Back to results
US 4,682,672 AGranted
Snap-on oil pan
AssigneeFord Motor Company
InventorsAlvin H. Berger, Roy E. Diehl
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Loading patent…
Loading patent…
AssigneeFord Motor Company
InventorsAlvin H. Berger, Roy E. Diehl
Estimating the term…
An automotive type internal combustion engine has an oil pan that is easily attached and disassembled from the skirt of the engine block by means of a snap-on type connector that includes a springable-like retaining plate removably attached to the upper edge of the oil pan and having right angled end portions springably engaged through slots in the oil pan wall for projection to a location above the ledge of the engine block skirt for supporting the oil pan upon the ledge and securing it to the block, the end portions of the retaining plate being cammed outwardly upon upward assembly of the oil pan to the block ledge and springably returned into a locking position with respect to the ledge after the ledge has cleared the hook-like ends; disassembly being accomplished by forceably moving the springlike ends outwardly until the block ledge is cleared for vertical removal of the oil pan from the ledge.
A clip-on type oil pan for attachment to the bottom edge of the skirt of an engine block, the edge including a horizontal ledge extending circumferentially around and outwardly from the skirt, the pan being formed adjacent its upper portion with a trough shaped portion with vertical side walls adapted to receive the ledge therein for attachment of the pan thereto, and fastening means for flexibly securing the pan to the ledge,
A clip-on type oil pan for attachment to the pan rail of the skirt of an engine block, the rail including a horizontal ledge extending completely around the skirt, the upper edge of the pan being formed in the shape of a trough for reception therein of the ledge for attachment of the pan to the block, the trough having a pair of laterally spaced vertically extending walls, the outermost wall having at least a pair of circumferentially spaced slots therein located just above the ledge when received fully within the trough, and a spring-like retaining plate secured to the outermost wall to lie flat thereagainst, the plate having a right-angled hook at each end insertable through the slots to be supported on the ledge for securing the pan to the block, biasing means pressing the plate against the outermost wall resiliently biasing the hooks through the slots, each hook having a vertical diagonally directed ramp wider at the bottom than at the top for cooperation with the ledge whereby upward assembly of the trough to the ledge engages the ledge with the ramps camming the hooks outwardly until the ledge passes vertically below the hooks, the resiliency of the hooks permitting return of the hooks inwardly through the slots to a free position above the ledge to lock the pan to the block.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.