US3822676A - Pendular piston rotary explosion engine - Google Patents

Abstract

A pendular piston rotary explosion engine having two sections of which one section compresses air fed to the second section in which fuel is mixed with the air and fired, each section has a pair of crank discs within a cylinder, a Maltese-cross shaped filling member, a shaft through the center of said discs and filling member, but eccentric to the axis of its cylinder and pendulum shaped pistons rotatably carried by said crank discs within said filling members.

Description

[45] July 9,1974

United States Patent Richter 1 [54] PNDULAR PISTON ROTARY EXPLOSION 3,036,560 5/1962 Geiger............................,...418/241 3,108,579 3,289,647 3,411,488

10/1963 Korf........ 12/1966 Tumer....

ENGINE [76] Inventor:

11/1968 Kramm..........:..............

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Ernest H. C. Richter, Aribau 177, Barcelona, Spain July 19, 1971 452,835 11/1927 Germany..........................418/260 [22] Filed:

Appl. No.; 163,599

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i INVENTOR [fR/VEST H. C. RICHTER ATTORNEYS PTENTEDJUL M974 ATTORNEYS PENDULAR PISTON ROTARY EXPLOSION ENGINE The present invention refers to a pendular piston rotary explosion engine, which offers several important improvements compared to all usual explosion engines.

The so-called combustion engine does not in actual fact produce combustion but the explosion of a mixture of air and vapourized liquid, that is, a mist which, naturally, tends to condense on all the surfaces with which it enters into contact. This condensation begins in the duct which leave from the Carburettor and continues during filling and compression, on all the walls of the cylinders and pistons. This condensation tendency is used in many cases to lubricate surfaces which are difficult to reach, by adding oil to the said mixture. Condensation in the ducts from the Carburettor to the cylinders make the flow rates which the latter receive vary and thus their performance. In the opinion of experts, condensation is the direct cause of monoxide and unburnt remains. It is mainly the film which forms inside the cylinder which, due to its larger amount and the action of the pistons compression stroke, which collecting and accumulating this liquid layer, places it around the exhaust in the top part of the cylinder, where the explosion does not affect it, as this liquid, although combustible, is not explosive and needs time to burn. The plunger stroke, that is, the explosion, at a rate of 5,000 revolutions only lasts three thousandths of a second, and this is not sufficient to vapourize and completely burn the remains, which are dragged by the burned gas and taken to the exhaust pipe in the form of monoxide and unburned fuel.

The crankshaft is inseparably linked to dead points, these to delayed ignition and this is not possible without high octanes, the product of lead. The crankshaft only allows one cycle at a time, and has to wait for this to be completed before starting the following. Hence the interruptions in the torque motion. The crankshaft does not allow the gas to ignite and be fully used at its maximum compression and shortens the multiplying length of its radial lever, as well as reducing the time the gas has to burn. At a rate of 5,000 revolutions, it has already been stated that the gas only has three thousandths of a second to burn. ln the Wankel rotary engine, only the problem of the short lever of the crankshaft has been solved, but at the cost of a very shortened burning stroke. In a rotary engine, both the Carburettor and the crankshaft and also the lead in the mixture have to be dispensed with and, especially, it is necessary to allow sufficient time for combustion to be effective.

In the engine the object of this application, there is no Carburettor and no crankshaft and, consequently, there are no dead points, nor is delayed ignition needed. Only air is compressed so that hammering and knocking due to premature explosions are not possible, as the fuel is injected into the ignition chamber when this has reached its least volume and ignited at the same time as it is injected, thereby neither vwasting compression nor combustion time, and not needing octanes, i.e. lead, in the mixture. Neither-can condensation be produced as no Carburettor is used and the combustion is kept alive until the gas reaches the exhaust pipe. There is no piston stroke displacing badly burnt gases.

In the said engine of this application, the usual crankshaft has been replaced by a straight shaft which has two pairs of crank discs firmly fixed, to it each pair with a central filling part joined to same, but not to the said shaft, it is similar in shape to a Malthese cross, in between whose arms the pendicular pistons are housed, the fixed axles of them revolving in bearings placed in the actual discs, thereby forming the cranks of the latter and the unit determining the engine rotors.

The said filling body, together with the retracted pis tons between its spokes, forms a concentric cylinder with less radius than the two crank discs which enclose it, the pendular motion of the said pistons taking place completely between the two inner sides of those discs.

The cylinders in which the rotors turn are of smaller inside diameter than the crank-discs and a bigger diameter than the filing pieces and being excentric to the main shaft on which these are firmly mounted, a free moon-sickle shaped space is formed enclosed by the two parallel inside faces of the discs, the outer surface of the filling piece and pistons and the stationary inner surface of the actual cylinder. On revolving the swinging motion of the pistons divides the sickle-shaped free space into as many rotating chambers of changing shape and volume as pistons are provided.

The cycle is carried out divided into two rotors, one filling and compressing the ambient air and conveying it through a passage to the ignition chamber of the other where it receives the fuel injection which is simultaneously lit thereby avoiding all condensation. The compressor rotor holds more than the engine rotor, thus providing any volume of air desired.

In this engine, several chambers work simultaneously, one igniting while the preciding one is still in the expansion step.

In the flanks parallel to the inner sides of the discs, the pistons have some ring segments fitted round their shafts; these piston rings resting on the retainer edges, act as springs for same.

The hollowed pistons, together with their levers and sliding devices, are counter weighted so as to have their centre of gravity in the centre of the shafts of these pistons. All the components making up the engine are lubricated and cooled by oil which is driven by a pump inserting it into the drive shaft, while the outside of the unit, especially the cylinders, can be cooled either by air or water.

The piston retaining strap slides along the surface of the retaining ring placed on the inner face of the disc.

To better understand the present descriptive report, eleven sheets of drawings are attached in which, only by way of example, a practical case of embodiment of a four piston engine is represented.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of the engine unit;

FIG. 2 is the cross-wise vertical section of the motor cylinder through the line II-II of FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is the cross-wise vertical section of the motor cylinder through the line Ill-III of FIG. l with filling piece and pistons;

FIG. 4 is an elevation view taken on line lV--IV of FIG. ll of the inner side of the four crank discs making up the rotor;

FIGS. and 6 show cross-section through lines V-V and Vl-VI, respectively, of the previous FIG. 4

FIGS. 7 to 10 are details of the filling parts in between the crank-discs within which the corresponding pistons move;

FIG. Il taken on line XI-XI of FIG. 1 of shows the outer side of the cylinder separating with guide channels for the pistons gliding stones;

FIGS. 12 to 18 are details of the pendular pistons;

FIG. 19' is an elevation view taken on line XIX--XIX of FIG. 1 of the outer side of one of the discs forming the rotor;

FIGS. and 21 are details ofa piston and its guiding lever;

FIG. 22 shows a view taken on line XXII-XXII of FIG. 1 of the cylinder of the compressor section;

FIGS. 23 to 2S are details of the cylinders of the motor section and compressor section; and

FIG. 26 shows the way this engine work, igniting its chamber l'-2 while 4-3' is still expanding.

The engine in question is made of a main casing formed by two end covers 1, open in the center for a drive shaft 2 to pass, which crosses an intermediary wall 3, which divides the inside of the said casing into two sections M and C, of which M is the motor and C the compressor.

On the drive shaft 2, a two rotors are formed and fixed by two pairs of crank discs 4, each pair placed between the lids l and the separating wall 3. The crankdiscs 4 are applied in cylinders 5, 6.

As described previously said crank-discs 4 are of greater diameter than the inner, working surfaces 7 and 8 of the cylinders 5 and 6 so as to enclose these excentrically inbetween their inner, parallel surfaces, giving the lengthwise cut of the cylinders 5 and 6 a double T shaped form as shown in FIGS. 1, 23, 24 and 25, the horizontal arm of the T housing concentrically the outside rims ofthe crank-discs. Being 5 and 6 a part of the engines carcass, the cylinders are bolted both to the dividing wall 3 and to the lids 1 and may be cooled either by air through the shown fins 9, or being hollow by water.

In the FIGS. 2, 3, 22 and 26 Ca indicates the center of the casing and Cy indicates the center of the cylinder.

Cylinders 5, 6 are fixed to the intermediary wall 3 and to the end covers 1 by means of bolts 10.

On the outer side the discs 4 have a ring-shaped groove into which an oil seal 11 is fitted, which is in contact with the inner wall of the covers 1. Inside, those revolving discs 4 have other grooves, some circular and arc-shaped to hold both piston rings 12 and 13 (FIG. 4) and others arc-shaped 14 to fix the filling wheel shaped parts 15.

The discs 4 are equipped with matched bearings in which the shafts 16 of the pistons 17 are housed, parallel to the drive shaft and which form part of some pendular pistons 17 composed of a cylindrical body in two segments with different arcs and provided with a cavity 18 which communicates with two holes 19 and 20, the first leading to the outside and the second, in turn, communicating with axial hole 21, which runs inside the shafts 16. At the bottom of the part in the shape of a Malthese cross 15 (which has the same number of cylindrical notches as there are pendular pistons 17 which are housed in them), there are also other holes 22; the actual drive shaft 2 is also provided with a lengthwise hole 23, with side outlets 24 in front of those Malthese cross parts 15 which have lengthwise grooves (FIGS. 3 and 7 to 10) for some retainer strips 25.

The solid part of the pendular pistons places the center of gravity in their axis when moving. The structure of the pistons is shown in FIGS. 12 to 18, in which, some notches 17' appear in each edge of each piston` where retainer strips 26 are housed, shaft parallel held resiliently in these notches by springs 27, which enter grooves 28 held around the piston shafts.

The chamber 7 of the power section M has an inlet 29 for the intake of compressed air, and a duct 30 for injecting the fuel. Near to the two ignition plugs 3l and opposite these the mouth of the exhaust pipe 32. In the chamber 8 of the compressor section C there is an inlet 33 for sucking in ambient air and an outlet 34 for sending compressed air to the engine intake 29, which takes place through a intercommunication passage shown diagrammatically as 35 in FIG. 1.

Into the dividing wall 3 there is a cavity 36 which communicates with the lubricating holes 37, bring said cavity 36 in communication with exterior tube 38.

In both sides of dividing wall 3, there is a ring-shaped channel 39, concentric to the inner profile of the cylinders; inside these guide channels the slide parts 40 move, (FIG. 11) hinged to ends of levers 41 (FIG. 21) joined to the shafts 16 of the pendular pistons 17. These guide channels 39 could also be placed on the inner faces of the end covers 1.

Cooling and lubricating oil is pumped into the moving parts of the engine through the tubular main shaft 2 and having passed the filling body 15 and hollow pistons 17 through ducts 19, 22 and 23 emerges into the enclosures between discs and adjoining body parts to go back to the pump by tubes 38 and 42.

From the above, the way this engine works can be deduced, in which no internal compression is produced of the mixture due to the fact that the fuel is injected to the precompressed air. As ignition is not delayed, it is not necessary to add lead to the fuel.

The feeder and the motor working synchronizedly together produce four consecutive full cycles on each revolution and as each rotating firing chamber reaches its ignition-point before the preceding chamber has run its full expansion, this overlapping of power doubles the rendiment of the engine. There are thus eight expansions per revolution whilst consumption of fuel is the amount necessary for only four explosions.

Not only are the expanding chambers themselves increasing their size, but the excentricity obliges the pendulum pistons on rotation to reach farther out to keep in sealing contact with the cylinder, thus their working surfaces was compenating to agreat the waning pressure ofthe expansing gas, the flow of power being very uniform.

The pendular shaped pistons are free of torque as the pressure of the expanding gas is perfectly balanced on their outer surfaces so there is no stress on the pistons levers nor on their guiding gliding pieces in their sliding channels. The moment of rotation is applied directly to the crank discs over the cranks formed by the pistons axis.

The weight of each piston together with its guiding lever and sliding guide is balanced, their common center of gravity is the center of the pistons axis which go varound in a perfect circle and so do not produce free masses. Construction is simple, as carburettors crankshafts, geared wheels and complex parts are dispensed with. Working surfaces are flat or regular cylinders, and easy to prepare. Due to the special arrangement of the pendular pistons 17, and the gas-tight chambers which they limit, there is no point in the rotor, during the full turn of same, which does not receive mechanical energy, which eliminates dead points. Intake 30 and the exhaust pipe 32 are completely separate, the opposite of what happens in conventional engines.

FIG. 26 finally shows the perfomance of the engine object of the present invention. The pressure of the eX- panding gas always works tangentially to the drive shaft on a very long transmitting and multiplying radial lever which waxes up to the moment it reaches and opens exhaust. The driving surface increases its area while the expanding gas develops its greatest force and power is delivered up to the instant the exhaust is opened.

Chamber l-4 has just closed the air duct. As the compressor rotor may be of greater volume than the motor-rotor, any convenient degree of compression may be obtained. At the same time carburant is injected, it is fired by two spark plugs simultaneously, which are as near to the injection opening as is constructively feasible, so no condensation is possible. The radius to point 4 is longer than the one to point 1, so gas expansion drives chamber l-4 in the desired sense. As point 4 gets to point 3 at 170 degrees of rotation still pushing, point 1 has reached firing position and no dead points or loss of initial compression is possible, two chambers always working together.

The division of the cycle makes it possible to obtain on one revolution of 360 degrees the filling compressing, firing and voiding of four chambers giving an output of 72() degrees of power, while a conventional engine renders 90 and the Wankel about 210.

On top of the mentioned mechanical advantages it is to be remembered that this engine does not use lead in its fuel burning it over a course of 260 degrees while giving it as much air as is convenient for its total combustion and does not void unburned residues.

l claim:

1. Pendular piston rotary explosion engine comprising a straight drive shaft, a pair of end covers, an intermediate wall spaced between said end covers, two pairs of crank discs with each pair positioned between said intermeidate wall and a different one of said end covers, said shaft extending through said end covers, said intermediate wall and said crank discs, a pair of cylinders each attached to said intermediate wall and a different one of said end covers and having their axis eccentric to, said shaft, cooling means carried by said cylinders, a pair of filling members each having the configuration of a Maltese cross and bring connected to and positioned between said pairs of crank discs, said filling members having their shaft extending through the centers thereof and bring connected thereto, pendular pistons each positioned between a different pair of spokes of one of said filling members and rotatably supported between and by one of said pairs of crank discs, means for admitting air through one of said cylinders, means placing both cylinders in communication, means for injecting fuel into the other if said cylinders, means for firing fuel in said other cylinder and means for exhausting said other cylinder.

2. Pendular piston rotary explosion engine as claimed in claim l wherein said cylinders have a smaller inner diameter than said crank discs, but larger than said filling members and said pistons being completely enclosed by the inner faces of said crank discs, the outer faces of said filling members and the inner surfaces of said cylinders.

3. Pendular piston rotary explosion engine as claimed in claim l including means keeping one face of each piston in Contact with the inner face of its cylinder and the forward edge of each piston sliding on its filling member.

4. Pendular piston rotary explosion engine as claimed in claim 1 wherein ring-shaped channels of said crank discs are each provided concentric to the inner face of one of said cylinders, levers are each attached to one of said pistons and means are carried by said levers sliding in said channels.

* s k i

Claims (4)

1. Pendular piston rotary explosion engine comprising a straight drive shaft, a pair of end covers, an intermediate wall spaced between said end covers, two pairs of crank discs with each pair positioned between said intermeidate wall and a different one of said end covers, said shaft extending through said end covers, said intermediate wall and said crank discs, a pair of cylinders each attached to said intermediate wall and a different one of said end covers and having their axis eccentric to, said shaft, cooling means carried by said cylinders, a pair of filling members each having the configuration of a Maltese cross and bring connected to and positioned between said pairs of crank discs, said filling members having their shaft extending through the centers thereof and bring connected thereto, pendular pistons each positioned between a different pair of spokes of one of said filling members and rotatably supported between and by one of said pairs of crank discs, means for admitting air through one of said cylinders, means placing both cylinders in communication, means for injecting fuel into the other if said cylinders, means for firing fuel in said other cylinder and means for exhausting said other cylinder.

2. Pendular piston rotary explosion engine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said cylinders have a smaller inner diameter than said crank discs, but larger than said filling members and said pistons being completely enclosed by the inner faces of said crank discs, the outer faces of said filling members and the inner surfaces of said cylinders.

3. Pendular piston rotary explosion engine as claimed in claim 1 including means keeping one face of each piston in contact with the inner face of its cylinder and the forward edge of each piston sliding on its filling member.

4. Pendular piston rotary explosion engine as claimed in claim 1 wherein ring-shaped channels of said crank discs are each provided concentric to the inner face of one of said cylinders, levers are each attached to one of said pistons and means are carried by said levers sliding in said channels.

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