Internal-combustion engines – Rotary – With transfer means intermediate single compression volume...
Reexamination Certificate
2003-05-09
2004-01-06
Denion, Thomas (Department: 3748)
Internal-combustion engines
Rotary
With transfer means intermediate single compression volume...
C123S246000, C123S231000, C418S191000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06672274
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
The invention relates to a rotary piston internal combustion engine. In particular, the invention relates to a rotary piston internal combustion engine comprising a housing; at least one working wheel rotatable about an axis of rotation in the housing; at least one working piston provided on the working wheel for taking in and compressing air or a fuel-air mixture and for converting the gas pressure resulting from the combustion of a fuel-air mixture into mechanical energy; at least one counter wheel with at least one working piston recess; a number of first air vanes driveable in rotation for pre-compression of air or a fuel-air mixture; and at least one combustion chamber for combusting a fuel-air mixture.
Because of the rotary movement of the working piston during operation, such internal combustion engines are generally referred to as rotary piston internal combustion engines or, for short, rotary piston engines.
In this connection, it should be noted that the term axis of rotation about which the working wheel and the one or more pistons rotate during operation is not a physically embodied axle (the latter will always be referred to in the following as shaft but the physical line through the center of the rotary movement.
Internal combustion engines are divided, based on the type of movement of the working piston, i.e., that moved part which is pushed when combusting a fuel-air mixture by the resulting gas pressure, in reciprocating piston engines and rotary piston engines.
In this connection, it has been known for a long time that reciprocating piston engines require because of the translatory piston movement crank gears for conversion of the translatory movement into a rotary movement; such crank gears are highly stressed because of the forces resulting from the continuously occurring acceleration and deceleration of the pistons in particular with respect to their guides and bearings.
In contrast to this, rotary piston internal combustion engines do not have translatorily moved pistons and connecting rods, and the one or more pistons move on a circular path always in the same direction during operation so that they must not be constantly decelerated and accelerated in the opposite direction as is the case for reciprocating pistons.
The best known representative of the design of the rotary piston internal combustion engine is the Wankel engine named after its inventor. In the Wankel engine, a piston having a cross-section similar to a triangle rotates in a cylinder of a special shape. Because of sealing problems and the resulting high fuel consumption, the engine has not found acceptance despite the advantages residing in its configuration.
The German published document 29 31 943 A1 discloses a rotary piston internal combustion engine wherein two working pistons are arranged on a working wheel which is rotatably supported in a housing, wherein the working wheel is perforated in an area near the axis of rotation and is embodied as a fan wheel by means of angularly positioned stays so that the working wheel is advantageously cooled from the interior. The combustion of the fuel-air mixture is carried out in this engine in a separate combustion chamber which results in a complex configuration of the engine.
The German published document 44 17 915 A1 discloses a rotary piston internal combustion engine in which four pistons are arranged on a working wheel of which each one is embodied as a spherical piston, wherein the pistons in operation move into recesses in a counter wheel and thus form in the counter wheel a combustion chamber, wherein the pressure forces resulting from combustion act only partially in the direction of the actual circular movement of the piston so that significant forces must be taken up by the counter wheel.
The German published document 31 31 258 A1 discloses a rotary piston internal combustion engine comprising a working wheel and a compression wheel which are arranged on a common shaft. The compression wheel supports several compression pistons for compressing the fuel-air mixture which is then forced into a combustion chamber formed between the compression wheel and the blade wheel where ignition takes place. The combusted gases are moved from the combustion chamber to the working wheel where they can act on the working pistons. Intake into and exhaust from the combustion chamber are realized by a relatively complex valve control. Moreover, cooling of the working wheel and of the working pistons is problematic in this engine.
An engine which is similar to the last described engine is disclosed in the German published document DE 43 25 454 A1 in which also two piston-supporting wheels are arranged on a common shaft, with one serving for compressing air or a fuel-air mixture and the other for converting the gas pressure resulting from combustion into a rotary movement. Here, combustion is also taking place in a separate combustion chamber.
The known rotary piston internal combustion engines are relatively complex and, accordingly, require high production and maintenance expenses. Moreover, the known rotary piston internal combustion engines, despite research and development having been carried out sometimes over years, are still not optimal so that practically no rotary piston internal combustion engines can be found on the market.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
It is therefore the object of the invention to provide a rotary piston internal combustion engine which has the advantages of a rotary piston engine resulting from its configuration and avoids the aforementioned disadvantages of known rotary piston internal combustion engines.
A rotary piston internal combustion engine is proposed comprising a housing; at least one working wheel rotatable in the housing about an axis of rotation; at least one working piston provided on the working wheel for compressing air or a fuel-air mixture and for converting the gas pressure resulting from the combustion of a fuel-air mixture into mechanical energy; at least one counter wheel with at least one working piston recess; several first air vanes driveable in rotation for pre-compressing air or a fuel-air mixture; and at least one combustion chamber for combusting a fuel-air mixture, wherein the at least one combustion chamber in operation is formed continuously anew between the working piston, working wheel, counter wheel, and housing, and wherein the first air vanes form, like spokes, a part of the working wheel and in operation take in the fuel-air mixture or the air through the working wheel substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the working wheel.
The invention provides several advantages. For example, the gaseous medium, which generally is air but can however also be a fuel-air mixture, taken in through the working wheel cools the working wheel from the interior.
As a result of the perforated configuration of the working wheel with the air vanes acting as spokes, the working wheel has a high stability while having a relatively minimal weight.
The one or more working pistons provide a double function, respectively. When they move toward the counter wheel, they compress the already pre-compressed air, optionally also the already formed fuel-air mixture; after passage through the corresponding working piston recess in the counter wheel they act as a moveable wall of the combustion chamber which is pushed away by the gas pressure resulting from combustion.
The working wheel with the air vanes and one or several working pistons thus even has three functions: pre-compression, compression, work.
As a result of this multi-functionality of the components a simple configuration of the engine with minimal weight and minimal cost and high reliability is enabled. In a preferred embodiment, the output is realized by an output shaft which is arranged at the center of the working wheel whose axis of rotation is identical with the axis of rotation of the working wheel. Advantageously, the first air vanes can directly or indirectly (by a gearbox) engage the output shaft and, in this way, can transm
Denion Thomas
Huckett Gudrun E.
Trieu Thai-Ba
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