Claims
- 1. An engine comprising:
a stationary housing; a cylinder bank rotatably mounted to the housing about a central longitudinal axis, the cylinder bank having a plurality of cylinders therein radially distanced from and parallel to the central longitudinal axis, each cylinder having a cylinder wall, an intake port, an exhaust port, a valve assembly governing the opening and closing of the intake port and the exhaust port, a piston moveable within the cylinder between an up position and a down position, and a connecting member having an inner end connected to the piston and an outer end; a torque plate operatively connected to the outer ends of the connecting members, the torque plate being rotatably mounted in a torque plane defined by the outer ends of the connecting members and which makes an oblique angle to a plane perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis, so that as the cylinder bank rotates the torque plate sequentially guides each piston from the up position to the down position during a first portion of a rotation of the cylinder bank and then sequentially guides each piston from the down position to the up position during a second portion of the rotation of the cylinder bank; and a synchronizing member operatively connected to the cylinder bank and the torque plate so that the cylinder bank and torque plate rotate at the same speed.
- 2. The engine of claim 1, further comprising fuel supply means operatively connected to the housing and disposed with respect to the cylinder bank for supplying fuel into the plurality of cylinders in a timed sequence as the cylinder bank rotates around the central longitudinal axis.
- 3. The engine of claim 2, wherein the fuel supply means supplies a combustible fuel, the engine further comprising ignition means for igniting the combustible fuel in each cylinders in a timed sequence thereby forcing the respective piston therein to the down position and rotating the cylinder bank.
- 4. The engine of claim 3, wherein there is an odd number of cylinders equidistantly spaced apart from each other in the cylinder bank.
- 5. The engine of claim 4, wherein the engine is a four-cycle engine in which each cylinder undergoes an exhaust stroke, an intake stroke, a compression stroke, and a power stroke, wherein the engine includes valve assembly control means for sequentially opening the intake port of every other cylinder for the intake stroke during which the combustible fuel is sequentially supplied to said every other cylinder as each respective piston therein sequentially moves from the up position to the down position, for sequentially closing the exhaust port and the intake port of said every other cylinder for the compression stroke during which the combustible fuel in said every other cylinder is sequentially compressed as the respective piston therein sequentially moves from the down position to the up position, for maintaining the exhaust port and the intake port of said every other cylinder closed for the power stroke during which the ignition means sequentially ignites the combustible fuel in said every other cylinder sequentially forcing the respective piston therein from the up position to the down position, and for sequentially opening the exhaust port of said every other cylinder for the exhaust stroke during which combusted gases are sequentially exhausted from said every other cylinder as the respective piston therein sequentially moves from the down position to the up position, wherein the four-cycle operation is completed for each cylinder after two full rotation of the cylinder bank.
- 6. The engine of claim 5, wherein the valve assembly includes one valve for simultaneously opening both the intake port and the exhaust port and for simultaneously closing both the intake port and the exhaust port.
- 7. The engine of claim 6, wherein the valve assembly control means includes a cam assembly having a plurality of cam surfaces thereon which act to mechanically open and close the valve in each cylinder.
- 8. The engine of claim 1, further comprising a valve assembly control having a mechanical actuator for opening and closing the exhaust port and the intake port of each cylinder, and which is operatively connected to the cylinder bank so that the mechanical actuator is driven by the cylinder bank at a speed different from that of the cylinder bank.
- 9. The engine of claim 1, further comprising an air turbine rotatably mounted to the stationary housing for rotation around the central longitudinal axis independent of the cylinder bank for supplying supercharged air into the plurality of cylinders for combustion and for supplying supercharged air to an exterior surface of the cylinders for cooling thereof.
- 10. The engine of claim 1, further comprising torque adjustment means for moving the torque plane, while the cylinder bank is rotating, at an oblique angle between 0° and 90° with respect to a plane which is perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis, in order to vary the displacement of the pistons and thereby vary the torque potential of the engine.
- 11. The engine of claim 10, wherein the synchronizing member is a shaft connected at one end to the cylinder bank along the central longitudinal axis and at the other end to the torque plate, wherein a length of the shaft is adjustable as the oblique angle between the torque plane and the plane perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis is changed.
- 12. The engine of claim 1, wherein the inner end of each connecting member is spherically movably connected to the piston and wherein the outer end of each connecting member is spherically movably connected to the torque plate.
- 13. The engine of claim 1, further comprising oscillating means for moving the torque plate up and down with respect to the torque plane while the cylinder bank rotates, so that the stroke of the piston is decreased and increased at a selected timing sequence.
- 14. A four-cycle rotating engine having an intake stroke, a compression stroke, a power stroke and an exhaust stroke, the engine comprising:
a stationary housing; a cylinder bank rotatably mounted to the housing for rotation around a central longitudinal axis, the cylinder bank having an odd number of cylinders therein radially spaced from and substantially parallel to the central longitudinal axis, each cylinder having a cylinder wall, an intake port, an exhaust port, a valve assembly governing the opening and closing of the intake port and the exhaust port, a piston moveable within the cylinder between an up position and a down position, and a connecting member having an inner end connected to the piston and an outer end; a torque plate operatively connected to the outer ends of the connecting members, the torque plate being rotatably mounted in a torque plane defined by the outer ends of the connecting members and which makes an oblique angle to a plane perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis, so that as the cylinder bank rotates the torque plate sequentially guides each piston from the up position to the down position during a first portion of a rotation of the cylinder bank and then sequentially guides each piston from the down position to the up position during a second portion of the rotation of the cylinder bank; fuel supply means operatively connected to the housing and disposed with respect to the rotating cylinder bank for supplying fuel into every other cylinder during a first portion of a first rotation of the cylinder bank as the pistons therein sequentially move from the up position to the down position, wherein the fuel in said every other cylinder is then compressed during a second portion of the first rotation of the cylinder bank as the pistons therein sequentially move from the down position to the up position; ignition means for igniting the compressed fuel in said every other cylinder during a first portion of a second rotation of the cylinder bank thereby sequentially moving the pistons therein from the up position to the down position and causing the cylinder bank to further rotate, wherein combusted gases therefrom are sequentially exhausted through the exhaust port of said every other cylinder during a second portion of the second rotation of the cylinder bank; and whereby the four-cycle operation of the engine is completed for all said odd number of cylinders in the course of two full rotations of the cylinder bank.
- 15. The engine of claim 14, further comprising a synchronizing member operatively connected to the cylinder bank and the torque plate so that the cylinder bank and torque plate rotate at the same speed.
- 16. The engine of claim 14, further comprising valve assembly control means for sequentially opening the intake port and the exhaust port in said every other cylinder for one rotation of the cylinder bank for the exhaust stroke and the intake stroke, and then for sequentially closing the intake port and the exhaust port in said every other cylinder for a subsequent rotation of the cylinder bank for the compression stroke and the power stroke.
- 17. The engine of claim 14, further comprising a mechanical actuator for controlling the opening and closing the exhaust port and the intake port of each cylinder, the mechanical actuator being operatively connected to the cylinder bank so that the mechanical actuator is driven by the cylinder bank at a speed different from that of the cylinder bank.
- 18. The engine of claim 14, wherein the stationary housing includes an intake opening operatively disposed with respect to the intake port of each cylinder so that fuel supplied thereto enters the intake port only during the first portion of a rotation and only when the valve is open, and wherein the stationary housing further includes an exhaust opening operatively disposed with respect to the exhaust port of each cylinder so that combusted gases exit the exhaust port only during the second portion of a rotation and only when the valve is open.
- 19. The engine of claim 14, further comprising an air turbine rotatably mounted to the stationary housing for rotation around the central longitudinal axis independent of the cylinder bank for supplying supercharged air into the plurality of cylinders for combustion and for supplying supercharged air to an exterior surface of the cylinders for cooling thereof.
- 20. The engine of claim 14, further comprising torque adjustment means for changing the oblique angle that the torque plane makes with the plane perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis in a range between 0° and 90° while the cylinder bank is rotating, in order to vary the displacement of the pistons within the cylinders and thereby vary the torque potential of the engine.
- 21. The engine of claim 20, wherein the torque adjustment means is operatively related to the fuel supply means so that the more fuel that is supplied the greater the oblique angle and so that the less fuel that is supplied the lesser the oblique angle.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO PRIORITY APPLICATON
[0001] The present application is based on and claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Serial No. 60/346,534, filed Jan. 8, 2002, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60346534 |
Jan 2002 |
US |