Valve opening/closing timing control apparatus

• US 10,273,835 B2
• Filed: 11/09/2017
• Issued: 04/30/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.)
• Inventors: Kajita, Tomohiro, Noguchi, Yuji, Asahi, Takeo, Suganuma, Hideyuki, Hamasaki, Hiroyuki, Sakakibara, Toru, Iyanaga, Hideomi
• Primary Examiner(s): Eshete, Zelalem
• Application Number:
  US15/807,996
• Publication Number:
  US 20180135472A1
• Time in Patent Office: 537 Days
• CPC Class Codes: F01L 1/047 Camshafts
• CPC Class Codes: F01L 1/3442 using hydraulic chambers with variable volume to transmit the rotating force
• CPC Class Codes: F01L 2001/34426 Oil control valves
• CPC Class Codes: F01L 2001/34433 Location oil control valves
• CPC Class Codes: F01L 2001/3444 Oil filters
• CPC Class Codes: F01L 2001/34469 Lock movement parallel to camshaft axis
• CPC Class Codes: F01L 2001/34483 Phaser return springs
• CPC Class Codes: F01L 2250/02 the camshaft being driven by chains

Abstract

A valve opening/closing timing control apparatus includes: a driving side rotator configured to rotate synchronously with a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine; a driven side rotator disposed coaxially with a rotation axis of the driving side rotator so as to rotate integrally with a valve opening and closing camshaft; a connecting bolt disposed coaxially with the rotation axis to connect the driven side rotator to the camshaft and having an advanced angle port and a retarded angle port formed to extend from an outer peripheral surface to an inner space thereof, which respectively communicate with an advanced angle chamber and a retarded angle chamber between the driving side rotator and the driven side rotator; and a valve unit disposed in the inner space of the connecting bolt, in which the valve unit includes a check valve, and the check valve includes an opening plate and a valve plate.

Claims

1. A valve opening/closing timing control apparatus comprising:

a driving side rotator configured to rotate synchronously with a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine;

a driven side rotator disposed coaxially with a rotation axis of the driving side rotator so as to rotate integrally with a valve opening and closing camshaft;

a connecting bolt disposed coaxially with the rotation axis to connect the driven side rotator to the camshaft and having an advanced angle port and a retarded angle port formed to extend from an outer peripheral surface to an inner space thereof, which respectively communicate with an advanced angle chamber and a retarded angle chamber between the driving side rotator and the driven side rotator; and

a valve unit disposed in the inner space of the connecting bolt,

wherein the valve unit includes a check valve on an upstream side in a fluid supply direction with respect to a base end portion thereof,

the check valve includes an opening plate having an opening around the rotation axis in a posture orthogonal to the rotation axis and a valve plate having a valve body configured to close the opening on a downstream side than the opening plate, and

the valve plate is configured by integrally forming the valve body, an annular portion at an outer peripheral position, and a spring portion that interconnects the valve body and the annular portion with one another.

2. The valve opening/closing timing control apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the valve unit includes:

a sleeve provided on an inner wall surface of the inner space of the connecting bolt and having an advanced angle communication hole communicating with the advanced angle port, a retarded angle communication hole communicating with the retarded angle port, and a drain hole from which a fluid is discharged;

a fluid supply pipe accommodated coaxially with the rotation axis in the inner space and having the base end portion fitted into the inner space and a pipe path portion formed with a supply port in an outer periphery of a tip end portion thereof that has a diameter smaller than that of the base end portion; and

a spool disposed so as to be slidable in a direction along the rotation axis in a state of being guided on an inner peripheral surface of the sleeve and an outer peripheral surface of the pipe path portion of the fluid supply pipe and having a pair of land portions formed on an outer periphery thereof and a control aperture formed at an intermediate position between the pair of land portions to deliver the fluid from an inside to an outside.

3. The valve opening/closing timing control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein outer peripheries of the opening plate and the valve plate are configured so as to be fitted into the inner space of the connecting bolt and are formed in a circular shape having the same diameter.

4. The valve opening/closing timing control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein outer peripheries of the opening plate and the valve plate are configured so as to be fitted into the inner space of the connecting bolt and are formed in a circular shape having the same diameter.

5. The valve opening/closing timing control apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the spring portion includes at least two elastically deformable portions.

6. The valve opening/closing timing control apparatus according to claim 5,

wherein the two elastic deformable portions are formed in a positional relationship of having different phases around the rotation axis.

7. The valve opening/closing timing control apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein, when the valve body is spaced apart from the valve plate by a pressure of the fluid, a most displaced portion of the valve body comes into contact with an inner wall of the base end portion of the fluid supply pipe.

8. The valve opening/closing timing control apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein, when the valve body is spaced apart from the valve plate by a pressure of the fluid, a most displaced portion of the valve body comes into contact with an inner wall of the base end portion of the fluid supply pipe.

9. The valve opening/closing timing control apparatus according to claim 7,

wherein the valve body is spaced apart from the valve plate by the pressure of the fluid, and a contact support portion is formed on the inner wall of the base end portion of the fluid supply pipe so as to come into contact with a position on the valve body closer to the valve plate than the most displaced portion.

10. The valve opening/closing timing control apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein a funnel-shaped contact support surface around the rotation axis is formed on an inner wall of the base end portion of the fluid supply pipe so as to come into contact with at least two positions on the valve body when the valve body is spaced apart from the valve plate by a pressure of the fluid.

11. The valve opening/closing timing control apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein a funnel-shaped contact support surface around the rotation axis is formed on an inner wall of the base end portion of the fluid supply pipe so as to come into contact with at least two positions on the valve body when the valve body is spaced apart from the valve plate by a pressure of the fluid.

12. The valve opening/closing timing control apparatus according to claim 4,

wherein a funnel-shaped contact support surface around the rotation axis is formed on an inner wall of the base end portion of the fluid supply pipe so as to come into contact with at least two positions on the valve body when the valve body is spaced apart from the valve plate by a pressure of the fluid.

13. The valve opening/closing timing control apparatus according to claim 5,

wherein a funnel-shaped contact support surface around the rotation axis is formed on an inner wall of the base end portion of the fluid supply pipe so as to come into contact with at least two positions on the valve body when the valve body is spaced apart from the valve plate by a pressure of the fluid.

14. The valve opening/closing timing control apparatus according to claim 6,

wherein a funnel-shaped contact support surface around the rotation axis is formed on an inner wall of the base end portion of the fluid supply pipe so as to come into contact with at least two positions on the valve body when the valve body is spaced apart from the valve plate by a pressure of the fluid.