Internal combustion rotary engine

Details Internal combustion rotary engine Internal combustion rotary engine

1998-01-21

2001-04-03

Denion, Thomas (Department: 3748)

Rotary expansible chamber devices

Intermittently accelerated and receding members rotate in...

Each a working member

C418S034000, C418S091000, C418S088000, C092S177000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06210135

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a unconventional displacement engine of the rotary type, and more particularly to a rotary engine having an improved force transfer mechanism, an improved rotor assembly with effective cooling, sealing and lubrications systems, and a multi-functional manifold.
In conventional internal combustion engines heat energy is converted to translating or reciprocal mechanical energy of pistons which is then converted to rotational energy that drives a drive shaft. Piston rings are provided as contact surfaces between the piston and cylinder walls. The rings seal the lower portion of a combustion chamber to retain compression, scrape excess oil from the cylinder walls and to transfer heat from the piston to the cylinder walls. Approximately 50% of all mechanical losses are attributed to the piston rings, and about one-half of these are attributed to oil scraping. Mechanical loss due to friction results in less heat being used for power generation.
In addition, the structural design of the conventional engine does not facilitate easy modification. For example, it is not possible to change engine displacement by changing sizes of engine components. Generally, a family of engines having different numbers of cylinders and different displacements are provided.
A currently commercially available rotary engine, such as the Wankel engine is compact, lightweight, simple in design and capable of producing high power relative to its size with high mechanical loss. However, the Wankel engine is not fuel efficient because of inherent problems due to the shape of the pistons, and poor heat transfer due to inadequate cooling of the rotating members.
A variety of rotary piston engines have been proposed recently to improve the Wankel engine by altering the piston shape and the mechanism that ensures proper movement of the pistons. One such engine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,317 to Sakita which discloses a rotary engine having an eccentric elliptical gear assembly interconnected with the rotating piston assemblies. However, with this configuration, the teeth of the gear assembly may experience most of the internal forces generated during combustion and may fail. Further, the gear assembly is generally not compact, has many moving parts which contribute to mechanical loss, and may be expensive to manufacture and maintain.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a new internal combustion rotary engine having a centrally located manifold, an improved force transfer mechanism which reduces internal forces, an efficient cooling system, and a lubrication system which not only lubricates moving parts, but also seals piston contact surfaces.
In accordance with the principles of the invention, this object is attained by providing an internal combustion rotary engine including a stationary, centrally located manifold having an intake and an exhaust port. Inner and outer rotor assemblies are provided which rotate in a common direction about the centrally located manifold. Each of the inner and outer rotor assemblies includes two pairs of diametrically opposed pistons, generally of octagonal shape which divide a rotating internal volume, defined by the outer rotor assembly, into four working chambers. Pistons of the inner rotor assembly slide along related walls of the outer rotor assembly and by this arrangement, the four working chambers communicate periodically with the intake and exhaust ports. Angular movement of the inner rotor assembly against the outer rotor assembly ensures that each working chamber is at minimum volume and at a maximum volume four times per revolution of a crankshaft of the engine. When diametrically opposed working chambers are at their maximum volume, the two other diametrically opposed working chambers are at their minimum volume.
The working stroke of the engine is defined as a maximum angle between two adjacent pistons. This maximum angle defines an arc length which is equivalent to the stroke of a conventional engine.
Movement of the rotor assemblies and transfer of forces generated during operation of the engine is accommodated by a force transmitting mechanism. The mechanism includes a crankshaft, a main crank member, connecting links, and timing gear structure. The timing gear structure controls the rotation of the main crank member around crankshaft at an angle equal to the angle of rotation of the crankshaft. Rotation of the crankshaft may occur in the same direction as rotation of the rotor assemblies, or may occur in the opposite direction, depending on the particular arrangement of the engine.
The engine has an efficient cooling system which provides cooling of all rotating and stationary parts that are heated or contacted by the combustion process. An important feature of the invention is the provision of an internally located water pump or impeller driven by the crankshaft. Depending on the arrangement of the engine, the impeller may rotate in a direction opposite to a direction of rotation of the rotor assemblies, or may rotate in the same direction as the rotor assemblies. The pistons are liquid-cooled along with housings of the inner an outer rotor assemblies via water drawn into the engine by the impeller.
The engine also has a lubricating system which not only provides lubrication for moving parts, e.g., bearings, etc., but in addition, provides oil flow along piston sealing lines. Oil flows along chevrons defined in the pistons to seal piston contact surfaces. Oil is returned to an oil reservoir via passages in the outer rotor assembly. The shape of pistons of the inner rotor assembly is defined for proper oil drainage.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of a device of the type described which is simple in construction, effective in operation and economical to manufacture and maintain.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent during the course of the following detailed description and appended claims.


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patent: 2612878 (1952-10-01), Wilson
patent: 3178103 (1965-04-01), Schnacke
patent: 3500798 (1970-03-01), Arnal
patent: 3736080 (1973-05-01), Sabet
patent: 3955541 (1976-05-01), Seybold
patent: 3989012 (1976-11-01), Doundoulakis
patent: 5051065 (1991-09-01), Hansen
patent: 5324182 (1994-06-01), Sabet et al.
patent: 622432 (1949-05-01), None

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