Integrated turbocharger casting
AssigneeBorgWarner Inc.
InventorsSimon Malins, Sean Rylance, James Finley, Rob Daniels
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A bearing housing, or integrated turbocharger housing, with the oil, and optionally air and water galleries, included as as-cast features, thereby avoiding the problems, design limitations and expense associated with conventional post-casting machining. The method of casting preferably uses lost foam casting, or a technique similar to lost foam casting but in which a ceramic shell is formed on the foam form prior to metal casting, but can use any of a variety of casting techniques or a combination of two or more techniques.
Claims16
A method of manufacturing a turbocharger, the method comprising:
- preparing a fugitive positive pattern of a housing defining bearing surfaces for the rotating elements of the turbocharger, the positive pattern further defining at least one channel of an oil gallery communicating with at least one of said bearing surfaces,
- forming a refractory mold around said pattern, and
- casting metal into the refractory mold to produce a cast housing having the at least one channel of an oil gallery defined therein.
A method of manufacturing a turbocharger, the method comprising:
- forming foam forms, each foam form constituting a part of a turbocharger housing,
- joining the foam forms to form a positive pattern defining a turbocharger housing including turbine housing section, bearing housing segment, and compressor cover segment, the bearing housing segment including bearing surfaces for the rotating elements of the turbocharger, the positive pattern defining at least one channel of an oil gallery communicating with at least one of said bearing surfaces,
- forming a refractory mold around said pattern, and
- casting metal into the refractory mold to produce a cast integrated turbocharger housing including bearing housing section having the at least one channel of an oil gallery defined therein.
A one-piece turbocharger housing including a turbine housing section, a bearing housing section, and a compressor cover section, wherein the bearing housing section includes at least one channel of an oil gallery.
A turbocharger bearing housing, wherein the bearing housing includes at least one channel of an oil gallery not defined by a straight line access which extends through an end-opening of the housing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.