FR2822894A1 - Rotary engine mechanism comprises stator with circular housing in which partitioning blades rotate with rotor to form reception chambers for compressed gas - Google Patents

Abstract

The rotary engine mechanism comprises a stator (26) comprising a circular section housing (36), around a geometric axis (50), in which several partitioning blades (19) rotate with a rotor (18), mounted on bearings (33) around a mechanical axis (40), to form several corresponding elementary reception chambers for a compressed gas. The mechanical axis of the bearings is displaced relative to the geometric axis. The rotor has several sliding shafts (39) for the blades and it is provided with elements (14,15) for retaining one end of each blade against the internal surface of the housing.

Description

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The present invention relates to a rotary motor mechanism.

A conventional engine with pistons, connecting rods and crankshaft, has a relatively complex structure and has a limited efficiency, in particular because it produces its motive force only discontinuously during the duration of a complete operating cycle.

 Document FR 2 792 364 teaches a rotary vane motor to produce a motive force more continuously. It has a central part, with a circular section, housed in another room with a snail-shaped section. One of the two parts constitutes a stator and the other a rotor, the geometric axis of the central part of which constitutes the axis of rotation. The stator carries a plurality of fins which slide radially in a sealed manner in a corresponding plurality of stator wells. The fins, brought back into abutment against the rotor, form partitions between chambers and their rotation changes their useful length, that is to say the distance between the central, circular part, and the surface, in a snail, of the housing. The volumes of the chambers vary progressively in the same direction, which makes it possible to provide an engine torque by expansion of a pressurized gas or, by rotation of the opposite direction, to compress the gas.

 The present invention aims to provide another solution for providing a mechanism of the above type, having a relatively simple constitution.

 To this end, the invention relates to a rotary motor mechanism comprising a stator comprising a housing of circular section, around a geometric axis, in which is mounted a plurality of partition vanes integral in rotation with a rotor, mounted on the stator by rotation bearing means about a mechanical axis, to form a corresponding plurality of elementary chambers for receiving a compressed gas, characterized in that the mechanical axis of the bearing means is offset with respect to at the geometric axis of the housing, the rotor is pierced with a plurality of fins sliding wells

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 and means are provided for holding one end of each fin against the internal surface of the housing.

 The rotor, of any shape, necessarily has a maximum radius or radial dimension which is less than the radius of the housing, since the two axes are offset. As a result, the radial space between the rotor and the wall of the housing is minimal, or even zero, on the offset side of the mechanical axis, while, on the opposite side, the radial space is maximum. It is therefore understandable that it is then easy to provide, for the radial section of the rotor, a shape such that the volume of the chambers increases along a periphery semi-circle, or angular sector, of the housing and then decreases. It is thus possible to use the angular sector with volume growth to relax compressed gas, motor, which is released at the end of the sector. On the contrary, the opposite sector can be used to compress the gas.

 During their rotation, the fins are radially fixed relative to the housing, which facilitates the resolution of the sealing problem and avoids mechanical stresses with associated wear. It is therefore the rotor which moves up and down radially with respect to the fins, which poses no problem since these two elements rotate together. The rotor thus produces a sort of rising and falling tidal flow which produces the desired variation in the volume of the gas.

 In other words, the rotor cooperates with the fins by its speed or radial dynamic phase with respect to them, phase due to the axis offset, which is an order of magnitude less than the peripheral linear speed of the fins, and thus the latter does not intervene in the mechanical problem above.

 It will be understood that the claimed rotary motor mechanism can just as easily be a motor, intended to supply motive power to an external device, as a compressor intended to transmit internally, to a gas to be compressed, mechanical energy received.

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Advantageously, the rotor has a substantially circular ring section and the means for holding the fins comprise a hub for supporting the ends of the fins opposite those in contact with the wall of the housing, centered on the geometric axis of the housing.

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Thus, the fins are blocked radially between two concentric surfaces, so that the sealing of the elementary chambers is easy to maintain.

 To supply the elementary chambers with compressed drive gas, the housing advantageously comprises a recess for transferring the gas between a combustion chamber and the elementary chambers, the combustion chamber being supplied with compressed air by a series of compressors driven by, or coupled to turbines driven by gas coming from a first exhaust pipe from the housing substantially diametrically opposite to the combustion chamber, preferably with a second pipe, of low pressure outlet, angularly provided downstream of the first pipe and upstream of the combustion chamber.

 Part of the energy of the expanded gas is thus recycled.

 The invention will be better understood with the aid of the following description of a particular embodiment of the rotary motor mechanism of the invention, with reference to the attached drawing, in which: FIG. 1 is a view in radial section and Figure 2 is an axial sectional view.

 The mechanism shown here belongs to a thermal engine for supplying a mechanical torque driving an alternating current generator. The engine, powered by two opposite V-sets of three two-stroke cylinders, operates according to four cycles, respectively of intake, compression, engine work by rebound and exhaust. We will first look at the third cycle, to describe the mechanical features of the invention.

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 As shown in FIG. 1, the mechanism comprises a stator frame or motor unit 26, comprising a housing 36 in which a rotor 18 is mounted. The housing 36 has an internal wall with a section of substantially circular shape, around an axis geometric 50 perpendicular to the plane of Figure 1. The rotor 18, whose radial size is less than the diameter of the housing 36, in this example has a section whose external surface, opposite the wall of the housing 36, is circular. Specifically here, the rotor 18 has a radial section forming a ring, with an internal surface parallel to its external surface.

 In general, the radial section of the various mechanical parts linked to the rotation of the rotor 18 can vary depending on the axial position of this section in the part considered, that is to say that the rotor 18 and the housing 36 can for example be conical. For the sake of simplicity, it is assumed here that they are cylindrical.

 The rotor 18 has a geometric axis 40, which is also its mechanical axis of rotation, parallel to the axis 50 of the housing 36 but offset radially from the latter (see also fig. 2). The rotor 18 forms a sort of crown comprising a plurality of radial wells 39, here eighteen, of radial sliding, with sealing, of a corresponding plurality of fins or angular partition vanes 19 extending radially and regularly distributed angularly . Each fin 19 is in abutment, by its end facing outwards, against the wall of the housing 36, under the effect of retaining elements preventing any retraction of the fins 19 towards the interior of the housing 36. In this example, these retaining elements comprise a tubular part 14 with a circular external surface constituting a sort of hub or cam for supporting the fins 19, parallel, or concentric, to the wall of the housing 36.

 The support piece 14 could be floating relative to the stator 26, since it constitutes an internal wedge surrounded by the fins 19 which, conversely, block it radially by their support on the external containment wedge that constitutes the wall of the housing 36 However, in this example, the support piece 14 is rotatably mounted on two bearings 15 with ball bearings 32 carried by the stator 26 (see also fig. 2). This limits the risk of unwanted vibrations. The wells 39 therefore represent slots at

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 radial and axial extent allowing the fins 19 to pass through the rotor 18 to remain in abutment on the hub 14.

 The rotor 18 is likewise carried by two opposite bearings 33 (FIG. 2) of the stator 26, but offset radially with respect to the geometric axis 50. Precisely, the external surface of the rotor 18 is substantially tangent to the internal wall of the housing 36, that is to say that the fins 19 then occupy a retracted position in the rotor 18, as illustrated in the upper left-hand part of FIG. 1. Expressed otherwise, the external surface of the rotor 18 is mounted radially and drowns the fins 19. In the radially opposite part, the fins 19 occupy on the contrary a maximum exit position. The surface of the rotor 18 thus produces, at each revolution, an upward flow of reduction in volume of the elementary chambers 13 and a downward flow according to the phase speed mentioned at the start, with a 20 phase delay phase shift of an elementary chamber 13 to the next.

 FIG. 2, in section containing the two axes 40 and 50, illustrates well the offset, here to the left, of the mechanical axis 40 of the rotor 18 relative to the geometric axis 50 of the housing 36.

 The rotor 18 thus constitutes a sealed drive cam or chain, here driven by the drive fins 19, eccentric chain (40) relative to the center (50) of the housing volume 36 offered. The fins 19 effect a tight bridging between the internal wall of the housing 36 and the hub 14 parallel to this wall.

ailettes 19, des secteurs en haut à droite et en bas à gauche de la figure 1, en quadrature c In this example, the wells 39, with seals 27 for the fins 19 and with sealing bearings 28, are directed towards the mechanical axis 40 and have substantially no play which allows the fins 19 to pivot slightly in the plane of Figure 1 to possibly orient towards the geometric axis 50. As a result, the fins 19 are all oriented towards the mechanical axis 40 and only those of the two sectors mentioned above, at minimum or maximum distance between the rotor 18 and the internal wall of the housing 36, are also oriented towards the geometric axis 50. The other

fins 19, sectors at the top right and bottom left of Figure 1, in quadrature c

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 with the plane of the two axes 40 and 50, are therefore inclined on the radius starting from the geometric axis 50 and passing through their fulcrum on the hub 14.

 The fins 19 have, in radial section, a rounded shape at one of their ends, here radially external, to maintain the desired radial length during their slight relative pivoting relative to the local normal to the hub 14, that is that is to say, to rest on their two radial ends, internal and external, on the wall of the housing 36, with sealing, and on the hub 14, without however risking jamming.

In addition, the external end of each fin 19 here comprises a packing 17 for sliding, or scraper, and sealing with the internal wall of the housing 36.

 A sector of the housing 36 includes a recess or cavity 30, having an increased distance from the axis 50, to form a combustion chamber of a mixture of air and fuel such as fuel or LPG. The combustion chamber 30 forms a functional assembly with a cavity 12 of shallower depth, for transferring burnt gas under pressure, which extends it circumferentially downstream to couple it to a few elementary chambers 13. The assembly 12.30 is located in the sector for which the rotor 18 is substantially tangent to the internal wall of the housing 36, so that the rotor 18 and the ends of the retracted fins 19 constitute a closing wall of the cavity 12.

 In FIG. 1, the rotor 18 rotates clockwise and it can be seen that the combustion chamber 30 is closed, in the circumferential direction, by two fins 19 respectively upstream and downstream of the cavity 12 communicating with the combustion chamber 30. Two fins 19, in intermediate positions, are opposite the cavity 12 but do not close it since they are only supported on the hub 14, without means of elastic radial return towards the outside, their external ends therefore remaining at the level of the surface of the rotor 18. As a variant, in the presence of return elements of the fins 19 towards the wall of the housing 36, a radial stroke limitation may be provided.

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 Starting from the combustion chamber 30, clockwise, the fins 19 delimit a series of sealed elementary chambers 13, the volume of which increases over a semicircle up to a pipe 5 for exhausting the burnt gases, substantially diametrically opposite the combustion chamber 30, then decreasing on the semi-circle of the housing 36 opposite to that mentioned above. As will be understood, the axial sealing of the elementary chambers 13 is ensured at the two end walls of the housing 36. The pipe 5 supplies a turbine 3 driving an air compressor 2, connected to an inlet pipe 1 for atmospheric air, for supplying the combustion chamber 30, as explained below.

 Each elementary chamber 13 generally has a trapezoid shape with curvilinear sides, the large base of which is formed by the useful end portion, projecting from the rotor 18, from that of the two fins 19 concerned which is closest to the pipe 5. In the semi-circular sector starting from the combustion chamber 30 and ending at the pipe 5, in the clockwise direction, each elementary chamber 13 thus traps a determined volume or mass of gas under pressure, when its downstream fin 19 leaves the angular sector of the cavity 12 and comes back into contact with the wall of the housing 36. The trapped gas expands, providing work during the rotation of the rotor 18, then is evacuated through the pipe 5.

 In each elementary chamber 13, the pressure exerted on the rotor 18 represents a force normal to the surface of the rotor 18, therefore radial. There is therefore no pair. This remark would remain generally valid if the rotor 18 was of another shape, not perfectly circular, since a parasitic undulation of the surface of its radial section would result in resistant torques for the surfaces of a slope of the undulation, compensated by driving torques for the other side. The pressure on the wall of the housing 36 is likewise normal to the latter and, in principle, exerts no torque.

 On the other hand, in the sector of the semicircle considered, motor (top right), like the fin 19 upstream or anterior of an elementary chamber 13 considered has a useful radial length (large base) greater than that of the downstream fin

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 (small base), and that the surfaces of these two fins 19 are substantially radial, the same pressure exerted on opposite surfaces of different sizes causes a resulting circumferential force of support on the upstream fin 19 which produces a driving torque relative to the axis 40 of the rotor 18. The latter thus supplies the desired power to an external device, here the generator mentioned at the beginning, mechanically coupled to the rotor 18.

 As will be understood, the elementary chambers 13 of the opposite braking sector (bottom left), going from the manifold 5 to the combustion chamber 30, are vented through the exhaust manifold 5 to prevent them from operating as a compressor causing, symmetrically, a resistive torque equal to the engine torque. The gas at reduced pressure which remains there is however compressed during the rotation of the rotor 18 but its limited pressure generates only a limited resistive torque. A second downstream exhaust pipe 6, downstream of the first pipe 5 and upstream of the combustion chamber 30, substantially at the midpoint of the braking sector, aims to recover the burnt gas thus partially recompressed, for the 'inject into another supercharging turbine referenced 3 ", downstream of a similar turbine 3'itself downstream of the head turbine 3.

 The air supply members of the combustion chamber 30 will now be described in more detail.

 The atmospheric air from the inlet pipe 1 is transferred to the combustion chamber 30 through the compressors 2,2 ′ and 2 ", associated with respective downstream connection coolers 4,4 ′ and 4". As indicated, the exhaust gas passing through the pipe 5, medium pressure exhaust, drives the turbine 3 of the compressor 2 as well as the turbine 3 'coupled to a shaft of the compressor 2', to then escape into the atmosphere by a low pressure exhaust pipe 31. The gas coming from the reduced pressure exhaust pipe 6 also escapes through the pipe 31 at the outlet of the turbine 3 "of the compressor 2". The cooling carried out by the 4,4 ′ and 4 "chillers makes it possible, on each level, to reduce the pressure, in order to facilitate downstream compression and limit the

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 thermal constraints. The high pressure air coming from the downstream cooler 4 "passes through a bifurcation tube 7 to supply three pairs, one of which is shown in FIG. 1, of piston cylinders 20 arranged symmetrically with respect to an inlet zone of the combustion chamber 30.

 For each of the cylinders 20, a crankshaft 29 controls a connecting rod 10 for operating a piston of the intake cylinder 20 (fig. 2) closed at one end by a valve 11 opening towards the outside, or check valve. return, air supply to the combustion chamber 30, comprising a fuel injector 9. There is provided here a return element, a spring 16, of the valve 11 to its closed position of the cylinder 20, whose action adds to the vacuum effect exerted by the recoil of the piston. The compressed air coming from the tubing 7 is injected into the cylinder 20 by an expansion injector 8 then compressed by the piston to escape to the combustion chamber 30, when the pressure force of the piston exceeds that of the pressure of the combustion chamber 30, to which is added the force of the return spring. The pressure can then reach approximately 120 bar, for an exhaust to 40 bar via the tube 5. The rotation speed of the fins 19 is here 1000 rpm and the consumption is approximately 13 g of fuel per kW-h. The fuel / air mixture can be a lean mixture, for example 1/40.

 The internal combustion chamber 30, provided with conventional means for burning the gas mixture, thus remains permanently at high pressure since the cylinders 20 compensate for the losses in mass and pressure of the gas captured by the elementary chambers 13. There is no therefore no break in charge.

 As shown in Figure 2, the motor of Figure 1 drives an alternating current generator 25 at the speed of 3000 rpm through a wheel with coupling shaft 24 carried by the frame 26. An intermediate wheel, gear reduction speed 23, connects the wheel 24 to an internal ring of teeth 22, radially facing the axis 40, constituting one of the ends of the rotor 18, of which a ring of radially opposite teeth 21 drives the crankshaft 29.

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 Numerical indications on the present embodiment will now be provided. It is understood that their purpose is to make the invention well understood, but that the latter is not limited to these values.

3 45 et 156 cm3, moyenne efficace 71 cm3, avec une hauteur moyenne d'ailette de 6 cm. The fins 19 have an average useful working surface of 36 cm 2, with a corresponding pressing force varying, for 120 bar in the combustion chamber 30, from approximately 14,000 N and a torque of 2,750 N. m, to approximately 720 N and 157 N. m for the exhaust (5) at 40 bar. The fuel injection is carried out by a high pressure pump, 2000 bar. The volume of the elementary chambers 13 varies between

3 45 and 156 cm3, effective average 71 cm3, with an average fin height of 6 cm.

3 We reach 3067 cm3, from the 18 fins, with a coefficient 2, 4 of turbo inlet / outlet volume. The consumption at 1000 rpm is 60 k t / h x 3067 cm3 = 184 k liters of air / h. The air mass is 184 k 1 x 1,293 g / 1, or 238 k 1, (k = 1000), from which we deduce that it corresponds to 5,950 g of fuel. The engine torque is 4390 N. m, taking into account a pressure drop of a coefficient 1.3. The power is thus 4390 N. m x 104.72 = 460 kW, or 625 CV.

 The mechanism described makes it possible in particular to produce a trigeneration plant: force, heat, cold, by coupling with the appropriate devices. It can also be mounted in a hybrid motor vehicle.

Claims (12)

 Claims 1. Rotary motor mechanism comprising a stator (26) comprising a housing (36) of circular section, around a geometric axis (50), in which is mounted a plurality of partition fins (19) integral in rotation a rotor (18), mounted on the stator (26) by means (33) of rotation bearing about a mechanical axis (40), to form a corresponding plurality of elementary chambers (13) for receiving a compressed gas, characterized in that the mechanical axis (40) of the bearing means (33) is offset relative to the geometric axis (50) of the housing (36), the rotor (18) is pierced with a plurality of wells (39) for sliding the fins (19) and means (14,15) are provided for holding one end of each fin (19) against the internal surface of the housing (36). 2. Mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the rotor (18) has a substantially circular ring section. 3. Mechanism according to one of claims 1 and 2, wherein the means (14,15) for retaining the fins (19) comprise a hub (14,15) for supporting the ends of the fins opposite those in contact with the wall of the housing (36), centered on the geometric axis (50) of the housing (36). 4. Mechanism according to claim 3, wherein the hub (14,15) is carried by the stator (26). 5. Mechanism according to one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the rotor (18) comprises, at one end, a first ring (22) of teeth for driving an output shaft (24), facing towards 'axis (40) of the rotor (18). <Desc / Clms Page number 12> 6. Mechanism according to claim 5, wherein said end comprises a second ring (21) of drive teeth of a crankshaft (29), radially opposite to the first ring (22). 7. Mechanism according to one of claims 5 and 6, wherein a gear (23) for changing the rotational speed is interposed between the first ring (22) and the output shaft (24). 8. Mechanism according to one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the housing (36) comprises a recess (12) for transferring the gas between a combustion chamber (30) and the elementary chambers (13). 9. Mechanism according to claim 8, in which the combustion chamber (30) is supplied with compressed air by a series of compressors (2,2 ′, 2 "). 10. Mechanism according to claim 9, in which the compressors (2,2 ′, 2 ″) are coupled to turbines (3,3 ′, 3 ″) driven by gas coming from a first pipe (5) of exhaust from the housing (36) substantially diametrically opposite to the combustion chamber (30). 11. Mechanism according to claim 10, in which a second pipe (6), of low pressure outlet, is provided angularly downstream of the first pipe (5) and upstream of the combustion chamber (30). 12. Mechanism according to one of claims 9 to 11, in which the combustion chamber (30) is supplied with compressed air by cylinders (20), connected to the compressors (2,2 ', 2 "), comprising at outlet respective non-return valves (11) arranged to be returned to a closed position by a vacuum effect caused by a retraction of a piston of the cylinder in question (20).