Seal for an internal combustion engine

Claim 1

Apparatus comprising an engine block having an aperture therein, a cylindrical combustion chamber cylinder liner received in said aperture, said engine block in part defining separate chambers for coolant and lubricant, respectively, a seal structure coacting between said cylinder liner and said engine block to prevent intermixing of coolant and lubricant, said seal structure comprising an annular insert having a conical exterior surface extending between a narrow axial end and a wide axial end of said annular insert, said conical exterior surface engaging a complementary configured conical surface in said engine block, said insert also having an interior surface with is generally cylindrical, said annular insert further having a pair of axial end surfaces which extend parallel to each other and perpendicular to the axis of said interior surface at the opposite ends of said conical surface, said engine block having a ledge surface extending transverse to said axis of said interior surface, the end surface of said annular insert at said wide end of said annular insert engaging said ledge surface, at least one annular resilient seal member in a circumferential seal groove formed in said interior surface for resilient sealing engagement with said cylinder liner, said annular resilient seal member exerting a radially outwardly directed force to enhance the sealing engagement of said conical exterior surface of said annular insert with said configure conical surface in said engine block, the diameter of said aperture and the outer diameter of said annular insert at said narrow end being substantially equal, and said annular insert being resiliently deformable to enable said wide end of said annular insert to be moved through said aperture to position said end surface at the wide end of said insert in engagement with said ledge surface.