Patent 7207300 was granted and assigned to Toyota on April, 2007 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Intake camshafts 10, 14 for driving valve bodies 32 (intake valve) are positioned in right- and left-hand banks, respectively. A variable valve mechanism 30 is positioned in each of the right- and left-hand banks in such a manner as to form mirror-image symmetry. The variable valve mechanism 30 includes a control shaft 60 for controlling the operating angle of the valve body. The respective control shafts in the right- and left-hand banks are controlled in symmetrical directions. The right- and left-hand intake camshafts 10, 14 rotate in opposite directions and at a speed that is synchronized with the speed of a crankshaft.