Piston made using additive manufacturing techniques
AssigneeTenneco Inc.
InventorsCarmo Ribeiro, Owen Lu, Thomas Egerer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A monobloc piston body for an internal combustion engine is provided. The piston body includes a first piece which includes a pair of skirt portions and a pair of pin bosses and a second piece which includes a crown portion with an upper combustion surface and an at least partially enclosed oil gallery. The first and second pieces are joined together at a joint that is located on a side of the oil gallery opposite of the upper combustion surface. The first piece is made through casting or forging, and the second piece is made through an additive manufacturing process, such as direct metal laser sintering.
Claims15
A method of making a piston body for an internal combustion engine, comprising the steps of:
- casting or forging a first portion of a piston body for use in an internal combustion engine;
- and
- melting a metallic powder through an additive manufacturing process along predetermined patterns directly onto the first portion of the piston body to build the remainder of the piston body in situ on the first portion of the piston body to simultaneously make a monolithic second portion of the piston body and join the second portion with the first portion of the piston body and such that in a final form the piston body includes a combustion surface and a pair of skirt portions and a pair of pin bosses and wherein at least one of the combustion surface, skirt portions and pin bosses is formed into the second portion of the piston body through the additive manufacturing process.
A method of making a monobloc piston body for an internal combustion engine, comprising the steps of:
- casting or forging a first piece of a piston body for use in an internal combustion engine;
- making a monolithic second piece of the piston body through an additive manufacturing process, the second piece being made as a monolithic piece and presenting an upper combustion surface and an at least substantially closed oil gallery;
- and
- joining the first and second pieces together at a joint which is located on an opposite side of the at least substantially closed oil gallery from the upper combustion surface such that the at least substantially closed oil gallery is bound by the monolithic second piece in both an axial direction and a radial direction.
A piston comprising:
- a first piece having a pair of skirt portions and a pair of pin bosses;
- a monolithic second piece having a crown portion with an upper combustion surface and a gallery that is wholly contained within the second piece, wherein the gallery is substantially fully enclosed by a pair of radially spaced side walls, a top wall that spans radially between and unites the side walls at a top of the gallery, and a bottom wall that spans radially between and unites the side walls at a bottom of the gallery, and wherein the top and side walls are formed as a single monolithic unitary piece with the bottom wall;
- and
- wherein a joint connects the first piece to the second piece and wherein the joint is spaced below and which does not intersect the gallery.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.