The present invention relates to a rotary valve internal combustion engine, particularly but not exclusively, for a manually held machine such as a horticultural grass trimmer or hedge trimmer, in which the control of the intake and exhaust gases of combustion is achieved by means of a rotary valve.
A rotary valve internal combustion engine comprising: a piston connected to a crankshaft and that reciprocates in a cylinder, the cylinder having a combustion end, a combustion chamber being defined in part by the piston and the combustion end of the cylinder, a valve housing fixed at an outer portion of the combustion end of the cylinder and defining a bore and a rotary valve rotatable about a rotary valve axis in the bore in the valve housing, the rotary valve having a hollow valve body having an interior volume forming a part of the combustion chamber, wherein the interior volume of the hollow valve body is subjected to combustion gases throughout the combustion process, and further having in a wall part thereof a port giving, during rotation of the valve, fluid communication successively to and from the combustion chamber via inlet and exhaust ports in the valve housing.
The present invention seeks to provide such an engine suitable for use with a horticultural machine designed to be held and operated manually by an operator. The term horticultural machine is intended to include hand-held machines for use in horticulture, gardens and forestry for such purposes as grass trimmers, hedge trimmers, brush cutters, clearing saws, shredders, blowers vacuum collectors, mist blowers, and chainsaws.
According to the present invention there is provided a rotary valve internal combustion engine comprising: a piston connected to a crankshaft and that reciprocates in a cylinder, the cylinder having a combustion end, a combustion chamber being defined in part by the piston and the combustion end of the cylinder, a valve housing fixed at an outer portion of the combustion end of the cylinder and defining a bore and a rotary valve rotatable about a rotary valve axis in the bore in the valve housing, the rotary valve having a hollow valve body having an interior volume forming a part of the combustion chamber, wherein the interior volume of the hollow valve body is subjected to combustion gases throughout the combustion process, and further having in a wall part thereof a port giving, during rotation of the valve, fluid communication successively to and from the combustion chamber via inlet and exhaust ports in the valve housing, the engine having a carburetor for controlling the air/fuel mix into the engine and an exhaust muffler for the exhaust gases, wherein the port layout is arranged to position the exhaust muffler and carburetor on opposite sides of the engine, the port angles being arranged such that the main body of the carburetor and main body of the muffler are substantially parallel to the centerline of the engine, wherein when the engine is at top dead center, the valve port is angled a predetermined number of degrees from the crankshaft axis said angular offset reducing the radial offset of the inlet port that is required to achieve a mounting flange for the carburetor that is substantially parallel to the centerline of the engine, the centerline of the inlet port is offset towards the operator a predetermined number of degrees from a radial line from the cylinder axis, said angular offset allowing the mounting flange for the carburetor to be substantially parallel to the centerline of the engine, and the centerline of the exhaust port is offset a predetermined number of degrees from a radial line from the cylinder axis, said angular offset allowing the main body of the muffler to be substantially parallel to the centerline of the engine using an angled mounting flange.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Referring now to
At its end remote from the combustion chamber 4, the rotary valve 5 has a concentric drive shaft 6 carrying a single race ball bearing 7 which rotatably supports the valve 5 in the valve housing 8. The valve driveshaft 6 is secured to a coaxial driven gear 9 which meshes with a drive gear 10 of a drive arrangement 11 through which the driven gear 9 and hence the rotary valve 5 is connected to the crankshaft 3. The drive arrangement 11 includes a drive shaft 12 which is located in a channel or tube 17 in the cylinder housing and mounted for rotation in an upper bearing 18 adjacent the drive gear 10 and a lower bearing 13 adjacent the crankshaft 3. The driveshaft 11 carries a bevel gear 15 which meshes with a corresponding bevel gear 16 secured on the crankshaft for rotation with the crankshaft 3. Thus, the rotation of the crankshaft 3 and hence the piston movement is coordinated with the rotation of the rotary valve 5 so that the engine operates on the conventional four stroke cycle. To achieve this, the diameter of the driven gear 9 is twice that of the drive gear 10 so that the rotary valve 5 rotates at half engine speed. The rotary valve 5 comprises a generally cylindrical rotary valve body 5 rotatable about a rotary valve axis 5a with a close sliding fit in the bore in the valve housing 8, the rotary valve 5 having a hollow valve body having an interior volume 19 forming a part of the combustion chamber. The valve has a generally cylindrical body part comprising the valve body 19 itself which is slightly larger in diameter than the shaft 6, which forms a shoulder 14 against which the inner race of the ball bearing 7 is located. The valve body 19 extends into the combustion chamber and has in its interior a volume 20 which forms part of the combustion chamber 4 and which is subject to combustion gases at all stages of the combustion process.
The shaft 6 part of the rotary valve 5 is only slightly smaller in diameter than the valve body 19 to provide the shoulder 14. The shaft is solid to provide a good path for conducting heat from the valve body 19 to the exterior.
The rotary valve body 19 has a port 21 which, during rotation of the valve, enables fluid communication successively to and from the interior volume of the valve and hence the combustion chamber via the inlet and exhaust ports in the valve housing. In this embodiment the port 21 is in the form of a recess formed in the lower peripheral edge 22 of the wall 23 of the valve body adjacent to the combustion chamber 4 the recess extending upwardly from this lower edge of the wall of the valve to form the port 21 in the side of the valve
Ignition is provided by a spark plug secured into a plug bore 25 formed in the valve housing 8 and extending into the valve bore.
Referring now to
Moreover, as any restriction in flow in the inlet port due to a non-radial port angle will have a greater effect on engine power than the equivalent restriction in the exhaust port, the ports are angled such that the inlet port is closer to the ideal radial angle than the exhaust port.
In this embodiment, the top dead center timing point is angled towards the inlet side from the centerline of the crankshaft by 10°, in other words when the piston is at top dead center the centerline of the valve port is pointing 10 degrees towards the side of the engine nearest the operator. This enables the inlet port opening within the valve housing to be moved round 10 degrees towards the operator. This enables the inlet port 27 to be closer to the ideal radial angle than the exhaust port. The inlet port 27 is then angled a further 11° from the radial axis of the cylinder axis with the result that the mounting flange of the carburetor airbox assembly 29 is substantially parallel to the centerline of the engine
The centerline of the exhaust port 28 is offset 15° from the radial axis. The exhaust muffler has an angled flange 33 which mates with the exhaust port 28 so as to allow the main body of the exhaust muffler to be aligned substantially with the centerline 31 of the engine.
The exhaust muffler 13 is having a two-part shell construction of the muffler and a flange to mate with the angled exhaust port. This has the advantage of avoiding the use of a separate tube or pipe between the exhaust port and the muffler body.
As shown in up
A closure plate 35 at the rear of the engine, shown in
Referring now to
The dividing wall 33 contains a filter 34 through which air from the unfiltered side passes into the filtered air side volume 32. The inlet tract has a tuning pipe 35 secured to the carburetor. The tuning pipe 35 leads from the air inlet 36 of the carburetor 28 through a curved path passing through the unfiltered volume in the airbox, through the dividing wall and into the filtered air volume 32. In one form, the tuning pipe 35 passes through the filter itself. The inlet 37 to the tuning pipe 35 is located in the filtered volume 32 and is flared outwardly to improve the flow of air into the tuning pipe 35 and hence into the engine. The curved path maximizes the length of the tuning pipe which increases the efficiency of the engine without causing a significant change to the overall size of the engine.
Although shown as a simple curve, it will be appreciated that the tuning pipe may have a more complex shape and may follow a serpentine path.
Referring now to
At its end remote from the combustion chamber 104, the rotary valve 105 has a concentric drive shaft 106 carrying a single race ball bearing 107 which rotatably supports the valve 105 in the valve housing 108. The valve driveshaft 106 is secured to a coaxial driven gear 109 which meshes with a drive gear 110 of a drive arrangement 111 through which the driven gear 109 and hence the rotary valve 105 is connected to the crankshaft 103. The drive arrangement 111 includes a drive shaft 112 which is located in a channel or tube 117 in the cylinder housing and mounted for rotation in an upper bearing 118 adjacent the drive gear 110 and a lower bearing 113 adjacent the crankshaft 103. The driveshaft 111 carries a bevel gear 115 which meshes with a corresponding bevel gear 116 secured on the crankshaft for rotation with the crankshaft 103. Thus, the rotation of the crankshaft 103 and hence the piston movement is coordinated with the rotation of the rotary valve 105 so that the engine operates on the conventional four stroke cycle. To achieve this, the diameter of the driven gear 109 is twice that of the drive gear 110 so that the rotary valve 105 rotates at half engine speed.
Referring now to
The shaft 106 part of the rotary valve 105 is only slightly smaller in diameter than the valve body 119 to provide the shoulder 114. The shaft is solid to provide a good path for conducting heat from the valve body 119 to the exterior.
The rotary valve body 119 has a port 121 which, during rotation of the valve, enables fluid communication successively to and from the interior volume of the valve and hence the combustion chamber via inlet and exhaust ports in the valve housing. In this embodiment the port 121 is in the form of a recess formed in the lower peripheral edge 122 of the wall 123 of the valve body adjacent to the combustion chamber 104 the recess extending upwardly from this lower edge of the wall of the valve to form the port 121 in the side of the valve.
Ignition is provided by a spark plug secured into a plug bore 125 formed in the valve housing 108 and extending into the valve bore. The axis of the plug bore 125 where it meets the valve body is axially below the centerline of the valve ports. In this way, the point of ignition is closer to the main mass of the incoming fuel mixture.
The plug bore is formed with a screw thread just long enough to secure the plug 124 in the plug bore 125, the remaining part of the plug bore 125 between the end of the screw thread supporting the plug and the opening of the plug bore 125 into the combustion chamber comprises a spark plug bore volume 126 the bore of which is smooth to improve the flow of the incoming fuel charge and to speed the passage of the flame front from the spark plug into the main volume of the combustion chamber 104.
The plug bore volume 126 is inevitably present since it is necessary to ensure that there is a gap between the body of the spark plug itself and the rotating valve. However, this does have the disadvantage in that it forms a pocket for exhaust gases after ignition which tends to delay the incoming charge/air mixture for the next cycle and also prevents the maximum possible amount of charge/air mix reaching the spark plug. To obviate this disadvantage a vent 127 is provided leading from the spark plug bore volume 126 to the main volume of the combustion chamber so that the spark plug bore volume 126 is in fluid communication with the main volume of the combustion chamber 104. This vents the volume 126 prior to the next input of fresh fuel charge for the next cycle. As shown in
The embodiment of
In a preferred form, the vent comprises a bleed bore in the valve housing or a channel or groove in the valve housing.
Referring now to
At its end remote from the combustion chamber 204, the rotary valve 205 has a concentric drive shaft 206 carrying a single race ball bearing 207 which rotatably supports the valve 205 in the valve housing 208. The valve driveshaft 206 is secured to a coaxial driven gear 209 which meshes with a drive gear 210 of a drive arrangement 211 through which the driven gear 209 and hence the rotary valve 205 is connected to the crankshaft 203. The drive arrangement 211 includes a drive shaft 212 which is located in a channel or tube 217 in the cylinder housing and mounted for rotation in an upper bearing 218 adjacent the drive gear 210 and a lower bearing 213 adjacent the crankshaft 203. The channel or tube 217 is cast into the cylinder housing. The channel or tube 217 is formed integrally with the cylinder housing, which may be formed by a casting process. The driveshaft 211 carries a bevel gear 215 which meshes with a corresponding bevel gear 216 secured on the crankshaft for rotation with the crankshaft 203. Thus, the rotation of the crankshaft 203 and hence the piston movement is coordinated with the rotation of the rotary valve 205 so that the engine operates on the conventional four stroke cycle. To achieve this, the diameter of the driven gear 209 is twice that of the drive gear 210 so that the rotary valve 205 rotates at half engine speed.
Referring now to
The shaft 206 part of the rotary valve 205 is only slightly smaller in diameter than the valve body 219 to provide the shoulder 214. The shaft is solid to provide a good path for conducting heat from the valve body 219 to the exterior.
The rotary valve body port 221, during rotation of the valve, enables fluid communication successively to and from the interior volume of the valve and hence the combustion chamber via inlet and exhaust ports in the valve housing. In this embodiment the port 221 is in the form of a recess formed in the lower peripheral edge 222 of the wall 223 of the valve body adjacent to the combustion chamber 204 the recess extending upwardly from this lower edge of the wall of the valve to form the port 221 in the side of the valve.
Referring further to
The correct location of the rotary valve 205 relative to the valve gear, which determines the timing of the engine, is achieved by a timing pin 233. The drive gear 210 has a timing mark 234 which indicates when the engine is at top dead center. The driven gear 209 connected to the rotary valve has a timing hole 235 adapted to receive the timing pin 233 and the driven gear has a corresponding timing hole through which the timing pin is inserted to secure the driven gear 209 to the rotary valve 205 to hold the rotary valve in its top dead center position. The counter sunk screw 230 is then inserted to secure the driven gear 209 to the rotary valve 205 in the correct timing position and the counter sunk head of the screw 230 engages the end of the timing pin 230 to secure this in position. Other means such as a washer on the screw 230 may be used to secure the timing pin 233 in position.
Because the rotary valve has a port 221 cut in its peripheral wall, it is recognized that the mass of the valve is not uniformly disposed about its periphery and this generates out of balance forces as the rotary valve rotates in practice. In a further embodiment of the engine, a counterbalance or counterbalancing mass is created on the valve train, particularly by adding material to the driven gear 209 or by removing material at an appropriate position in the driven gear 209.
The embodiment of
Preferably, the driven gear has an out-of-balance mass to counter-balance an out of balance mass in the rotary valve body.
Referring now to
At its end remote from the combustion chamber 304, the rotary valve 305 has a concentric drive shaft 306 carrying a single race ball bearing 307 which rotatably supports the valve 305 in the valve housing 308. The valve driveshaft 306 is secured to a coaxial driven gear 309 which meshes with a drive gear 310 of a drive arrangement 311 through which the driven gear 309 and hence the rotary valve 305 is connected to the crankshaft 303. The drive arrangement 311 includes a drive shaft 312 which is located in a channel or tube 317 formed integrally in the cylinder housing and mounted for rotation in an upper bearing 318 adjacent the drive gear 310 and a lower bearing 313 mounted in the cylinder housing adjacent the crankshaft 303. The channel or tube 317 is formed in the cylinder housing, which may be formed by a casting process. The driveshaft 312 carries a bevel gear 315 which meshes with a corresponding bevel gear 316 secured on the crankshaft for rotation with the crankshaft 303. Thus, the rotation of the crankshaft 303 and hence the piston movement is coordinated with the rotation of the rotary valve 305 so that the engine operates on the conventional four stroke cycle. To achieve this, the diameter of the driven gear 309 is twice that of the drive gear 310 so that the rotary valve 305 rotates at half engine speed.
Referring now to
In this way, the assembly of the cylinder housing including the rotary valve 305 and the main part of the drive gear arrangement 311 is formed as a sub assembly for mating with the crankcase 314. For final assembly, the piston which is carried by the crankcase 314 is fed into the piston bore in the cylinder housing 302 and at the same time the bevel gear 315 is fed through the crankcase bore 336 to complete the engine assembly.
The embodiment of
In this embodiment the drive shaft maybe located in a passage formed in the cylinder housing, and the drive shaft maybe located rotationally in bearings mounted in the cylinder housing.
Referring now to
At its end remote from the combustion chamber 404, the rotary valve 405 has a concentric drive shaft 406 carrying a single race ball bearing 407 which rotatably supports the valve 405 in the valve housing 408. The valve driveshaft 406 is secured to a coaxial driven gear 409 which meshes with a drive gear 410 of a drive arrangement 411 through which the driven gear 409 and hence the rotary valve 405 is connected to the crankshaft 403. The drive arrangement 411 includes a drive shaft 412 which is located in a channel or tube 417 in the cylinder housing and mounted for rotation in an upper bearing 418 adjacent the drive gear 410 and a lower bearing 413 adjacent the crankshaft 403. The channel or tube 417 is cast into the cylinder housing. The channel or tube 417 is formed integrally with the cylinder housing, which may be formed by a casting process. The driveshaft 411 carries a bevel gear 415 which meshes with a corresponding bevel gear 416 secured on the crankshaft for rotation with the crankshaft 403. Thus, the rotation of the crankshaft 403 and hence the piston movement is coordinated with the rotation of the rotary valve 405 so that the engine operates on the conventional four stroke cycle. To achieve this, the diameter of the driven gear 409 is twice that of the drive gear 410 so that the rotary valve 405 rotates at half engine speed.
Referring now to
The shaft 406 part of the rotary valve 405 is only slightly smaller in diameter than the valve body 419 to provide the shoulder 414. The shaft is solid to provide a good path for conducting heat from the valve body 416 to the exterior
The rotary valve body port 421, during rotation of the valve, enables fluid communication successively to and from the interior volume of the valve and hence the combustion chamber via inlet and exhaust ports in the valve housing. In this embodiment the port 421 is in the form of a recess formed in the lower peripheral edge 422 of the wall 423 of the valve body adjacent to the combustion chamber 44 the recess extending upwardly from this lower edge of the wall of the valve to form the port 421 in the side of the valve.
Referring further to
In operation, the forces generated by the combustion gases tend to move the valve body axially relative to the valve housing. To prevent hammering of the shoulder 414 against the inner race 428 of the bearing 407 caused by axial movement of the valve body 416 relative to the inner race 428 of the bearing, which would otherwise occur during every combustion cycle, a resilient element in the form of a wave spring 424 biases driven gear 409 to urge the shoulder 414 of the valve body 416 upwards into contact with the lower face of the inner race 428, as shown in
As shown in
It has been found that in practice some combustion gases escape between the interface between the rotary valve body 405 and the valve housing 408. These waste combustion gases can pass through the bearing 407 past the balls 425 and into the chamber containing the driven gear and the wave spring causing a buildup of carbon which adversely affects the performance and durability of the valve and the high temperature and corrosive action of the hot gases can cause premature failure of the wave spring. To prevent, or at least minimize, the combustion gases leaking across the bearing 407, the seal 426 closes the gap between the inner and outer races 428 and 429 of the bearing. The seal is formed of a metal to cope with the harsh environmental conditions. Furthermore, the seal limits the escaping combustion gases from damaging or destroying the resilient spring.
Referring now to
Because the rotary valve has a port 421 cut in its peripheral wall, it is recognized that the mass of the valve is not uniformly disposed about its periphery and this generates out of balance forces as the rotary valve rotates in practice. In a further embodiment of the engine, a counterbalance or counterbalancing mass is created on the valve train, particularly by adding material to the driven gear 409 or by removing material at an appropriate position in the driven gear 409. The embodiment described is a single cylinder air cooled engine but it will be understood that the invention is equally applicable to multicylinder and/or watercooled engines.
The embodiment of
Preferably, the seal is on the valve side of the single race ball bearing thereby shielding the ball bearing from the combustion gases, and the seal maybe formed of metal.
In a further development, a vent passage maybe provided to vent combustion gases from between the space between the valve body and the valve housing back into the inlet port, the vent consisting of either a drilled bore or a groove in the valve bore face.
In a further development as an embodiment, a predetermined axial gap Is provided between the driven gear and the bearing in which the rotary valve is mounted, and the driven gear has an annular rib aligned with the inner race of the bearing, the axial gap being formed between the annular rib and the inner race of the bearing.
In this embodiment, the seal preferably comprises a resilient annular element, being co-axial with the rotary valve and may be a wave spring.
It is to be understood that the features of the various embodiments described herein may be combined with each other, unless specifically noted.
Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a variety of alternate and/or equivalent implementations may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of the present invention. This application is intended to cover any adaptions or variations of the specific embodiments discussed herein. Therefore, it is intended that this invention be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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1814496.4 | Sep 2018 | GB | national |
1814502.9 | Sep 2018 | GB | national |
1814508.6 | Sep 2018 | GB | national |
1814512.8 | Sep 2018 | GB | national |
1814514.4 | Sep 2018 | GB | national |
1814530.0 | Sep 2018 | GB | national |
1900656.8 | Jan 2019 | GB | national |
This is a National Stage Entry into the United States Patent and Trademark Office from International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2019/073559, filed on Sep. 4, 2019, which relies upon and claims priority to the following patent applications: (1) United Kingdom Patent Application No. GB 1814496.4 filed on Sep. 6, 2018; (2) United Kingdom Patent Application No. GB 1814502.9 filed on Sep. 6, 2018; (3) United Kingdom Patent Application No. GB 1814508.6 filed on Sep. 6, 2018; (4) United Kingdom Patent Application No. GB 1814512.8 filed on Sep. 6, 2018; (5) United Kingdom Patent Application No. GB 1814514.4 filed on Sep. 6, 2018; (6) United Kingdom Patent Application No. GB 1814530.0 filed on Sep. 6, 2018; and (7) United Kingdom Patent Application No. GB 1900656.8 filed on Jan. 17, 2019, the entire contents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/EP2019/073559 | 9/4/2019 | WO | 00 |