Air intake manifold

1. An intake manifold comprising:

a base weldment comprising:

a lower shell having a plurality of air outlets; and

a runner assembly comprising:

a plurality of individual runners each having an air inlet, an air outlet and a mating flange adjacent to the air outlet; and

a single support member joining all of the runners in the plurality of runners together to form the runner assembly wherein each of the runners has at least one aperture to receive said single support member,

wherein the runner assembly is permanently joined to the lower shell whereby each air outlet of the runners is communicatively coupled to an air outlet in the plurality of air outlets of the lower shell; and

an upper shell removably attachable to the lower shell to form a plenum chamber.

2. The intake manifold of claim 1 , wherein:

the lower shell further comprises a first perimeter mating flange and a plenum assembly groove thereon; and

the upper shell further comprises a second perimeter mating flange.

3. The intake manifold of claim 2 , further comprising a plenum assembly seal shaped to fit within the plenum assembly groove of the lower shell.

4. An intake manifold for an internal combustion engine having a plurality of cylinders, comprising:

a base weldment comprising:

a runner assembly comprising:

an individual runner corresponding to each cylinder in the plurality of cylinders, comprising:

a first runner shell half having a first mating face;

a second runner shell half having a second mating face, wherein the first and second runner shell halves are welded at the first and second mating faces;

an attachment flange at a proximal end of the runner;

a support member boss; and

a support member aperture in the support member boss; and

a single support member extending through the aligned support member aperture on each of the runners in the runner assembly, whereby the runners are secured to the support member; and

a lower shell comprising:

an air outlet corresponding to each cylinder in the plurality of cylinders;

a mating surface proximate to each air outlet whereon the attachment flange of the runner in the runner assembly is permanently attached; and

a lower mating flange extending around a perimeter of the lower shell; and

an upper shell comprising an upper mating flange extending around a perimeter of the upper shell and corresponding to the lower mating flange of the lower shell whereby the registration of the upper and lower mating flanges forms a plenum chamber containing the runner assembly therewithin.

5. The intake manifold of claim 4 , wherein the lower shell further comprises a plenum assembly groove on the lower mating flange.

6. The intake manifold of claim 5 , further comprising a plenum assembly seal shaped to fit within the plenum assembly groove of the lower shell.

7. The intake manifold of claim 4 , further comprising an injector seal tethered to the plenum assembly seal for each of the runner in the runner assembly.

8. The intake manifold of claim 7 , wherein each of the runner further comprises two injector seals tang extending from opposing sides of the injector boss.

9. The intake manifold of claim 4 , wherein the upper shell further comprises:

a throttle body mounting flange; and

an air inlet formed within the throttle body mounting flange.

10. The intake manifold of claim 4 , wherein the lower shell further comprises:

a throttle body mounting flange; and

an air inlet formed within the throttle body mounting flange.

11. The intake manifold of claim 4 , wherein:

the first runner half further comprises a protrusion on the first mating face; and

the second runner half further comprises a groove on the second mating face complementary to the protrusion,

wherein the protrusion is positioned within the groove.

12. The intake manifold of claim 4 , wherein the support member is threaded into each of the support member apertures.

13. The intake manifold of claim 4 , wherein each of the runner further comprises an injector boss proximate the proximal end of the runner.

14. A method of making an intake manifold for an internal combustion engine having a plurality of cylinders, comprising the steps of:

injection molding a first runner shell half corresponding to each cylinder in the plurality of cylinders, comprising a first mating face; and

injection molding a second runner shell half corresponding to each cylinder in the plurality of cylinders, comprising a second mating face; and

forming a runner by vibration welding the mating face of the first runner shell half to the mating face of the second runner shell half whereby a runner weldment is formed having an air inlet, an air outlet, a support member aperture formed in a support member boss, and an attachment flange proximate the air outlet having a bottom surface;

forming a runner assembly by securing a single support member within the support member aperture of each of a plurality of runners; and

injection molding a lower shell comprising:

an air outlet corresponding to each cylinder in the plurality of cylinders;

a mating surface proximate to each air outlet whereon the attachment flange of a runner in the runner assembly is permanently attached; and

a lower mating flange extending around a perimeter of the lower shell;

injection molding an upper shell comprising:

a throttle body mounting flange;

an air inlet formed within the throttle body mounting flange; and

an upper mating flange extending around a perimeter of the upper shell and corresponding to the lower mating flange of the lower shell whereby the registration of the upper and lower mating flanges forms a plenum chamber containing the runner assembly therewithin;

permanently affixing the runner assembly to the lower shell by vibration welding the bottom surface of the attachment flange of each runner to one of the mating surfaces in the plurality of mating faces of the lower shell; and,

removably connecting said upper shell and said lower shell.

15. The method of making an intake manifold of claim 14 , wherein the lower shell further comprises a plenum assembly groove on the lower mating flange, further comprising the step of:

injection molding a plenum assembly seal shaped to fit within the plenum assembly groove.

16. The method of making an intake manifold of claim 14 , wherein:

the first runner shell further comprises a protrusion on the first mating face;

the second runner shell further comprises a groove on the second mating face; and

wherein the groove is placed in registration with the protrusion prior to forming the runner.