Variable Compression Engine Connecting Rod Switching Module
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing production methods for internal combustion engine connecting rods with adjustable compression ratios are complex and require high manufacturing precision to minimize leakage losses, making them difficult to produce simply.
Innovation Solution
A connecting rod with a switching module that includes a movable switching element and sleeve, utilizing a clearance fit for mobility, where the switching element and sleeve connect hydraulic lines to a hydraulic outflow differently in two positions, allowing for simpler manufacturing by reducing precision requirements and eliminating the need for additional throughflow apertures within the hydraulic lines.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If a slide valve is used to control hydraulic lines with high manufacturing precision, then leakage losses are minimized, but production complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The connecting rod is divided into multiple segments: a body portion and a separately producible switching module. The switching module contains the switching element and associated hydraulic passages, allowing it to be manufactured independently and then assembled to the body portion. This segmentation enables simpler manufacturing of each component while maintaining overall sealing performance.
Solution Approach 2:
A switching element acts as an intermediary component between the first and second hydraulic lines and the hydraulic outflow. This switching element, with its recess and edge region, controls fluid flow without requiring high-precision slide valve mechanisms, thereby reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining effective hydraulic control.
2Loss of energy
If high manufacturing precision is used for hydraulic lines, then leakage losses are reduced, but manufacturing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The hydraulic system is segmented into the body portion with its hydraulic lines and the separately manufactured switching module. This allows parallel manufacturing of components with relaxed tolerance requirements, reducing total manufacturing time while maintaining sealing effectiveness through the designed interface between segments.
Solution Approach 2:
The switching element uses a simpler, less precision-critical design compared to traditional slide valves. The recess and edge region provide adequate sealing without requiring expensive, time-consuming high-precision machining, enabling faster and more economical production.
3Ease of manufacture
If simpler manufacturing methods are used for hydraulic lines, then production complexity decreases, but surface quality and sealing effectiveness worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The switching element with its recess and edge region serves as a mediator that compensates for lower surface quality in the hydraulic lines. The design of the switching element interface ensures adequate sealing effectiveness even when the hydraulic lines are manufactured with simpler, less precise methods.
Solution Approach 2:
High sealing quality is localized to the critical interface between the switching element and the hydraulic lines, rather than requiring high precision throughout the entire hydraulic line system. The recess and edge region concentrate sealing functionality at the switching element interface.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design simplifies the production of connecting rods by reducing the need for precise tolerances and surface quality in the hydraulic lines, while maintaining effective fluid flow control and sealing, thus preventing cavitation and foaming across various engine speeds and loads.
Implementation Method 1
The switching element and the sleeve are movable relative to one another, wherein the mobility relative to one another is realized preferably by way of a clearance fit between the switching element and the sleeve
Implementation Method 2
The settable variable compression ratio is controlled by way of the opening-up of a first and of a second hydraulic line
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to an internal combustion engine (1) having a settable variable compression ratio and having a connecting rod (3), which connecting rod has an adjustment mechanism (4) for the adjustment of the settable variable compression ratio, a first hydraulic line (5), a second hydraulic line (6), a hydraulic outflow duct (47) and a switching module (21) for the switching of the adjustment mechanism (4), wherein the switching module (21) is arranged on the connecting rod (3) and a first position of the switching module (21) corresponds to a first compression ratio and a second position of the switching module (21) corresponds to a second compression ratio that differs from the first compression ratio, wherein the switching module (21) has a switching element (22) and a sleeve (23) surrounding the switching element (22), wherein the switching element (22) and the sleeve (23) are movable relative to one another, and the switching element (22) has a recess (36) and an edge region (37) bordering the recess (36), wherein, in the first position of the switching module (21), the recess (36) and the sleeve (23) connect the first hydraulic line (5) in fluid-conducting fashion to the hydraulic outflow duct (47), and the edge region (37) and the sleeve (23) shut off a fluidic connection between the second hydraulic line (6) and the hydraulic outflow duct (47), and in the second position of the switching module (21), the recess (36) and the sleeve (23) connect the second hydraulic line (6) in fluid-conducting fashion to the hydraulic outflow duct (47), and the edge region (37) and the sleeve (23) shut off a fluidic connection between the first hydraulic line (5) and the hydraulic outflow duct (47).