Patent Application
20140150603
There is a growing need in the internal combustion arts to improve engine longevity, reduce emissions and lessen dependence on fuels or raw materials from less stable trading partners. Modifications to systems including a fuel source, an internal combustion engine and a drive mechanism are detailed below to accomplish some or all of these.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate various example systems, methods, and so on that illustrates various example embodiments of aspects of the invention. It will be appreciated that the illustrated element boundaries (e.g., boxes, groups of boxes, or other shapes) in the figures represent one example of the boundaries. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that one element may be designed as multiple elements or that multiple elements may be designed as one element. An element shown as an internal component of another element may be implemented as an external component and vice versa. Furthermore, elements in the drawings may not be to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure.
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Experimental mixing blocks have been applied to multiple internal combustion engines and have accumulated over 400 hours of operation with a fuel source of industrial grade, commercially available hydrogen. Several examples are informative
In the column labeled “Mixing Block ICE,” changes are shown from the stock ICE. Aside from replacing the carburetor with a mixing block, another change from stock was to increase the gap on the spark plug called for by the manufacturer. In this case, we doubled the gap. Additionally, we used a regulator to regulate the pressure from the commercial hydrogen tank (approximately 2200 psi) down to working pressure (about 5 psi). As is seen, there was a slight reduction in observed horse-power in the mixing block modified ICE. In the third column, namely, “Modified Mixing Block ICE,” other modifications were made to improve performance. Specifically, the compression ratio was increased to 10.2:1 through a piston and head change and the timing was advanced by 2 degrees. These changes were able to increase observed horsepower by 1.5 HP. We believe that increasing the compression ratio to 14:1 will further increase observed horsepower.
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Also, the system 900 should greatly reduce manufacture and/or maintenance costs for the vehicle. Brake life is extended as the electric motor operation assists in vehicle control acting as a brake. While most electric vehicles require additional suspension support due to the extra weight of the batteries, in a system 900 as described, there is lower or eliminated need to beef up suspension as the system does not require the same number of batteries as conventional electric vehicles. Less battery weight is also easier on the brakes. Speed depends on the variable resistance signal supplied to the electric motor and the gearing of the transmission. The “charge-as-you-go” technology levels out the stress put on the vehicle components in a long, continuous climb.
In one embodiment, system 900 requires little maintenance as the engine may run on 100% hydrogen. The hydrogen does not generate hydro-carbons to clog the spark plug, or contaminate the oil. Monthly oil checks to make sure the engine has the proper level of oil. The oil does not require changing or at least as frequently, mainly topping off. In the hydrogen embodiment, the spark plug preferably does not include emission control features/metals, and preferably the spark plugs include solid copper core, non-resisted plugs.
While the systems, methods, and so on have been illustrated by describing examples, and while the examples have been described in considerable detail, it is not the intention of the applicants to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the systems, methods, and so on provided herein. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention, in its broader aspects, is not limited to the specific details, the representative apparatus, and illustrative examples shown and described. Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departing from the spirit or scope of the applicants' general inventive concept. Thus, this application is intended to embrace alterations, modifications, and variations that fall within the scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, the preceding description is not meant to limit the scope of the invention. Rather, the scope of the invention is to be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
As used herein, “connection” or “connected” means both directly, that is, without other intervening elements or components, and indirectly, that is, with another component or components arranged between the items identified or described as being connected. To the extent that the term “includes” or “including” is employed in the detailed description or the claims, it is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as that term is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “or” is employed in the claims (e.g., A or B) it is intended to mean “A or B or both”. When the applicants intend to indicate “only A or B but not both” then the term “only A or B but not both” will be employed. Similarly, when the applicants intend to indicate “one and only one” of A, B, or C, the applicants will employ the phrase “one and only one”. Thus, use of the term “or” herein is the inclusive, and not the exclusive use. See, Bryan A. Garner, A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage 624 (2d. Ed. 1995).
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/661,653 filed Jun. 19, 2012 and is a continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/236,263 filed Sep. 19, 2011.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61661653 | Jun 2012 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 13236263 | Sep 2011 | US |
| Child | 13922221 | US |
