Piston having a patterned coating and method of applying same

A piston adapted for reciprocal movement within a cylinder of an internal combustion engine, said piston comprising:

• a body defining a longitudinal axis of said piston extending in the direction of reciprocal movement and having a crown formed at the uppermost margins of said body and a skirt depending from said crown and adapted for relative sliding motion with respect to the cylinder, said skirt including an outer circumference having a major thrust side and a minor thrust side formed substantially opposite each other on said outer circumference of said skirt;
• a coating bonded to said skirt so as to be juxtaposed between said skirt and the cylinder, said coating having a plurality of recesses formed thereon so as to define a predetermined pattern of recesses on the surface of said skirt, said plurality of recesses including a series of intersecting grooves extending across the outer circumference of said piston skirt at a predetermined angle relative to said longitudinal axis so as to define a substantially hatch-like pattern, operatively engaging lubricant between said skirt and the cylinder wall.

A piston adapted for reciprocal movement within a cylinder of an internal combustion engine, said piston comprising:

• a body having a crown formed at the uppermost margins of said body and a skirt depending from said crown and adapted for relative sliding motion with respect to the cylinder, said skirt including a substantially smooth outer circumference having a major thrust side and a minor thrust side formed substantially opposite each other on said outer circumference of said skirt;
• a coating bonded to said skirt so as to be juxtaposed between said skirt and the cylinder, said coating having a plurality of recesses formed thereon so as to define a predetermined pattern of recesses on the surface of said skirt, said plurality of recesses defining a series of lubrication retaining discs in uniform spaced relation with respect to each other to provide lubrication retention along said outer circumference of said piston skirt.