V-type multicylinder internal combustion engine

Claim 1

In a V-type multicylinder internal combustion engine for vehicles comprising front and rear cylinder blocks arrayed in V shape longitudinally of a vehicle body, front and rear cylinder heads fixed on each cylinder block, pistons sliding in the cylinder blocks, a crank and transmission case formed uniformly on the cylinder blocks, a crankshaft extending transversely of the vehicle body borne rotatably on both side walls of the crank and transmission case at journals on both sides, said crankshaft being coupled to the pistons at a crank pin through connecting rods and provided with front and rear driving sprockets, front and rear cam shafts mounted rotatably on the cylinder heads with driven sprockets fixed thereon, a front timing chain laid between the front driving sprocket and the front driven sprocket and constituting together with said front driving and driven sprockets a front cam driving means, a rear timing chain laid between the rear driving sprocket and the rear driving sprocket and constituting together with said rear driving and driven sprockets a rear cam driving means, and a speed change gear coupled to the crankshaft by way of a primary reduction gear and a clutch, the front and rear cylinder blocks being so located as to have their longitudinal center lines offset from each other in the transversal direction of the vehicle body, the improvement comprises that the front cylinder block has a longitudinal center line disposed offset relative to a longitudinal center line of the rear cylinder block toward one lateral side of the vehicle body along an axis of the crankshaft, said primary reduction gear and said clutch being disposed on said one lateral side relative to the cylinder blocks, said front and rear cam driving means are disposed on an opposite lateral side of the vehicle body to said one side relative to the cylinder blocks, the offset location of the front cylinder block relative to the rear cylinder block leaving a space on said one lateral side rearwardly of the front cylinder block for mounting of said clutch and leaving another space on said opposite side frontwardly of said rear cylinder block for mounting of said front cam driving means, the rear cam driving means being disposed on that opposite side outside the front cam driving means.