GB2523612A

GB2523612A - Internal combustion piston

Info

Publication number: GB2523612A
Application number: GB1416315.8A
Authority: GB
Inventors: William Robert Hall
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2014-09-16
Filing date: 2014-09-16
Publication date: 2015-09-02
Also published as: GB201416315D0

Abstract

A four stroke internal combustion engine has two pairs of pistons 9 reciprocating within horizontal cylinder bores 10 arranged in a vertical stack. The pistons may be attached to the ends of connecting rods 3 via a screw thread. Rods 3 are connected to the forked arm of a lever 2 via linkage 6 and pins 7 and 5. The pins 5 pass through a slot in the conjunction rod boss 4. The pairs of conjoined pistons reciprocate in opposite directions to each other. A third lever arm moves a connecting rod 18 driving a crankpin 19 and rotates a crankshaft 20. The engine has a pair of camshafts 21 actuating pushrods 23 and rockers 26 and opening valves 14. The engine has four cylinder heads 27. The connecting rods may have flats thereon to allow a spanner to turn them and the piston tops may have blind holes in them to allow a tool to be used to prevent the engine turning during tightening. The engine may be petrol or diesel powered, air or water cooled. Figure 2 shows the location of a clutch 38, alternator 30 and drive belt 31, camshaft timing belt and pulleys 32, gearbox 40, differential 42 and drive shafts 43.

Description

INTERNAL COMBUSTION PISTON ENGINE

The invention relates to an Internal Combustion Piston Engine.

Piston engines in motor vehicles are well known and have remained moderately unchanged for many years, particularly relating to the piston and cylinder parts to which this invention is mainly concerned. The main essential features of the invention include a piston engine with two pairs on conjoined pistons1 each pair joined together by a conjunction rot]. The pistons are screwed onto the end of each rod and are removable. Each pair of pistons reciprocates in cylinders arranged in line one on top of the other. The two conjunction rods are each connected to links which actuate a triple purpose lever pivoting on a fulcrum bearing shaft held in the centre of the engine. The third arm of the lever drives a connecting rod and a crankpin in order to produce rotary movement.

The engine can be used with petrol fuel using Induction manifolds and a carburettor and can also use petrol injection systems. The engine can also be adapted to run on diesel oil using fuel injectors and heaters. The fuel injection pump can be mounted at the side of the engine driven by skew gears connected to a camshaft, or may be mounted driven by spur gears or a timing belt. The engine can adopt the use of standard anti-vibration mountings with rubber to metal bonded brackets to secure the engine to the vehicle body. The engine is fitted with gaskets and sealants, O'-rings and circllps which are not figured on the drawings.

According to the present invention there is provided a piston engine in which the inefficient movement of the central lever is compared to the superior efficiency in the use of joined pistons, a reduction in friction, the adaption of ball and roller bearings and a reduction in the number of moving parts made possible initially by the use of a simple lever movement. Lever movement can also reduce engine racing i.e. excessive speed in piston reciprocation resulting in piston failure. /

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings which show special arrangements for fitting the valves, rockers, push rods, camshafts, manifolds, covers, and power transmission in order to make the invention work correctly.

The following figuces 1-1.6 show various sections of the invention.

Figure 1. The connecting rod side of the engine.

Figure 2. An end view of the engine including oil lines made through the fulcrum shaft to the connecting rod bearings and through the lever arms to the link pins connected to the conjunction shaft.

Figure 3. A top view of the engine showing rockers and valves and arrangements for oiling the cylinders and pistons.

Figure 4. . An illustration of the induction manifolth and an auxiliary drive snaft.

Figure 5. The use of cylinder bearings. Also shows different types of cylinder heads. Also engine cooling methods.

Figure 6. A connecting rod cover consisting of a single casting housing the connecting rod bearings and supporting the fulcrum shaft.

Figure 7. A connecting rod cover consisting of two or more castings.

Figure 8. A third alternative cover consisting of locating pins, a cover plate.

Figure 9. The use of three gears to drive the camshaft with a timing belt drive from the crankshaft to the gear wheels.

Figure 10. The use of a hollow fulcrum shaft to drive the camshafts with a spindle rotating inside the hollow shaft to drive gears on the induction side of the engine.

Figure 11. The use of gear wheels only to drive the camshafts.

Figure 12,13 & 14. Different ways of transmitting power from the conjunction rods to the levers other than by links, by using slide housings made in the lever arms and eccentric pins.

Figures 15 & 16 Shows the use of eccentric pins and bushes.

Figure 1. Shows a combustion piston engine with two pairs of joined pistons (9) reciprocating in horizontal cylinders (10) arranged in line one above the other. The pistons in pairs are screwed onto the ends of the conjunction rods (3) and held in position by pins (8). Each conjunction rod is connected to the forked arm of a triple purpose Iever(2) by links (6) link pins (7) and lever arm pins (5) whIch are held in the forked lever arms. The pins(S) pass freely through a slot made in the conjunction rod boss (4) allowing the links only to drive the lever which is supported by the central fulcrum shaft (1). The arms of the lever oscillate causing the conjoined pistons to reciprocate in opposite directions. A third lever arm is joined to the little end of a connecting rod (18) by a pin (16), which in turn drives a crankpin(19) tO rotate the crankshaft (20). The third arm of the lever driving the connecting rod can operate on a smaller or greater pitch circle diameter than the other two arms. The engine has two camshafts (21) operating push rods (23), rockers (26), pIvot shafts (44), support brackets (45), valves (14) and sparking plugs (11) all placed equally at both ends of the engine. The engine has four cylinder heads (27) two at either end with cast manifold flanges and cooling cavities. Greater movement of the valves can be achieved in relation to the cams py pivoting the rockers off centre. The conjunction rods are made hollow for lightness and strength, and have two or six flats machined to allow turning by a spanner, the piston tops have blind holes drilled to allow a tool to be inserted to prevent turning In order to tighten the pistons on the rods.

The drawin& also shows piston rings 15.

The engine may have bored cylinders machined in a solid cast housing, or may have liners permanently pressed Into position or removable liners held in position in machined sockets by the cyiinder heads and bolts. The engine can be water or oil cooled. The lever (2) and connecting rod (18) have oil lines (17) drilled or cored in the castings to feed oil from the fulcrum shaft to lubricate and cool the connecting rod and crankpin bearings.

Figure 2. Concerns an end view of the engine showing the fulcrum support shaft (1). Passing from one side of the engine to the other supporting the triple lever arm (2). The pistons (9) reciprocate in removable cylinder liners (101 joined together by the conjunction rod (3) which in turn is connected to the lever (2) by links (6). The lever is able to drive a connecting rod (18). The removable cover (33) supports the fulcrum shaft (10 at one end and also houses one of the crankshaft bearings, also supports the camshaft bearings at one end (not shown) and also acts as a cover for the connecting rod. The drawing also shows an alternator (30) driven by a Vee Belt (31) and a camshaft timing belt and pulleys (32. The transmission includes a flywheel backplate (711 fastened onto a crankshaft (20\ a key and a key way (79) or a splined shaft, a flywheel (37) held in position by a nut and washer, a clutch (38), clutch housing (39), a gear box (40), a crown wheel(41), a differential (42) and a drive shafts (43) and universal JoInts (25), The clutch plate (37) can be directly mounted as shown on drawing 7 dispensing with the backplate (71).

Lubrication is by ofl pumped Into the fixed fulcrum shaft, through an oil inlet (87) through cored or drilled holes (17) made in the lever arms to the conjunction rod links (6) and gudgeon pin (16) and through cored holes made in the connecting rod (18) in order to cool and lubricate the big end bearings. External pipes can also be used instead of cored or drilled holes. The cover (33) has an oil outlet (80) to allow oil to be drained away from the engine to an oil reservoir.

Figure 3. Shows atop view of the engine showing how the rockers are off set to cope with the misalignment of the valve stems (14) and the push rod stems (23). The drawing also shows alternative rocker pivot shafts consisting of two bearing blocks (96) holdIng the pivot shafts (44) at each end supported by four bracket pins (95) two at each side. The drawing also shows the push rod slides (85) which are intended to prevent the push rod stems (22) from turning and wearing unevenly, each slide (85) is fastened onto a push rod at one end and slides against another push rod at the opposite end using a slot made in the slide to prevent rotation. An alternative method is to use a key (79) sliding in a grove (55) to prevent the same turning of the stem. The cqver (28) is rectangular in shape end located in a machined grove. The drawing also shows two ways of lubricating the piston (9) and cylinders (10).

The first method consists of atomised oi% by compressed air and the second method is by using oil only, supplied under pressure. The atomiser method uses two grooves (86) and (89) each groove surrounding the cylinder liners (10). One groove (86) is supplied with oil through inlet (87) and the second groove (89) is supplied with air through air inlet (88). Each atomiser consists of one oil inlet and two air inlets to create an oil mist to lubricate and cool the pistons and cylinders. The second method has a single groove (86) surrounding the cylinder liners (10) supplied by oil through inlet (87). The groove (86) has a number of oil outlets to supply an oil jet to lubricate the pistons and cylinders. The supply of oil is controlled by oil sensors to prevent over lubrication.

FIgure 4. Shows how induction the manifolds (35) and the two exhaust manifolds (48) can be made and fitted onto the engine. The drawing also shows four interchangeable manifolds each fitted to a cylinderhead casting (27) and two central manifolds able to fit a central carburettor (34). The two exhaust manifolds (48) are fitted each end of the engine. The drawing also shows a distributor (47) and an oil pump (72) driven by the camshaft (21) between the induction manifolds (35) and the engine. The engine can also üsè super or turbo charging. The invention also includes an auxiliary drive shaft (125) which consists of a straight shaft taken from the differential which passes underneath the engine to a fixed bearing and housing (126) mounted on a bracket (127) fastened to the engine and then through universal joints to the constant velocity joints and drive wheels. The drive shafts can be covered to allow the sparking plug and leads to be fitted at the base of the engine.

FIgure 5. Shows a further innovation to the invention concerning four cylinder bearings (49) fitted to each cylinder and held in position by cylinder liners (10). The cylinder bearings give support to the conjunction rod and allow the pistons to reciprocate without the piston touching the side of the cylinders thus reducing friction and the following burning of oil in the combustion area. The light weight conjunction rods (3) can be heat treated, anodised, electro plated, oxthized, or can be fitted

S

with a thin wall hardened steel tube in order to increase resistance to wear. The engine has four separate cylinder heads. The underside face of the heads are turned with a round plug or spigot (60) in order to locate the head with a cylinder bore. The cylinder liners can be fastened to the engine casting with set screws (74). The piston have screwed bosses which are screwed into tapped ends of the hollow rods and are secured by pins or screwed into tapped ends of the hollow rods and are secured by pins or screws which can be fitted or removed through holes made in the engine side.

The tops of the pistons have shallow holes or grooves made to prevent turning and the rods turned by holes made in the rods or flats made in the centre section (4). The cylinder liners are assembled last. The conjunction rod 3 can be split (128) to allow rings to be fitted to the pistons. The drawing also shows different types of cylinder heads (27). The top right hand cylinder head is for air cooling with cooling fins. The lower right hand cylinder head is for petrol induction. The top left hand cylinder head is for diesel injection with an injector and a heater. The lower left hand cylinder head is for petrol injection. The heads can be made round or square. The square heads have larger cooling cavities than the round heads and have coolant passages made at the base. The drawing also shows an alternative position for the sparking plug (11) placed at the lower end away from the engine centre allowing a one piece cylinder head to be made, located by dowel pins. The drawing shows how the engine can be cooled by pumping coolant through inlet (97) to the lower cylinder, through holes drilled in the engine ends and cylinder square bases (93) (see drawing 6 top left hand side) through the two cylinder heads (27) and back through the top cylinder and from the engine to the radiator. If the two round cylinder heads are used and cooled separately an extra two inlet pipes and outlet pipes are required. The drawing also shows the use of a diagonally split connecting rod. The engine can also use two paired split connecting rods running on the same crankpin or a single split connecting rod using two or more pairs of narrow bearing shells.

The engine oil can be oil cooled by passing oil into the engine through top inlets (87). The centre of the engine has oil passages made in the cylinder walls to lubricate the camshafts and bearings. Oil can also be passes into the engine housing to the connecting rod and by external pipes to the cylinder heads. The crankshaft can rotate on plain sleeve bearings and be lubricated and cooled by oil. To prevent oil flooding into the cylinder and piston area an internal cover (123) is fastened to the engine centre housing the camshafts, the aperture in the side of the engine can be sealed with a split cover as shown Figure 7 ref.75. Oil leaving the engine is passed through an oil cooler and filter and then pumped to oil reservoir above the engine and returned by gravity to pass through the engine.

Figure 6. Shows a single piece connecting rod cover (33). The cover is located by dowel pins and supports one end of the fulcrum shaft. The cover also incorporates a further innovation to the engine, namely a crankpin coupling, which allows the crankpin (19) to be left open ended allowing the big end of the connecting rod to be left plain bored and not split, and at the same time allowing the same crankpin to drive the cam shaft (21) and alternator (30). The end of the crankpin (19) has fitted a dog or drive pin (62) which is screwed or pressed or turned solid on the crankpin and which is able to fir freely into a hole made in the crankpin coupling arm (51). The crankpin arm is fastened to the coupling shaft (52) which turns the shaft about bearings housed in the connecting rod cover (33) and coupling brackqts (53) supported by pins (54). The pulleys (31) and (32) are left open on one side, opposite to the driven pulleys enabling the belts to be fated in order to drive the camshaft (21) and distributor (30). The crankpin (19) has fitted to it a replaceable hard wearing bearing sleeve (64), *the sleeve is prevented from turning by socket set screw pins (101) screwed into the crankpin. A hard wearing bush is pressed into the cDnnecting rod boss. The camshaft (21) is extended on the induction side of the engine to drive a distributor or gear pump. Ball or sleeve bearings can be used.

The camshaft on the connecting rod side of the engine rotates In sleeve bearing and housing (65) located on the side of the cover.

Figure7. Shows an alternative connecting rod cover consisting of two cover castings an engine cover (66) and a top cover (67). The engine cover is fastened onto the side of the engine (15) and is located by a machined hole(77) which fits onto the machined crankshaft bearing housing. The top cover (67) is located by dowel pins. The opening in the side of the engine casting (15) is provided with a split inside cover (75) which fits inside the engine cover and over the inside of the cover (66). The crankpin coupling spindle and bearings may also be fitted to the top cover (67). The camshafts are extended on the induction side of the engine to drive a distributor or oil pump or other equipment.

The camshafts on the connecting rod side of the engine rotate on plain sleeve or ball bearings in housing (65) located on the inside of a round cover. Also shown (92) balancing of the connecting rod big end applied to the flywheel.

Figure 8. shows another type of cover consisting of a plate (82) supported by pins (81) fastened onto the engine side and a main pin (84) passing through the engine. The plate supports the fulcrum shaft (1), and the camshaft and bearings either ball roller or sleeve. Fixed to the inside of the plate is a second cover (63) which can be fined to the side of the engine with screws or can be pressed against the side of the engine without screws in order to overcome thermal expansion of the engine.

The drawing also shows the use of a crankpin sleeve extension which is removable and allows the use of a solid connecting rod big end (not split) to be used. The sleeve (102) has fixed to it a drive shaft (52) and an arm (51). The drive shaft and arm can be fixed to the sleeve by welding or turned from a solid forging or casting. The crankpin sleeve extension (102) is fastened onto the end of the open crankpin with screws and located with dowel pins. The crankpin pin sleeve extension rotates on bearings housed in the plate. The plate could also be fitted with the crankpin coupling as shown in Figure 6. The plate (82) is made with a broad rim to recess the flange edges of the covers.

FIgure 9. Concerns the use of gear wheels to drive the two camshafts. The drawing shows three gear whee's (110), two gear wheels each keyed to a camshaft (21) and the third intermed%ate gear wheel rotating on the fixed fulcrum shaft. The intermediate gear Is driven by a timing belt and pulley from the engine crankshaft. The gear wheels can be made one piece, complete with keyway, orcan be in two sections a boss with a flange with wheels held to the flange with screws. The gear wheels and bosses can be made of metal or plastic. One camshaft driven by a timing -belt or roller chain can be used. to drive the three gear wheels on.

either side of the engine.

Figure 10. Shows a hollow fulcrum shaft (1) able to pass a spindle (112) in order to transmit power to the camshafts and three gear wheels (110) on the induction side of the engine. The spindle (112) is driven by a timing belt on the connecting rod side of the engine. The drawing also shows means of supplying oil through the engine boss (113) fixed to the side of the engine with screws (74) and through a drilled hole (114) made in the wall of the fulcrum shaft and by a groove (115) made in the outside diameter of the shaft. A second way of preventing the fulcrum shaft turning is by welding a flange (117) onto the shaft1 which in turn is held on to the engine face by screws (74). A second way of passing oil into the fulcrum shaft is through a pipe (118) held in the cover plate (119) which fits into the rotating holein the end of the drive shaft spindle (112).

Figure 11. Shows the use of gear wheels exclusively to drive the cam shafts. The drawing shows five gear wheels, the two intermediate wheels rotate on fixed spindles. The gear wheels can be pre-loaded to prevent the teeth of the gears knocking due to the vibration caused by the cam lobes. The gear can be made in one piece complete with keyway, or can be made in two sections consisting of a boss with a keyway and flange with the gear wheel held to the flange with screws. The gear wheels can be made of plastic with metal bosses. Fastened to the inside of the plate is a cover (63) which is fixed to the side of the engine with screws. In order to overcome thermal expansion of the engine the screws can be spring loaded to and the pins (81) fitted with compression springs (124) to press and seal the cover against the side of the engine, allowing the engine to expand without causing damage to the parts involved. The two covers (63) and (66) can be made other shapes e.g. three sided triangular.

Figure 12. Shows two screwed lever arm pins (62) and a cross pin (61) moving in a bearing made in the conjunction rod boss (3). The cross pin (61) has two holes made either side to allow the pins (62) to slide and drive the lever arms as they follow the radius arc of the lever pivoting on the fulcrum shaft(1).

Figure 13. Two pins (62) held in a cross pin (61) which moves in a bearing made in the conjunction rod boss (3). The pins (62) are able to slide together with the cross pin in a slide housing and slot made in the lever arm (2) in order to transmit power from the conjunction rod (3) to the lever arms.

Figure 14. Shows a slide (56) and a slotted slide housing (55) made in the conjunction rod (3). A cross pin (61) held between the two (1) lever arms passes through the slide (56) and slide housing (55) to drive the lever arm(2).

FIgure 15. Shows the conjunction rod boss (3) bored to receive a cross shaft (61) with eccentrically turned ends made to fit into bushes (59) assembled in the lever arm (2). The cross shaft is able to turn in order to drive the lever. The bushes (59) can be removed to allow the cross shaft to be assembled.

Figure 16. Shows the conjunction rod boss (3) bored to receive a bush (61). The bush has an eccentric hole made to accept a cross pin (57) which is able to drive the lever arm (2). The bush (61) is able to turn to permit the pin (57) to follow the radius arc of the lever (2) pivoting on the fulcrum shaft. /

Claims

Claims 1. An internal piston engine with two pairs of joined pistons screwed onto the ends of dual conjunction rods which reciprocate in horizontal cylinders arranged in line one on top of the other.
2. An internal piston engine as claimed in claim 1 wherein a triple purpose lever is provided with forked arms which drive two pairs of pistons in opposite directions and the third forked arm of the lever drives a connecting rod connected to a crankpin in order to create rotary movement.
3. A piston engine in which four rockers are off-set to allow two sets of valve stems, when placed in line, to be operated by one of the two camshafts placed between the two cylinders positioned at both ends of the engine.
4. A piston engine in which cylinder bearings are used to support the conjunction rod leaving the pistons to reciprocate without touching the sides of the cylinders.
5., 4 piston engine in which a side cover plate is used supported by pins fastened to the side of the engine and a main pin passing through the engine giving support to the fulcrum shaft, camshaft bearings and crankshaft bearings mounted on the plate.
6. A piston engine as claimed in claim 5 in which cover are provided for the connecting rod, one cover is fixed to the inside face of the plate and pressed against the engine side.
7. A piston engine in which a crankpin coupling is provided, which when disconnected leaves the crankpin open ended allowing a renewable crankpin bearing sleeve and a solid big end connecting rod bearing (not split) to be provided and which when connected is able to drive the camshafts and distributor.
8. A piston engine in which a crankpin extension Is provided which when disconnected Eeaves the crankpin open ended to fit a solid big end bearing and a renewable sleeve as claimed In claim 7
9. A piston engine in which gear wheels are used together with a timing belt to drive the camshafts and an engine in which gear wheels exclusively are used.