Power plants – Combustion products used as motive fluid – External-combustion engine type
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-06
2002-07-02
Nguyen, Hoang (Department: 3748)
Power plants
Combustion products used as motive fluid
External-combustion engine type
C060S039600
Reexamination Certificate
active
06412273
ABSTRACT:
The invention concerns a continuous-combustion piston engine in which working medium flowing out of a combustion chamber is successively fed to at least two cylinders.
As is known, such an engine consists of a stationary housing in which a cylinder block rotates with axially-parallel cylinders arranged in a circle. The pistons act via piston rods on an angled crank disc that rotates synchronously with the cylinder block and whose fixed axis is angled in relation to the engine shaft.
A single combustion chamber common to all cylinders is in a stationary cylinder head and is connected to control surface of the cylinder head by an inlet and outlet hole that the rotating cylinders pass by. There is a seal between the rotating cylinder block and the stationary cylinder head.
During a single rotation of the engine shaft that is fixed to the cylinder block, each cylinder is given fresh air at the bottom piston dead center, and the air is slightly compressed during further rotation by the piston motion until it is fed into the combustion chamber close to the upper dead center and is ignited with fuel injected at that site. The piston movement follows from the angled position of the crank disc.
After passing the upper dead center, the cylinder receives combustion gas from the combustion chamber that then expands until an outlet common to all cylinders opens right before the upper dead center. Then a charge cycle occurs in a two-cycle process. The fuel is continuously fed to the combustion chamber through an injection nozzle so that the combustion remains uninterrupted. Electrical ignition only occurs when the engine is started.
Such a piston engine experiences relatively high mechanical wear from the seal of the cylinder block and the centrifugal force of the pistons.
The problem of the present invention is to present a continuous-combustion piston engine that is subject to far less wear.
As a solution, the invention suggests a continuous-combustion piston engine in which working medium flowing out of a combustion chamber is successively fed to at least two cylinders. Each of the cylinders is stationary in relationship to the combustion chamber and has an inlet. Controls are provided that successively connect and separate the inlet with the combustion chamber.
Since the cylinders are stationary in relationship to the combustion chamber, there is no movement between the cylinder block and cylinder head or combustion chamber. Hence additional measures are not required to provide a seal between the cylinder head and cylinder block, and technologies used for conventional engines can be used.
Mechanical losses can be also be reduced by moving the output shaft in relation to the cylinder block. It is possible to fix the cylinder, cylinder head and combustion chamber to prevent mechanical loss from the centrifugal force of the pistons. Of course, this solution is advantageous in and of itself.
To realize this motion, the output shaft can e.g. have a swash plate that is connected via piston rods with the pistons working in the cylinders. The term “swash plate” describes a wobble body rotatably mounted to a knee section of the output shaft that has radially external articulation points for the piston rods. The output shaft or knee section of the output shaft can only follow a change in the angle of the wobble body from the piston motion due to rotation which converts the linear piston movement into a rotary movement.
Likewise, an output shaft can be provided that has a cam disc along which pistons run that work in the cylinders. Such a cam disc arrangement is extraordinarily effective.
On the other hand, any other arrangement that can convert a linear piston motion into a rotary motion can be advantageously used.
A particularly favorable flow of force results when the combustion chamber is coaxial with the output shaft. This is particularly advantageous when a swash plate or cam disc is used, and this favorable flow of force is also advantageous with other output shafts driven by pistons. This arrangement allows in particular a single-flow drive of generic piston engines that makes access to the combustion chamber easier, e.g. for service purposes.
A piston engine according to the invention runs comparatively in a circle if the cylinders are symmetrical to the combustion chamber. This allows the flow of working medium from the combustion chamber to be evenly distributed to the cylinders.
While generic piston engines are single flow, i.e., the output drive is only to one side, the stationary cylinders allow generic piston engines to be dual flow to permit an auxiliary drive such as for an oil pump, fuel pump and/or distributor pump, even next to the combustion chamber. It is also possible in particular to place a corresponding output drive between the stationary cylinders so that no additional installation area is necessary.
At least one inlet of a cylinder can be opened or closed to the combustion chamber via at least one slide valve. This ensures that when the piston returns, the working medium is specifically conveyed through an outlet out of the cylinder. In addition, the inlet can be sealed before the corresponding piston reaches its dead center or the working medium has completely filled the cylinder. The energy in the working medium can hence be better exploited since otherwise some of the working medium flowing through the inlet cannot contribute to the overall work, i.e., to driving the piston.
Such an arrangement is particularly advantageous when there is a flow channel from the combustion chamber to each inlet through which working medium could otherwise flow at any time into the cylinder. This would prevent the piston from returning after the working medium expands.
The slide valves are advantageously controlled so that they move synchronized to the rotation of the engine or the position of the piston. Hence the slide discs can be opened at specific times and working medium can enter the cylinders. The flow channel can also be closed so that the expanded working medium can flow out unhindered.
Of course, controlling the slide valves that open and close the feed channels can also be advantageous independent of the other features of a continuous-combustion piston engine.
It is also conceivable to equip the combustion chambers with a combustion chamber floor that has at least one feed channel. The combustion chamber floor with the feed chamber is shifted so that the feed channel is successively directed to one inlet. This also allows the targeted distribution of the hot working medium to the individual cylinders.
In particular when the cylinders are arranged symmetrically around the combustion chamber, it can suffice to rotate the combustion chamber floor synchronized with the rotary speed of the engine.
Of course such a rotating combustion chamber floor is advantageous independent of the other features of the continuous-combustion piston engine; a rotating combustion chamber floor looses much less heat for construction reasons at the transition of the combustion chamber to the cylinder, and the piston engine is much simpler to construct.
While a slide valve as described above is not essential for the last-cited arrangement, it can have cumulative application.
In particular, the slide valve can be a cylindrical sleeve around the piston in the cylinder that has an opening corresponding to the inlet, and the opening mates with the inlet synchronized with the engine rotation.
Such an arrangement is extremely reliable and comparatively easy to construct since the sleeve is exactly symmetrical to the cylinder and piston. This sleeve can be mounted very securely and can also be easily synchronized with the engine rotation, e.g. by levers or gears.
The sleeve can be mounted lubricated to ensure frictionless movement.
The sleeve can by easily mated with the inlet synchronized with the engine rotation when the sleeve rotates around the cylinder axis. This can occur simply by rotation, or an oscillating motion is also possible.
This sleeve motion also distributes the cited lubricant. If the slee
Fuierer Marianne
Hultquist Steven A.
Nguyen Hoang
Yang Yongzhi
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