support plate such that a top surface of the support plate opposite the support surface is indented relative to the lateral guide cheeks.

2. The valve-actuating lever according to claim 1, wherein the embossing is narrower than or equal to a distance between the lateral guide cheeks.

3. The valve-actuating lever according to claim 1, wherein the embossing is, viewed in a longitudinal direction relative to the valve-actuating lever, a circular segment-shaped recess that corresponds to a shape of the support plate.

4. A method for producing a valve-actuating lever according to claim 1, comprising: providing an embossing support with two side steps that essentially correspond to a desired distance of ends of the lateral guide cheeks to the support plate that contacts an end of the valve-actuating lever from a direction of the gas-exchange valve; and applying a load on an embossing tool against an outer web of the support plate until a final distance between the support plate and the ends of the lateral guide cheeks is achieved.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention is described in the drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the end of a cam follower facing the gas-exchange valve,

(3) FIG. 2 shows a side view of the cam follower end according to FIG. 1, and

(4) FIG. 3 shows a front view of the corresponding cam follower end.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(5) In FIGS. 1 to 3, as far as shown in detail, a cam follower is indicated with 1 that has an inverted U-shaped design and openings 2 for a bolt for supporting a roller, wherein the roller, not shown, contacts a cam of a camshaft. The cam follower 1 is supported with one end, e.g., on a valve lash compensating element guided in the cylinder head, not shown. On the other, opposite end, the cam follower has lateral guide cheeks 3 and 4 that are connected to each other by a web area, wherein the web area forms a support plate 5 that connects, not shown, to the shaft of a gas-exchange valve or a corresponding intermediate piece. Above the support plate 5, an embossing mark 6 is visible that originates from an embossing tool. By applying an embossing force on the embossing mark 6 and supporting the lateral guide cheeks 3 and 4, the height of the lateral guide cheeks is varied relative to the support plate 5 until also the support plate 5 contacts an embossing support. This can be seen in that the support plate 5 has separating beads 7 opposite the lateral guide cheeks 3 and 4, wherein these beads are produced by embossing and moving the support plate 5 relative to the lateral guide cheeks 3 and 4. The separating beads 7 can contact the guide cheeks 3 and 4 to realize their function. This embossing measure allows the arbitrary setting of the height of the lateral guide cheeks 3 and 4 relative to the support plate 5 or the distance between the support plate 5 and the ends of the lateral guide cheeks 3 and 4.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

(6) 1) Cam follower 2) Openings 3), 4) Side guide cheeks 5) Support plate 6) Embossing mark 7) Separating bead