초록 ▼

Combustion engines have opposed pistons in one or more cylinders, with the piston motion determined by cams. Ports, for intake and exhaust, are at one end of the cylinder, opened or closed by one piston, with the combustion chamber at the other end, and the engine being well suited to the optional u

Combustion engines have opposed pistons in one or more cylinders, with the piston motion determined by cams. Ports, for intake and exhaust, are at one end of the cylinder, opened or closed by one piston, with the combustion chamber at the other end, and the engine being well suited to the optional use of a combustion chamber separate from the cylinder and with the communicating passages controlled by the other piston. That arrangement makes the engine particularly suitable for using heavy or unconventional fuels. The cam profile provides for a four-stroke cycle; one piston moves during the intake and exhaust strokes, while the second piston moves for compression and power strokes. Thus the advantages of a four-stroke engine are obtained while retaining the simplicity of a two-stroke engine. The cam profile may be tailored to the burning characteristics of the fuel, as by providing a period of dwell between the end of the compression stroke and the beginning of the power stroke. The engine is well suited to the use of compression ignition, but spark ignition is feasible. The isolated combustion chamber may also be replaced by a heat exchanger, to use an external heat source.

대표청구항 ▼

An engine, comprising at least one cylinder, a pair of opposed pistons in said cylinder including a power piston and an intake piston and defining a variable space therebetween, means interconnecting said pistons to convert axial movement of said pistons in said cylinder into rotary motion, means fo

An engine, comprising at least one cylinder, a pair of opposed pistons in said cylinder including a power piston and an intake piston and defining a variable space therebetween, means interconnecting said pistons to convert axial movement of said pistons in said cylinder into rotary motion, means for delivering combustion fuel into said space between said pistons, means in said cylinder defining an exhaust port and an air intake port, said ports being positioned in said cylinder so that they are covered and uncovered by said power piston, said intake piston being movable from a retracted position spaced from said power piston providing for the entrance of fuel into said space to an extended position in proximity to said air intake and exhaust ports, said power piston being movable between a retracted position in which said air intake and exhaust ports are uncovered to an extended position toward said intake piston in proximity to intake piston, said rotary connecting means causing said intake piston to move in a cycle from said extended position toward said retracted position, and causing said power piston to move from its said retracted position toward said intake piston to compress and heat gasses trapped therebetween, and causing said intake piston to move to said retracted position, said power piston being movable in a power stroke toward said retracted position until said exhaust port is uncovered for exhaust of burnt gasses from within said cylinder, said rotary connecting means then causing intake piston to move from its retracted toward said power piston onto purge the cylinder of burnt fuel.