Internal-combustion engines – Rotary – With transfer means intermediate single compression volume...
Reexamination Certificate
2003-01-10
2004-07-06
Richter, Sheldon J. (Department: 3748)
Internal-combustion engines
Rotary
With transfer means intermediate single compression volume...
C123S241000, C123S242000, C123S244000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06758188
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF ART
An internal combustion engine demonstrating one or more of inverse displacement, asymmetrical cycles, and continuous torque generation is described.
BACKGROUND
An internal combustion engine is a heat engine in which the thermal energy comes from a chemical reaction within the working fluid. The working fluid in an internal combustible engine is fuel, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, and the like, as known to practitioners in the art, and air. Heat is released by a chemical reaction of the fuel and rejected by exhausting spent fuel by-products into the environment. In contrast, in an external combustion engine, such as a steam engine, heat is transferred to the working fluid through a solid wall and rejected to the environment through another solid wall.
Internal combustion engines have two intrinsic advantages over other engine types such as steam engines. First, they require no heat exchangers except for auxiliary cooling, reducing the weight, volume, cost and complexity of the engine. Secondly, internal combustion engines do not require high temperature heat transfer through walls. Thus, the maximum temperature of the working fluid can exceed the maximum allowable wall material temperature. However, internal combustion engines also have known intrinsic disadvantages. In practice, working fluids can be limited to a combustible source, air, and products of combustion, and there is little flexibility in combustion conditions. Non-fuel heat sources such as waste heat, solar energy and nuclear power cannot be used. Further, internal combustion engines, as currently designed, can be very inefficient.
However, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages of using an internal combustion engine. The four-cycle internal combustion engine based on the Otto cycle has widespread use in society today. More internal combustion engines are in use than all other types of heat engines combined. One problem with the internal combustion engine is poor engine efficiency. Current technology available for internal combustion engine design results in efficiencies of about 25% in converting the energy of the working fluid to usable power. Thus, poor engine efficiency increases the need for fuel while at the same time contributing high levels of pollutants to the atmosphere.
Engines are designed to convert fuel to usable power. In an internal combustion engine, the fuel is burned to provide force in the form of high pressure, which can be translated by some mechanical means into torque, or rotational movement, to move a desired object, such as an automobile driveshaft, saw blade, lawn mower blade, and the like. The torque about an axis of rotation at any given time, as described by Archimedes Principle, is equal to the product of the perpendicular force vector times the distance from the axis of rotation that the force is applied. Horsepower is related to torque output of an engine by the formula:
Horsepower=Torque*(Revolutions per Minute/5252) (1)
Torque is limited in current engine designs by the amount of force that can be applied to the crank shaft at any given time, and the geometry of the mechanical translation that controls the angle and distance from the crank shaft at which the force is applied. In current internal combustion engine technology, there is little flexibility to change the geometry of the mechanical translation of force into torque. In order to increase torque, an increase in the amount of force generated is required, which would create a larger displacement engine and require more fuel.
A focal point in current internal combustion engine technology is the relationship between horsepower (hp) output and cubic inch of engine displacement, or total engine working volume. A desirable relationship between horsepower and cubic inch of engine displacement is approximately 1 to 1. This means that 1 hp of output is generated for each cubic inch of engine displacement. However, most internal combustion engines currently available do not have this 1:1 relationship, achieving only about 0.85 hp per cubic inch of engine displacement. With various known incremental improvements in design, for example, the addition of a turbo charger, horsepower output levels can be increased beyond about 1 hp per cubic inch of total engine displacement. Current improvements to efficiency are, however, only incremental in benefit and at a cost of great complexity and expense.
Most internal combustion engines are piston engines. In an internal combustion piston engine, fuel can be burned to create pressure, which can be used to create force for movement of the piston. As shown in
FIGS. 1
a
-
1
d
, in a piston engine, fuel can be directed into a chamber and compressed by a piston. A spark can be used to ignite the fuel, causing combustion of the fuel and an increase in the pressure and temperature inside the chamber, which causes an expansion of the working volume in which the fuel can be located. The combustion products, or exhaust, can be released to the environment. This sequence of four cycles, known as (1) intake, (2) compression, (3) combustion and (4) exhaust, are known collectively as an Otto cycle. Almost all internal combustion engines today can be designed using the Otto cycle. The sequence of the Otto cycle occurs in the order listed. The compression and combustion cycle are companion cycles. Most of the work input occurs during the compression cycle, while most of the output power can be generated during the combustion cycle. These two cycles are reverse processes of each other and are typically shown graphed together with like coordinates on a pressure volume (PV) diagram, which shows the net work output of the system. The exhaust and intake cycles are also companion cycles, and are reverse processes of each other in traditional engines. During the exhaust cycle, the working volume can be reduced to expel exhaust, and during the intake cycle, the working volume can be expanded to intake fuel. The exhaust and intake cycles are not graphed on a PV diagram because the work done during each cycle can be considered negligible. An exemplary PV diagram is shown in
FIG. 2
, and illustrates the compression cycle between A and B, the ignition of the fuel and increase in pressure in the working volume between B and C, the combustion cycle and expansion of the working volume between C and D, and the exhaust and intake cycles between D and A.
Compression and combustion are reverse processes of each other, and exhaust and intake are also reverse processes of each other, in that the way the working volume contracts during combustion or exhaust is the exact reverse process of the way it expands during combustion or intake, respectively. The total change in the working volume during each movement of a piston can be the same but in the opposite direction of the change in working volume of the previous movement of the piston, and the direction of piston movement can be the same but in the opposite direction of the previous movement. The mechanical translation of piston force into torque and torque back into force on the piston are reverse mechanical processes.
As shown in
FIGS. 1
a
-
1
d
, each individual stroke of a piston engine corresponds to a linear movement of the piston
20
within a chamber
10
. As the piston
20
moves along the chamber wall in a direction
26
as shown in
FIG. 1
a
, creating an increase in the working volume
170
, fuel can be brought into the chamber
10
from the intake port
60
, forming the intake cycle (
FIG. 1
b
). At the end of the intake cycle and as shown in
FIG. 1
c
, the piston
20
reverses direction of movement along the chamber wall, moving in direction
27
, and compressing the fuel and present air as shown in
FIG. 1
d
, forming the compression cycle. Near the beginning of the combustion cycle (
FIG. 1
a
), the compressed fuel/air mixture can be ignited by a spark from the ignition port
80
, causing the fuel/air mixture to dramatically increase in temperature and pressure, igniting and burning the fuel to create gasses. The trapped gass
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