Variable oil ring tension mechanism

An apparatus for optimizing radial pressure of an engine piston ring against an associated engine cylinder wall on the downward stroke of an associated piston assembly comprising:

• a) a cylindrical piston adapted for reciprocal movement within an engine cylinder bore;
• said piston secured to a connecting rod adapted to cause the piston to reciprocate within said cylinder bore, said piston having at least one ring groove circumferentially disposed about its exterior side wall;
• b) the engine piston ring is a circumferential resilient annular piston ring disposed within said piston ring groove, said piston ring being discontinuous, and defining first and second ends adapted to be circumferentially spaced apart to form a gap;
• c) a cam disposed within said gap, said cam being resiliently angularly moveable within said gap against said first and second ends of said piston ring;
• d) a pivot shaft disposed diametrically across the interior of said piston, one end of the pivot shaft extending through and supported by an interior piston wall, said end being rigidly affixed to said cam, the other end supported within an opposed interior wall of said piston;
• and
• e) a pivot plate rigidly affixed to said pivot shaft intermediate said supported ends thereof, said plate being adapted to oscillate about the axis of said pivot shaft as a function of cyclic rotary movement of said connecting rod, whereby said resultant oscillation of said cam urges the first and second ends of said piston ring apart as a cyclic function of reciprocal piston movement to increase said radial pressure against said cylinder wall upon said downward stroke of said piston.