V-SHAPED INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE

摘要

First and second gears are interposed, respectively, between first and second endless power transmission belts each for driving a camshaft of a cylinder head of each of V-shaped cylinder banks and a crankshaft 7. A pair of balancer shafts are provided at symmetrical positions with respect to a separating plane acting as a center therebetween where an upper block and a lower block of a cylinder block are separated from each other from a horizontal plane passing through a center of the crankshaft in such a manner that axes of the pair of balancer shafts become parallel with the crank shaft. The crankshaft and the balancer shaft on the lower block side are connected to each other by means of a third endless power transmission belt . The balancer shafts are connected to each other by means of third gears, so that the pair of balancer shafts are driven to rotate in the opposite directions. Accordingly, the first and second endless power transmission belts and the third endless power transmission belt are prevented from overlapping each other in an axial direction of the crankshaft. In particular, the respective endless power transmission belts and the respective gears are disposed, respectively, on planes each intersecting at right angles with the axis of the crankshaft, whereby the expansion of the engine in the axial direction of the crankshaft can be prevented.