Operation of the distribution of engines.

We could also call it "synchronization" instead of "distribution" because it synchronizes the movement of the crankshaft to that of the camshaft (but also the injection pump when there is one). As I know that many dmods of you have very short notions of an engine, I am giving you a diagram that will allow your brain to clarify things, because in the end there is nothing to rocket science.

We can therefore also say that it distributes the rhythm to different elements of the engine.

Here is an engine that highlights the elements that interest us. This is a timing chain (in blue) which is not to be confused with the accessory belt that I have put in green.

The chain is connected to the camshaft (orange) and the crankshaft (red) . The camshaft moves the valves (yellow) and the crankshaft drives the connecting rods/pistons (which I left in gray). You will notice here that this is an engine with two camshafts even if there is only one that is visible (the other has disappeared because it prevented seeing the interior of the engine, this is indeed a cutout). In the engine, you could almost say that there are two distributions! Indeed, there is the one we have been talking about from the start, which synchronizes vital engine elements.