Apparatus for relative angular adjustment of a crankshaft of a combustion engine with respect to a driving wheel and methods of making and operating same

Assembly for a relative angle-of-rotation adjustment of a camshaft of an internal-combustion engine with respect to a driving wheel, comprising:

• an interior part which is non-rotatably connected with the camshaft and which has at least approximately radially extending blades,
• a driven cell wheel which has cells which are distributed along a circumference, are bounded by webs and can be divided into two pressure spaces by the blades guided in the cells in an angularly movable manner, during the admission or discharge of hydraulic pressure to or from the pressure spaces by way of control lines, the camshaft being rotatable by way of the blades between two end positions relative to the cell wheel, and
• at least one locking device which is operative between the interior part and the cell wheel, thereby the interior part can be locked with respect to the cell wheel in at least one of the end positions,
• wherein at least one of the blades of the interior part has a head part having at least one locking element which interacts with a locking structure of the cell wheel and is changeable as a function of operating parameters from a locked position into an unlocked position, and
• wherein the head part is longitudinally displaceably disposed on a shank part of the blade.

Assembly for a relative angle-of-rotation adjustment of a camshaft of an internal-combustion engine with respect to a driving wheel, comprising:

• an interior part which is non-rotatably connected with the camshaft and which has at least approximately radially extending blades,
• a driven cell wheel which has cells which are distributed along a circumference, are bounded by webs and can be divided into two pressure spaces by the blades guided in the cells in an angularly movable manner, during the admission or discharge of hydraulic pressure to or from the pressure spaces by way of control lines, the camshaft being rotatable by way of the blades between two end positions relative to the cell wheel, and
• at least one locking device which is operative between the interior part and the cell wheel, thereby the interior part can be locked with respect to the cell wheel in at least one of the end positions,
• wherein at least one of the blades of the interior part has a head part having at least one locking element which interacts with a locking structure of the cell wheel and is changeable as a function of operating parameters from a locked position into an unlocked position, and
• wherein the head part has hook-shaped elements which, in the locked position, engage in openings in the web of the cell wheel, said openings corresponding to a contour of the hook-shaped elements.

Assembly for a relative angle-of-rotation adjustment of a camshaft of an internal-combustion engine with respect to a driving wheel, comprising:

• an interior part which is non-rotatably connected with the camshaft and which has at least approximately radially extending blades,
• a driven cell wheel which has cells which are distributed along a circumference, are bounded by webs and can be divided into two pressure spaces by the blades guided in the cells in an angularly movable manner, during the admission or discharge of hydraulic pressure to or from the pressure spaces by way of control lines, the camshaft being rotatable by way of the blades between two end positions relative to the cell wheel, and
• at least one locking device which is operative between the interior part and the cell wheel, thereby the interior part can be locked with respect to the cell wheel in at least one of the end positions,
• wherein at least one of the blades of the interior part has a head part having at least one locking element which interacts with a locking structure of the cell wheel and is changeable as a function of operating parameters from a locked position into an unlocked position, and
• wherein a face of the head part has a rectangular recess into which a plate-shaped sealing and guiding element engages, the sealing and guiding element being supported on an interior side of the cell wheel.

A camshaft assembly for valve opening adjustment of a camshaft of an engine, comprising:

• a rotor connected non-rotatably with the camshaft having approximately radially extending blades,
• a cell wheel having at least two cells distributed circumferentially around the cell wheel, said cells being bounded by webs and divided into two pressure chambers by the blades which are angularly moveably guided in the cells by hydraulic pressure operatively supplied via control lines,
• the camshaft being relatively rotatable by the blades between two end positions, and
• at least one locking device operatively locking the rotor with respect to the cell wheel in at least one of the end positions,
• wherein at least one of the blades has a head portion having at least one locking element which interacts with a locking structure of the cell wheel, and which is displaceable as a function of operating parameters between a locked and an unlocked position, and
• wherein the locking structure is arranged on at least one of the webs of the cell wheel.

A method of making an assembly for a relative angle-of-rotation adjustment of a camshaft of an engine with respect to a driving wheel, comprising:

• non-rotatably connecting a rotor having at least approximately radially extending blades with the camshaft,
• arranging a driven cell wheel having cells which are distributed around a circumference of the cell wheel and bounded by webs, so that the cells are operatively dividable into two pressure spaces by the blades which are operatively guided in the cells in an angularly movable manner by admission or discharge of hydraulic pressure to or from the pressure spaces by way of control lines thereby the camshaft is operatively rotatable by way of the blades between two end positions relative to the cell wheel, and
• providing at least one of the blades with a head part having at least one locking element which operatively interacts with a locking structure on at least one of the webs to thereby lock the rotor with respect to the cell wheel in at least one of the end positions,
• wherein the head part is radially longitudinally displaceable as a function of operating parameters from a locked position into an unlocked position.