This application claims the benefit of priority from Japanese patent application No. JP 2018-180728 filed on Sep. 26, 2018, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to stratified scavenging engines and portable work machines including such a stratified scavenging engine.
Two-stroke engines are often used in portable work machines, such as power blowers, brush cutters and chain saws. Such a two-stroke engine includes a scavenging channel that connects a crank chamber with a combustion chamber. The scavenging channel feeds air-fuel mixture in the crank chamber to the combustion chamber, and the air-fuel mixture scavenges exhaust gas in the combustion chamber. This type of two-stroke engine has been required to reduce the exhaust gas emissions, particularly to reduce THC (Total Hydro Carbon) that is a blow-by of air-fuel mixture (new gas). To this end, stratified scavenging engines are in practical use, and they are configured to let leading air firstly and air-fuel mixture secondly flow into the combustion chamber in a stratified manner so as to suppress blow-by of the air-fuel mixture.
Such a stratified scavenging engine has a piston groove on the peripheral surface of the piston. This piston groove guides leading air from the intake port to the scavenging port that is the exit of the scavenging channel. Leading air flows into the scavenging port on the downstream of the scavenging channel, and air-fuel mixture in the crank chamber flows into the upstream of the scavenging channel. The leading air on the downstream firstly flows into the combustion chamber to scavenge the combustion gas. Such a stratified scavenging engine sends the leading air sucked through the intake port to the scavenging port via the piston groove during ascending of the piston. Since the piston groove has a gently curved bottom face, the leading air returns to the piston groove from the scavenging port during descending of the piston, which causes blow-back of the leading air to the intake port.
JP 4286679 B2, for example, proposes a stratified scavenging engine configured to suppress the blow-back of the leading air to the intake port. The stratified scavenging engine described in JP 4286679 B2 has a protrusion partially protruding from the bottom face of the piston groove. This protrusion of the piston groove protrudes at a substantially middle position in the extending direction of the piston groove so as to partially block the leading air flowing from the scavenging port to the intake port. The protrusion blocks a part of the leading air returned from the scavenging port in this way, and such a part of the leading air stays in the piston groove to reduce the blow-back to the intake port.
The stratified scavenging engine described in JP 4286679 B2 has a protrusion protruding from the bottom face of the piston groove. This protrusion blocks not only the blow-back of the leading air to the intake port but also the leading air during introduction from the intake port to the scavenging port. In this way although the protrusion suppresses the blow-back of the leading air, it fails to guide the leading air smoothly to the scavenging port. This stratified scavenging engine therefore fails to suppress blow-by of air-fuel mixture due to such a decrease in the leading air, and so fails to reduce THC sufficiently.
In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a stratified scavenging engine and a portable work machine that suppress THC sufficiently.
A stratified scavenging engine according to the present invention includes: a cylinder having a cylinder bore; and a piston stored in the cylinder bore to be movable in a reciprocating manner. The cylinder has an intake port to intake leading air and a scavenging port to scavenge combustion gas, the intake port and the scavenging port being open to the cylinder bore. The piston has a peripheral surface including a piston groove to guide leading air from the intake port to the scavenging port, and the piston groove has a recess near the intake port.
In a preferable aspect, the piston groove has a bottom face, and the recess is formed on the bottom face near the intake port.
In another preferable aspect, the piston groove has a first border and a second border as a pair on the bottom face with the peripheral face of the piston, and the recess is formed in a predetermined range from the first border near the intake port as an origin.
In another preferable aspect, the recess has a deepest part that is close to the first border.
In another preferable aspect, the recess has an erected wall surface having a steep rising angle from the deepest part to the first border, and an inclined face having a gently rising angle from the deepest part to the second border.
In another preferable aspect, the recess has a depth from the first border to the deepest part that is 3.8% or more and 10.4% or less of a diameter of the piston.
In another preferable aspect, the intake port includes a pair of intake ports, the scavenging port includes at least a pair of scavenging ports corresponding to the pair of intake ports, and the piston groove includes a pair of piston grooves corresponding to the pair of intake ports.
In another preferable aspect, the cylinder includes an air-fuel mixture port to intake air-fuel mixture, the air-fuel mixture port being disposed below the pair of intake ports and being open to the cylinder bore, a part of the peripheral surface of the piston between the pair of piston grooves defines a block surface on an arc in plan view to block the air-fuel mixture port, and the distance between the opposed pair of recesses of the piston grooves is smaller than the length of a chord of the block surface.
In another preferable aspect, the scavenging port communicates with a crank chamber via a scavenging channel, and when viewed laterally, the scavenging channel is inclined while getting closer to the intake port from the crank chamber toward the cylinder bore.
A portable work machine according to the present invention includes the above-stated stratified scavenging engine, and a work mechanism to be driven by the stratified scavenging engine.
In the present invention, the piston groove includes a recess near the intake port. Leading air flowing from the intake port toward the piston groove hardly enters the recess, and leading air returning from the scavenging port to the piston groove easily enters the recess. The recess therefore does not interfere with the flow of the leading air from the intake port to the scavenging port, and so the stratified scavenging engine of the present invention sends leading air sufficiently to the scavenging ports. A part of the leading air returning from the scavenging port to the intake port enters the recess to generate a swirling flow, and this swirling flow increases the air pressure in the piston groove and so suppress the blow-back of the leading air to the intake port. In this way, the stratified scavenging engine of the present invention sends leading air smoothly to the scavenging ports, and suppresses blow-back of the leading air to the intake port. This keeps enough leading air for scavenging and reduces THC sufficiently.
The following describes one embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings.
[Overall Configuration of Stratified Scavenging Engine 10]
As shown in
The crankcase has a crank chamber (not shown), and the piston 30 divides the crank chamber and the combustion chamber 22. The piston 30 has a peripheral surface 31, and a pair of piston grooves 32 is formed on the peripheral surface 31 for a channel of the leading air, which is described later in details. The piston 30 has a pin hole 33 on the peripheral surface 31, and a piston pin (not shown) inserted through the pin hole 33 connects the piston 30 with a crank shaft (not shown) via a connecting rod (not shown). The crank shaft connects to a work mechanism of a portable work machine so that the reciprocating motion of the piston 30 is transmitted to the work mechanism through the crank shaft.
A pair of intake ports 23 to intake the leading air, an air-fuel mixture port 24 to intake the air-fuel mixture, an exhaust port 25 to emit the combustion gas (see
These scavenging ports 26a and 26b communicate with the crank chamber via the scavenging channels 27a and 27b, respectively. The pair of piston grooves 32 correspond to the pair of intake ports 23 and the scavenging ports 26a and 26b, so that the leading air flowing into the pair of intake ports 23 are guided to the scavenging ports 26a and 26b via the pair of piston grooves 32. A part of the peripheral surface 31 of the piston 30 other than the piston grooves 32 defines a block surface to block these ports and channels. The reciprocating motion of the piston 30 opens and closes the pair of intake ports 23, the air-fuel mixture port 24, the exhaust port 25, and the scavenging ports 26a and 26b.
During ascending of the piston 30 of such a stratified scavenging engine 10 from the bottom dead center to the top dead center, the air-fuel mixture port 24 opens to the crank chamber and the intake ports 23 above the air-fuel mixture port 24 communicate with the piston grooves 32 of the piston 30. Subsequently the piston grooves 32 communicate with the scavenging ports 26a and 26b so that the leading air flows into the downstream (close to the combustion chamber 22) of the scavenging channels 27a, 27b from the scavenging ports 26a, 26b, and the air-fuel mixture flows into the upstream (close to the crank chamber) of the scavenging channels 27a, 27b from the crank chamber. This fills the downstream of the scavenging channels 27a, 27b with the leading air and fills the upstream of the scavenging channels 27a, 27b with the air-fuel mixture. During scavenging of the combustion gas, the leading air firstly flows into the combustion chamber 22, so as to avoid blow-by of the air-fuel mixture.
[Structure of Piston 30]
As shown in
Each piston groove 32 extends from around the intake port 23 to around the scavenging port 26b on the exhaust side. This means that the distance between the piston grooves 32 as a pair on the peripheral surface 31 is narrower on the intake side of the piston 30 and is wider on the exhaust side of the piston 30. A part of the peripheral surface 31 of the piston 30 on the intake side and between the pair of piston grooves 32 defines a block surface 36 to block the air-fuel mixture port 24, and a part of the peripheral surface 31 of the piston 30 on the exhaust side and between the pair of piston grooves 32 defines a block surface 37 to block the exhaust port 25. Each piston groove 32 has the bottom face 41, the upper side face 42 and the lower side face 43 to define an angular U-letter shaped groove on the peripheral surface 31 of the piston 30.
The bottom face 41 of each of the piston grooves 32 as a pair has a recess 44 near the corresponding intake port 23 so as not to interfere with supplying of the leading air to the scavenging ports 26a, 26b. The recess 44 suppresses blow-back of the leading air to the intake port 23, and generates a swirling flow V (see
The distance between these opposed recesses 44 as a pair is smaller than the length of the chord of the block surface 36 on the arc in plan view. This means that each recess 44 has a recessed-shape that is partially deep on the bottom face 41 of the piston groove 32 near the intake port 23. Each piston groove 32 has a pair of borders 45a and 45b on the bottom face 41 with the peripheral face 31 of the piston 30. The recess 44 is formed in a predetermined range from the border 45a near the intake port 23 as the origin. In the shown example, the recess 44 reaches a substantially half part of the bottom face 41 of the piston groove 32. This forms the recess 44 so as to be closer to the intake port 23.
More specifically the recess 44 has a deepest part 47 that is close to one border 45a. The wall surface from the deepest part 47 toward the border 45a is an erected wall surface 48 having a steep rising angle (about 90-degree). Whereas the wall surface from the deepest part 47 toward the other border 45b is an inclined face 49 having a gently rising angle (about 30-degree). These steep and gently rising angles indicate the inclinations relative to the tangential direction of the deepest part 47 (intake and exhaust direction where the intake port 23 and the exhaust port 25 are opposed). The inclined face 49 of the recess 44 gently continues to the bottom face 41 of the piston groove 32, and defines a guide face of the leading air that returns from the scavenging ports 26a, 26b to the intake port 23.
The present embodiment describes just one example having the recess 44 on the bottom face 41 of the piston groove 32. In another example, the recess 44 may be formed on at least one of the bottom face 41, the upper side face 42 and the lower side face 43 of the piston groove 32 near the intake port 23 as long as the recess 44 is in the piston groove 32 near the intake port 23. Such a recess 44 formed on the upper side face 42 or the lower side face 43 of the piston groove 32 and not on the bottom face 41 also generates a swirling flow V in the piston groove 32 near the intake port 23.
[Flow of Leading Air in Piston Groove 32]
Referring to
As shown in
On the contrary, as shown in
As shown in
When viewed laterally, the scavenging channel 27a, 27b of the present embodiment is inclined while getting closer to the intake port 23 from the crank chamber located below the cylinder 20 toward the cylinder bore 21 (see
Such a stratified scavenging engine 10 may be included in a portable work machine (not shown), such as a power blower, a brush cutter, or a chain saw. Such a portable work machine includes a work mechanism, such as a fan, a blade, or a saw chain, that is driven by the stratified scavenging engine 10. This work mechanism connects to the output shaft, such as the crank shaft of the stratified scavenging engine 10, and is driven by the reciprocating motion of the piston 30 in the cylinder 20. The portable work machine including the stratified scavenging engine 10 as stated above reduces THC and so meets the need for environmental protection.
[Experiments]
Next the following describes an example of experiments.
Pistons having the recesses of 0 mm (no recess), 2 mm, 4 mm, and 5.5 mm in depth and of 53 mm in diameter were prepared. For these pistons, the THC concentration [ppmC], the THC amount [g/h-kW], the engine power [kW], and the fuel consumption [g/h] were measured with the engine revolutions corresponding to peak power. Then, increase-decrease rates of the measurements for the THC concentration, the THC amount, the engine power and the fuel consumption with the pistons having the recess depths of 2 mm, 4 mm, and 5.5 mm were calculated relative to the measurements with the piston without recess (see
As shown in
As shown in
Although not shown, a comparison of the stratification effect during scavenging by leading air was made between the operation with the piston without the recess and the operation with the piston with the recess of 2 mm in depth. The stratification effect is calculated, for example, by dividing the ratio of the amount of blow-by of air-fuel mixture to the overall blow-by amount by the ratio of the amount of blow-by of leading air to the overall blow-by amount. The result shows that the stratification effect from the operation with the piston with the recess depth of 2 mm improved by about 8% than that from the operation with the piston without recess. The stratification effect increases with an increase in the amount of leading air during scavenging, and a large stratification effect means a thicker layer of the leading air, and so suppresses blow-by of air-fuel mixture more.
As described above, the stratified scavenging engine 10 of the present embodiment has the recess 44 in each of the piston grooves 32 near the intake port 23. Leading air flowing from the intake port 23 to the piston groove 32 hardly enters the recess 44, and leading air returning from the scavenging port 26a, 26b to the piston groove 32 easily enters the recess 44. The recess 44 therefore does not interfere with the flow of the leading air from the intake port 23 to the scavenging port 26a, 26b, and so the stratified scavenging engine 10 of the present embodiment sends leading air sufficiently to the scavenging ports 26a and 26b. A part of the leading air returning from the scavenging port 26a, 26b to the intake port 23 enters the recess 44 to generate a swirling flow V, and this swirling flow V increases the air pressure in the piston groove 32 and so suppress the blow-back of the leading air to the intake port 23. In this way, the present embodiment sends leading air smoothly to the scavenging ports 26a and 26b, and suppresses blow-back of the leading air to the intake port 23. This keeps enough leading air for scavenging and reduces THC sufficiently.
The present embodiment describes the structure including a pair of piston grooves on the peripheral surface of the piston as just one example. In another structure, the piston may have a single piston groove on the peripheral surface, or may have three or more piston grooves on the peripheral surface.
The present embodiment describes the structure including a pair of intake ports for a pair of piston grooves as just one example. In another structure, a single intake port may communicate with a pair of piston grooves.
The present embodiment describes the structure having a single recess on the bottom face of the piston groove near the intake port as just one example. In another structure, the piston groove may have a plurality of recesses near the intake port.
The present embodiment describes the structure having four scavenging ports as just one example. In another structure having a single piston groove on the peripheral surface, the piston may have a single scavenging port.
The present embodiment describes the structure including a recess formed in a predetermined range from one of the borders of the piston groove as just one example. As long as such a recess is near the intake port of the piston groove, the recess may generate a swirling flow in the piston groove near the intake port.
The present embodiment describes the structure including a recess uniformly formed in the groove width direction on the bottom face of the piston groove. In another structure, the piston may have a recess at a part in the groove width direction on the bottom face of the piston groove.
That is the descriptions on the present embodiment. In another embodiment, the above-stated embodiment may be entirely or partially combined with a modified example of the embodiment.
The techniques of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and may be variously changed, replaced, or modified without departing from the spirit of the technical idea. If the technical idea can be embodied in other ways by technological advancement or another technology derived therefrom, the present invention may be implemented using the method. The claims cover all of the embodiments that can be included within the scope of the technical idea.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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JP2018-180728 | Sep 2018 | JP | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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5628295 | Todero | May 1997 | A |
20050045124 | Amend | Mar 2005 | A1 |
20120145137 | Shirai | Jun 2012 | A1 |
20150219007 | Mavinahally | Aug 2015 | A1 |
20160097344 | Yamazaki | Apr 2016 | A1 |
20180080369 | Lundgren | Mar 2018 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
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4286679 | Jul 2009 | JP |
Entry |
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European Search Report for Corresponding European Application No. 19199228.8 (3 Pages) (dated Feb. 6, 2020). |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20200095953 A1 | Mar 2020 | US |