Internal combustion engine combination with direct camshaft driven coolant pump

A coolant pump for use with an internal combustion engine having a crankshaft and a camshaft having opposing first and second ends with the first end being driven by the crankshaft, said coolant pump comprising:

• a pump housing fixedly mountable to the engine and including an inlet opening to receive coolant and an outlet opening to discharge coolant;
• an impeller shaft detachably mounted directly to the second end of the camshaft opposite the first end and being concentrically rotatably driven thereby, said impeller shaft extending into said housing in a sealing engagement and in an unsupported relation;
• and
• a pump impeller operatively mounted to the impeller shaft within the pump housing, the pump impeller rotatable to draw the coolant into the pump housing through the inlet opening and discharge the coolant at a higher pressure through the outlet opening.

A coolant pump for use with an internal combustion engine having a crankshaft and a camshaft driven by the crankshaft, said coolant pump comprising:

• a pump housing fixedly mountable to the engine and including an inlet opening to receive coolant and an outlet opening to discharge coolant;
• an impeller shaft mounted directly to the camshaft so as to be concentrically rotatably driven thereby, said impeller shaft extending into said housing in a sealing engagement and in an unsupported relation;
• and
• a pump impeller operatively mounted to the impeller shaft within the pump housing, the pump impeller rotatable to draw the coolant into the pump housing through the inlet opening and discharge the coolant at a higher pressure through the outlet opening,
• wherein the housing includes a support surface configured and positioned to engage the impeller shaft so as to maintain radial alignment between the impeller shaft and the housing as the impeller shaft is being mounted to the camshaft of the engine, thereafter the housing being fixedly mounted to the engine spacing the support surface from the impeller shaft.

A combination comprising:

• an internal combustion engine having a crankshaft and a camshaft having opposing first and second ends with the first end being driven by the crankshaft, and
• a coolant pump comprising:
• a pump housing fixedly mountable to the engine and including an inlet opening to receive coolant and an outlet opening to discharge coolant;
• an impeller shaft detachably mounted directly to the second end of the camshaft opposite the first end and being concentrically rotatably driven thereby, said impeller shaft extending into said housing in a sealing engagement and in an unsupported relation;
• and
• a pump impeller operatively mounted to the impeller shaft within the pump housing, the pump impeller rotatable to draw the coolant into the pump housing through the inlet opening and discharge the coolant at a higher pressure through the outlet opening.

A combination comprising:

• an internal combustion engine having a crankshaft and a camshaft driven by the crankshaft, and
• a coolant pump comprising:
• a pump housing fixedly mountable to the engine and including an inlet opening to receive coolant and an outlet opening to discharge coolant;
• an impeller shaft mounted directly to the camshaft so as to be concentrically rotatably driven thereby, said impeller shaft extending into said housing in a sealing engagement and in an unsupported relation;
• a pump impeller operatively mounted to the impeller shaft within the pump housing, the pump impeller rotatable to draw the coolant into the pump housing through the inlet opening and discharge the coolant at a higher pressure through the outlet opening;
• and
• a damper assembly disposed between the impeller shaft and the pump impeller, the damper assembly coupling the impeller shaft to the pump impeller so that powered rotation of the impeller shaft rotates the pump impeller.

The combination comprising:

• a valve controlled piston and cylinder internal combustion engine having a piston driven output shaft and a valve actuating camshaft driven by the output shaft;
• and
• a coolant system including a coolant flow path which passes through the engine in cylinder cooling relation and thereafter through a cooling zone, the coolant system including a coolant pump comprising:
• a pump housing within the flow path including an inlet opening configured and positioned to receive coolant from the flow path and an outlet opening configured and positioned to discharge coolant into the flow path;
• an impeller rotating structure mounted directly to the camshaft so as to be rotatably driven thereby about an axis concentric to a rotational axis of the camshaft;
• a pump impeller operatively mounted to the impeller rotating structure within the pump housing, the pump impeller being constructed and arranged to draw the coolant into the pump housing through the inlet opening and discharge the coolant at a higher pressure through the outlet opening during rotation thereof;
• and
• a damper assembly disposed within the pump housing and being rotatable to dampen torsional vibrations of the camshaft.

A coolant pump for use with an internal combustion engine having an output shaft, the coolant pump comprising:

• a pump housing including an inlet opening and an outlet opening;
• an impeller rotating structure constructed and arranged to be operatively driven by the output shaft of the internal combustion engine about a rotational axis;
• a pump impeller operatively mounted to the impeller rotating structure within the pump housing, the pump impeller being constructed and arranged to draw a coolant into the pump housing through the inlet opening and discharge the coolant at a higher pressure through the outlet opening during rotation thereof;
• and
• a damper assembly disposed within the pump housing and being constructed and arranged to dampen torsional vibrations of the impeller rotating structure.

The combination comprising:

• a valve controlled piston and cylinder internal combustion engine having a piston driven output shaft and a valve actuating camshaft, the camshaft having opposing first and second ends with the first end being driven by the output shaft;
• and
• a coolant system including a coolant flow path which passes through the engine in cylinder cooling relation and thereafter through a cooling zone, the coolant system including a coolant pump comprising:
• a pump housing within the flow path including an inlet opening configured and positioned to receive coolant from the flow path and an outlet opening configured and positioned to discharge cool ant into the flow path;
• an impeller rotating structure detachably mounted directly to the second end of the camshaft opposite the first end and being rotatably driven thereby about an axis concentric to a rotational axis of the camshaft;
• a pump impeller operatively mounted to the impeller rotating structure within the pump housing, the pump impeller being constructed and arranged to draw the coolant into the pump housing through the inlet opening and discharge the coolant at a higher pressure through the outlet opening during rotation thereof,
• wherein the pump housing is fixedly mounted to an outer casing of the engine thereby permitting the impeller rotating structure to be directly coupled to the second end of the camshaft without the use of bearings.