Internal-combustion engines – Free piston – Single chamber; one piston
Patent
1996-11-25
1999-04-13
McMahon, Marguerite
Internal-combustion engines
Free piston
Single chamber; one piston
F02B 7104
Patent
active
058933433
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention concerns the autogenous electrical energy generator sector, and more particularly generators in which the mechanical energy supplied by the alternating movement of pistons in an internal combustion engine without a crankshaft is transformed into an electrical current by the interaction of permanent magnets, integral with the aforesaid pistons, with fixed windings which are immersed cyclically in the magnet's magnetic field.
This type of generator is suitable for the production of electrical current which can then be used either directly, for example, for lighting or heating, as well as indirectly to supply electric motors that can be used for different types of locomotion on land, water, in the air or for other applications.
In any use, the generator is required to provide good performance in terms of output and adjustment with minimum environmental and noise pollution.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Examples already known of this type of generator have considerable limitations in terms of the requirements mentioned above. A significant example is given in the generator covered by patent application GB 2 219 671A. With this generator, the production of electrical energy is achieved by means of the alternating motion of magnets with respect to fixed windings, with magnets integral with the pistons of an internal combustion engine without a crankshaft. However, in terms of arrangement of parts and the design of these parts, this prior art generator differs substantially from that of the present invention described below. For example, the magnets oscillate when moving with respect to a fixed point which lies essentially on the median transverse section plane of the system comprising the windings, and, in addition, the fixed windings can also be used alternatively to produce electrical energy that can be utilized outside the generator or to consume electrical energy to eject the aforesaid magnets to enable the return travel of compression of the piston. Additionally, the dimensions of the prior art device, in line with the energy supplied, is much greater than that needed for a generator as per this invention, in which electrical energy is produced both when the magnets enter the windings and when these return in the opposite direction, and in which start-up and regulation of the system can be done simply by modifying the amount of fuel per cycle.
General regulation of the device in the GB patent, however, both in the internal combustion part and the electromagnetic part, is extremely complicated and expensive to achieve as the pressure and amount of air admitted, quantity of fuel, and characteristic values correlated to the current circulating in the windings (impedance, resistance, direction, etc.) have to be controlled electronically, cycle by cycle.
Regulation of the quantity of air admitted, for example, which in the case of petrol combustion has to be calibrated approximately by stoichiometric measurement for both two-stroke and four-stroke engines, should be carried out independently of the above electrical values, acting on the admission of petrol and the air admission shut-off valves. The electrical values in questions should then be adjusted in turn, cycle by cycle, in accordance with the effects of the initial adjustment just described. This means that a proper computer facility has to be available to store and interpolate a large volume of data, which makes the equipment both costly and sensitive.
The functional layout of the internal combustion engine, apart from the absence of a crankshaft, is essentially conventional in type, and hence the aim is to achieve good overall efficiency by maximizing the energy per cycle to obtain the high temperatures and pressures required.
While this is understandable strictly from the point of view of energy alone, it is not so with regard to pollution in that it is virtually impossible to prevent the formation of toxic compounds such as nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide as the system runs as stated on an essen
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