Importance

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Abstract

The inventions provides a method of making a lever-type cam follower (2) out of thin-walled light-weight sheet metal for loading at least one gas exchange valve of an internal combustion engine, said cam follower comprising two side walls (12a, 12b) which, together with a crossbeam (11) that connects these side walls to each other, form a U-shaped cross-sectional profile pointing away from the gas exchange valve, the cam follower further comprising two finger-like tabs (5a, 5b) for receiving a stem end of the gas exchange valve, which tabs are configured on one end (3) of the cam follower (2) as extensions of the side walls (12a, 12b) and are bent through 180.degree. onto an undersurface (9) of the crossbeam (11), said method comprising the following steps which may be supplemented with further intermediate steps: a) punching out a blank (1) out of sheet metal with the tabs (5a, 5b) being bulged outward in arc-shaped curves that are configured as mirror images of each other in respect of a central longitudinal axis (4) of the cam follower (2), b) bending or deep drawing the side walls (12a, 12b) so that they extend at right angles to the crossbeam (11), and c) bending the tabs (5a, 5b) onto the undersurface (9) of the crossbeam (11). By punching out the tabs (5a, 5b) with arc-shaped curves, as described in step a), waste of sheet metal is reduced because the blank has a shorter length.

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First Claim