Rocker arm and method of manufacturing rocker arm body

The present invention relates to a rocker arm tilted by a cam to open and close a valve provided to a cylinder head and a method of producing a body of the rocker arm.

As a prior-art rocker arm of this type, there is a rocker arm called an end pivot type that is tilted by a cam on one end side as a fulcrum to open and close a valve on the other end side.

The rocker arm includes a body and a roller mounted to the body for coming into contact with the cam to tilt the body.

The body is formed by bending one metal plate into a substantially U shape in section to have side walls in a pair and facing each other in a longitudinal direction and connecting walls for connecting the opposite side walls on longitudinal opposite ends.

A valve fitting portion into which an upper end of the valve is fitted is provided to one connecting wall and a pivot receiver into which an upper end of a pivot portion disposed in a cylinder head is fitted is provided to the other connecting wall.

A roller is rotatibly supported through a spindle between the side walls in the pair and facing each other in a state in which a portion of the roller projects from a through hole provided between the two connecting walls of the body.

The valve fitting portion is obtained by applying guided-bending processing to the body into a substantially U shape in section and then by applying guided-bending processing to cone connecting wall of the body into a substantially inverted M shape in an end face by pushing the one connecting wall up to midway positions in a vertical direction of the side walls in the pair.

This structure is shown in FIGS. 18 to 20 . In these drawings, a reference numeral 50 designates the valve fitting portion, 51 and 52 the sidewalls in the pair, and 53 a connecting wall.

Because the above guided-bending processing is forcible guided-bending processing, defects such as cracking that reduces strength and sinking that reduces accuracy of a shape are likely to be generated in outer surfaces of bent portions between the side walls 51 and 52 in the pair and the connecting wall 53 . Such defects are main causes of variations in a width W of the valve fitting portion 50 and a rate of generation of defective items increases.

Therefore, the present inventors have accomplished the present invention with the above circumstances in view. In the present invention, a wall thickness of the connecting wall 53 is increased by gathering wall portions of other areas such as the side walls 51 and 52 to the connecting wall 53 and a lower face of the thickened connecting wall 53 is recessed to form the valve fitting portion 50 recessed upward.

In the present invention, when the wall portions of the side walls 51 and 52 are caused to flow into the connecting wall 53 , the wall thickness of the side walls 51 and 52 reduce and rigidity of the side walls 51 and 52 may reduce. In order to avoid reduction of rigidity of the side walls 51 and 52 , it is necessary to take measures such as using a thick metal plate for the metal plate as a matrix of the body or changing design of a finished shape of the rocker arm body. Because weight increases in the former while cost of design change increases in the latter, there is room for improvement.

Furthermore, the valve fitting portion of the body may be desired to be disposed in a higher position than the pivot receiver depending on an object for which the rocker arm is used. In such a case, it is necessary to push the valve fitting portion further upward in the prior-art structure and the above defects are more likely to be generated. There is also room for improvement.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a rocker arm having such a shape as to avoid generation of the above defects in a producing process and a method of producing a body of the rocker arm.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a rocker arm having such a shape as to avoid increase in weight and change in design in addition to the above shape for avoiding generation of the defects in the producing process and a method of producing a body of the rocker arm.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a rocker arm having such a shape as to easily adjust a height position of the valve fitting portion in addition to the above shape for avoiding generation of the defects in the producing process and a method of producing a body of the rocker arm.

(1) According to the present invention, there is provided a rocker arm tilted by a cam to open and close a valve provided to a cylinder head, wherein the rocker arm comprises a body obtained by bending one metal plate into a substantially U shape in section to form side walls in a pair and facing each other and a connecting wall for connecting the opposite side walls and a roller mounted for rotation and for coming into contact with the cam between the opposite side walls of the body, a wall thickness of the connecting wall of the body is increased by flowing of a wall portion of a peripheral portion of the connecting wall, and recessing processing is applied to a lower face of the thickened connecting wall to form a valve fitting portion.

Because the valve fitting portion of the rocker arm of the present invention is formed by applying recessing processing to the lower face of the thickened connecting wall, there are not bent portions between the side walls and the connecting wall for forming the valve fitting portion unlike the prior art. Therefore, defects such as cracking that reduces strength and sinking that reduces accuracy of a shape like in prior art do not occur. As a result, it is possible to suppress variations in a width of the valve fitting portion and to reduce a rate of generation of defective items.

(2) According to the present invention, there is provided a rocker arm tilted by a cam to open and close a valve provided to a cylinder head, wherein the rocker arm comprises a body obtained by bending one metal plate into a substantially U shape in section to form side walls in a pair and facing each other and a connecting wall for connecting the opposite side walls and a roller mounted for rotation and for coming into contact with the cam between the opposite side walls of the body, a wall thickness of the connecting wall of the body is increased by flowing of a wall portion of a peripheral portion of the connecting wall by pressurizing and compressing the peripheral portion and recessing processing is applied to a lower face of the thickened connecting wall to form a valve fitting portion, the metal plate has areas to be formed with the side walls and an area to be formed with the connecting wall and has a overhanging chip at a periphery of the area to be formed with the connecting wall, and the overhanging chip is used as the peripheral portion.

In the present invention, similarly to the rocker arm in above (1), defects such as cracking that reduces strength and sinking that reduces accuracy of a shape like in prior art do not occur. As a result, it is possible to suppress variations in a width of the valve fitting portion and to reduce a rate of generation of defective items.

In the present invention, in addition to the above effects, it is unnecessary to increase the wall thickness of the whole metal plate unlike in the above by using the wall portions of the overhanging chips for thickening the connecting wall, thereby avoiding increase in weight of the rocker arm. Furthermore, because it is unnecessary to change design of the finished shape of the rocker arm body, increase in cost for design change can be avoided.

(3) According to the present invention, there is provided a rocker arm tilted by a cam to open and close a valve provided to a cylinder head, wherein the rocker arm comprises a body obtained by bending one metal plate into a substantially U shape to form side walls in a pair and facing each other and a connecting wall for connecting the opposite side walls and a roller mounted for rotation and for coming into contact with the cam between the opposite side walls of the body, an upper face of a longitudinal one end side area of the connecting wall is disposed in a higher position than an upper face of longitudinal the other end side area in a stepped manner, a wall thickness on a longitudinal one end side of the connecting wall is increased only toward a lower face side by gathering a wall portion from a peripheral portion of the connecting wall, and a valve fitting portion is formed to be recessed upward in the lower face of the connecting wall.

In the present invention, similarly to the rocker arm in above (1), defects such as cracking that reduces strength and sinking that reduces accuracy of a shape like in prior art do not occur. As a result, it is possible to suppress variations in a width of the valve fitting portion and to reduce a rate of generation of defective items.

In the present invention, in addition to the above effects, it is possible to obtain the body in which the valve fitting portion is disposed in the higher position than the pivot receiver by relatively easy processing in which the connecting wall is bent into a stepped shape in the producing process of the body when a height difference is required between the longitudinal opposite ends of the connecting wall of the body so as to conform to a relationship between an upper end position of the valve and an upper end position of a tilting fulcrum in an object for which the rocker arm is used.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a rocker arm of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the rocker arm of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the rocker arm.

FIG. 4 is an end view of the rocker arm viewed from a side of a valve fitting portion.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a metal plate and for explanation of a step of die cutting processing in presswork applied to one metal plate in a procedure by which a rocker arm body shown in FIG. 1 is produced.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the metal plate and for explanation of a step of wall thickening applied to an area to be formed with the valve fitting portion in the metal plate that has been subjected to die cutting processing in the above procedure.

FIG. 7 is a view taken in a direction of arrows and along a line Y—Y in FIG. 6 .

FIG. 8 is a sectional view for explanation of a step of half-stamping processing applied to a metal plate shown in section in FIG. 7 to form the valve fitting portion.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view for explanation of a step of guided-bending of the metal plate shown in section in FIG. 8 into a U shape to obtain a pair of side walls and connecting walls.

FIG. 10 is a side view of a rocker arm according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a metal plate and for explanation of a step of die cutting processing by presswork applied to one metal plate in a procedure by which a rocker arm body shown in FIG. 10 is produced.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of the metal plate and for explanation of a step of bending of the metal plate shown in FIG. 11 into a stepped shape.

FIG. 13 is a side view of FIG. 12 .

FIG. 14 is a plan view of the metal plate and for explanation of a step of pressurizing and compressing of the metal plate that has been subjected to processing in FIGS. 11 to 13 .

FIG. 15 is a view taken in a direction of arrows and along a line Z—Z in FIG. 14 .

FIG. 16 is a sectional view for explanation of a step of half-punching processing applied to the metal plate shown in section in FIG. 15 for forming the valve fitting portion.

FIG. 17 is a sectional view for explanation of a step of guided-bending of the metal plate shown in section in FIG. 16 into a U shape to obtain a pair of side walls and connecting walls.

FIG. 18 is a cross sectional view of the rocker arm and for explanation to point out problems in prior art.

FIG. 19 is a bottom view of the rocker arm taken in a direction of an arrow P in FIG. 18 .

FIG. 20 is a sectional view taken along a line X—X in FIG. 18 .

The best embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail by reference to FIGS. 1 to 9 .

By reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 , a reference numeral 1 designates a rocker arm called an end pivot type. The rocker arm 1 is supported on its longitudinal one end side by a lash adjuster 2 . The rocker arm 1 is tilted on the longitudinal one end side as a fulcrum by a cam 3 . A valve 4 on longitudinal the other end side of the rocker arm 1 is opened and closed by the tilting operation of the cam 3 .

The rocker arm 1 includes two components, i.e., a body 5 and a roller 6 .

The body 5 is formed by guided-bending one metal plate into a substantially U shape in section by presswork.

The body 5 includes side walls 7 and 8 in a pair and facing each other, a connecting wall 9 on a longitudinal one end side, and a connecting wall 10 on the longitudinal other end side. To the one connecting wall 9 , a valve fitting portion 11 for receiving an upper end of the valve 4 and recessed upward is provided. To the other connecting wall 10 , a pivot receiver 12 for receiving an upper end of the lash adjuster 2 and projecting into a hemispherical shape is provided. A through hole 13 is provided to side wall intermediate portions of the side walls 7 and 8 positioned between the connecting walls 9 and 10 .

The roller 6 is rotatibly supported through a spindle 14 and a plurality of needle rollers 15 between the side walls 7 and 8 facing each other of the body 5 in a state in which a portion of the roller 6 is projecting from the through hole 13 .

A method of producing the body 5 will be described by reference to FIGS. 5 to 9 .

First, die-cutting processing by presswork is applied to one metal plate to obtain a metal plate A having an outside shape as shown in FIG. 5 . At a longitudinal intermediate portion of the metal plate A, the through hole 13 is formed. Around the through hole 13 as a center, there are an area A 1 on the longitudinal one end side that is to be formed with the one connecting wall 9 , areas A 2 , A 2 on opposite sides that are to be formed with the side walls 7 and 8 , and an area A 3 on the longitudinal other end side that is to be formed with the other connecting wall 10 . Through holes 16 , 16 through which the spindle passes are formed in the areas A 2 , A 2 .

On longitudinal opposite sides of the area A 1 , overhanging chips 17 , 17 as peripheral portions of the area A 1 are formed.

The area A 1 is to be formed with the valve fitting portion 11 . In order to increase a wall thickness of the area A 1 , the overhanging chips 17 , 17 are pressurized, compressed, and crushed toward the area A 1 as shown in FIG. 6 by pinching end faces of the overhanging chips 17 , 17 from longitudinal opposite sides.

As a result, wall portions of the overhanging chips 17 , 17 plastically flow toward the area A 1 . When the flowing wall portions are gathered in the area A 1 as shown in FIG. 7, the wall thickness of the area A 1 increases. By holding an upper face of the area A 1 by a die (not shown) in the wall thickening processing, the thickness of the area A 1 is increased such that only a lower face side of the area A 1 bulges.

Then, by applying drawing processing by presswork to the area A 3 , the pivot receiver 12 projecting upward into the hemispherical shape is formed. The pivot receiver 12 may be formed after the step of forming the valve fitting portion 11 and the guided-bending step of the metal plate A.

Then, by applying half-punching processing by presswork using an upper die B and a lower die C to the area A 1 as shown in FIG. 8, the valve fitting portion 11 recessed upward is formed in the area A 1 . In this case, a ceiling face of the valve fitting portion 11 is curved into a semicircular shape and this shape is formed by copying a shape of an end face of the lower die C.

The areas A 2 , A 2 which are on opposite sides of the area A 1 of the metal plate A formed as described above are bent into a substantially U shape along one-dot dashed lines in FIG. 5 by carrying out guided-bending processing in directions of arrows by presswork by using a die D as shown in FIG. 9 .

As a result, the body 5 having the pair of side walls 7 and 8 and the connecting walls 9 and 10 can be obtained.

Opposite sides of the pivot receiver 12 in the areas A 2 , A 2 which will be the side walls 7 and 8 of the metal plate A are compressed in wall thickness directions to be thin-walled portions A 4 .

The through hole 16 may be formed after the guided-bending processing of the opposite side walls 7 and 8 . The pivot receiver 12 may be formed after the guided-bending processing of the opposite side walls 7 and 8 .

Because the valve fitting portion 11 described above can be obtained by the half-punching processing in which the wall thickness of the one connecting wall 9 is increased and recessed upward, defects such as cracking or sinking from which the prior art suffer do not generate. Therefore, variations in strength and accuracy of the shape caused by the defects can be eliminated.

Because an inner face of the valve fitting portion 11 is obtained by shearing in the half-punching processing, it is possible to more accurately control a width W of the valve fitting portion 11 and to stabilize operability and improve stability of operation of the valve 4 by the valve fitting portion 11 .

Because the overhanging chips 17 , 17 are crushed to increase the wall thickness of the one connecting wall 9 , it is possible to avoid reduction of rigidity of the connecting wall 9 . Therefore, it is unnecessary to use a metal plate A with a large wall thickness. Because an amount of increase in the wall thickness can be increased or reduced by adjusting sizes of the overhanging chips 17 , 17 , a degree of freedom in design can be increased.

Because only one face side of the one connecting wall 9 is caused to bulge in the wall thickening, it is possible to specify a recessing amount of the valve fitting portion 11 with respect to a face of the connecting wall 9 on an opposite side. As a result, positioning of the ceiling face of the valve fitting portion 11 is facilitated.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described best embodiment and applications and modifications described below can be made.

Another embodiment of the present invention will be described by reference to FIGS. 10 to 17 .

In FIG. 10, a reference numeral 1 designates a rocker arm, 2 a lash adjuster, 3 a cam, 4 a valve, 5 a body, 6 a roller, 7 and 8 side walls, 9 and 10 connecting walls, 11 a valve fitting portion, 12 a pivot receiver, 13 a through hole, 14 a spindle, and 15 needle rollers.

An upper face of the one connecting wall 9 provided with the valve fitting portion 11 is higher than an upper face of the other connecting wall 10 provided with the pivot receiver 12 by a necessary amount h.

A method of producing the body 5 shown in FIG. 10 will be described by reference to FIGS. 11 to 17 .

First, die-cutting processing is applied by presswork to one metal plate to obtain a metal plate A having an outside shape as shown in FIG. 11 . In this processing, the through hole 13 , insertion holes 16 , 16 , and overhanging chips 17 , 17 are formed on the metal plate A.

As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, an area A 1 to be formed with the valve fitting portion 11 is bent into a stepped shape that is stepped upward by a height difference h from other areas. The height difference is determined based on a deviation of an upper end position of the valve 4 and an upper end position of the lash adjuster 2 from each other and generated according to an object for which the rocker arm is used.

Then, the overhanging chips 17 , 17 are pressurized, compressed, and crushed similarly to the above-described case and as shown in FIG. 14 to increase a wall thickness of the area A 1 where the valve fitting portion 11 is to be formed. As a result, wall portions of the overhanging chips 17 , 17 plastically flow. Because FIGS. 15 to 17 showing the succeeding processing are similar to FIGS. 7 to 9 , description of the processing will be omitted.

As described above, if heights of the connecting walls 9 and 10 of the body 5 are different from each other because of a relationship between the upper end position of the valve 4 and the upper end position of the lash adjuster 2 , the body 5 in which the valve fitting portion 11 is formed in the higher position than the pivot receiver 12 can be obtained by simple processing of bending the connecting walls 9 and 10 into the stepped shape.

Although the overhanging chips 17 , 17 are formed only at two sides facing each other of the area A 1 which will be the connecting wall 9 to increase the wall thickness of the connecting wall 9 in the above embodiment, it is also possible to form overhanging chips also in the areas A 2 , A 2 positioned on opposite sides of the area A 1 and to pressurize and compress the respective overhanging chips from four directions to increase the wall thickness of the area A 1 .

Although the roller 6 is supported on the spindle 13 through the plurality of needle rollers 14 in the above embodiments, the roller 6 may be rotatibly supported by sliding contact without using the needle rollers 14 . In other words, the roller 6 may be directly fitted over the spindle 13 by clearance fit or may be fitted with the spindle 13 through a slide bearing such as a bushing.

Although the overhanging chips 17 , 17 are crushed to increase the wall thickness of the connecting wall 9 in the above embodiment, it is also possible to pressurize and compress the areas A 2 , A 2 in the wall thickness direction and to cause the areas A 2 , A 2 to plastically flow into the area A 1 to increase the wall thickness of the area A 1 without forming the overhanging chips 17 , 17 .

Although the rocker arm 1 of the end pivot type is shown as an example in the above embodiment, the present invention can be applied also to a rocker arm of a center pivot type (not shown).

Possibility of Industrial Application

The present invention can be used satisfactorily as a rocker arm tilted by a cam to open and close a valve provided to a cylinder head.