A timing belt, or cam belt (informal usage), is a part of an internal combustion engine that controls the timing of the engine's valves. Some engines, such as the flat-4 Volkswagen air-cooled engine, and the straight-6 Toyota F engine use timing gears. First seen in the 1954 Devin, which won the SCCA National Championship in 1956 (see May 1957 Sports Cars Illustrated article by O C Rich), timing belts replaced the older style timing chains that were common until the 1970s and 1980s (although in the last decade there has been reemergence of chain use for many carmakers). Some manufacturers, such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz, are known for utilizing timing chains, because of their durability. The term "timing belt" is sometimes used for the more general case of any flat belt with integral teeth, although such usage is a misnomer since there is no timing or synchronization involved.
Read more about Timing Belt: Engine Applications, Timing, Failure, Construction and Design, Usage History, Bicycle Usage
Famous quotes containing the words timing and/or belt:
“Is it a new spring star
Within the timing chill,
Talking, or just a mime,
That rises in the blood
Thin Jack-and-Jilling seas
Without the human will?”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)
“The shore is composed of a belt of smooth rounded white stones like paving-stones, excepting one or two short sand beaches, and is so steep that in many places a single leap will carry you into water over your head; and were it not for its remarkable transparency, that would be the last to be seen of its bottom till it rose on the opposite side. Some think it is bottomless.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)