Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a two-stroke engine and to an enhanced intake and/or exhaust system that allows for finer tunability, enhanced performance, easier repair and less pollutant emissions. In particular, the present invention relates to removable inserts for the intake and exhaust systems for two-stroke engines.
Description of the Related Art
Two-stroke engines are internal combustion engines that are widely used in various applications including racing boats, lawn and garden equipment, dirt bikes, jet skis and radio-controlled model planes. Such engines complete a power cycle (intake, compression, power, and exhaust) with only two strokes of the piston during a single crankshaft rotation. As such, they have a simpler configuration (e.g. no cylinder valves), are easier to construct (fewer moving parts), have lighter weight, can work in any orientation and produce more power per cubic centimeter of displacement than four-stroke engines.
In its simplest form, a two-stroke engine operates as follows. As the piston rises during the compression phase, partial vacuum is created in the crankcase. An intake port opens, allowing air/fuel mixture to enter the crankcase. As the piston nears Top Dead Center, a spark fires the compressed mixture. The energy resulting from the fuel combustion creates the pressure that drives the piston down the bore, rotating the crankshaft. As the piston moves downwards in the bore, it uncovers an exhaust port in the cylinder wall through which spent fuel is discarded, and concurrently compresses the fuel-air mixture trapped beneath it in the crankcase. As the piston descends more, it exposes transfer ports, which are connected to the crankcase. Gas mixture from the crankcase enters into the cylinder through the transfer ports until the piston is near Bottom Dead Center.
An intake system within a cylinder of a two-stroke engine may contain up to five discrete ports but, not limited to, a central boost port, two finger ports and two transfer ports (also referred to as scavenger ports). There is usually one exhaust port but more is possible. All ports are located on a cylinder sleeve. A six ported cylinder sleeve or liner, therefore, comprises five intake ports and one exhaust port. The finger ports enhance boost activity, and are located below the boost ports.
Tuning a two-stroke engine and adjusting its power output to either provide optimal performance or more horsepower is a tedious undertaking. It involves disassembling the engine, sometimes acid washing the cylinder block along with stripping the plating and replacing the cylinder liner, reassembling the various components and porting. To change its power output, the size of the ports may have to be changed or the cylinder liners may have to be replaced with other liners having different port sizes so as to better regulate the volume of air flow into and out of the cylinder. Accordingly, the tuning cannot be done on site, is time-consuming and expensive.
Currently, building a custom engine with a specific range of power output entails machining an engine block with certain particular specifications for the cylinder cavity and port system to match the output. This means that to change the horsepower of an engine, it would be necessary to change the block or re-machine the cavity and sleeves, a difficult task. Having one generic engine block that can match various cylinder sleeves and energy outputs would significantly reduce the time and cost of building a custom engine.
Another drawback of running two-stroke engines is that they are air-polluting. Typically such engines do not have a pressurized lubrication system, and so oil is added to the air/fuel mixture to lubricate the piston within the cylinder and the roller bearings on the crankshaft. The oil burns when the fuel/air mixture combusts, resulting in polluting emissions. With the continued tightening of emissions regulations, this poses a serious drawback for this type of engines. There is a need for modified two-stroke engines that are easier to tune, cheaper to cast, more efficient to run and produce less polluting emissions.
Embodiments of the present disclosure address the afore-mentioned shortcomings associated with existing conventional two-stroke engines. For example, the current invention provides an enhanced intake and/or exhaust system comprising removable and interchangeable inserts that allows for finer tunability, faster and easier repair, enhanced performance with lower levels of emission control.
The current invention provides a removable set of inserts for a two-stroke engine, wherein the engine has a cylinder bore having a first bore intake cavity, a second bore intake cavity and a third bore intake cavity, and a cylinder liner having a first transfer port, a second transfer port and a central boost port such that the set of removable inserts include three inserts, a first transfer port insert configured to fit in the first bore cavity to align with the first transfer port, a second transfer port insert configured to fit in the second bore cavity to align with the second transfer port; and a third central boost port insert configured to fit in the third bore cavity to align with the central boost port. The removable set of inserts can be made of any heat resistant material such as aluminum, titanium and an alloy of aluminum and titanium. The current invention also provides for a two-stroke engine with the removable set of inserts.
The invention also provides for a two-stroke engine with a plurality of cylinder bores, wherein each cylinder bore include a first cavity, a second cavity, and a third cavity, a plurality of removable inserts, wherein a first insert fits in the first cavity, a second insert fits in the second cavity and a third insert fits in the third cavity, a cylinder liner configured to fit inside the cylinder bore so as to keep said plurality of inserts in place during operation of the engine and wherein said liner comprises a first transfer port that aligns with the first insert, a second transfer port that aligns with the second insert, a central boost port that aligns with the third insert and an exhaust port, and an exhaust system that aligns with said exhaust port. The two-stroke engine further comprises a removable insert for the exhaust system. The plurality of inserts is configured to regulate the air flow into and out of the cylinder bore. The two-stroke engine may include an engine block that is forged as a single piece of billet aluminum and can also include a puck configured to fit over the cylinder bore to hold the cylinder liner in position, a cylinder head base secured on top of the puck, a cylinder head cap secured (such as by bolting for example) on top of the cylinder head base. The two-stroke engine can further include a détente in the cylinder and a key in the cylinder liner for properly orienting the liner during assembly of the engine.
Also in accordance with the current invention, methods of assembling, tuning and regulating a two-stroke engine are provided. For example, provided is a method for assembling a two-stroke engine comprising obtaining a billet block having a plurality of cylinder bores wherein each cylinder bore comprises a first cavity, a second cavity, and a third cavity; placing a removable insert in each of the first, second and third cavity in the cylinder bore, placing a cylinder liner configured to fit inside each cylinder bore so as to keep the insert in the first, second and third cavity in place during operation of the engine wherein said liner comprises a first transfer port that aligns with the first insert; a second transfer port that aligns with the second insert and a central boost port that aligns with the third insert, placing a puck over each cylinder bore, securing the puck by a cylinder head base; and securing the cylinder head base with a cylinder head cap. The cylinder head base may further comprise a ring to prevent separation of the cylinder liner from a water jacket surrounding the cylinder bore.
In another embodiment of the invention, provided is a method for regulating the power output of a two-stroke engine comprising providing an engine block with a plurality of cylinder bores, wherein each cylinder bore comprises a first intake cavity, a second intake cavity and a third intake cavity, placing a first removable insert in the first cavity, placing a second removable insert in the second cavity, placing a third removable insert in the third cavity, providing a cylinder liner for each cylinder bore, each liner comprising a first transfer port, a second transfer port and a central boost port, placing a cylinder liner in each cylinder bore so as to keep said plurality of inserts in place during operation of the engine, wherein the first transfer port aligns with the first insert; the second transfer port aligns with the second insert and the central boost port aligns with the third insert, wherein the amount of air flow into and out of the cylinder bore is regulated by the presence of the first, second and third removable inserts.
The invention also provides for a method for altering the power output of a two-stroke engine having a first set of removable intake inserts comprising replacing said first set of removable intake inserts with a second set of removable intake inserts, wherein said second set comprises inserts with different sizes than inserts in said first set.
It being understood that the figures presented herein should not be deemed to limit or define the subject matter claimed herein, the applicants' invention may be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Illustrative embodiments of the invention are described below. In the interest of clarity, not all features of an actual implementation are described in this specification. The following detailed description of exemplary embodiments, read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, is merely illustrative and is not to be taken as limiting the scope of the invention. Rather, the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof. It will of course be appreciated that in the development of an actual embodiment, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the design-specific goals, which will vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort, while possibly complex and time-consuming, would nevertheless be a routine undertaking for persons of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. Further aspects and advantages of the various embodiments of the invention will become apparent from consideration of the following description and drawings. It is noted, however, that the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide for a two-stroke engine as shown in
Insert 70 that aligns with second transfer port 26 (also referred to as bottom transfer port) on cylinder liner 20 is shown in
The insert for the central boost system is molded to fit the two finger port and the central boost channels. The function of the boost channel to enhance air flow is known in the art. Finger ports supercharge the air around the boost port and are located lower than the boost port at 5 degrees of separation corresponding to rotation in the crankshaft.
Inserts 50, 60 and 70 are made of heat resistant material such as aluminum, titanium or an alloy of both. Other suitable material are also within the scope of the invention as realized by those of skill in the art. Inserts 50, 60 and 70 are easy to remove and replace with newer inserts during tuning or repair of the engine.
In accordance with the current invention, engine 100 is provided with block 10 forged as single aluminum billet block and having a unique design comprising a cylinder head base as shown
The upper side of the cylinder head base receives cylinder head cap 35 illustrated in
Removable inserts for the exhaust system of a two-stroke engines are also in accordance with the current invention. They help, in association with the intake inserts 50, 60 and 70, to finely tune engine 100 and regulate air/fuel flow within the engine's cylinders. Exhaust inserts 92 and 94, as shown in
The use of intake inserts 50, 60 and 70 in a two-stroke engine, in accordance with the current invention, has significant advantages. For example, it cuts down tremendously on the time and steps taken for engine assembly, tuning, maintenance or repair. Tuning, an engine in accordance with the current invention, can be done in a fraction of the time needed for prior art engines. The intake inserts are removable and replaceable. Their use omits the need to machine the inside of the cylinder during. In addition the same engine block can be used in connection with various size and shapes of intake inserts so as to build engines with varying energy output and horsepower. The current invention provides the ability to alter (reduce or increase) the horsepower of the same engine and block by altering the size or dimensions of the inserts. The current intake inserts may be used in association with several types of two-stroke engines including those with direct injection of oil/gas fuel mixture. Another advantage for the use of the intake inserts in accordance with the current invention besides is that the easier tunability that they afford an engine allows for a more efficient and cleaner fuel burning thereby resulting in less emission of pollutants.
Also in accordance with the current invention, methods of assembling, tuning and regulating a two-stroke engine are provided. For example, provided is a method for assembling a two-stroke engine comprising obtaining a billet block having a plurality of cylinder bores wherein each cylinder bore comprises a first cavity, a second cavity, and a third cavity; placing a removable insert in each of the first, second and third cavity in the cylinder bore, placing a cylinder liner configured to fit inside the cylinder bore so as to keep the insert in the first, second and third cavity in place during operation of the engine wherein said liner comprises a first transfer port that aligns with the first insert; a second transfer port that aligns with the second insert and a central boost port that aligns with the third insert, placing a puck over each cylinder bore, securing the puck by a cylinder head base; and securing the cylinder head base with a cylinder head cap. The cylinder head base may further comprise a ring to prevent separation of the cylinder liner from a water jacket surrounding the cylinder bore.
In another embodiment of the invention, provided is a method for regulating the power output of a two-stroke engine comprising providing an engine block with a plurality of cylinder bores, wherein each cylinder bore comprises a first intake cavity; a second intake cavity and a third intake cavity, placing a first removable insert in the first cavity, placing a second removable insert in the second cavity, placing a third removable insert in the third cavity, providing a cylinder liner comprising a first transfer port, a second transfer port and a central boost port, placing the cylinder liner in the cylinder bore so as to keep said plurality of inserts in place during operation of the engine, wherein the first transfer port aligns with the first insert; the second transfer port aligns with the second insert and the central boost port aligns with the third insert, wherein the amount of air flow into and out of the cylinder bore is regulated by the presence of the first, second and third removable inserts.
The invention also provides for a method for altering the power output of a two-stroke engine having a first set of removable intake inserts comprising replacing said first set of removable intake inserts with a second set of removable intake inserts, wherein said second set comprises inserts with different sizes than inserts in said first set. In another embodiment, the method for altering the power output of a two-stroke engine, comprises replacing exhaust inserts 92 and/or 94.
It will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that in general any subset or all of the various embodiments and inventive features described herein may be combined, notwithstanding the fact that the claims set forth only a limited number of such combinations.