NZ556418A - Circular run gear wheel-piston engine - Google Patents

Abstract

An external combustion engine with a circular piston (5) having gear teeth is disclosed. The engine has a ring-like cylinder in which the gear-piston rotates, and a combustion chamber (35) connected to the cylinder via a fluid entry (3). Heated fluid from the combustion chamber enters the cylinder and propels the gear-piston before exiting at an exhaust outlet (4). The teeth of the gear-piston mesh with and drive a driven gear (28).

Description

10054743631* ;Patents Act 1953 - Patents form No. 5 ;Pursuant to Provisional Specification: 556418 Date: 9 July 2007 ;Complete Specification ;CIRCULAR RUN GEAR WHEEL-PISTON ENGINE ;I, Jason Lew of 4 Surrey Street, Manurewa, Auckland, New Zealand, nationality Chinese hereby declare the invention, for which I (or we) pray that a patent may be granted to me (or us), and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: ;Intellectual Property Office of N.2. ;21 SEP 2007 ;l ;cxRctrunt rxjw @&&b. wheel>-£«xstom emqxrte fieiid oe- zmnmsxam . ;This invention relates to engines, especially suitable for thermal power machinery, gas turbines, air or liquid motor; air compressed powered vehicles, air compressed energy storage power stations and ' micro-generator power device etc. ;B&gKGROTMD OF THE 33jVBWX08f ;Existing reciprocating piston internal combustion engines are inherently inefficient, complex, severe exhaust pollution, high manufacturing and maintenance costs, bulky engine body, heavy vibration and loud noise and can only use a limited selection of fuel. ;Rotary engines for example. the Wankel engine solved some of the problems of the reciprocating piston internal combustion engine to a varying degree of success. However dixe to low fuel economy, low torque and -Droblems with exhaust gases at a peripheral port exhaust associated with the engine, the Wankel rotary engine is only used in some models of cars. ;OBJECT aw TBS IHVEagXOKf ;It is an object of the present invention to provide an engine that overcomes or substantially ameliorate the above disadvantages. ;It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an engine that can be applied to a variety of functional needs. ;SUMMARY OF TUB ItmaffBg ;Accordingly the invention provides an engine comprising an external combustion chamber system and a circular run gear-piston. The circular run gear-piston is a key structure that includes a ringlike cylinder, a ring-like gear-piston, a driven gear and a casing. In operation, fuels and accelerant are mixed and then introduced into the external combustion chamber for combustion. The high temperature and high-pressure gas formed after the combustion of the fuels then enters the mixing device to be mixed with expanding agent to form even higher temperature and higher pressurized fluid. ;which then enters the cylinder and propels the ring-like gear-piston to run. The ring-like gear-piston will in turn drives the driven gear. One end of the driven gear's shaft will extend out of the casing for the output of power. ;BRIEF PgaCRTPTIOM OF TBZ OH&WII!iSS ;The invention will now be ' described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: ;Figure 1. Illustrates the embodiment of the circular run -gear wheel-piston engine ;Figure 2. Illustrates the embodiment of the tube shaped, ring-like cylinder ;Figure 3. Illustrates the embodiment of a piston piece. ;Figure 4. illustrates the embodiment of three types of seal-corxnectors ;Figure 5. Illustrates the embodiment of the Piston ring ;Figure 6. Illustrates the embodiment of the ring-like gear-piston ;Figure 7. Illustrates the embodiment of the driven gear. ;Figure 8. Illustrates the embodiment of the external combustion chamber and the mixing device ;Figure 9. Illustrates the embodiment of the casing DBSCRZP'gXOiSf OF EHBOSlMBaWg ;FIG- 1 illustrates the Circular Run Gear Wheel-Piston engine consists of an external combustion chamber" (35), a ring-like cylinder (5) , a ring-like gear-piston (26) and a driven gear (28) housed in a casing (36), the external combustion chamber (35) is connected to the cylinder. ;In FXG 2, the tube shaped,'ring-like cylinder (5> comprises of two high precision semicircular alloy tubes (1,2). The internal surface ;■of the cylinder is made even and smooth to a high, standard. The two semicircular alloy tubes have matching concave or convex incline ends (8,9) that join them together to form the tube shaped, ringlike cylinder (5) . There are high temperature and high-pressure fluid (or fluid) entry: (3), exit (4) for exhaust outlet, gear opening (7) and installation opening (6). The entry (3) and exit (4) are tangent to the cylinder and are located where they meet the maximum displacement. The installation opening (6) is for assembling the gear-piston piece by piece, connected together to form a ring-like gear-piston, the opening will be sealed after assembly. The gear opening (7) allows the mesh of the ring-like gear-piston and the driven gear. Fig 2 also includes a section (10) of the cylinder. ;In FIG 3, the piston piece (11), made of alloy, is hollow, eccentric and tube shaped. The cylinder's inside diameter is the same as the outside diameter of the piston piece. The gear teeth (12) are made on the piston piece's thicker wall. The piston ring grooves (13) are set on the middle o£ the gear teeth's top land at both ends of a piston piece, the piston ring groove (13) will be extended around the circumference of the piston piece (11). Perforations (14) for the entry and exit of the fluid into and out of the piston piece chamber (15) are made at the bottomland and at both sides of the central ridge area (16) . At the both ends of a piston piece (11) there are dodecagon mounts (17) and internal circlips (18) for the seal-connectors (19) that seal and connect the individual piston piece (11) to form an enclosed chamber (15) within the piston piece (11), which results in more working volume. When the piston pieces are sealed and . connected, they form the ring-like gear-piston (26). FXG 3 also includes two sections of the piston piece. ;FXG 4 shows three types of the seal-connector (20), (21), (22) . For seal-connector type (20) , the base is dodecagon shaped and convex. For seal-connector type (21), its base is also dodecagon shaped and convex, the bottom part of the body is square, and the upper part o£ the body has a groove for the internal circlips. Seal-connector ;4 ;type (22) is dodecagon shaped and convex. The convex surface of the seal-connectors directly faces the direction of the coming fluid for increasing strength. Seal-connector (21) is used for connecting the piston pieces. Seal-connectors (20.) and (22) are used for the last piston piece. FIG 4 also includes the front view of the end plate. ;In FIG 5, the piston rings (25) are for sealing purposes. The ends (23) are jigsaw shaped for connection and improved sealing. The edge (24) that directly comes in contact with the internal surface of the cylinder will be curved to minimize the wear to the surface. FIG 5 also includes the plan view and section of the piston ring. ;In FIG 6, the ring-like gear-piston (26) is formed by a plurality of piston pieces (11J connected and sealed by seal-connectors (20,21,22) inside the tube shaped, ring-like cylinder (5), making up a. ring-like gear-piston (26), thus reducing the wear to the gear teeth (12) and the cylinder's internal surface caused by the ringlike gear-piston <26) when it runs due to the centrifugal force. By employing dodecagon and square seal-connectors (20,21,22), tlie wear on the ring-like gear-piston (26) and the vibration caused by the circular motion of the ring-like gear-piston (26) can be minimized. ;The number and the shape of the gear teeth (12) of the ring-like gear-piston <26} and the driven gear (28) has to be determined by precise design to achieve reduced wear to the ring-like gear-piston (2S) , efficient gear driving, steady running and long life. Regarding how many piston pieces are required and the parameters for the components etc all need to be determined by prototyping. ;FIG 7 shows the driven gear. The driven gear and the ring-like gear-piston will have the corresponding number and matching shapes for their gear teeth in order to mesh. One end of the shaft of the driven gear will extend out of the casing for the output of power. ;In FIG 8, the external combustion, chamber (35) is made of alloy and has two connected sub-chambers housed in its own casing with insulation coating applied. One is the combustion s\ib-chamber and ;another one is the expansion sub-chamber, giving it a dumbbell shaped. There are two entries (29,31) and an. opening (30) to the combustion sub-chainber. The sub-chamber for expansion, has a mixing device (34) installed and an exit (33) for the passage of high temperature and high-pressure fluids into the cylinder. By using direct injection combustion technology r fuels (petrol, diesel, ethanol etc) and accelerant (air) are injected into the combustion sub - chamber via Entry (29) , Opening (30) is where the electronic ignition device will be installed. Entry (31) is where the pressurized expanding agent will enter the sub-chamber. Mixing Device (34) is to mix the expanding agent with the high temperature and high-pressure gas produced by combustion to further the expansion. The exit (33) is fitted with regulator valve (32) to ensure stable pressure for combustion. This exit (33) will be connected to the fluid entry (3) of the cylinder (5) by pipes. The fluid will propel the ring-like gear-piston (26) to run. Fig 7 also includes the section of the mixing device (34). Clearly additional paxts can be added to produce a complete combustion chamber system. For example, it would be necessary to provide pipes, pumps, valves, storage tank, electricity and controlling device etc to coordinate the supply of fuel) air, water and electricity and direct injection system to form a complete combustion chamber system. ;In FIG 9, the casing (36) is shown to house the ring-like cylinder (5) and the driven gear (28) and consists of two semicircular tube shaped components (43,44) bolt-joined and sealed. Insulation coating will be applied on the external surface of the casing to reduce heat loss and increase heat efficiency. One end of the shaft (not shown) of the driven gear (28) will extend out of the casing (36) for the output of power. There are openings (37,38) that match the entry (3) and exit (4) , water entry (35) and exit (40) at the casing (3S). A spiral groove (41) is made at the internal wall of the casing, which forms a spiral water flow channel (42} between the groove (41) and the external surface of the ring-like cylinder (5), The water cools the ring-like cylinder, exchanges and recycles heat. The recycled steam will enter a second gear-piston (not shown) by pipes (not shown) to do work. ;Whilst the embodiment described above relates to an engine driven by fluid, clearly tlie engine may be readily driven by other' means, for example, by compressed air. This wbuld have advantages of not relying on conventional fuels such as petrol and diesel, and no 5 pollution to the atmosphere. ;Clearly the circular run gear-piston, the key structure of the present invention can be applied in many types of power macliinery. ;10 This invention described herein has characteristics which allows it to be modified to be engines that has power from several watts to several hundred million watts depending on the application and can be singularly used or connected in parallel or series to produce desired level of power. ;15 ;It is to be understood that various modifications may be adopted without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the following claims. ;7 *

Claims (16)

1. A circular run gear wheel-piston engine comprising a combustion chamber that is connected to a ring-like cylinder via a fluid entry, a fluid exit for exhaust outlet from the cylinder, and a circular run ring-like gear-piston having gear teeth and 5 which is adapted to run within the ring-like cylinder, and wherein fluid from the combustion chamber can enter the ring like cylinder via the fluid entry and can propel the ring-like gear-piston to run, and the gear teeth of the ring-like gear-piston mesh with and can drive a driven gear.

2. A circular run gear wheel-piston engine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fluid 10 entry is substantially tangential to the circumference of the cylinder.

3. A circular run gear wheel-piston engine as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the fluid exit is substantially tangential to the circumference of the cylinder,

4. A circular run gear wheel-piston engine as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the ring-like cylinder includes a gear opening to allow the driven gear to 15 mesh with the ring-like gear-piston.

5. A circular run gear wheel-piston engine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the ring-like gear-piston is formed from a plurality of piston pieces.

6. A circular run gear wheel-piston engine as claimed in claim 5, wherein the piston pieces each include a piston chamber which fluid can enter and exit. 20

7. A circular run gear wheel-piston engine as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6, wherein the piston pieces are connected and sealed by seal connectors.

8. A circular run gear wheel-piston engine as claimed in claim 7, wherein the seal connectors have a dodecagon shaped base and a square body.

9. A circular run gear wheel-piston engine as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 8, 25 wherein each end of each piston piece is provided with a piston ring groove. 19165 lNZ_Rvsd_clms_Mar08. doc/PA 8

10. A circular run gear wheel-piston engine as claimed in claims 9, wherein each piston ring groove is situated substantially at the middle of a gear tooth top land.

11. A circular run gear wheel-piston engine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the engine further includes a casing to house the ring-like cylinder.

12. A circular run gear wheel-piston engine as claimed in claim 11, wherein the casing includes an insulation coating.

13. A circular run gear wheel-piston engine as claimed in any one of claims 11 or 12, wherein the casing includes a spiral groove which forms a water flow channel through which cooling water can flow.

14. A circular run gear wheel-piston engine as claimed in claim 13, wherein any steam that is produced from water cooling the engine, is used to drive a second circular run gear wheel-piston.

15. A circular run gear wheel-piston engine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the combustion chamber includes an entry through which an expanding agent can enter the combustion chamber.

16. A circular run gear wheel-piston engine substantially as claimed herein with reference to any one of the accompanying drawings. PIPERS Attorneys for: Jason Lew 9 191SSLNZ Rvsd etas MarOS.doc/PA.