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US 4,974,498 AGranted
Internal combustion engines and engine components
OwnerJerome Lemelsoninventor
Life of this patent
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OwnerJerome Lemelsoninventor
Estimating the term…
Improvements in internal combustion engines and/or components thereof resulting from applying thin coatings or films of synthetic diamond or diamond-like material thereto and, in certain instances, overcoating such synthetic diamond material with a thin layer of chromium for providing certain protective effects. In one form, the entire piston of an internal combustion engine is coated with a thin layer of synthetic diamond material protecting same against heat and chemical corrosion effects during the operation of the engine. In another form, piston rings or ring components are coated with such synthetic diamond material in thicknesses varying from 0.00001" to 0.001" or more. Retaining cavities formed in the head of the piston which retain the piston rings may also be similarly coated. The piston pin and/or its retaining rings may also contain such synthetic diamond material coating as may the top and side walls of the piston. An overcoating of a hard film of chromium may be applied to one or more of the engine components against the synthetic diamond material to protect same against particle erosion and abrasion. Other engine components so protected may include the engine crank shaft or those portions thereof subjected to wear when the surfaces of the bearings of the piston rods engage same and the bearings in which the crank shaft rotates.
A piston for an internal combustion engine formed with an upper surface against which hot gases of combustion react during the operation of said engine, said upper surface containing a thin coating of synthetic diamond material deposited in situ thereon and integrally bonded thereto.
A piston ring for use in assembly with a piston adapted for longitudinal movement in a cylinder of an engine such as an internal combustion engine, compressor, fluid pump or the like comprising:
An internal combustion engine having at least one combustion chamber with a cylindrical side wall and a piston adapted for reciprocating travel in said chamber during the operation of said engine and subject to varying forces and high temperatures of combustion, said piston having an end wall and cylindrical side wall portions, a first layer of synthetic diamond material coating said end wall and at least a portion of said side wall of said piston adjacent said end wall of said piston, and a second layer of synthetic diamond material coating at least that portion of said cylindrical side wall of said combustion chamber which is subject to combustion gases during the operation of said internal combustion engine.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.