Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F01—MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; ENGINE PLANTS IN GENERAL; STEAM ENGINES
  • F01C—ROTARY-PISTON OR OSCILLATING-PISTON MACHINES OR ENGINES
  • F01C1/00—Rotary-piston machines or engines
  • F01C1/02—Rotary-piston machines or engines of arcuate-engagement type, i.e. with circular translatory movement of co-operating members, each member having the same number of teeth or tooth-equivalents
  • F01C1/04—Rotary-piston machines or engines of arcuate-engagement type, i.e. with circular translatory movement of co-operating members, each member having the same number of teeth or tooth-equivalents of internal-axis type

Definitions

• THIS INVENTION concerns a rotary machine in which a pair of simultaneously rotatable drums are provided, one inside the other, and rotatable on different axes.
• a space between the two drums is divided into discrete arcuate compartments by vanes extending across the space between the two rotating parts, such that the volume of the compartments varies cyclically during rotation.
• the machine operates such that gaseous fluid introduced into the compartments between the vanes is alternately compressed and expanded in different zones of the rotation.
• Valves or ports in the wall of the casing or at the end of the machine are provided for the supply or recovery of air or gases within the compartments whereby the machine may be used either as a compressor or a turbine, or both.
• the machine has many uses such as enhancement of the efficiency and economic operation of an internal combustion engine which in certain cases can overcome the problems of throttle loss at low engine speeds, or it may operate as a heat pump.
• a rotary machine comprising a pair of driven parts including a rotary drum and a rotor located for rotation within the drum, the drum and rotor being adapted for rotation simultaneously on different axes; characterised by a plurality of circumferentially spaced vanes on one of said parts extending generally radially towards the other of said parts, whereby, due to the mutually offset axes of the parts, the vanes def ine arcuate spaces of cyclically varying volume during operation; further characterised in that each vane is rigidly fixed to or formed integrally with one of said parts and in that a free end of each vane co-operates with the opposed surface of the other part to determine the ins ta ntaneous vo lumes o f adj acent arcuate compartments during operation.
• FIG. 1 schematically illustrates in transverse cross-section a rotary machine incorporating the invention
• Fig. 2 similarly illustrates a modified and simplified form of such machine
• FIG. 1 there is shown an outer drum 10 which is mounted for rotation about an axis 1 1 and has an inner hub 12. Within the outer drum 10 is an inner drum 13 which is simultaneously rotatable in the same direction about an axis 14 offset from the axis 1 1.
• an outer drum 10 and 13 rotate simultaneously the annular space between them varies in radial extent at any circumferential position.
• the vanes 15 thus divide the space between the two drums into a plurality of arcuate compartments one of which is illustrated at 16.
• a sliding shoe 17 which is constrained to reside at a fixed radial position between the vane 15 and the inner hub 12.
• each shoe 17 In view o f the cycl ical ly varying depth of the space between the inner and outer drums, there is relative movement between each shoe 17 and the drum 13 as can be seen from Fig. 1. Furthermore, during rotation, the tip of each vane 1 5 is caused to move across the radial ly outer face of its associated shoe 17.
• the compartments 16 may be ported in an end wall of the machine to communicate with a supply of air or other gaseous fluid and also with exhaust ports whereby the cycl ical ly v arying volume o f each compartment 16 acts progressively to compress fluid therein and then to permit it to expand as the machine rotates.
• Lubrication of the interface between the inner face of each shoe 17 and the outer surface of the hub 12 may be provided by means of an enclosure 18 which, with the hub 12 form a closed region.
• the interface between the shoes 17 and the adjacent surfaces of the drum 13 may be air lubricated by porting through the shoes 17 or drum 13 to enable air in the compartments 16 to pass between the two faces. These ports are illustrated schematically at 19.
• Fig. 2 in this embodiment the shoes 17 are omitted and replaced by valleys 20 within a one-part inner drum 20.
• the outer drum 10 and vanes 1 5 may be the same as in the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 1 , and as the machine rotates, the tips of the vanes 15 co-operate with the valleys 20 as can be seen in Fig. 2 to divide the space between the inner and outer drums into compartments 21 of cycl ically varying volume.
• the compartments may be further divided by flexible vanes 22 extending between the outer drum 10 and the inner drum 13.
• vanes 15 are four in number but may be provided in greater numbers thus to increase the number of discrete compartments, each vane 15 co-operating with either a shoe 17 or a valley 20.
• the fixed vanes may be mounted on the inner drum and co-operating with appropriate means associated with the outer drum, or in a further alternative arrangement some of the vanes may extend inwardly from the outer drum with others extending outwardly from the inner drum.
• I n operati on over 1 80 ° o f drum rotation in the embodiment of Fig. 2, the inner tips of the vanes 15 describe a line on the surface on the inner drum whilst over the remaining 180° of rotation the tips describe a line in space.
• 90° of rotation can be used for compression with 90° for expansion. Further expansion beyond the 90° can only be achieved if a coil spring or a spring finger is attached to one part thus to act upon the other.
• the further modified device shown in Fig. 3 comprises an outer rotary drum 10 and an inner rotor 1 3, but the simple radial vanes 1 5 of Fig. 2 are replaced by rigid protuberances 23 having contact with individual cylindrical faces 24 in place of valleys 20 on the inner rotor 13.
• close contact between the two rotating parts 10, 13 is established for over 270° of rotation.
• a drive mechanism to retai n the two drums in synchronism is by conventional dog and slot.
• An alternative is to provide a pair of toothed drive belts.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Rotary Pumps (AREA)
• Treatment Of Fiber Materials (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=10832594

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (9)

Families Citing this family (1)

Family Cites Families (6)

• 1998
  • 1998-05-23 GB GBGB9811112.3A patent/GB9811112D0/en not_active Ceased
• 1999
  • 1999-05-20 CA CA002332872A patent/CA2332872A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1999-05-20 CN CN99807816A patent/CN1307664A/zh active Pending
  • 1999-05-20 AU AU39379/99A patent/AU3937999A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1999-05-20 MX MXPA00011553A patent/MXPA00011553A/es unknown
  • 1999-05-20 EP EP99922267A patent/EP1082520A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 1999-05-20 JP JP2000551118A patent/JP2002516940A/ja active Pending
  • 1999-05-20 WO PCT/GB1999/001404 patent/WO1999061750A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1999-05-20 KR KR1020007013159A patent/KR20010043770A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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