JPH05106401A - Rotary machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a rotary machine for effecting compression/expansion with excellent efficiency by mounting a rotor provided with radial cylinders in a housing and limiting the piston stroke in the cylinder to be non-circular at the side of the housing. CONSTITUTION: A rotor 1 has four radial cylinder cavities 3 passing through a port 4 through the central portion of the rotor 1. Pistons 5 with shoes or bearing elements 7 are arranged in opposite relationship in the cavities 3. The shoe or bearing element 7 is preferably contacted with the inner surface of an elliptical race or external edge 8. The race or external edge 8 engages with a housing. A variable-volume chamber is formed between the cavity 3 and the inner surface of the piston 5 to effect induction/compression/expansion/ exhaust strokes when used in an internal combustion engine. In this way, it is possible to obtain a rotary machine with excellent efficiency.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to rotary machines, especially rotary machines of the type used in internal combustion engines, compressors, vacuum pumps or the like.

In particular, the present invention relates to a rotary machine that is particularly suitable for the aforementioned applications. This rotating machine operates on the basis of a new operating principle that makes good use of the known compression / expansion action of fluids in variable volume chambers. When this rotary machine is used, some of the accessories of the assembly can be modified to be used as the above-mentioned device.

The operational features of the present invention can be obtained in any of the above-mentioned applications. In order to clearly explain the present invention and to show the adaptability of the machine, one embodiment of a machine having a complicated structure, that is, an example of application to an internal combustion engine will be clarified. Naturally, the description by way of example does not impede the use of the invention in simple applications with the same operating principle.

The novel structure according to the present invention and the advantages derived from its operation do not possess any of the known and patented rotating machines. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY When the present invention is applied to an internal combustion engine, an excellent weight / power ratio, an efficient thermodynamic balance, and versatility with various fuels can be obtained. A low internal combustion engine is obtained. Further, according to the present invention, various advantages described below are also exhibited.

According to the operating principle of the machine of the present invention, when the rotor rotates, a variable volume chamber is formed inside the opposing radial cylinders. A free piston is reciprocally mounted in each cylinder, and the stroke of the free piston is controlled by an outer race or outer edge, which is preferably oval-shaped. The chamber is connected to the center of the rotor by a port or a channel,
An inflow and an outflow are formed. Therefore, the piston is a free piston.
That is, these pistons do not use conventional accessory elements such as connecting rods or pins. Further, since the shaft and the rotor are firmly linked to each other, the crankshaft and other mechanical means are not necessary for connecting to the rotor shaft.

In the description of the embodiment in which this machine is used as an internal combustion engine, the movement of the piston starting from the position closest to the center moves radially outward due to the centrifugal force during the intake stroke, and a negative pressure is generated inside. It acts to create and pump the air / fuel mixture continuously through each port into each cylinder. The port is located in a stationary central tube coaxial with the rotor. The tubes each independently receive exhaust gas from an exhaust port connected to the cylinder after combustion is initiated by the ignition element. The piston comes into contact with an inclined surface formed by the race or the outer edge and obtains a reaction force therefrom, so that the rotor can be rotated by utilizing the expansion stroke.

The flow of the fuel-air mixture is guided through the center of the engine, and flows into the cylinder after passing through the heat exchange path that cools the shaft core and heats the inlet, so that it has an excellent thermodynamic balance. There is almost no loss of volumetric pressure of the engine, and an excellent weight / power ratio is obtained, especially during operation within the heat resistance limit. The gain obtained by heating the inlet offsets the loss (according to experiments at Shell Laboratories, UK).

Due to the intake air through the center of the rotor, centrifugal force acts on the air-fuel mixture to enhance the intake action of the air-fuel mixture and prevent the so-called "cross-distributed" phenomenon or "ramjet" action that causes loss of an unignited air-fuel mixture. be able to.

Appropriate turbulence is generated by the centrifugal force, and the mixture is filled in the chamber in layers stepwise. Combustion progresses in an ideal form in which the tips of the two flames are generated from a mixture having a high concentration and propagated to the surrounding thin mixture zone, and complete combustion is performed.

The coefficient of friction of the assembly is very low, and the parts to be lubricated can be divided into several elements.

The exhaust gas burned at the outlet of the waste duct of the central tube joins with the flow of cooling air, but the addition of this air causes the harmful gas to be completely burned later, and the gas is cooled rapidly thereafter. Exhaust nitrogen gas can be reduced by almost 60%.

The present invention will now be described with reference to the preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. This example is a specific example for explanation and does not limit the scope of the present invention.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Throughout the drawings, the same reference numbers refer to the same or like parts. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the rotary machine of the present invention is composed of a rotor 1. The rotor is preferably cruciform with the same four orthogonal arms. The rotor is integrated with the outlet shaft 2.

The rotor 1 comprises four cylinder cavities 3 arranged radially in opposed pairs. The outer ends of these cylinder cavities are open, and the inside communicates with the central portion of the rotor 1 through a port 4.

Inside the cylinder space 3, pistons 5 are arranged in a facing relationship. Each of these pistons 5 carries a conventional type packing ring 6,
It also has a shoe or bearing element 7 at its outer end. This bearing element is in contact with the inner surface of the race or outer edge 8, which is preferably oval-shaped. The outer edge 8 is firmly engaged with a housing 9 which constitutes the outer body of the machine.

A variable volume chamber is well known between the cylinder cavity 3 and the inner surface of the piston 5. In the variable volume chamber, intake / compression / combustion / expansion / exhaust steps of an internal combustion engine, which are well known in the art, are performed.

A plurality of flanges 10 for heat radiation are installed on both side surfaces of the rotor 1. In addition to heat dissipation, these flanges also function as blades of a centrifugal blower. These blades form a flow of air entering from the outside through the holes 11 provided in the surface of the housing 9 when the rotor rotates. This air flow is guided in the moving direction by the inner deflecting plate 12 to cool the rotor assembly. At that time, the warm air is discharged from the holes 13 in the peripheral portion of the housing 9 and at the position corresponding to the rotation surface of the rotor. Further, a collector may be provided outside the housing 9 to guide the flow of warm air to a desired place.

A stationary tube 14 having openings 15 and 16 forming an intake port and an exhaust port is installed in a central portion of the rotor, specifically, a hollow cylinder portion. This stationary tube is provided with an intermediate partition 17 as shown in detail in FIG. The intermediate partition has oppositely curved ends and divides the inner cavity of the tube 14 into two non-communicating inner chambers 18, 19. These chambers respectively form an intake passage and an exhaust passage. The inner partition wall of the tube 14 and the function obtained by this partition wall can be replaced by other means for partitioning the intake path and the exhaust path. Therefore, the invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiments.

An ignition element or spark plug 20 is installed in the cylinder space 3. A plurality of spark plugs may be provided for each cylinder as is well known in the technical field of internal combustion engines.

FIG. 5 schematically shows the individual operating states of the rotor. The illustrated single piston has a rotor of 1 /
The volume of the variable volume chamber is changed every eight rotations. In the illustrated example, the variable volume chamber performs the individual steps of a four cycle engine as described below.

In Stage I, the piston 5 is located at the bottom dead center in each cylinder, and the port 4 of the cylinder is shielded by the tube portion 14 separating the intake port and the exhaust port. A race or outer edge 8 which guides the piston along the cylinder via shoes or bearing elements is located at one of two points close to the rotor shaft.

As shown in the step diagram II, when the rotor rotates 1/8 in the direction indicated by the arrow, the piston is separated from the bottom dead center of the cylinder by the centrifugal force, and the pressure is reduced in the port 4, that is, the suction force is generated. To do. Port 4 while the rotor is rotating
Is not shielded, the intake port 15 of the central fixed tube 14
Face to face. The fuel mixture enters the cylinder through this intake port and fills the variable volume chamber until the piston reaches its maximum stroke, as shown in the stage diagram III, to completely fill chamber 3 of maximum volume with the fuel mixture. You can This process is an intake cycle. At the end of the process, the cylinder port 4 becomes blocked by the tube wall 14.

Further rotation of the rotor causes the race or outer edge 8 to drive the piston 5 to compress the fuel mixture as shown in Stage IV, with a chamber minimum volume commensurate with V used in Stage V. Reached the state, spark plug 20
Causes ignition and explosion. This explosion is followed by an expansion stroke of the piston, causing the entire mixture to burn. When an air-fuel mixture explosion occurs, the air-fuel mixture will push the piston 5 against the race or outer edge 6 as shown in Stage VI. When a force acts on the inclined surface, the rotor rotates in the direction of the arrow until it reaches the maximum stroke due to the influence of the reaction force component applied to the shoe 7. This maximum stroke position is defined by the central tube 1 which constitutes the port 4 of the cylinder and the exhaust port, as shown schematically in Stage VII.
The port 16 of No. 4 corresponds to the position where the ports 16 start meeting.

From this point, the combustion gas is discharged to the outside by the piston as shown in the stage diagrams VII and VIII during the remaining quarter rotation of the rotor. During these operating processes, the cylinder port 4 coincides with the port 16 of the central stationary tube 14, which is the state diagram I.
It continues until the piston 5 reaches the bottom dead center again as shown in FIG.

All the pistons of the rotor carry out the above-described process step by step and independently of the others.

The timing at which the respective ports start facing each other at the start of the process or at the end of the process, and the displacement amount of the positional relationship between the pistons are adjusted by advancing or delaying the ignition timing based on theoretical analysis of the internal combustion engine and empirical rules. Is determined in parallel with. These features have no bearing on the novelty of the invention, as the operating concept is the same, albeit with some differences.

Importantly, the race or outer edge 8 on which the head of the piston 5 rests adjusts the maximum stroke and the minimum stroke of said piston to allow operation of the internal combustion engine without additional mechanical assembly. The compression ratio may be changed or the compression ratio may be adjusted according to the grade of each fuel. Thus, the lace or outer edge can be a strip made of steel strip or similar suitable material.

The geometry of the inner surface of the race or outer edge 8 can be modified to provide good performance for the assembly. In the specific example, the shape of the lace is elliptical.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the combustion gas can be exhausted by another method while keeping the basic characteristics of the invention. These exhaust gases, when port 4 matches port 16 of central tube 14,
Is exhausted to the outside of the rotor 1 through the exhaust conduit 19 from the through hole 21. The hole 21 communicates with the tube 22 and extends radially to the inner peripheral portion of the housing 9 close to the opening 13. If necessary, the end of the tube 22 may be provided tangentially to the rotor, and the momentum of the generated exhaust gas may be used to generate a reaction force.

Modifications and / or improvements, such as the use of mechanical balancing elements, may be made in the actual manufacture of the rotary machine described above. Such modifications can be considered as modifications that fall within the scope of the invention as effectively defined in the claims.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view when a rotating machine is used as an internal combustion engine, in which an outer housing is omitted.

FIG. 2 is a view of II- of FIG. 1 with an outer housing attached.
Sectional drawing which followed the II line.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a rotor.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an inflow tube and an outflow tube according to a possible modification of the present invention.

5 is an eight stage diagram corresponding to FIG. 1, showing eight rotational postures for explaining a motion process of the internal combustion engine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 rotor 2 outlet shaft 3 cylinder void 4 port 5 piston 6 packing ring 7 shoe or bearing element 8 race or outer edge 9 housing 10 flange 11 hole 12 inner deflection plate 13 hole 14 stationary tube 15 opening 16 opening 17 intermediate bulkhead 18 inside Chamber 19 Inner chamber 20 Spark plug 21 Hole 22 Tube

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A rotary machine used as an internal combustion engine, pump, compressor or the like, having a rotor mounted in a housing, the rotor having an outlet shaft projecting from the housing. In, the rotor is provided with a plurality of radial cylinder cavities in each of which a free piston is installed, and the stroke of the piston is fixed to the housing and the end position expected for the piston in each cylinder is Bounded by a non-circular peripheral race or outer edge forming an intermediate position, each cylinder has a port at the bottom which connects to the inlet and outlet channels located in the center of the rotor and fixed to the housing. A rotating machine that seems to be in contact. 2. The rotary machine according to claim 1, wherein an inflow channel and an outflow channel are provided inside a stationary tube installed in the housing and entering the center of the rotor. 3. The rotary machine according to claim 1, wherein the tube installed in the housing has an intake port and an exhaust port that face each other and continuously face a cylinder port. 4. A rotary machine according to claim 1, wherein the outflow channel of the stationary tube leads to a conduit mounted on the rotor, which conduit leads to a radial tube mounted on itself. A rotary machine in which the radial tubes are continuous and are arranged inside the housing, the ends of which are preferably bent in a direction tangential to the intended rotational direction of the rotor. 5. The rotating machine according to claim 1, wherein the peripheral race or outer edge is substantially elliptical. 6. The rotary machine according to claim 1, wherein the rotor is provided with a heat radiating deflection plate around each cylinder. 7. The rotary machine according to claim 1, wherein the housing has openings on both sides of the rotor which serve as inflow means for the cooling air. 8. The rotary machine according to claim 1, wherein a fixed plate for guiding cooling air is installed inside the housing. 9. The rotary machine according to claim 1, wherein the housing comprises at least one radial outflow opening for exhausting air and / or combustion gases. 10. The rotary machine according to claim 1, wherein at least one adjacent to the bottom of the cylinder has a spark plug, an injector or at least one similar thereto.
Rotary machine with two ignition elements. 11. The rotary machine according to claim 1, wherein the shape of the race or the outer edge portion is adjustable. 12. The rotary machine of claim 11, wherein the race or outer edge is made from a substantially flexible material selected from steel strips and the like. Rotating machine.