Rotary expansible chamber devices – With mechanical sealing – Seal element between working member and vane
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-25
2001-08-14
Denion, Thomas (Department: 3748)
Rotary expansible chamber devices
With mechanical sealing
Seal element between working member and vane
C418S013000, C418S136000, C418S140000, C418S145000, C418S147000, C418S241000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06273694
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a rotary-piston machine comprising a housing having a cavity, a rotor received in the housing, which rotor has a rotor axis and a peripheral surface, inlet and outlet passages in communication with said cavity, one or more vanes radially slideable received in slots in the rotor, each vane extending radially from the internal surface of the housing to the rotor axis, and at least one working chamber being part of the cavity and is defined by the internal surface of the housing, the peripheral surface of the rotor and the side surface of at least one vane.
The rotary-piston machine is a thermodynamic machine, which by some modifications can be utilised as combustion engine, heat exchanger, punip, vacuum pump and compressor. The rotary machine can be assembled in several units and in series so that the machine principle is used both for the compressor unit and the combustion engine unit in a super charged engine. It is to be stated this early that the rotary machine has no crankshaft and that the power supplied to or taken out from the machine is effected directly to or from the rotor.
Prior art combustion engines of the rotary type are embodied as rotary piston engines. Here is the rotary piston rotating, which piston is in form of a rotor having an arched triangular design, in an annular cylinder bore. Such combustion engines have, in addition to a complicated design, that disadvantage that the rotor have considerably sealing problems against the cylinder wall. Moreover, these combustion engines have a vast filel consumption.
A prior art combustion engine comprising an engine housing having a working chamber, which receives a continuously rotatable rotor, and inlet and outlet for combustion gasses, is known from DE-3011399. The rotor is substantially cylindrical and rotates in an elliptically designed cavity, which comprises diametrically opposing combustion chambers defined by the surface of the rotor and the internal surface of the cavity. The rotor is designed with radially extending sliding slots, which receive and guide vane pistons that are able to slide radially outwardly and inwardly in the sliding slots. The vanes are articulated connected via a connecting rod with a crank pin, which is further a part of a journalled crankshaft. When the rotor is rotating, the piston vanes are moving radially outwardly and inwardly in the sliding slots due to the fixed support to said crank pin. Thus the one set of vanes will act in the one part of the cavity, i.e. the one combustion chamber, while the other set of vanes will act in the diametrically opposite chamber.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,451,219 reveals a rotary steam engine having two chambers and no valves. Also this engine has two sets of rotor blades with three blades in each set. Each set of rotor blades is turning around its own eccentric point on a stationary common crankshaft within an elliptical engine housing. A rotor of drum type is centrally mounted in the engine housing and defines two diametrically opposing radially working chambers. The two sets of rotor blades are moving substantially radially outwardly and inwardly in sliding slots in the rotor in accordance with the above described engine. The vanes are also here in their central end supported in an eccentric located shaft stub that is fixed. However, the vanes are not articulated, but are in the opposite end PivotTable journalled in a bearing provided peripheral in the rotor.
Pumps and compressors of the vane type are also known. U.S. Pat. No. 4,451,218 relates to a vane pump having rigid vanes and a rotor that is eccentric supported in the pump housing. The rotor has slots that the vanes pass radially through and are being guided by. On each side of the sliding slots are seals provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,873 shows a rotary engine of the vane type that can be used as motor, compressor or pump. This one also has an eccentric mounted rotor tho a number of rigid vanes are passing radially through.
Further examples of the prior art are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,295 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,372.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One object with the present invention is to provide a rotary-piston engine having a high efficiency, low fuel consumption and low emissions of polluting substances, like carbornonoxide, nitrous gasses and unburnt hydrocarbons.
Another object with the present invention is to provide a rotary-piston machine of a compact design, i.e. small machine displacement volume and small overall volume in respect of power output.
In accordance with the present invention, a rotary-piston machine of the type described in the introductory part of the specification is provided, and is distinguished by that each vane is articulated connected about an axis to one end of a control arm and is in the other end pivotally journalled in a fixed axle shaft having a central axis being coincident with the axis extending centrally through the cavity of the housing, which axis extend in parallel with and is spaced apart from the rotor axis, and the rotor proper constitute the unit for power take off or power input. The above disclosed embodiment is a clean rotary-piston machine that can be a compressor or a combustion engine with or without an external compressor.
Preferably do each vane tip describe a cylinder surface sector having centre of curvature in the axis through the joint connecting the vane to the control arm. The idea of this is that the tip of the vane, along a line extending in parallel with the rotor axis, at any time is to be tangent to the internal surface of the cavity, though not touch the surface. This line will be displaced on the vane tip during rotation of the rotor and will at any time describe a cylinder surface which is approximately similar to the internal surface of the housing with a difference in the tolerance that is present between the tip of the vane and the internal surface of the housing only. The tolerance between the vane tip and the internal surface of the cavity is to be as small as it is practical possible to make it.
As a particularly favourable embodiment, the arch length of the cylinder surface sector, and thus the thickness of each vane, is determined by geometric relations, i.e. radius for the cylinder surface sector, the distance between the central axis of the cavity and the axis through the joint that connects the vane to the control arm, and the distance between the rotor axis and the central axis of the cavity. When these geometric conditions are present, an optimum design is obtained causing that the vane tip at any time is tangent to the internal surface of the cavity during the complete revolution of the rotor, and this embodiment will be able to work well without use of sealings.
It is to be noted that the thickness of the vane can be larger without getting any effect for the sealing against the internal surface of the cavity. However, if the thickness of the vane is less than the optimum, a tangent of the tip of the vane against the internal surface of the cavity will not be obtained in parts of the revolution of the vane with the rotor and a sealing on the vane tip will normally be required. The thinner the vane is in respect of the optimum, the longer will the area that the vane tip is not tangent to the internal surface of the cavity be.
In some embodiments it may be suitable to provide sealing means between the tip of the vane and the internal surface of the housing. Preferably is the sealing means provided on the tip face of the vane and the sealing means is sweeping against the internal surface of the cavity. In some situations it may also be suitable to provide sealing means between the vane slots in the rotor and at least one side face of the vane. Sealing means can also be provided between the internal surface of the housing and the peripheral surface of the rotor where the surfaces are tangent to each other, alternatively in the area in which they intersect each other.
In order to minimise the wear of the vanes and improve the operating lifetime, sliding bea
Denion Thomas
Trieu Theresa
Vading Motor AS
Young & Thompson
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