Patent Application
20230059790
The present invention relates to a system for the reversible transformation of a reciprocating motion in a rotary motion and, more precisely, to a system for the reversible transformation of a reciprocating motion in a rotary motion which incorporates a spiral rotor.
An internal combustion engine is known from US document U.S. Pat. No. 7,942,115 which describes a system for converting a reciprocating rectilinear motion into a rotational motion. The system comprises an assembly of internal combustion cylinders, each of which has a rod which pushes a slider over the surface of a rotor. The rotor has a cross section with a spiral profile, and in such a way that the slider follows the surface and performs a compression and an expansion step. This solution of the prior art has proved satisfactory, although it has the disadvantage of that the thrust of the piston in the cylinder is based solely on the pressure of the combustion gas. This is a realization that decreases but does not solve the problems of environmental pollution and is also relatively inefficient.
Consequently, there is a need to improve the operation of the internal combustion cylinder and spiral profile rotor system, in order to reduce the aforementioned problems of environmental pollution, and improve efficiency and, therefore, lower fuel consumption.
The present invention seeks to solve the above-mentioned problems and drawbacks of the state of the art by providing a new energy supply system for the transformation of a reciprocating rectilinear motion in a rotational motion.
Thus, the present invention provides a system for a reversible transformation of a reciprocating motion in a rotary motion which comprises one or more actuating devices onto a rotor having a spiral section and at least one interaction surface for the engagement with said one or more actuating devices, each actuating devices of the plurality of actuating devices including an internal combustion cylinder, and wherein each actuating device is associated with a rod that incorporates a slider having a follower engaging with said at least one interaction surface of said rotor, wherein the rod is associated to said combustion cylinder, the arrangement being such that the system provides for the rotation of the rotor by each actuating cylinder urging said interaction surface of said rotor via said slider continuously contacting said interaction surface and causing the rotation thereof.
According to the present invention, the follower of each slider of each actuating device it is urged and slides outwardly of said cylinder due to the expansion thereof, and a force onto said interaction surface it is transmitted resulting in a torque value onto said rotor.
The arrangement is such that at each complete revolution of the rotor, each actuating device makes a full combustion cycle in case of a two-stroke combustion cylinder, or half combustion cycle in the case of a four-stroke combustion cylinder.
Thus, the present invention provides a system for a reversible transformation of a reciprocating motion in a rotary motion according to the appended claims.
The present invention has several advantageous aspects here below illustrated.
By way of non-limiting example, the slider can be a wheel or, alternatively, also a low friction sliding surface (skid). The slider-wheel always contacts the surface of the spiral shaped rotor profile, thus transmitting the force from the device to the rotor surface transforming it into a driving torque.
It has to be pointed out here that the system of the present invention can use any internal combustion power device known for conversion/transmission, and with the aim of creating the torque on the rotor shaft.
As a non-limiting example, the system comprises fixed parts and moving parts. The former includes a body of each cylinder, a supporting plate; and power supply to each cylinder. On the other hand, the moving parts comprise, a sliding rod, a rotating or sliding follower mounted at the end of the rod, the sliding members being housed inside said cylinder body.
Furthermore, auxiliary parts external to the above illustrated system are provided, such as for example fuel supply, electrical power supply, pumps and relevant hydraulic cooling fluid regulator/distributor for, and cooling fluid pump/pumps reservoir.
Preferably and according to the invention, a plurality of devices as described above can act on a single rotor member. The rotor can have a non-circular profile contact surface.
Thanks to the particular configuration of the spiral rotor, the thrust of each device it is transmitted on the rotor surface, causing the latter to rotate for a complete revolution in an expansion cycle of one of the springs.
The main feature of this system it is the ability to use the expansion phase of one of the actuating devices associated to and for carrying out useful work, i.e., the rotation of the rotor.
The present invention provides noteworthy new solutions with important improvements compared to the most pertinent state of the art U.S. Pat. No. 7,942,115, wherein an application of a rotor with a polar spiral profile combined with an internal combustion thermal unit (cylinder-piston) it is already known.
Advantageously and according to a first inventive aspect of the present invention, in the case of use of the spiral rotor in combination with internal combustion cylinders (cylinder-piston), a circular section (or a constant diameter) surface of the spiral rotor it is provided, and in order to keep the piston in a stopped position at the T.D.C. top dead center (so-called “piston dwelling”) and during the combustion phase, thus obtaining a complete combustion at a constant volume. The same configuration of piston stop it is obtainable at the bottom dead center B.D.C. and for the complete waste/washing/filling phase of the cylinder.
According to another advantageous aspect of the present invention, it is possible to make the interacting surface of the rotor profile in different shapes. As a matter of, according to the state-of-the-art document U.S. Pat. No. 7,942,115, the contacting surface with the cursor is always a flat surface on which the force generated by the cursor acts perpendicularly. On the other hand, according to the present invention the contacting surface of the slider/follower it is inclined and in such a way that different angles of inclination of the slider/follower can be provided, obtaining a greater efficiency, and thus obtaining a number of possible constructive configurations.
According to a further advantageous aspect of the present invention, the cylinder expansion length it is expected to be decided by the constructor according to the project requirements.
According to another advantageous aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide different embodiments of the system, wherein each of them has a determined arrangement of the actuating devices with respect to the rotor surface. More precisely, by varying the angle of inclination of the actuating devices with respect to the normal direction of the rotor surface it is possible to increase or decrease the value of the force exerted by the actuating devices on the interacting surface of the rotor, and consequently increase or decrease the torque value applied to the rotor, while maintaining the cycle phases unchanged.
According to another advantageous aspect of the present invention, it is possible to adjust the inclination of the actuating device (s) and, therefore, the direction of the force applied to the rotor, thus obtaining the possibility of varying the stroke of the urging member in a complete revolution of the rotor.
A detailed description of some preferred embodiments of the system for the reversible transformation of a reciprocating motion in a rotary motion of the present invention will now be provided, given by way of non-limiting examples, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
With reference now to
The rotor (53) in
In
Thanks to the configuration described above, a better washing of the cylinder (50) is obtained by expelling the burnt gas remaining in the cylinder and a complete filling of the cylinder with fresh air while the piston is not it moves and, therefore, does not interrupt the described cycle, unlike what happens in the current internal combustion engines.
Both the piston stop solutions to the T.D.C. and to the B.D.C they can be made on the same rotor. In this way, the characteristics and thermodynamic values of the cycles are considerably, improved and more effective.
In each embodiment, the outer surface of the curvilinear profile of the rotor is in contact with the slider (5) along a coplanar or orthogonal direction. In other words, the cursor (5) transmits a force to the rotor with an angle of 0° (coplanar) or an angle of 90° (orthogonal) with respect to the plane of the rotor.
Referring now to
It should be noted that each drive device of this system has a structure similar to that shown in
It is the external group of devices that inside they are coplanar to the rotor (103). Each actuating device is arranged onto the plate (101).
The forces of the respective devices are cumulative. In this way, more power can be supplied to a rotor of the same size with respect to the embodiment of
The number of devices that can be assembled on a rotor depends on its diameter and on the constructive choices. The more groups of devices are mounted on the internal and external profiles of the rotor (103), the more power will be transferred to the rotor. According to this embodiment, the actuating devices operate on the rotor (103) in the manner as already described above and with reference to
Referring now to
In this configuration the system (200) provides a plurality of devices, some of which are not arranged on the same horizontal plane containing the rotor (203). The system (200) comprises a shaft (230) connected to the rotor (203).
The rotor (203) provides curvilinear profiles both on the horizontal (radial) surfaces and on the outer (tangential) surface containing each retraction ramp (205) and (206), respectively.
More precisely, a first ramp (205) is on an outer surface of the rotor (203). The rotor (203) has a curvilinear spiral profile. One or more actuating devices are arranged both on the horizontal and the vertical plane, to operate on the rotor (203) as said above. Each drive device has a structure as described in
Some drive devices are positioned perpendicular to the rotor surface (203). The effective force of the devices positioned perpendicularly creates a rotation of the rotor (203) in the same direction (as indicated by the arrow) of those generated by the groups of devices arranged in different positions contained in the horizontal plane containing the rotor, and therefore these forces are cumulative with the forces applied to the rotor by the other devices mounted in different configurations.
Moreover, in a further alternative embodiment, three different surfaces of the rotor (203) can be engaged at the same time. The actual forces applied by all drive unit groups are combined to generate rotor rotation.
Therefore, it is possible to simultaneously engaging on the same rotor, groups of internal combustion cylinders fed with different fuels, arranged onto the different profiles of the rotor.
In the following embodiments, the force applied to the rotor it is transmitted via slider (5) at a different angle from the rotor plane.
Referring now to
In the system 400 a combination of actuating devices acts on the rotor (403) at the inclined interacting surface (the devices not being shown in the figure). The system assembly works with an inclination of 45 degrees relative to the rotor (403) and gives a greater net driving force to the rotor (403). The resulting force it is a force as shown by the F1 arrow.
Changing the angle of inclination of the surface (405) of the rotor (403) the net force applied to the rotor (403) will change accordingly as a result of the variation of the angle because the transmitted force it is a vectoral function of direction.
While the angle of inclination can vary from 1 to 89 degrees with respect to the plane of the rotor (403), the relative orientation of the whole assembly of actuating devices can be modified in any position between about 1 and 179 degrees with respect to the plane of the rotor (403) or between −89 and +89 degrees with respect to the normal direction of the surface (405) as indicated by the double arrow G.
According to this system 400, the actuating devices can interact in a direction on the inclined surface (405) or in the opposite mirroring direction on the surface (405′) of the rotor (403), as shown in dashed lines in
In the present embodiment, if the drive unit assembly is positioned orthogonal to the profile (33), in this case, the resulting force is applied with an angle indicated by the arrow F2. In this case, the angle of the profile surface (33) can alternatively vary from about 1 to 89 degrees with respect to the plane and as shown by the dashed surface (435′). Furthermore, the orientation of the device assembly (400) can be comprised at any angle along the double arrow H to provide a variety of different driving forces at different angles, i.e. at any angle corresponding to from about 0 to 180 degrees relative to the plane of the rotor (413).
Referring now to
The outer peripheral surface of the rotor (503) it is a rounded surface (505), and extends substantially 360 degrees from a first point of the surface (503a) of the rotor (503) to a second point of the surface (503b) of the rotor (503). The arc length of the rounded surface (505) depends on the thickness of the rotor (503).
The drive assembly can be arranged in a condition normal to the surface and in any position along the convex surface (505), in the direction indicated by the two-headed arrow “D”. By way of example, a force can be applied by an actuating device along a line as indicated by the arrow F3.
In this way, a greater net force can be applied by the group of actuating devices (not shown) by adjusting the angle of inclination of the group of devices relative to the plane wherein the rotor (503) resides.
Referring now to
The assembly of actuating devices (not shown in the figure) can be oriented in relation to the circular surface of the rotor profile at any position along the surface (515), in the direction of the double arrow E, to have any inclination in relation to the circular surface (515), thus determining the direction of the force of the arrow “F4”.
Referring now to
As can be understood from the figures, by changing the inclination of the actuating device (706) with respect to the rotor interacting surface (703) it is possible to obtain different values of forces and consequently different torque values onto the rotor (703).
More precisely and with particular reference to
It should be noted here that the cycle phases do not change, so that the expansion and compression phase of the device (706) are always related to the spiral profile of the rotor (703). According to this configuration it is possible to considerably increase the torque on the rotor axis (703) thanks to the choice of the degree of inclination of the device (706). Moreover, it is also possible to vary the stroke of the device (706) proportionally to the inclination of the same with respect to the surface of the rotor (703). In this way a longer or shorter stroke can be obtained, according to the constructive needs, but always corresponding to a complete rotation of the rotor (703).
Referring now to
According to this embodiment, a new interaction solution there is provided between one or more piston cylinders and one interacting surface of a rotating rotor about its own longitudinal axis of rotation, wherein the rotor has a circular section, and the interaction surface of the rotor with said one or more piston cylinders it is arranged in a normal direction with respect to the longitudinal axis of the rotor and has a spiral profile with the relevant elevation.
It should be pointed out here that according to further alternative embodiments, the rotor can have one or more interaction surfaces normal and/or parallel to the longitudinal axis of rotation.
According to the present embodiment, the positioning of the cylinder (s) provides that each cylinder it is arranged in a manner wherein the contact point of the rods of each cylinder with respect to the interaction surface of the rotor always has an angle of 90 degrees, i.e. orthogonal to the interaction surface.
This configuration guarantees an ideal distribution of forces on the surface of the rotor, where the same give maximum effect.
This configuration it is applicable both for internal combustion cylinders, or pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders or other equivalent solutions.
The force created by the assembly of the piston-cylinders is in this configuration always applied with a right angle throughout the active phase of the cycle, thus transmitting a better energetic effect with minimum energy losses involved.
With reference now to
According to this embodiment, an interaction surface of one or more cylinder-pistons of a rotor about a longitudinal axis it is provided, the rotor having a circular cross-section, and the interaction surface of the rotor with the said one or more piston cylinders it is normal to the longitudinal axis of the rotor, and the interaction surface has a spiral profile with a relevant lift ramp.
It should be noted here that according to alternative embodiments the rotor can have one or more interaction surfaces normal and/or parallel to the longitudinal axis of rotation of the rotor.
Further, a lever mechanism it is provided which acts during the piston stroke phase at the top dead center T.D.C. in the compression phase. That is, given that the portion of the rotor comprising the spiral profile has a lift ramp with an excessive inclination and therefore creates excessive frictional forces during the stroke of the piston, the presence of the lever allows to provide to the follower a lift force which eliminates such problems during operation.
More precisely, the lever it is connected to the engine block and therefore does not rotate with the rotor. The lever has a fork shape and a relevant slider or follower placed at the fork end. The ramp acts on the slider, while the end of the lever interacts with the slider of the piston rod. While approaching the ramp, the lever rises and returns the piston to the top dead center T.D.C.
As soon as the top dead center of the piston T.D.C. is reached, the lever it is released and returns to the starting position. This solution, albeit simple, has the enormous usefulness of limiting the forces engaged, of generating little resistance to the displacement, and the friction is brought to a minimum.
This configuration is applicable for both internal combustion cylinders, or pneumatic cylinders, or hydraulic cylinders or other equivalents.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention it is susceptible to other modifications in addition to what has been disclosed herein, without departing from the spirit of the present invention and all included in the scope of the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102016000124647 | Dec 2016 | IT | national |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 16468110 | Jun 2019 | US |
| Child | 18045439 | US |
