Rocker arm

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search

Rocker arm, possibly from a Škoda 120 engine

Top view of 6 stamped steel rocker arms in a Ford Vulcan V6 engine

In the context of an internal combustion engine, a rocker arm is a valvetrain component that typically
transfers the motion of a pushrod to the corresponding intake/exhuast valve.

Rocker arms in automobiles are typically made from stamped steel, or aluminum in higher-revving
applications. Some rocker arms (called roller rockers) include a bearing at the contact point, to reduce
wear and friction at the contact point.

Contents

1 Overview

2 Rocker ratio

3 Materials

4 See also

5 References

Overview

In the typical use-case of an overhead valve (pushrod) engine, the camshaft at the bottom of the engine
pushes the pushrod upwards. The top of the pushrod presses upwards on one side of the rocker arm
(located at the top of the engine), which causes the rocker arm to rotate. This rotation causes the other
end of the rocker arm to press downwards on the top of the valve, which opens the valve by moving it
downwards.
A roller rocker is a rocker arm that uses needle bearings (or a single bearing ball in older engines) at the
contact point between the rocker and the valve, instead of metal sliding on metal. This reduces friction,
uneven wear and "bell-mouthing" of the valve guide.[1] Roller rockers can also be used in overhead cam
engines. However, these generally have the roller at the point where the cam lobe contacts the rocker,
rather than at the point where the rocker contacts the valve stem.

Friction may be reduced at the point of contact with the valve stem by a roller tip. A similar arrangement
transfers the motion via another roller tip to a second rocker arm.[clarification needed] This rotates
about the rocker shaft, and transfers the motion via a tappet to the valve.

Some overhead camshaft engines employ short rocker arms in which the cam lobe pushes down (rather
than up) on the rocker arm to open the valve. On this type of rocker arm, the fulcrum is at the end
rather than the middle, while the cam acts on the middle of the arm. The opposite end opens the valve.
These types of rocker arms are particularly common on dual overhead camshaft (DOHC) engines,
[clarification needed] and are often used instead of direct tappets.

Rocker ratio

The rocker ratio is the distance travelled by the valve divided by the distance travelled by the pushrod
effective. The ratio is determined by the ratio of the distances from the rocker arm's pivot point to the
point where it touches the valve and the point where it touches the pushrod/camshaft. A rocker ratio
greater than one essentially increases the camshaft's lift.

Current automotive design favors rocker arm ratios of about 1.5:1 to 1.8:1.[citation needed] However, in
the past smaller positive ratios have been used, including a 1:1 (neutral ratio) in many engines prior to
the 1950s, and ratios less than 1 (valve lift smaller than the cam lift) have also been used at times.

Materials

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding
citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2022) (Learn
how and when to remove this template message)

Mass-produced car engines traditionally used a stamped steel construction for the rocker arms, due to
the lower cost of production.
Rocker arms contribute to the reciprocating weight of the valvetrain, which can become problematic at
higher engine speeds (RPM). For this reason, aluminum is often in engines that operate at higher RPM.
Upgraded bearings for the rocker arm's fulcrum are also sometimes used in engines operating at high
RPM.

Diesel truck engines often use rocker arms made from cast iron (usually ductile), or forged carbon steel.

The valve gear of a steam engine is the mechanism that operates the inlet and exhaust valves to admit
steam into the cylinder and allow exhaust steam to escape, respectively, at the correct points in the
cycle. It can also serve as a reversing gear. It is sometimes referred to as the "motion".

Contents

1 Purpose

2 Valve gear designs

2.1 Reciprocating valve gears

2.1.1 Early types

2.1.2 Link gears

2.1.2.1 Constant lead gear (Walschaerts-type gear)

2.1.2.2 Dual eccentric gear (Stephenson-type gears)

2.1.3 Lever and link gear (Baker-type)

2.1.4 Radial gears

2.2 Poppet valve gears

2.3 Conjugating gears

2.4 Bulleid chain-driven valve gear

2.5 Corliss valve gear

4 See also

5 References

6 External links

Purpose

In the simple case, this can be a relatively simple task as in the internal combustion engine in which the
valves always open and close at the same points. This is not the ideal arrangement for a steam engine,
though, because greatest power is achieved by keeping the inlet valve open throughout the power
stroke (thus having full boiler pressure, minus transmission losses, against the piston throughout the
stroke) while peak efficiency is achieved by only having the inlet valve open for a short time and then
letting the steam expand in the cylinder (expansive working).

The point at which steam stops being admitted to the cylinder is known as the cutoff, and the optimal
position for this varies depending on the work being done and the tradeoff desired between power and
efficiency. Steam engines are fitted with regulators (throttles in US parlance) to vary the restriction on
steam flow, but controlling the power via the cutoff setting is generally preferable since it makes for
more efficient use of boiler steam.

A further benefit may be obtained by admitting the steam to the cylinder slightly before front or back
dead centre. This advanced admission (also known as lead steam) assists in cushioning the inertia of the
motion at high speed.

In the internal combustion engine, this task is performed by cams on a camshaft driving poppet valves,
but this arrangement is not commonly used with steam engines, partly because achieving variable
engine timing using cams is complicated. Instead, a system of eccentrics, cranks and levers is generally
used to control a D slide valve or piston valve from the motion. Generally, two simple harmonic motions
with different fixed phase angles are added in varying proportions to provide an output motion that is
variable in phase and amplitude. A variety of such mechanisms have been devised over the years, with
varying success.

Both slide and piston valves have the limitation that intake and exhaust events are fixed in relation to
each other and cannot be independently optimised. Lap is provided on steam edges of the valve, so that
although the valve stroke reduces as cutoff is advanced, the valve is always fully opened to exhaust.
However, as cutoff is shortened, the exhaust events also advance. The exhaust release point occurs
earlier in the power stroke and compression earlier in the exhaust stroke. Early release wastes some
energy in the steam, and early closure also wastes energy in compressing an otherwise unnecessarily
large quantity of steam. Another effect of early cutoff is that the valve is moving quite slowly at the
cutoff point, and this creates a constriction point causes the steam to enter the cylinder at less than full
boiler pressure (called 'wire drawing' of the steam, named after the process of making metal wire by
drawing it through a hole), another wasteful thermodynamic effect visible on an indicator diagram.

These inefficiencies drove the widespread experimentation in poppet valve gears for locomotives. Intake
and exhaust poppet valves could be moved and controlled independently of each other, allowing for
better control of the cycle. In the end, not a great number of locomotives were fitted with poppet
valves, but they were common in steam cars and lorries, for example virtually all Sentinel lorries,
locomotives and railcars used poppet valves. A very late British design, the SR Leader class, used sleeve
valves adapted from internal combustion engines, but this class was not a success.

In stationary steam engines, traction engines and marine engine practice, the shortcomings of valves
and valve gears were among the factors that lead to compound expansion. In stationary engines trip
valves were also extensively used.

Valve gear designs

Valve gear was a fertile field of invention, with probably several hundred variations devised over the
years. However, only a small number of these saw any widespread use. They can be divided into those
that drove the standard reciprocating valves (whether piston valves or slide valves), those used with
poppet valves, and stationary engine trip gears used with semi-rotary Corliss valves or drop valves.[1]

Reciprocating valve gears

Early types

Slip-eccentric - This gear is now confined to model steam engines, and low power hobby applications
such as steam launch engines, ranging to a few horsepower. The eccentric is loose on the crankshaft but
there are stops to limit its rotation relative to the crankshaft. Setting the eccentric to the forward
running and reverse running positions can be accomplished manually by rotating the eccentric on a
stopped engine, or for many engines by simply turning the engine in the desired rotation direction,
where the eccentric then positions itself automatically. The engine is pushed forwards to put the
eccentric in the forward gear position and backwards to put it in the backward gear position. There is no
variable control of cutoff.[2] On the London and North Western Railway, some of the three-cylinder
compounds designed by Francis William Webb from 1889 used a slip eccentric to operate the valve of
the single low-pressure cylinder. These included the Teutonic, Greater Britain and John Hick classes.[3]

Gab or hook gear - used on earliest locomotives. Allowed reversing but no control of cutoff.

Link gears

Constant lead gear (Walschaerts-type gear)

One component of the motion comes from a crank or eccentric. The other component comes from a
separate source, usually the crosshead.

Walschaerts or Heusinger valve gear - most common valve gear on later locomotives, normally
externally mounted.

Deeley valve gear - fitted to several express locomotives on the Midland Railway. The combination
levers were driven, as normal, from the crossheads. Each expansion link was driven from the crosshead
on the opposite side of the engine.

Young valve gear - used the piston rod motion on one side of the locomotive to drive the valve gear on
the other side. Similar to the Deeley gear, but with detail differences.

Baguley valve gear - used by W.G. Bagnall.

Bagnall-Price valve gear - a variation of Walschaerts used by W.G. Bagnall. This gear is fitted to Bagnall
3023 and 3050, both preserved on the Welsh Highland Railway.

James Thompson Marshall seems to have designed at least two different modifications of Walschaerts
gear.

One was relatively conventional.

The other was very complex and drove separate valves on top of the cylinder (for admission) and
underneath the cylinder (for exhaust). After the inventor's death, this gear was fitted experimentally to
Southern Railway N Class locomotive number 1850, the work taking from 16 October 1933 to 3 February
1934; but it failed on 22 March 1934. Since the inventor was unable to modify the design, the valve gear
was replaced by standard Walschaerts gear between 24 March and 11 April 1934.[4]

Isaacson's patent valve gear - a modified Walschaerts gear, patented in 1907 by Rupert John Isaacson,
and others, patent no. GB190727899, published 13 August 1908.[5] It was fitted to the Garstang and
Knot-End Railway's 2-6-0T Blackpool (built 1909) and to Midland Railway No. 382 during 1910–11.[6]
Isaacson also has a patent (GB126203, published 8 May 1919) for an improved sight-feed lubricator. This
was patented jointly with his representative, Ysabel Hart Cox.[7]
Soo Line 346 in 1961, showing the Kinkan-Ripken arm on the connecting rod at the right hand edge of
the picture

Kingan-Ripken valve gear. This is a Walschaerts-type gear in which the combination lever is linked to an
arm on the connecting rod, near its small end, instead of to the crosshead. Patented in Canada by James
B. Kingan and Hugo F. Ripken, patent CA 204805, issued 12 October 1920.[8] This gear was fitted to
some locomotives of the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway ("Soo Line");[9] Hugo Ripken
worked as a foreman in the Soo Line's Shoreham Shops in Minneapolis.[10]

Dual eccentric gear (Stephenson-type gears)

Stephenson's Valve gear. Two eccentrics at nearly 180-degree phase difference work cranks from the
main drive shaft. Either can be selected to work the valve slide by shifting the slotted expansion link.

Two eccentrics joined by a curved or straight link. A simple arrangement which works well at low speed.
At high speed, a Walschaerts-type gear is said to give better steam distribution and higher efficiency.

Stephenson valve gear - most common valve gear in the 19th century, normally inside the locomotive
frame.

William T. James valve gear 1832, used first by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, United States.

Allan valve gear, a straight-link valve gear. It is fitted to 0-4-0WT "Dolgoch", preserved on the Talyllyn
Railway.

Gooch valve gear

Lever and link gear (Baker-type)

Baker valve gear assembly

Baker valve gear - fairly common in the United States, it had no sliding parts.

Radial gears

Both components of the motion come from a single crank or eccentric. A problem with this arrangement
(when applied to locomotives) is that one of the components of the motion is affected by the rise and
fall of the locomotive on its springs. This probably explains why radial gears were largely superseded by
Walschaerts-type gears in railway practice but continued to be used in traction and marine engines.
Hackworth valve gear invented by John Wesley Hackworth in 1859.

Joy valve gear - a design used extensively on the L&YR and LNWR in England, and elsewhere. A
preserved example is LNWR G2a Class number 49395.

Marshall valve gear - a modified Hackworth gear, patented in 1879 by Marshall, Sons & Co. A modern
application is to the miniature locomotive Badger.[11]

Brown valve gear - Invented by Charles Brown (1827-1905) who was the father of Charles Eugene
Lancelot Brown.[12] This gear was used by Corpet-Louvet and Duffield Bank Railway.

Southern valve gear - Briefly popular in the United States around 1920. It had elements of the Baker
patterns, but dispensed with the combination lever of the Walschaerts.

Poppet valve gears

Caprotti valve gear, British Caprotti valve gear

Hugo Lentz, oscillating-cam valve gear, rotary-cam valve gear

Franklin oscillating-cam valve gear

Franklin rotary-cam valve gear

Reidinger valve gear

Conjugating gears

View of Henschel & Son conjugated valve gear mechanism used on Victorian Railways H class
locomotive, driven from the outside Walschaerts valve gear

These enable a 3-cylinder or 4-cylinder locomotive to be built with only two sets of valve gear. The best
known is Gresley conjugated valve gear, used on 3-cylinder locomotives. Walschaerts gear is usually
used for the two outside cylinders. Two levers connected to the outside cylinder valve rods drive the
valve for the inside cylinder. Harold Holcroft devised a different method for conjugating valve gear by
linking the middle cylinder to the combination lever assembly of an outside cylinder, creating the
Holcroft valve gear derivative. On a 4-cylinder locomotive the arrangement is simpler. The valve gear
may be inside or outside and only short rocking-shafts are needed to link the valves on the inside and
outside cylinders.

Bulleid chain-driven valve gear

Corliss valve gear

See Corliss steam engine

Large stationary engines often used an advanced form of valve gear developed by George Henry Corliss,
usually called Corliss valve gear. This gear used separate valves for inlet and exhaust so that the inlet
cut-off could be controlled precisely. The use of separate valves and port passages for steam admission
and exhaust significantly also reduced losses associated with cylinder condensation and re-evaporation.
These features resulted in much improved efficiency.

Controls for valve gear

A locomotive's direction of travel and cut-off are set from the cab by using a reversing lever or screw
reverser actuating a rod reaching to the valve gear proper. Some larger steam engines employ a power
reverse, which is a servo mechanism, usually powered by steam. This makes control of the reversing
gear easier for the driver.

See also

Cutoff

Reversing gear

Steam locomotive nomenclature

Trofimoff valve

References

Steam Locomotive Valve Gear Archived 5 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine Animations of
Stephenson's, Walschaerts', Baker's, Southern and Young's valve gear. SteamLocomotive.com, Accessed
1 September 2014

"Slip-eccentric valve gear". Roundhouse-eng.com. Archived from the original on 27 April 2012.
Retrieved 2 December 2012.

Van Riemsdijk, J.T. (1994). Compound Locomotives: An International Survey. Penryn: Atlantic Transport
Publishers. pp. 23–24. ISBN 0-906899-61-3.

Bradley, D.L. (April 1980) [1961]. The Locomotive History of the South Eastern & Chatham Railway (2nd
ed.). London: RCTS. p. 93. ISBN 0-901115-49-5.
"Espacenet - Bibliographic data". Worldwide.espacenet.com. Retrieved 12 January 2013.

"Brief Biographies of Mechanical Engineers". Steamindex.com. Archived from the original on 13

"Espacenet - Bibliographic data". Worldwide.espacenet.com. Retrieved 12 January 2013.

"CIPO - Patent - 204805". Patents.ic.gc.ca. 12 October 1920. Archived from the original on 8 March
2014. Retrieved 13 January 2013.

"Railway age gazette". [New York, Simmons-Boardman Pub. Co.] – via Internet Archive.

Dorin, Patrick C. (1979). The Soo Line. Burbank, California: Superior Publishing Co. p. 25. ISBN 0-87564-
712-X.

"0-6-4st Badger". www.martynbane.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.

"Correspondence 60". www.irsociety.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 November 2011.

External links

Berry accelerator valve gear.

Diagrams of Walschaerts valve gear and Stephenson valve gear, as supplied on working steam model
locomotive