JP2009270459A - Multiple cylinder steam-engine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a multiple cylinder steam-engine which can be miniaturized and utilized to generate electric power by harnessing the steam. <P>SOLUTION: By a reciprocating steam-driving part 2, steam energy is transformed to a straight reciprocating motion. A cam follower 23 provided to the chip end of a piston rod 8 operated in a straight reciprocating motion, is engaged with a cam groove 21 formed on the side face of a rotational output part 1 to transform the motion into the rotational motion. Since the transform into rotational motion is caused by engagement of the cam groove 21 with the cam follower 23, miniaturization of the engine can be achieved. The reciprocating steam driving parts 2 are arranged at least trisected parts of the cross-section of the rotational output part 1, thus, at least one cam follower 23 is engaged with a point other than the top-dead center, or the bottom-dead center of the cam groove 21. By the cam-follower 23, torque in a predetermined direction is always imparted to the rotation output part. Consequently, the cam follower 23 smoothly passes the top-dead center, or the bottom-dead center to perform a reliable rotational motion. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a multi-cylinder steam engine.

Due to environmental problems such as air pollution and global warming, heat generated by solar rays as clean energy is used, or water that is wasted in metal melting furnaces and garbage incinerators is used to generate water vapor. A technique for generating electricity with water vapor is known. That is, the steam turbine is rotated by the generated high-temperature and high-pressure steam, and power is generated by a generator connected to the steam turbine.
JP 2002-310401 A

  However, in such a conventional technique, since a steam turbine is used, a large amount of high-pressure steam is required and the entire apparatus is enlarged.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to such a conventional technique, and provides a multi-cylinder steam engine that can be used for power generation using steam and can be reduced in size.

  According to the technical aspect of the present invention, the multi-cylinder steam engine is a rotary output portion having a cylindrical side surface, and is rotatably supported around a virtual axis along the longitudinal direction passing through the center of the cross section. An endless cam groove formed so as to make one side of the side surface of the rotation output portion around the virtual axis, and a plurality of interacting with the rotation output portion arranged in a predetermined radial direction of a cross section of the rotation output portion A reciprocating steam drive unit having a piston rod that reciprocates in a direction parallel to the imaginary axis, and an engagement unit fixed to the piston rod and engaging the cam groove to A controller for adding a driving force to the rotation output unit, and a control unit having information for controlling the reciprocating motion of each of the plurality of reciprocating steam driving units, the side surface of the rotation output unit being arranged around the virtual axis Go around The information elements of the control information are distributed and fixed, and the rotation output unit is continuously operated by reciprocating the plurality of reciprocating steam driving units in conjunction with the information of the information elements. It is characterized by rotating.

  According to another technical aspect of the present invention, each of the reciprocating steam driving units further includes a cylinder in which a pair of supply ports and discharge ports are formed adjacent to each other at both ends, and a piston that reciprocates in the cylinder. And the piston rod integrally connected to the piston and projecting outward from the cylinder, and reciprocating at both ends of the cylinder, respectively, and alternately closing and closing the supply port and the discharge port at both ends of the cylinder by different combinations. And a pair of control valves.

  According to still another technical aspect of the present invention, the information element of the control unit is an endless control groove formed on a side surface of the rotation output unit so as not to intersect the cam groove, The reciprocating motion is controlled by engaging the control valve with the control groove.

  According to the present invention, the cam groove with which the engaging part of each reciprocating steam drive part engages and the control part for controlling the reciprocating motion of each reciprocating steam driving part are formed integrally with the rotation output part. Thus, the reciprocating motion can be controlled based on the control information corresponding to the position of the cam groove in the rotational direction. Further, even if the number and arrangement of the reciprocating steam driving units are changed, it is not necessary to change the control unit and the control mechanism of the reciprocating steam driving unit. Furthermore, it is possible to change the characteristics of the steam engine simply by exchanging the cam groove and the rotation output section formed with the control section according to the torque characteristics.

  More specifically, according to the technical aspect of the present invention, the energy of the water vapor is first converted into a linear reciprocating motion by the reciprocating steam driving unit. By supplying and discharging the water vapor into the sealed cylinder, the energy of the water vapor can be efficiently converted into a linear reciprocating motion, and the size can be reduced. Then, the cam follower provided at the tip of the piston rod that reciprocates linearly is engaged with the cam groove formed on the side surface of the rotation output unit, and converted into the rotation motion of the rotation output unit. Since it is converted into a rotational motion by the engagement of the cam groove and the cam follower, the size can be reduced. Since the reciprocating steam drive unit is arranged at three or more equal positions in the cross section of the rotation output unit, at least one cam follower always engages with a point other than the top dead center or bottom dead center of the cam groove. Since the cam follower always applies a rotational torque in a certain direction to the rotation output portion, the cam follower can pass through the top dead center or the bottom dead center smoothly, and a reliable rotational motion can be obtained.

  According to the present invention, since the steam is alternately supplied from the supply port to the space on both sides of the piston in the cylinder and the water vapor is discharged from the discharge port, the piston rod can be surely moved back and forth.

  In addition, since the control valve is controlled by the engagement of the control groove formed on the side surface of the rotation output part and the driven part provided on the control rod integral with the control valve, the cam follower of the piston rod that pushes the cam groove; The movement of the control valve that regulates the moving direction of the piston can be completely synchronized.

  Furthermore, since the four reciprocating steam driving units are respectively arranged at the four-quarter positions in the cross section of the rotation output unit, the pair of reciprocating steam driving units facing each other need only reverse their movements, and the adjacent reciprocating steam driving units. Since the drive units need only be displaced by a quarter, the design is easy.

  In addition, since the angle with respect to the cam groove at the stroke center position of the piston rod is less than 45 °, the rotation output portion can be reliably rotated even if the water vapor pressure is small.

  A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 is a plan view of the whole (the center pulley and the like are not shown), FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view as seen from the direction of the arrow DA in FIG. 1 (the central part is not shown), and FIG. FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state where the rotation output portion is further rotated by 90 ° from FIG. 2 to 4 are the same viewing direction.

  The multi-cylinder steam engine of this embodiment includes one rotation output unit 1 and four reciprocating steam driving units 2. The rotation output portion 1 has a cylindrical shape that is long in the vertical direction, and is supported by a pair of upper and lower bearings 3 so as to be rotatable in a fixed direction R around an axis X passing through the center of the cross section. The bearing 3 is provided with a bearing mechanism (not shown). Below the rotation output unit 1, four reciprocating steam driving units 2 are arranged at the quarter positions of the cross section.

  First, the structure of the reciprocating steam drive unit 2 will be described. The four reciprocating steam driving units 2 have the same structure. The reciprocating steam drive unit 2 has a known structure generally used as a steam engine except for the control structure of the control valve 4 by a control groove 22 as a control unit described later.

  A steam engine has a driving force that changes continuously as compared with an engine that uses explosive force, so control of the control valve is more important. Therefore, the multi-cylinder steam engine of the present invention has a control structure in which a plurality of steam engines are stably linked as will be described later.

  A piston 6 that can reciprocate up and down is accommodated in a cylinder 5 having a cylindrical cross section. A piston ring 7 that slides with the inner surface of the cylinder 5 is provided on the side surface of the piston 6.

  A piston rod 8 extending upward in a state parallel to the axis X of the rotation output unit 1 is integrally coupled to the piston 6. The piston rod 8 passes through a cylindrical portion 9 provided at the upper part of the cylinder 5 and protrudes to the upper part of the cylinder 5. A plurality of balls 10 for smoothly moving the piston rod 8 up and down are held on the inner surface of the cylindrical portion 9 (see FIG. 9). The cylinder portion 9 has a certain length and holds the piston rod 8 vertically.

  A control passage portion 11 is formed on the outside of the cylinder 5 along the vertical direction. On the side surface of the cylinder 5 corresponding to the control passage portion 11, one set is formed in a state where the supply port 12 and the discharge port 13 are adjacent to the upper and lower ends. In each set, the supply port 12 is positioned on the outer side and the discharge port 13 is positioned on the inner side in the vertical direction (see FIG. 5).

  Two control valves 4 are accommodated in the control passage portion 11 in a state of being coupled by a control rod 14. The control rod 14 is also parallel to the axis X of the rotation output unit 1. The control rod 14 protrudes upward through the upper wall of the control passage portion 11. The control valve 4 reciprocates up and down in a pair of upper and lower sides. When the control valve 4 moves upward, the control valve 4 closes the upper supply port 12 and the lower discharge port 13. When the control valve 4 moves downward, the upper discharge port 1. And the lower supply port 12 is closed.

  A supply pipe 15 for supply-side water vapor A is connected to the upper and lower ends of the control passage 11, and a discharge pipe 16 for discharge-side water vapor B is connected to the center. 2 to 5, the supply side water vapor A is shown in black, and the discharge side water vapor B is shown in a dotted grid.

<Rotation output part>
The rotation output unit 1 has a cylindrical shape that is long in the vertical direction, and the vertical direction is rotatably supported by the bearing 3 as described above. A center pulley 18 on which four V-groove belts 17 can be wound up and down is attached to the upper portion of the rotation output unit 1. The center pulley 18 rotates in a fixed direction R integrally with the rotation output unit 1.

  A generator 19 is supported on four sides of the rotation output unit 1, and the V-groove belt 17 is wound around a pulley 20 at the end of the rotation shaft. The generator 19 is large enough to be used as an engine accessory for an automobile, and even if the entire size of the multi-cylinder steam engine is horizontal, the generator 19 is compact enough to enter the engine room of an automobile.

  A cam groove 21 for converting the reciprocating motion of the plurality of reciprocating steam driving units 2 into rotational motion is formed on the cylindrical side surface of the rotation output unit 1. The cam groove 21 is formed by a modified sine curve (see FIG. 7) obtained by correcting the sine curve, and is associated with the radial position φ of the rotation output unit 1 (a declination of cylindrical coordinates). Therefore, the deformed sine curve of the cam groove 21 is a non-stop and endless continuous curve, and when the rotation output portion 1 makes one rotation, the member engaged with the cam groove 21 reciprocates once in the vertical direction.

  Further, the cam groove 21 is formed in a state in which the ratio in the vertical direction is greatly enlarged. As shown in FIG. 6, the inclination angle θ with respect to the axis X (piston rod 8) at the stroke center position of the cam groove 21 is set. It has become very small. This angle θ is preferably 45 ° or less (in this embodiment, about 20 °).

<Control groove>
A control groove 22 is formed below the rotation output unit 1. That is, according to the present invention, the control groove 22 and the cam groove 21 are integrally formed so as to be fixed to the rotation output portion 1. This feature is important in a multi-cylinder steam engine. By actively controlling each reciprocating steam drive unit to be linked via a common rotation output unit 1, the engine starts smoothly and generates stable torque. Can be maintained.

  In the present embodiment, the control groove is a control unit having control information for controlling the reciprocating motion of each reciprocating steam drive unit 2 and is associated with the control information so as to go around the side surface of the rotation output unit 1. Information elements are fixed in distribution.

  More specifically, the control information associated with the position φ in the radial direction of the rotation output unit 1 is one-dimensionally distributed and fixed on the side surface of the rotation output unit. In the present embodiment, the control information elements are the control groove 22 and its position (Z) in the rotation main axis direction. As will be described later, the control information associated with the radial position φ is transmitted to the control valve 4 of the reciprocating steam drive unit 2 via the driven unit 24 engaged with the control groove 22 to directly control the stroke position.

  The driving force of each reciprocating steam drive unit 2 and the position information of the piston 6 are transmitted to the rotation output unit 1 via each cam follower (engagement unit) 23 engaged with the cam groove 21 and fixed to the rotation output unit 1. Control of the control valve 4 that is optimal for the position of the piston of the reciprocating steam drive unit 2 is performed via the control groove 22 and the driven portion 24 fixed to the piston rod 8.

  Therefore, the control groove 22 as the control unit is formed integrally with the rotation output unit 1 together with the cam groove 21 to control the reciprocating motion based on the control information corresponding to the position of the cam groove 21 in the radial direction. Can do. In the method in which each reciprocating steam drive unit is provided with an independent control mechanism corresponding to the reciprocating motion, the interlocking state with the other reciprocating steam drive unit is stable due to the degree of freedom such as a gap in the engagement state with the rotation output unit. In other words, stable control may become difficult during start-up or steady operation, and the control mechanism of each control valve 4 becomes complicated.

  On the other hand, in the multi-cylinder steam engine of the present invention, one control unit is fixed to the rotation output unit 1, and each reciprocating steam drive unit 2 is controlled to reciprocate based on control information corresponding to the radial position. Since the driving force is transmitted to the rotation output unit 1 via the cam follower 23, the plurality of reciprocating steam driving units 2 can be controlled uniformly with a simple configuration.

  In addition, since the control information of the cam groove 21 and the control unit are both associated with the radial position φ, the control unit is changed even if the number and arrangement of the reciprocating steam driving units 2 are changed. There is no need.

  More specifically, the control groove 22 has a single control curve which is formed at a position separated from the cam groove 21 so as not to intersect with the cam groove 21 and is endless. As shown in FIG. 7, the control curve has a local maximum portion and a local minimum portion in the rotation main shaft direction (Z) when the radial position φ is near 0 ° (360 °) and 180 °. In the present embodiment, the shape of the control curve of the control groove corresponds to the position of the control valve 4, so it is not similar to the modified sine curve of the cam groove 21. The minimum part (near 180 °) stops and becomes flat.

  That is, there is a portion where the movement of the member engaged with the control groove 22 in the vertical direction temporarily stops. The displacement difference between the top dead center and the bottom dead center of the control groove 22 corresponds to the reciprocating stroke of the control valve 4 in the vertical direction, and the cam groove 21 is in a curved state that is upside down. (See FIG. 7). The control valve 4 controlled by the control groove 22 is controlled so that the rotation output unit 1 rotates in a constant direction R.

  Further, cam followers 23 extending in the horizontal direction are attached to the upper ends of the piston rods 8 projecting upward from the cylinders 5 of the four reciprocating steam driving units 2, and each cam follower 23 engages with a corresponding position of the cam groove 21. ing. The cam follower 23 is engaged with the side wall of the cam groove 21 while rotating, and the sliding resistance with the cam groove 21 is small.

  A driven portion 24 extending in the horizontal direction is also attached to the upper end of the control rod 14 protruding upward from the control passage portion 11, and the tip of the driven portion 24 is engaged with the corresponding position of the control groove 22. . The driven portion 24 has a detoured shape so as not to interfere with the cylindrical portion 9. The tip of the follower 24 is also engaged with the side wall of the control groove 22 while rotating, and the sliding resistance with the control groove 22 is small.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. Supply-side steam A sent from a steam generator (not shown) is supplied to the four reciprocating steam driving units 2 via the supply pipe 15. The control valves 4 of the four reciprocating steam driving units 2 have different stroke positions when the driven portion 24 of the control rod 14 is engaged with the control groove 22. For example, as shown in FIG. In the cylinder 5, when either the upper or lower discharge port 13 is closed by the control valve 4 and the supply port 12 is opened, the supply port 12 is closed by the control valve 4 on the opposite side and the discharge port 13 is reversed. Is released.

  Accordingly, in each cylinder 5, the supply-side water vapor A is supplied from the supply port 12 to the cylinder 5 to move the piston 6 from one end side to the other end side, and at the other end side of the piston 6 gas (discharge-side water vapor). B) is discharged from the supply port 12 through the discharge pipe 16 to the outside. The pistons 6 of the four reciprocating steam driving units 2 are simultaneously moved in a preset direction by the pressure of the supply-side steam A.

  When the piston 6 moves and the piston rod 8 integrated therewith moves, the cam follower 23 at the tip is engaged with the cam groove 21, so that the rotation output unit 1 is rotated in a fixed direction R. When the rotation output unit 1 rotates in a certain direction R, the control valve 4 is moved in the direction opposite to the current state via the driven unit 24 engaged with the control groove 22. When the control valve 4 moves to the opposite side, the supply port 12 and the discharge port 13 closed by the control valve 4 at the upper and lower ends of each piston 6 are reversed, and the supply of the supply side water vapor A is changed to the other end side. Therefore, the piston 6 moves so as to return from the other end side to the one end side.

  Thereafter, the piston 6 repeats the above operation, and the piston rod 8 reciprocates to continuously rotate the rotation output unit 1 in a predetermined direction R with a predetermined rotational torque. Since the control valve 4 is controlled by the engagement of the control groove 22 formed on the side surface of the rotation output portion 1 and the driven portion 24 provided on the control rod 14, the cam follower 23 of the piston rod 8 that pushes the cam groove 21. And the movement of the control valve 4 that controls the moving direction of the piston 6 can be completely synchronized, and there is no deviation in the movement of both.

  Since the cam followers 23 of the four piston rods 8 having different angles by 90 ° are engaged with the cam grooves 21 of the rotation output portion 1, the two cam followers 23 at the opposing positions are the top dead center and the cam groove 21. Even if it is located at the bottom dead center, the other cam followers 23 are always located at positions other than the top dead center and the bottom dead center. Therefore, a rotational torque in a fixed direction R is always applied to the rotation output unit 1, and the passage of the top dead center or the bottom dead center in the cam groove 21 of the cam follower 23 becomes smooth, and a reliable rotational motion is obtained.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, since the inclination angle θ with respect to the cam groove 21 at the stroke center position of the piston rod 8 is small, the rotation output unit 1 can be reliably rotated even if the pressure of the supply side water vapor A is small. However, the stroke amount of the piston rod 8 must be increased accordingly.

  If the rotation output unit 1 continuously rotates in a certain direction R, the rotational torque is transmitted to the four generators 19 via the V-groove belt 17, and power can be generated by each generator 19.

Modified embodiment
In the above embodiment, since the four reciprocating steam driving units 2 are respectively arranged at the quadrant positions in the cross section of the rotation output unit 1, the pair of opposing reciprocating steam driving units 2 may be reversed in movement, In addition, the adjacent reciprocating steam drive units 2 need only be displaced by ¼, so that the design is easy. However, the arrangement of the reciprocating steam driving unit 2 is not limited to the quarterly position, and may be three or five or more equally.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the control groove 22 as the control unit has the position (Z) of the control curve in the rotation main axis direction as the control information. However, for example, the depth of the groove may be used as the control information. Further, instead of the control groove 22, the distribution of the magnetic poles in the radial direction (N pole, S pole) may be used as the control information.

1 is a plan view of a multi-cylinder steam engine according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of a multi-cylinder steam engine viewed from the direction indicated by the arrow DA in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2, illustrating a state in which the rotation output unit is rotated 90 ° from FIG. FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 3, illustrating a state where the rotation output unit is rotated 90 ° from FIG. 3. The exploded sectional view showing one cylinder. The side view which shows a rotation output part. The developed view of the side surface of the rotation output part which shows the curve of a cam groove and a control groove. The enlarged view which shows a cam follower and a cam groove. The expanded sectional view which shows the cylinder part of a cylinder.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rotation output part 2 Reciprocating steam drive part 4 Control valve 5 Cylinder 6 Piston 8 Piston rod 11 Control passage part 12 Supply port 13 Discharge port 14 Control rod 19 Generator 21 Cam groove 22 Control groove 23 Cam follower 24 Drive part A Supply side water vapor | steam B Discharge side steam R Rotation direction X Axis θ Inclination angle φ Declination angle (Cylinder coordinates)

Claims (9)

A rotation output portion having a cylindrical side surface, which is rotatably supported around an imaginary axis along the longitudinal direction passing through the center of the cross section;
An endless cam groove formed so as to make a round of the side surface of the rotation output portion around the virtual axis;
A plurality of reciprocating steam drive units arranged in a predetermined radial direction of a cross section of the rotation output unit and interacting with the rotation output unit, and having a piston rod reciprocating in a direction parallel to the virtual axis; ,
An engaging portion fixed to the piston rod, which engages with the cam groove and applies a driving force to the rotation output portion;
A control unit having information for controlling reciprocating motion of each of the plurality of reciprocating steam driving units, wherein information elements of the control information are distributed so as to make a round of the side surface of the rotation output unit around the virtual axis And is fixed,
The multi-cylinder steam engine, wherein the rotation output unit continuously rotates by reciprocating the plurality of reciprocating steam driving units in conjunction with each other based on information of the information element. The engagement portion is a cam follower provided at the tip of the piston rod,
2. The multi-cylinder steam engine according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of reciprocating steam driving units are arranged in a direction in which a section of the rotation output unit is equally divided in a radial direction.   The information element is fixed to the control unit so as to control a reciprocating motion of each reciprocating steam drive unit in association with an engagement position of the cam groove with which the engagement unit is engaged. The multi-cylinder steam engine according to claim 1. Each of the reciprocating steam driving units,
A cylinder having a pair of supply ports and discharge ports adjacent to each other at both ends;
A piston that reciprocates in a cylinder;
The piston rod integrally connected to the piston and protruding outward from the cylinder;
4. A control valve according to claim 1, further comprising a pair of control valves that reciprocate at both ends of the cylinder and alternately close the supply port and the discharge port at both ends of the cylinder in different combinations. A multi-cylinder steam engine according to claim 1.   The information element of the control unit is an endless control groove formed on a side surface of the rotation output unit so as not to intersect the cam groove, and each control valve is engaged with the control groove. The multi-cylinder steam engine according to claim 4, wherein the reciprocating motion is controlled.   The control groove has a curve having a maximum and a minimum in the imaginary axis direction corresponding to the shape of the cam groove, and is a curve in which the piston substantially stops at the maximum and minimum portions. The multi-cylinder steam engine according to claim 5.   A control rod is integrally coupled to the control valve along a direction parallel to the axis of the rotation output portion, and a follower that reciprocates by engaging with the control groove is provided at the tip of the control rod. The multi-cylinder steam engine according to claim 5 or 6.   The multi-cylinder steam engine according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the four reciprocating steam driving units are respectively arranged in quarters of the cross section of the rotation output unit.   The multi-cylinder steam engine according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein an inclination angle of the piston rod with respect to the cam groove at a stroke center position is less than 45 °.

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