Breather Device for Internal Combustion Engine

The present invention relates to a breather arrangement in an internal combustion engine and, in particular, to an arrangement in the cylinder block for conducting the blowby gases to the engine intake system with a minimum of entrained oil.

Heretofore, various arrangements and devices have been known and used for conducting the engine blow-by gases to the intake while reducing the oil entrained in those gases. One such arrangement is shown in the accompanying FIG. 1A in which a blow-by gas take-out port "d" is provided in a crankcase "a" of an engine "c" which has an oil sump "b" below the crankcase "a", and wherein the blow-by gas from the crankcase "a" is recycled to an intake system "i" through the take-out port "d", valve chamber "k" and breather cap or chamber "h". In this case, the take-out port "d" is generally provided in a skirt portion "e" of a cylinder above the crankcase "a".

In such an arrangement, the blow-by gas take-out port "d" is easily influenced by pressure variations caused by rotation of a crankshaft "f" because it is provided in the skirt portion "e" and leads directly to the valve chamber "k". Further, the oil splashes from the connecting rod "g" connected to the crankshaft "f" and is apt to be conducted from the take-out port "d" through the blow-by gas passage leading to the valve chamber "k".

Another device and arrangement known and used in the prior art is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 100910/84 in which, as shown in the accompanying FIG. 1B, a V-type engine "c" is provided with a breather chamber "h", and the blow-by gas from a crankcase "a" is recycled through the chamber "h" to an intake system "i". Generally in this case, the chamber "h" is positioned above a V-bank bottom wall of the engine "c" and it communicates with the interior of the intake manifold of the intake system "i" from an upper surface of the chamber through a communication passage "j". To reach chamber "h" the blow-by gas must pass from the crankcase "a" through the passage "d" in the lower walls "e" of the cylinders and into valve chambers "k" located thereabove, from which it then passes through upper walls of the cylinders to the chamber "h" and recycled into the intake manifold. Again, with this arrangement in a V-type engine, the oil splash is carried together with the blow-by gas through the valve chambers "k" prior to being conducted into the breather chamber "h" where the oil is separated from the gas. However, this results in an increase in the amount of oil in the valve chambers "k" and requires a relatively long passage until the oil returns to the oil pan "b", so the oil level in the oil pan is lowered. Further, since the device forming chamber "h" is positioned in the V between the banks of cylinders, the upper wall of the engine and that area become complicated and congested whereby the cost of manufacture is increased and water and other material may accumulate.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a breather device which avoids the aforedescribed problems with the prior art devices and systems.

According to the present invention, such object is attained by the breather device in a V-type engine having a breather chamber to recycle blow-by gas from the crankcase to an intake system through the breather chamber in which that breather chamber is formed integrally with the underside of the V-bank bottom wall of the engine and the blow-by gas from the crankcase is first conducted through the breather chamber and then communication passages formed in the cylinder walls into the valve chambers located thereabove and recycled to the intake system.

Also, according to the present invention, the above object is achieved by providing blow-by gas take-out ports in the crankcase of the engine at each end of the engine beyond the journal walls supporting the crankshaft at each end to minimize the oil splashing effect of the crankshaft and piston rods.

Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof as illustrated in the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A is a sectional end view of a conventional crankcase breather arrangement in an in-line type internal combustion engine.

FIG. 1B is a sectional end view of a conventional crankcase breather arrangement in a V-type engine.

FIG. 2 is a sectional end view of a V-type engine employing the breather arrangement of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional side elevation view of the engine taken substantially on the line III--III in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional end view taken substantially on the line IV--IV in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a sectional end view taken substantially on the line V--V in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the inside of the engine of FIGS. 2-5 at the base of the "V" between the cylinders and taken substantially on the line VI--VI in FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic sectional end view of the engine similar to FIG. 2 for illustrating the operation of the arrangement of this invention.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, FIG. 2 shows an example of an application of the breather device and arrangement embodying the invention to a V-type engine 1, comprising a V-type cylinder block 2 and a pair of cylinder heads 3 mounted above the cylinder block 2. Below the cylinder block 2 is provided an oil pan to form an oil sump 4. Pistons 5 of plural cylinders in the cylinder block 2 are connected through connecting rods 6 to a crankshaft 8 mounted in a crankcase 7, and plural intake and exhaust valves 9 are mounted in each cylinder head 3. A camshaft 10 is provided for opening and closing the valves 9 similar to any OHC type engine.

The engine construction as thus far described is not particularly different from the conventional one shown in FIG. 1B, but according to the present invention the blowby gas handling ports, passages and arrangement are substantially different. The blow-by gas take-out ports 11 are positioned outside bearing walls 13 for the crankshaft 8 on both outside ends of the engine in the crankshaft direction in the crankcase 7. More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the blow-by gas take-out ports 11 comprising lower opening ends of spaces 15 formed between outside faces of the bearing walls 13 and cover members 14 applied thereto. A breather chamber 16 is formed on the underside of the V bank bottom wall 16d of the cylinder block 2, and each space 15 communicates with the chamber 16 through a hole 16b. In V6 engine illustrated in FIG. 3, there are three small chambers 16 and each is connected to the other by a hole 16a extending through a bearing wall 13. Each small chamber 16 is cast in the cylinder block 2 to be completely open in the downward direction. A cover member 16c is mounted on the bottom of and encloses each small chamber 16. Bolts 16e mount the covers 16c to the cylinder block 2.

The breather chamber 16 communicates with a valve chamber 3a formed in the upper portion of each cylinder head 3 through a communication passage 17 formed in the cylinder wall of the block 2 (see FIG. 2). One of the valve chambers 3a communicates with an intake manifold 19a of the intake system 19 through a PCV valve 18, while the other valve chamber 3a communicates with the upstream side of a throttle valve 20 at the air cleaner 19b. Thus, the blow-by gas in the crankcase 7 is recycled from the take-out ports 11 to the intake system through the breather chamber 16 first and then through the valve chambers 3a.

In this arrangement, as shown in FIG. 7, when the amount of blow-by gas from the crankcase 7 is relatively small, fresh air is introduced from the air cleaner case 19b into the chamber 16 through the passage 19c and valve chamber 3a (on the left in FIG. 2), then through the communication passage 17 formed in the left-hand cylinder wall, then together with the blow-by gas it passes through the communication passage 17 formed in the right-hand cylinder wall, and then through the PCV valve 18 and recycled into the intake manifold 19a. When the amount of blow-by gas is relatively large, the blow-by gas recycle is made from the chamber 16 through both communication passages 17 to the valve chambers 3a and then from the left side chamber 3a into the air cleaner case 12 and from the right side chamber 3a into the intake manifold 19a through the PCV valve 18.

In the drawings, the numeral 21 denotes a baffle plate disposed in the crankcase 7 for reducing the effects of oil splashing, and the numeral 22 denotes an oil return passage formed in the cylinder wall of the cylinder block 2 for returning the oil from each valve chamber 3a into the oil sump 4.

The operation of the present invention will now be explained on the basis of the above-described embodiment. The blow-by gas in the crankcase 7 of the engine 1 is recycled from the take-out ports 11 to the intake system through the breather chamber 16 and valve chambers 3a. This point is not specifically different from the prior art. However, according to conventional construction, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the take-out port "d" is provided in the skirt portion "e" of the cylinder block located above the crankcase "a", thus causing the previously described problems. On the other hand, in the present invention, the blow-by gas take-out ports 11 are formed in positions outside the bearing walls 13 at the ends of the crankshaft 8 located on both outside ends of the crankcase 7. Each bearing wall 13 acts as a shielding plate, so the blow-by gas take-out port 11 is less influenced by pressure variations and oil splashes caused by rotation of the crankshaft 8.

Moreover, even when the oil in the crankcase 7 is biased to one end of the crankshaft at the time of cornering (for a laterally mounted engine) or acceleration and deceleration (for a longitudinally mounted engine) whereby one of the blow-by gas take-out ports 11 is blocked with the oil, the other take-out port is kept open, thereby insuring the clear passage of the blow-by gas. Moreover, in the above embodiment the take-out ports 11 are formed on both sides as a pair positioned in front and in the rear in a direction perpendicular to the crankshaft 8 with the bearing portion of the bearing wall 13 therebetween, and this arrangement is advantageous because one of each pair of take-out ports 11 is kept open not only when oil is biased in the direction of the crankshaft 8 of the engine 1 but also when it is biased in a perpendicular to the crankshaft 8, such as during combined acceleration and cornering.

Thus, according to the present invention, since blow-by gas take-out ports are positioned outside the bearing walls for the crankshaft which are located on both outsides in the crankshaft direction of the crankcase, both such bearing walls act as shielding plates, so pressure variations and oil splahes caused by the rotation of the crankshaft can be prevented or minimized. Besides, even when oil is biased to one side in the crankshaft direction, one of the take-out ports on both sides is kept open and insures the recycling of blow-by gas.

Another important feature of the present invention will be apparent from a further comparison with the prior art arrangement shown in FIG. 1B wherein the blow-by gas passes through the valve chambers "k" prior to being conducted into the breather chamber "h", so that some oil is separated from the gas in the valve chamber "k", thus increasing the amount of oil in the valve chambers "k". Further, the breather chamber "h" is positioned in an inconventional location above the V bank bottom wall of the engine "c". On the other hand, in the present invention, blow-by gas is conducted from the crankcase 7 directly into the breather chamber 16, so that the oil first is separated there from the gas, that is, the amount of oil conducted into the valve chambers 3a decreases. Since the chamber 16 is relatively close to the oil sump 4, the oil in the chamber 16 returns to the oil sump 4 promptly, and since the chamber 16 is integrally formed under the V bank bottom wall 16d, the upper surface of the bottom wall 16d is flat for preventing the accumulation of water or the like.