Patent Application
20080135013
1. Field of Invention
This invention is an internal combustion engine similar to the gas turbine engine in that it deals with large quantity of air flow, and similar to a reciprocating piston engine in that the blades of the paddling blades engine (PBE) are acted upon and displaced positively by the expanding gases like a piston.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
On one end of the internal combustion engine there are the reciprocating piston and rotary engines, and on the other end there are the turbojet and turboshaft engines. The turbojet and turboshaft engines are characterized by the high power to weight ratio, high fuel consumption and deals with high quantity of air. The piston and the rotary engines are more efficient, lower starting speed and generally made of cheaper materials than the turbojet/turboshaft engines. The piston and the rotary engines require sealing components, such as piston rings that are exposed to high surface velocity and heat and therefore demand proper lubrication. These sealing components are not required in the turbojet and turboshaft engines since leaks constitute a very small percentage of the high quantity of air that passes through these engines.
A paddling blades engine comprising a plurality of blades rotatably mounted to two opposing discs in such a way that the axis of rotation of each blade is parallel to the axis of rotation of the discs, a mechanical means to maintain the blades parallel to each other and to a non-rotating reference line connecting three and nine o'clock position, a core with its external surface shaped by the traces of the inward edges of the blades, and a housing with its internal surface shaped by the traces of the outward edges of the blades and said housing having intake located between three and six o'clock position and an exhaust located between six and nine o'clock position where the discs rotating in a counterclockwise direction. A fuel injector and a sparkplug are installed on the housing at one and twelve o'clock positions respectively.
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of my invention are:
The paddling blades engine comprises of mount 72 that is attached to an eye-shaped core 68 by means of a guide pin 74 and five bolts 76. The mount 72, the eye-shaped core 68 and eight blades 58 are placed inside housing 62 and all sandwiched by two discs 56. Each blade 58 is mounted to the discs 56 by means of two bearings 48 that set in holes 57. The two discs 56 are supported to the mount 72 by means of two bearings 54 that are fastened to ends of mount 72 by means of sliding rings 32. Each bearing 54 is fastened to the disc 56 by internal gear 52 and six screws 50. Shaft 34 is inserted into hole 73. Two gears 30 are coupled to shaft 34 by keys 36 and meshed with internal gears 52 one on each side, see
Attached to each blade 58 are two levers 46, one on each side. The levers 46 make an angle 45° to the blades 58 and an angle 90° to opposite levers 46. The levers 46 are coupled to the blades 58 by means of the splined end 59 and snap rings 44. Bearings 42 are attached to levers 46 by snap rings 40. The eight bearings 42, on each side, are inserted into holes 39 of ring 38. Bearings 28 are fitted to the rings 38. A bearing 26, two guide pins 60, and a guide pin 70, are inserted into each cover 24. Covers 24 are placed on each side of housing 62 so that each bearing 28 sets on the eccentric cylindrical protrusion 25 of covers 24. An oil plug 21 is installed on each cover 24. Each cover 24 is fastened to the mount 72 by two bolts 20 and fastened to the housing 62 by ten bolts 22. Fuel nozzle 64 and sparkplug 66 are installed on the housing 62.
W=R sin(π/N)−E−½C,
where E: is the radius of edge of the blade 58,
C: is the clearance between the blades 58 when in line.
T=R−[(R−E)2−W2]1/2.
K=R+E+G.
J=R−E−G.
Where G: is the clearance between blades 58 and housing 62, and eye-shaped core 68, not shown in
Y=[W
2−(T−E)2]/2(T−E).
L=(Y2+W2)1/2+K.
Rotating shaft 34 counterclockwise rotate gears 30. Gears 30 rotate internal gears 52 thus rotating the two discs 56 counterclockwise. The rotation of discs 56 makes the eight blades 58 orbit the axis of rotation of discs 56. The eight levers 46, which are coupled to the left splined ends 59 of blades 58, rotate the left ring 38 about the center of the left eccentric cylindrical protrusion 25. This center is shifted to the left and up by an angle of 45°, from the axis of rotation of the discs 56, and shifted a distance equal to the lever 46 arm. And the eight levers 46, which are coupled to the right splined ends 59 of blades 58, rotate the right ring 38 about the center of the right eccentric cylindrical protrusion 25. This center is shifted to the right and up by an angle of 45°, from the axis of rotation of the discs 56, and shifted a distance equal to the lever 46 arm. The levers 46 and the rings 38 maintain the blades 58 parallel to each other and to a non-rotating reference line while moving in a circular orbit around the axis of rotation of discs 56. The motion of a blade 58 is similar to the motion of a foot paddle of a bicycle, where it moves in a circular orbit while staying parallel to the ground. By this motion, the air chambers, which are confined by adjacent blades 58, the housing 62, the eye-shaped core 68, and the discs 56, change volume cyclically.
First air enters the PBE through the inlet 63, air is then compressed, see
The PBE can run on different kinds of fuel. For fuel such as gasoline, sparkplug 66 should ignite when the fuel air mixture is compressed the most. This corresponds to when the upper two blades are inline, see
The PBE dissipate the heat through cooling vanes 67, which increase the area exposed to cool air. The lubrication of bearings 26, 28,42, 48 and 54, and gears 52 and 30 is accomplished by oil which is partially filled in the cavity between covers 24 and discs 56 through oil fill hole 27. The lubrication oil helps in cooling discs 56, and also in cooling bearings 26, 28, 42, 48 and 54, and gears 52 and 30. The blades 58 do not require any lubrication since they don't touch or rub the housing 62, the eye-shaped core 68 and/or the discs 56.
The PBE can be used to deliver propulsion (jet) power since it deals with high quantity of airflow similar to a conventional jet engine. In addition, the PBE will permit gas temperature that is double of that of turbine inlet temperature of conventional turbojet engine. This is because the blades 58, which are the critical component that will determine the maximum allowable temperature, like the turbine blade in a jet engine, spend half their time in cold air and therefore stabilizes at an average temperature which will be about half of that of the combusted gas temperature. The PBE will have a good thermal efficiency in comparison with turbojet and turboshaft engines. Furthermore, the PBE will have a good power to weight ratio since higher gas temperature will permit more fuel burning. Another advantage of the PBE over the turbojet and turboshaft engines is that it can start at much lower speed. Since the slightest increase in pressure due to combustion will result in a net torque on the discs 56. This is because blades 58 are acted upon positively, like a piston, by the combusted gases, and leaks from the clearances between the blades 58 and the housing 62, the eye-shaped core 68, and the discs 56, can be made minimal.
Another embodiment of the paddling blades engine, see
The geometry of the internal surface of housing 128 and the external surface of its eye-shaped core 130 and the profile of blade 124 is the same as the preferred embodiment of PBE, which is shown in
For the operation, rotating shaft 120 will rotate disc 110, which make gears 102 and gears 96 orbit the non-rotating gear 88. This will cause blades 124 to orbit, in a counterclockwise direction, the axis of rotation of disc 110 while staying parallel to each other and to a non-rotating reference line. As a result, air enters through inlet 129, air is then compressed, see
While the above description contains many specifications, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but as exemplifications of the presently preferred embodiments thereof. Many other ramifications and variations are possible within the teachings of the invention.
For example, levers 46 and rings 38, or gears, 102, 96 and 88, can be replaced by an infinite number of system of gears and/or sprocket and chain system that connect between the splined ends 59/125, and the covers 24/84, or mount 72, so as to keep blades 58/124 parallel to each other and to a non-rotating reference line while moving in a circular orbit.
The profile of the blade 58/124 can be made flat and not necessarily follow the geometry given in description of the invention. The mount 72 and the eye-shaped core 68 can be made into one part.
The cooling vanes 67/132 can be replaced by coolant passages inside the housing 62/128 and inside the eye-shaped core 68/130. The discs 56/110 and rings 38 can be equipped with a system of passages for transferring lubricants and for cooling bearings 48, 42, and 106. The inlet 63/129 and the outlet 65/131 can be equipped with intake ducts and exhaust nozzle, respectively, to direct the exhaust jet of gases.
The location of sparkplug 66/136 can be different. In some cases, where the PBE runs at very high rotational speed, and/or the fuel burning is slow, and/or the number of blades is high, advancing the timing of ignition might not be enough as the spark moves to the forward chamber. In such cases sparkplug location needs to be moved, for example to one o'clock position, in a direction opposite to the rotation. Or have the PBE equipped with more than one sparkplug; one sparkplug at two o'clock for high speed operation, one at twelve o'clock for medium speed operation, and one at ten o'clock for starting and slow speed operation.
The location of the fuel nozzle can be different also. In some cases, where the PBE runs on jet or diesel fuel, more fuel burning, in the early stages of expansion, might be required. In such cases, the fuel nozzle and the sparkplug (igniter) locations are moved, for example to twelve and eleven o'clock respectively, forward in the direction of rotation. Or have the PBE equipped with two or more fuel nozzles and igniters; one fuel nozzle and igniter at one and twelve o'clock position respectively, and one fuel nozzle and igniter at twelve and eleven o'clock respectively. Further variations are possible, the fuel nozzles can be installed on the eye-shaped core 68/130 and direct the jet of fuel to igniters or to flame holders that can be installed inside recesses in the housing 62/128.
The dimension of the PBE along the axis of shaft 34/120 can be made larger than the diameter of the housing 62/128. The PBE can be made of two or more assemblies, similar to the preferred embodiment, assembled together with one shaft. Where the blades 58 are long and mounted to discs 56 at their ends and supported by a disc or more in between, and housing 62 is long and is made of two halves, upper and lower or right and left. Or the PBE is made of two assemblies similar to the other embodiment where the blades are rotatably mounted to one disc from their middle and encased by two opposing housings 128.
Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, and not by the examples given.
