US2432602A - Piston ring - Google Patents

Description

1947- v. F. ZAHODlAK-IN 2,432, 02

PISTON RING Filed April 23, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. m 3? x Zkm Dec. 16, 1947. v. F. ZAHODIAKIN 2,432,502

I PISTON RING Filed April 23, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Patented Dec. 16, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE PISTON RING Victor F. Zahodiakin, Short Hills, N. J. Application April 23, 1946, Serial No. 664,343

This invention relates to piston rings, and is particularly directed to the oil control type of piston ring. The broad basic purpose of the present inventor has been to provide a novel and improved ring which provides for circumferential pressure of the ring against the cylinder bore at all points, that is to say, wherein the ring will have uniform engagement'with the wall of the bore and will conform radially to any local or general variation in thecontour of the wall. For an understanding of the type of ring to which the present improvements are directed, reference may be made to the patent to Victor F. Zahodiakin, 2,397,636, issued April 2, 1946.

Generally speaking, the type of ring referred to is formed from a strip of steel which is stamped or punched and bent to provide segments spaced along radial lines and connected by a continuous corrugated or looped strip, having connecting links supporting the upper and lower crown members of the segments. In other words, this type of ring is formed of a relatively thin strip fabricated to the desired form, and is known in the industry as a sheet metal ring.

More specifically, it has been the object of the present inventor to provide a ring of this type which insures a solid and uniform support between the spaced upper and lower crowns. The crowns are uniformly supported, and at the same time, connected integrally by means of the connecting links which form the back walls of the segments. In the present improvement, the lateral or circumferentially extended portions .of each crown are supported by means of the spring loops which provide for the resiliency of the ring.. These loops are projected outwardly radially be tween the upper and lower crowns.

The purpose of the inventor has been to connect the upper and lower crowns of each segment by means of integral links. and to support the crown portions at their lateral ends by means of the spring loops which are not integral with the crown portions. As a result of this" structure the crowns do not become deformed as the ring expands and contracts since the "crown portions are free to slide onthe intermediate supporting loops.

The crowns cannot-become deformed from their 6 Claims. (Cl. 309-45) that all excess metal is eliminated and the connecting portions between the segments are much more flexible. Th crowns are of reduced radial dimension and the connecting loops are of reduced general axial width, being only of sumcient axial dimension at those points required for contacting, spacing, and supporting the crowns. The spaced crowns of each section are supported at three points, integrally at the back and nonintegrally adjacent the radial gaps, or in other words, at the circumferential ends of the crowns, whereby high velocity of the rings will not cause the bore contacting edges of the crowns to deform under high pressure or friction. If the lateral or circumferential ends of the crowns are not solidly supported, it is obvious that the high pressure or friction incurred in high speed operation will cause these ends to deflect, with the result that the contact of the cylinder bore will be irregular, which will damage the surface of the bore and which will ultimately result in breakage of the crowns and resultant damage to the engine. The present structure completely eliminates the above defects and results.

Further action of the ring is to break up carbon formation on the internal surfaces of the crowns, due to the sliding supporting contact with the loops, the formation of carbon being quite a problem in rude oil engines such as Diesels; reduce frictic'i losses which would result from irregular cbntact with the cylinder walls; reduce the loss of oil; and eliminate the drag between the piston rings and the cylinder bore.

Other objects and certain advantages will be more fully apparent from a description of the drawings. in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the improved ring, a portion of the ring being shown in full 1 lines and the rest in outline.

' Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken from the top plan view, a portion of this view being broken away to show the structure of the ring intermediate of the upper and lower crowns.

' Figure 3 is a side view of the fragmentary portion shown in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a plan view of a portion of the strip from which the ring is formed showing the strip stamped or punched to provide the necessary formation prior to bending.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the ring.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view of a piston taken diametrically of the piston showing the oil control ring of this invention in position therein.

Figure 7 is a top plan view of a modified form of ring, a portion of the ring being shown in full lines and the rest in outline.

Figure 8 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of Figure 7, part of this structure being broken away for illustrating the structure of the ring intermediate the upper and lower crowns.

Figure 9 is a side view of Figure 8.

Figure 10 is a plan view of a portion of the strip from which the ring of Figure 7 is formed showing the strip stamped or punched to provide the necessary formation prior to bending. I

Figure 11 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the ring.

Figure 12 is a fragmentary sectional view of a piston taken diametrically of thepiston showing the oil control ring of this invention in position therein.

Referring to the drawings, a strip of steel from which the ring is constructed is generally indicated at [5. As illustrated, the ring is stamped or punched to provide integrally and flexibly joined sections or segments.

Generally speaking, the ring consists of an intermediate portion which is in the form of a continuous strip l6, providing a series of radially extended looped portions l'l, connecting links l8 which extend upwardly and downwardly from the intermediate portion and, crown portions l9. These members of the ring are shown in flat condition in Figure 4, prior to bending. As the ring is bent the loops I! are formed so as to project radially outwardly as will be best apparent in Figures 2 and 5.

The connecting links are bent at right angles midway between the crowns l9 and the intermediate strip portion i6, and in finished position the crowns lie or'rest directly upon the upper and lower ends 20 of the loops. These ends 20 of the loops are notched as at 2|, in order to reduce the amount of metal in the links, thereby makingthem extremely flexible, and providing appropriate oil clearance passageways. Accordingly, this provides a plurality of supporting surfaces 22, upon which the adjacent circumferentially disposed ends of the crowns rest. The radial clearances between the crowns are centered directly above and below the bent (portions of the loops, so that the loops may be said to straddle these clearances and thus provide for the support of the adjacent ends of the crowns.

The crowns iii are of reduced radial dimension. The connecting links l8 are also of reduced circumferential width. The junctures of the radially disposed ends 23 of the links with the crown portions provide structures which are T-shaped in topplan view. Thus it will be apparent that the amount of metal utilized in the effect being skeletonized. At the same time, the proper proportions of the ring are maintained, that is to say, the elements of the ring are fully supported and the loops have the proper strength and flexibility.

As stated generally heretofore, the upper and lower crowns of the ring are connected integrally at the back bythe links orback portions l8. these links being central of the circumferential length of the crowns. The crown portions themsel es are solidly supported on the upper and lower e ds of the flexible loops. The surfaces 22 which support the crowns at their respective ends are flat surfaces which are disposed in parallelism to the internal surfaces of the crowns. Thus it will be seen that the crowns are supported in general at ring is reduced to a minimum. the structure in tends through the flexible loops and these flexible loops are not in connection with the crowns but are each a part of the intermediate strip portion iii of the ring- The connecting links I 8 are of uniform width throughout and where they join the crowns small radii are provided as indicated at 24 in the drawing.

The side walls of the spring loops (Figure 2) are parallel, in other words, the loops are U- shaped in'top plan view. This structure provides for easier flexing of the loops with minimum stress set in the material. Also the structure is easier to make since the loops are open.

In the modified form, as illustrated in Figures 7 to 12. inclusive. the structure is the same as the main form. except that the connecting link structure is modified. In this form two connecting links 25 are provided. Accordingly, each crown is supported generally speaking, at four points instead of three. These links 25 constitute the back wall of the segments and the spaces 26 between the respective links provide for oil flow to the back of the ring into the oil groove and into the interior of the piston, Also in the modified form only a single supporting extension 22 is shown. This extension is of sufficient length to straddle the space between the ring sections and therefore supports the" adjacent ends of adjacent crowns.

In both forms of the invention the piston is indicated at 21, the oil ring groove at 28, and the passageways from the oil groove to the interior of the piston at 29. It will be evident that in both formations the displacement of oil is unimpaired. The ring is particularly effective in permitting rapid displacement of oil due to its skeletonized form. Despite the light and skeletonized form of the ring, the parallel relationship of the crowns always maintained, that is to say, there is no 1. A piston ring comprising. a resilient strip of sheet material, said strip of material folded to form circumferentially arranged segments, each of said segments including an upper crown and a lower crown, and a link connecting said crowns at the inner sides thereof, said segments spaced apart along radial lines, the upper and lower radial lines being in the same radial plane and, resilient means connecting the links being generally of less axial dimension than the distance between the upper and lower crowns, but including supporting portions supporting the adjacent ends of the circumferentially related crowns.

2. A piston ring comprising, a series of sections each consisting of top and bottom walls and the spaces between the sections. said loops including upper and lower extensions adjacent to the respective ends of adjacent crowns for supporting said crowns and maintaining their spacing.

3. A flexible piston ring formed from sheet metal, said ring including a series of U-shaped sections the arms of which constitute the top and bottom crowns of the ring, loop sections disposed parallel to the axis of the ring, said loop sections having their inner ends formed integrally with the inner members of the U-shaped sections and their looped ends extending outwardly and laterally between the adjacent U-shaped sections, the upper and lower edgesof the looped section being notched out to reduce the metal therein and to provide a'plurality of supporting surfaces for each crown and further to provide all clearance whereby the top and bottom walls may slide on the unnotched portions of the upper and lower edges of the looped sections as the ring compresses or expands.

4. A flexible piston ring formed from a strip of resilient sheet material and consisting of a series of ci-rcumferentially arranged sections, each of which includes upper and lower crown portions spaced apart and connecting links at the back, and spring loops interconnecting said links, said spring loops disposed outwardly between the spaced crowns and having their axes parallel with the axes of the ring and coinciding with the spaces between the sections, said links being of less axial heighth than the distance between the crowns over the greater part of their extent, but including supporting projections having fiat contacting surfaces on their upper and lower edges at either side of the spaces between the sections for flatly engaging and supporting the respective adjacent circumferential ends of the crowns.

5. A piston ring comprising a strip of resilient sheet material, said strip providing circumferentially arranged segments, each of said segments consisting of upper and lower crown members disposed in parallelism and connected at the back by means of a pair of connecting links, each pair of links being interconnected by a cross link, th respective pairs of links being connected by means of resilient loops, said loops radially disposed between the upper and lower crown members, and supporting the same at their circumferential ends.

6. A piston ring comprising a series of circumferentially arranged sections, each comprising upper and lower crown portions and a pair of connecting links forming the back wall thereof, and a central body portion for the ring consisting oi a continuous length of material including loops, said loops extending radially outwardly between the crowns, and havingportions supporting and spacing the respective upper and lower crowns adjacent the spaces between the sections whereby the respective upper and lower crowns of each section are supported at four points.

VICTOR 1 ZAHODIAKIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,224,338 Bowers Dec. 10, 1940 2,345,589 Engelhardt Apr. 4, 1944 2,397,636 Zahodiakin Apr. 2, 1946

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