Method of making an outer lever of a switchable finger lever

1. A method of making an outer lever of a finger lever that can be switched to different lifts for at least one gas exchange valve, said outer lever comprising two substantially parallel arms whose ends are connected by crossbars so that a rectangular or O-like aperture for an inner lever that is capable of pivoting relative to the outer lever is formed, a running contact surface for a high-lift cam being arranged on an upper side of each arm said method of comprising the following work steps to which further intermediate steps may be added:

a) deep drawing a cup-shaped base body our of a metal sheet or a sheet metal strip such that at least one drawing die is applied to the metal sheet or the sheet metal strip from an underside of the arms to be formed and a substantial height of the arms and the crossbars in the cup-shaped base body is produced, so that, as viewed in cross-section, an inverse U-shaped profile is formed,

b) reducing a radius in the edge region between a bottom of the cup-shaped base body and outer sides of the arms by shaping, typically stamping or extrusion at least in the region of the running contact surfaces to be subsequently formed, and

c) punching out the bottom of the cup-shaped base body except for at least the two opposing running contact surfaces, and

wherein simultaneously with, or directly or indirectly after step a), a further step is carried out in which the drawing die or at least one further drawing die or a stamping die is applied to the bottom in deep drawing direction in a vicinity of the end, so that, one of a laterally open or closed lug-like cavity is formed, and the material of the cavity is also punched out in step c) except for an extension starting from the crossbar said one of the end, and

wherein a finger pointing in a longitudinal direction of the lever is punched out of the bottom simultaneously with the running contact surfaces, which finger is bent away from the aperture in a consequent step so as to project upwards from the crossbar.

2. A method of claim 1 wherein the cavity extends from a center crossbar.

3. A method of claim 1 , wherein the bottom is cut off in step c) such that inner surfaces of the arms and the crossbars, except for the running contact surfaces, merge directly or at least approximately directly into the upper sides.

4. A method of claim 1 , wherein the running contact surfaces made in step c) have a beam-like geometry and possess, as viewed in longitudinal direction, a slightly cylindrical shape.

5. A method of claim 1 wherein the running contact surfaces made in step c) extend approximately at a center of the arms.

6. A method of claim 1 wherein step c) is followed by a further step d) in which two aligned receptions are one of punched or bored into the arms in the vicinity of the crossbar that is opposed to the crossbar comprising the cavity, and said receptions serve to receive an axle for the pivoted mounting of the inner lever relative to the outer lever.

7. A method of claim 1 , wherein the running contact surface of each arm of the outer lever is intended for a contact with a high-lift cam.

8. A method of claim 1 , wherein the finger extends from a center of the crossbar.

9. A method of claim 8 , wherein the running contact surfaces made in step c) extend approximately at a center of the arms.

10. A method of claim 1 , wherein step c) is followed by a further step d) in which two aligned receptions are one of punched or bored into the arms in a vicinity of the crossbar that is opposed to the crossbar comprising the finger, and said receptions serve to receive an axle for a pivoted mounting of the inner lever relative to the outer lever.