Captive volume accumulator for a lost motion system
AssigneeDiesel Engine Retarders, Inc.
InventorRobb Janak
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention is directed to an innovative, economical method or system dislosing a captive volume in a hydraulic circuit which can be selectively hydraulically or pneumatically locked, or vented in order to correspondingly maintain, or increase the total volume of the hydraulic circuit. The structural elements of an embodiment of the present invention may include an accumulator with or without a fixed solid stop, which limits its travel. The accumulator can either be a separate entity, or as an assembly within the master or slave pistons.
Claims139
An actuating system for operating at least one valve of an engine during a plurality of engine operating modes, said system comprising:
- energy means for supplying energy to operate the at least one valve during the plurality of engine operating modes;
- valve actuation means for actuating the at least one valve during said the plurality of engine operating modes;
- energy transfer means for transferring energy from said energy means to said valve actuation means;
- and
- control means for controlling the amount of energy transferred from said energy means to said valve actuation means to control the actuation of the at least one valve during the plurality of engine operating modes.
In an hydraulic valve actuation system for operating at least one valve of an engine during a plurality of engine operating conditions, wherein the valve actuation system includes a cam assembly having a plurality of lobes formed thereon for supplying motion to operate the at least one valve during the plurality of engine operating conditions, a valve actuating assembly having a first piston assembly for actuating the at least one valve, and a motion transfer assembly having a second piston assembly and a hydraulic circuit for transferring the motion from said cam assembly to said first piston assembly, the improvement comprising:
- control means for controlling the amount of motion transferred from said motion transfer assembly to said first piston assembly to control the actuation of the at least one valve during the plurality of engine operating conditions.
In an hydraulic valve actuation system, a method of controlling the amount of lost motion between an actuating assembly for actuating at least one valve and the at least one valve during a plurality of engine operating conditions, wherein the actuating assembly includes a cam assembly for providing motion to actuate at least one valve, a first piston assembly in communication with the cam assembly, a second piston assembly selectively in communication with the at least one valve for operating the at least one valve, and a hydraulic circuit communicating between the second piston assembly and the first piston assembly, said method comprising the steps of:
- providing a selectively actuatable accumulator with the actuating assembly;
- and
- supplying fluid to said selectively actuatable accumulator to establish a predetermined volume of fluid with said selectively actuatable accumulator.
A method for actuating at least one valve of an engine during a plurality of engine operating conditions, said method comprising the steps of:
- supplying energy from an energy supply to operate the at least one valve during the plurality of engine operating conditions;
- transferring energy from the energy supply to a valve actuation assembly to actuate the at least one valve;
- and
- controlling the amount of energy transferred from the energy supply to the valve actuation assembly to control the actuation of the at least one valve during the plurality of engine operating conditions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.