Katsumi Kondo

Development of Sintered Integral Camshaft

The camshaft for an automobile engine is generally made of chilled cast iron. Due to increasing demand for higher performance, lower maintenance and better fuel economy, it is difficult to make the cast iron camshaft lighter and/or more durable. In order to overcome these problems, development of an integral camshaft comprised of a sintered alloy cam piece for better wear resistance and steel tube for weight saving has been accomplished. In 1981 Toyota Motor Corporation successively started the mass-production of the sintered integral camshaft for the new 1.8 liter 1s engine. The significant advantages are as follows; (1) Weight saving; (2) Excellent wear resistance; (3) Improvement of lubrication system; and (4) Saving machining cost.