GB553244A - Improvements in or relating to engines - Google Patents

Abstract

553,244. Internal-combustion steam and other engines. DOLMAN, R. A., and PULLIN, A. L. Nov. 11, 1941, Nos. 14541 and 16372. [Class 7 (ii)] [Also in Groups XXVI and XXXI] An internal-combustion or other engine comprises a free piston 12, Fig. 2, reciprocating in a cylinder 11 mounted at its centre on trunnions 13 rotatable in bearings 14. These may be mounted on a vehicle 10 adapted to be propelled by the resultant of the unbalanced forces, or the engine may be stationary, the trunnions 13 forming the driving shaft. The engine is double-acting, fuel, steam or other propelling fluid being admitted to a central port 18 through slots 17 in one trunnion, and exhaust valves 29 in the cylinder heads being actuated through rockers 127 and tappet rods 26 by a cam 24 on one of the bearing sleeves 14. The exhaust is directed by nozzles 32 on fixed inclined vanes 33 in order to assist the rotation of the cylinder. Starting may be effected by compressed air or other medium admitted through passages 19, 20 and valves 21. A number of cylinders may be coupled to rotate together, and the admission and expansion may be timed to take place in each cylinder at the same angular position. If the engine is stationary, the angular relationship of the firing or expansion positions is left unadjusted, the moving parts remaining in balance and the axis of rotation of the cylinders forming the driving shaft of the engine. In a modification, Figs. 7 and 8, radial single-acting cylinders 40 are mounted on a hub 41 rotatable about a bearing support 42 and are each provided with inlet and exhaust valves 43, 44 actuated by fixed cams 45, 46 through tappet rods 47, 48, a cushioning space being provided at the inner end of each cylinder. The cushioning may be effected by a charge admitted through a port 53 from a passage in the support 42 and expelled through a port 54, a passage in the support 42 and a conduit 51 to the inlet valve of another cylinder. In modifications, (a) the axes of the pistons lie on a cone coaxial with the axis of rotation ; (b) the cylinders are arranged tangentially to a circle about the axis of rotation ; (c) rotation is started and may be maintained by an auxiliary engine. The first Provisional Specification also refers to a modification in which one or more pairs of parallel cylinders are arranged to rotate in opposite directions, the pistons in each pair operating in opposition for balancing purposes.