This description relates to the field of engines and compressors. More particularly, this description relates to rotary type engines and compressors.
An engine is a machine designed to convert energy into mechanical motion. A compressor is a device used for increasing pressure of a gas by reducing its volume.
Various types of engines exist. Among them, internal combustion engines with reciprocating pistons are most popular in cars today. Another type of internal combustion engine is the Wankel engine in which triangular shaped rotor and an epotrochoid-shaped casing interact to create compression and expansion chambers. Yet another type of engines is a rotary engine which is an internal combustion engine where the radially-mounted cylinders and pistons rotate around a fixed crankshaft.
There are also various types of compressors, namely reciprocating, rotary, centrifugal and axial.
Existing engines and compressors all have inefficiencies which are constantly being reduced.
There is therefore a need for a rotating and reciprocating efficient piston device.
There is described herein a rotating and reciprocating piston device which can be used in an engine application, a compressor or a pump application.
According to an embodiment, there is provided a rotating and reciprocating piston device comprising: chambers disposed about a chamber axis, the chambers having two ends and a port for passage of a fluid at each one of the ends of the chambers; pistons having two ends, each one of the pistons slidably positioned within a respective one of the chambers thereby determining a space at either end of each piston within its respective chamber; a track forming a closed circuit through which the chamber axis passes; and guiding devices, each one of the guiding devices for guiding a respective one of the pistons along the track; wherein during operation: the device cycles through a plurality of stages wherein a position of a piston within its respective chamber determines the stage for that piston and hence the space on either side thereof; each piston slides within its respective chamber and thereby continuously varies the space at either end of each piston within its respective chamber; and each port admits or exhausts the fluid respectively to or from the space depending on the stage of the plurality of stages.
According to an aspect, one of the chambers and the track is static, and the other one of the chambers and the track is free to rotate about the chamber axis.
According to an aspect, the rotating and reciprocating piston device further comprises a transmission device for transmitting energy to or receiving energy from the rotating and reciprocating piston device.
According to an aspect, the transmission device comprises one of a shaft, a belt, a chain, a gear mechanism, a wheel, and an electro-magnetic device.
According to an aspect, the rotating and reciprocating piston device further comprises a track plate on which the track is located.
According to an aspect, the chambers are located substantially with a chamber plane and wherein the track plate comprises a first track plate and a second track plate, each track plate comprising a track, the first track plate located on one side of the chamber plane and the second track plate located on the opposite side of the chamber plane.
According to an aspect, the first track plate and the second track plate are connected via a gear device.
According to an aspect, the first track plate further comprises a shaft receptor portion located in the chamber axis for mounting a rotatable shaft to the first track plate, the rotatable shaft for transmitting or receiving energy to or from the rotating and reciprocating piston device.
According to an aspect, the second plate comprises a void substantially at a center thereof for providing access to the end of the chambers closest to the chamber axis.
According to an aspect, the gear device comprises a gear device axis about which it rotates during operation and shaft receptor portion located in the gear device axis for mounting a rotatable shaft to the gear device, the rotatable shaft for transmitting or receiving energy to or from the rotating and reciprocating piston device.
According to an aspect, the rotating and reciprocating piston device further comprises a chamber block located substantially within a chamber plane, the chambers being formed in the chamber block.
According to an aspect, the piston chamber block further comprises a shaft receptor portion in the central axis for connecting a rotatable shaft to the track plate.
According to an aspect, the track comprises one of a groove and a protrusion.
According to an aspect, the track comprises a symmetrical shape.
According to an aspect, the symmetrical shape is either centered on the chamber axis or off center from on the chamber axis.
According to an aspect, the rotating and reciprocating piston device further comprises valves for controlling the passage of fluid through the ports.
According to an aspect, the rotating and reciprocating piston device further comprises a valve track forming a closed circuit through which the chamber axis passes, the valve track controlling the operation valves.
According to an aspect, the rotating and reciprocating piston device further comprises spark plugs, a respective one of the spark plugs located at each of the two ends of each of the chambers.
According to an aspect, the number of pistons is equal to the number of chambers.
According to an embodiment, there is provided a rotating and reciprocating piston device comprising: chambers disposed about a chamber axis, the chambers having two ends and a port for passage of a fluid at each one of the ends of the chambers; pistons having two ends, each one of the pistons slidably positioned within a respective one of the chambers thereby determining a space at either end of each piston within its respective chamber; and a track forming a closed circuit through which the chamber axis passes, the track for determining a position of a piston within its respective chamber and hence the space on either side thereof.
According to an embodiment, there is provided a rotating and reciprocating piston device comprising a track plate comprising a track forming a closed circuit, a piston chamber block having defined therein chambers having two ends and an air admission or an exhaust port at each one of the ends of the chambers, pistons having two ends, each one of the pistons being located within a respective one of the chambers, guiding devices, each one of the guiding devices mounted to a respective one of the pistons, the guiding devices adapted to travel along the track; wherein during operation, the device cycles through a plurality of stages, each piston travels within its respective chamber and thereby creates spaces of continuously varying sizes within its respective chamber at either end of each piston, and the spaces within the chambers on either side of each the pistons admit or exhaust gases depending on the stage of the plurality of stages within which are the pistons, the track, via each guiding device, determines a position of each piston within its respective chamber.
Further features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in combination with the appended drawings, in which:
a is a cut out view of the track plate of
b is a diagram showing a top elevation view of an embodiment of a piston for use with the rotating and reciprocating piston device;
c is a diagram showing a front elevation view of an embodiment of a piston for use with the rotating and reciprocating piston device;
d is a schematic diagram showing a side elevation view of an embodiment of a piston for use with the rotating and reciprocating piston device;
a is a side view of the piston chamber block of
a is a schematic diagram showing a side elevation view of an embodiment of the track plate of a rotating and reciprocating piston device;
b is a schematic diagram showing a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the track plate of a rotating and reciprocating piston device;
c is a schematic diagram showing a top plan view of an embodiment of the track plate with its track of a rotating and reciprocating piston device;
d is a schematic diagram showing a side elevation view of the device of
e is a schematic diagram showing a cross-sectional top plan view of an embodiment of the track plate with its track of a rotating and reciprocating piston device;
a is a schematic diagram showing a side cutout view of the rotating and reciprocating piston device of
It will be noted that throughout the appended drawings, like features are identified by like reference numerals.
Many interesting applications for rotating and reciprocating piston device 10 exist. These applications include a four-stroke engine (
Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to
Now referring to
The top track plate 14a is for covering the interior portion. The top track plate 14a has a hole 28 which, when the top track plate 14a is installed on the ring 11, is aligned with the hole 28 in the bottom track 14b.
Device 10 further comprises a rotatable shaft 15 for mounting through hole 28 in top and bottom track plates 14a and 14b.
Device 10 further comprises a piston chamber block 16 mounted on the rotatable shaft 15 within the interior portion of the track plate 12. The piston chamber block 16 has defined therein chambers 26.
Device 10 comprises two or more pistons 20 (seven pistons are shown in the embodiment depicted in
According to an embodiment, each piston 20 comprises a guiding device 22. Guiding device 22 may comprise a ball bearing. The device 10 further comprises a track 18 (aka, a groove) in at least one of the track plate 12. The guiding device 22 travels within the track 18 and thereby determines a position of each piston 20 within its respective chamber 26.
During rotation of piston chamber block 16, the device 10 cycles the two or more pistons 20 through a plurality of stages. In the embodiment shown in
Now referring to
Now referring to
Now referring to
Now referring to
The operation of device 10, when used as a compressor, will now be described using the embodiment shown in
This embodiment can also be used in a hybrid engine application. For example, when the brakes are applied on a car, the energy to drive the compressor to fill a compressed air tank can be used to help in slowing down the car. On the other hand, during acceleration of the car, the stored compressed air in the tank can be used to drive the compressor and hence help in accelerating the car.
Now referring to
In this embodiment of device 10, one or both spaces in the chambers 126 at either end of the pistons 120 can be used. There are provided means for admitting fuel along with air in the external space of chamber 126 during stage 3 and in the internal (center) space of chamber 126 during stage 4. There are provided means for igniting an air-fuel mixture 140 (aka, spark plug) at the external space of chamber 126 during stage 1 and at the internal space of chamber 126 during stage 2. For the external chamber, the four-stages would be as follows: stage 3: intake; stage 4: compression; stage 1: ignition; and stage 2: exhaust. For the internal chamber, the four-stages would be as follows: stage 4: intake; stage 1: compression; stage 2: ignition; and stage 3: exhaust.
Using the embodiment shown in
Now referring to
In an exemplary embodiment, the device 290 can be used, in combination with a car engine, to store energy in a battery (not shown). The stored energy can then be used for different purpose such as utility purposes in the car or to drive the car's wheels.
Other uses include 1—using energy to drive the device 290 to produce compressed air in a compressed air tank, or 2—in combination, the energy of the piston and electrical energy can be used to increase a performance of an engine.
Referring now to
During operation of the device 500, the device 500 cycles through a plurality of stages and each piston 20 travels within its respective chamber 26 and thereby creates spaces of continuously varying sizes within its respective chamber 26 at either end 21a or 21b of each piston 20. Also, during operation of the device 500, the spaces within the chambers 26 on either side of each the pistons 20 admit or exhaust gases depending on the stage of the plurality of stages within which are the pistons 20. Additionally, the track 18, via each guiding devices 22, determines a position of each piston 20 within its respective chamber 26.
It is to be noted that in the case the top and bottom track plates 14a and 14b are rotating, the piston chamber block 16 is statically mounted. On the other hand, in the case the piston chamber block 16 is rotating, the track plate 12 is statically mounted.
There is shown in
Now referring to
Referring now to
Referring now to
Referring now to
Referring now to
Finally, Referring now to
While preferred embodiments have been described above and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made without departing from this disclosure. Such modifications are considered as possible variants comprised in the scope of the disclosure.
This application claims priority under 35USC§119(e) of U.S. provisional patent application 61/365,942 filed on Jul. 20, 2010, the specification of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
61365942 | Jul 2010 | US |