WO2005005789A1

WO2005005789A1 - Rotary valve for i.c.engines

Info

Publication number: WO2005005789A1
Application number: PCT/AU2003/000885
Authority: WO
Inventors: John Douglas Ramsey
Original assignee: The Ramsey Valve Company Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2003-07-10
Filing date: 2003-07-10
Publication date: 2005-01-20
Also published as: AU2003243826A1

Abstract

A rotary valve (1) for an internal combustion engine having a plurality of inline cylinders, the rotary valve (1) having a rotor rotatable between a head and cap bolted to the engine, a plurality of spiral passages opening through ports (8) to port opening into the cylinders . an air turbine (27) passing combustion air through one of the spiral passages, an exhaust passage and a coolant passage, coolant circulation means circulating coolant through the rotor, engine block head and cap to a radiator and to the inlet to the coolant passage in the rotor. A relucter wheel (21) driven by the rotor provides timing for the operation of the engine.

Description

ROTARY VALVE FOR I.C.ENGINES

This invention relates to a rotary valve for internal combustion engines, more particularly to a rotary valve adapted to control both the inlet and exhaust ports of one or more cylinders of the internal combustion engine.

Rotary valves to control the gaseous flow into and out of the ports of an internal combustion are suited to engines intended to operate at high revolutions. The convention poppet valve has been very successful at higher engine revolutions, but at high revolutions strong springs are required to instantly close the valve. This results in great stresses on the valves and the valve seat and also stresses on the cam and, rockers and rocker shaft. In addition the high spring pressures result in a greater power being required to operate the valves.

In Australian Patent No 696388 in the name of the present inventor there is described a rotor having a pair of spiral passages therethrough to conduct the inlet and exhaust gasses from the cylinders of an internal combustion engine. In particular the invention is directed to the seals between the rotor and the ports in the cylinder head.

One of the problems with rotary valves is the cooling of the valve, particularly with a rotary valve on an engine having a plurality of in-line cylinders, there is produced a large temperature difference between the ends of the valve, the exhaust gasses exiting from one end of the valve.

In addition in an engine having a plurality of inline cylinders the combustion air enters one end of the valve and provision must be made to ensure each cylinder receives the desired amount of combustion air. In order to more fully describe the invention reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in which:- Figure 1 is a cross-section of a first end of the rotary valve, Figure 2 is a cross-section of the second end of the rotary valve, Figure 3 is a view of the relucter wheel, Figure 4 is a view of the turbine blades, Figure 5 is a cross sectional view of the valve head and cap, Figure 6 is a cross sectional view of the rotary valve, head and cap, Figure 7 is a diagrammatic view of the cooling system, and Figure 8 is an alternate view of the second end as shown in Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings the valve assembly 1 includes the head 2 and cap 3 enclosing the rotor 4. The rotor 4 has three spiral channels extending from end to end of the rotor 4, an inlet channel 5, an exhaust channel 6 and a coolant channel 7. The spiral inlet channel 5 and spiral exhaust channel 6 have openings to pass over the respective ports 8 in the head opening into the respective cylinder of the engine as described in the above prior patent 696388.

Referring to Figure 1 the exhaust channel 6 is connected to an exhaust tube 9 rotatable with the rotor 4 supported in bearing 10. in housing 11. A coolant inlet 12 opens to a water turbine 13 to pump coolant through the coolant channel 7 in the rotor 4 through passage 14.

Referring now to Figure 2, the coolant outlet 15 extends from housing 16. Also shown is a second coolant turbine 17 to assist in ensuring there is an adequate coolant flow through the rotor 4. The rotor 4 is supported at this end by a further bearing 18 and is driven by a lugged belt 19 driving pulley 20 attached to the rotor 4. Also attached to the end of the rotor 4 is a relucter wheel 21 shown also in

Figure 3.The relucter wheel 21 has a plurality of magnets 22 attached to teeth 23 on the periphery of the relucter wheel so that during operation the magnets pass a magnetic sensor 24. The electrical impulses so produced are the timing impulses for the operation of the engine, that is the fuel injector 25 and spark plug 26.

Also driven by the rotor 4 is an air turbine 27 as illustrated in Figures 2, 4 and having main vanes 28 and secondary vanes 29. The turbine 27 draws air through an air channel 30 supplied through a pair of air inlets 31 and 32 each connected to a separate filter. In this way by the provision of two inlets 31 and 32 each having their respective filter the resistance to air flow to the turbine 27 is minimised.

The rotor 4 is lubricated by lubrication injectors 33 positioned along the cap 3, there being one injector per cylinder. The injectors are positioned after the ports 8 in the direction of rotation of the rotor 4. The surplus lubricant is removed from the rotor by scraper bars 34 through a non-return valve 35. The scraper bars extend along the rotor 4 for the distance corresponding to the width of the ports 8.

The engine cooling circuit is shown on Figure 7 the coolant flows through the rotor 4 from inlet 12 through the rotor to the outlet 15. The coolant then passes through pipe 36 to enter the engine block 37. The coolant passes through the cooling passages in the engine block and then through cooling passages in the head 2 and cooling passages 38 in the cap 3. Pipe 38 is connected to an outlet 39 in the cap to pass the hot coolant to the radiator 40 from which the cool coolant passes through pipe 41 to the inlet 12 to the rotor. Although the outlet 39 in the cap is shown toward the exhaust end of the rotary valve it is to be realised this can be positioned along the cap to ensure an even temperature on all the cylinders and along the rotor housing. Depending upon the temperature variations more than one outlet 39 may be required spaced along the cap.

Thus it can be seen there is provided by the invention an improved rotary valve system for multicylinder internal combustion engines. The air supply to the cylinders through the rotary valve is boosted by the axial flow turbine fed by streamlined air inlets 31 and 32 feeding the air direct into the venturi of the axial flow turbine. The air turbine is driven at the same speed as the rotor by the toothed belt from the crankshaft of the engine. The provision the relucter wheel and sensor driven at rotor speed ensures the correct timing of the injector and spark plug.

Although one form of the invention has been described in some detail it is to be realised the invention is not to be limited thereto, but can include variations and modifications falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1 A rotary valve for an internal combustion engine having a piston operating in a cylinder in an engine block, said rotary valve including a head adapted to be secured to the engine block, a cap secured to the head and a rotor rotatable within the head and cap, said rotor having therein a plurality of spiral passages extending through said rotor, an inlet spiral, an exhaust spiral and a coolant spiral, said head having a port opening into the cylinder, elongated ports in said rotor opening into the inlet spiral passage and exhaust spiral passage, an air turbine connected to said rotor to be rotated therewith to deliver air to the inlet spiral, and drive means connected to said rotor.

2 A rotary valve for an internal combustion engine as defined in claim 1 wherein said air turbine operates in a venturi, a pair of inlet passages opening into said venturi to deliver air to said axial flow fan.

3 A rotary valve for an internal combustion engine as defined in either claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said drive means is a toothed belt driven from the crankshaft of the engine, a relucter wheel on the rotor and a sensor positioned adjacent the relucter wheel whereby the sensor delivers timed electrical impulses.

4 A rotary valve as defined in claim 3 wherein the relucter wheel has magnets spaced around its periphery to sequentially pass the magnetic sensor.

5 A rotary valve for an internal combustion engine as defined in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the cap includes a rotor coolant inlet and a rotor coolant outlet, a coolant impeller on said rotor adjacent said rotor coolant inlet and a further water impeller on said rotor adjacent said rotor coolant outlet to move the coolant through said spiral coolant passage in the rotor. 6 A rotary valve as defined in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the rotary valve is cooled by the coolant of the engine wherein the coolant spiral is connected to a rotor coolant outlet connected to the coolant inlet to the engine block, the coolant passing through the engine block to passages in the head and further passages in the cap before passing to the inlet to the radiator, the outlet from the radiator passing coolant to the inlet to the spiral passages of the rotor, the outlet from the cap being selectively poisoned to maintain even temperature in the cylinders and head and cap.

7 A rotary valve for an internal combustion engine having more than one cylinder in line in an engine block, said rotary valve including a head bolted to the said block, a cap attached to the head and a rotor mounted to rotate between the head and cap, said rotor having a plurality of spiral passages passing from end to end, an inlet passage, an exhaust passage and a coolant passage, elongated ports opening from the inlet passage and exhaust passage to pass over a through port in the head to the respective cylinder, means for driving the rotor related to engine speed, an air turbine driven by the rotor to pass air through the inlet passage, coolant turbines driven by the rotor to pass coolant through the rotor, through the engine block, head and cap to a heat exchanger and back to an inlet to the rotor coolant passage.