US 10,989,138 B2Granted

Internal combustion engine

AssigneeQuest Engines, LLC

InventorsElario Dino Dalmas, II, Roy A. Blom

Life of this patent

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Abstract

Internal combustion engines having pistons with one or more depressions located on the piston head to facilitate the movement of air/charge in the cylinder are disclosed. The pistons may include a skirt with a field of pockets that provide a ringless, non-lubricated, seal equivalent. The piston head also may be domed to further facilitate the movement of air/charge in the cylinder. The engines may also have non-circular, preferably rectangular, cross-section pistons and cylinders. The engines also may use multi-stage poppet valves in lieu of conventional poppet valves, and may include a split crankshaft. The engines may use the pumping motion of the engine piston to supercharge the cylinder with air/charge. The engines also may operate in an inverted orientation in which the piston is closer to the local gravitationally dominant terrestrial body's center of gravity at top dead center position than at bottom dead center position.

Claims21

Dependent claims

An internal combustion engine comprising:

an engine cylinder having a cylinder wall;
a piston disposed in the engine cylinder, said piston having a skirt and a head;
a combustion chamber adjacent to the piston head defined by the cylinder wall;
a first poppet valve disposed in the engine cylinder, said first poppet valve having a lower head;
and
a first depression formed in said piston head, said first depression being proximal to the lower head of the first poppet valve when the piston is at a top dead center position in the engine cylinder,
wherein the first depression has a continuous, generally circular, side wall extending between an upper lip and a floor,
wherein a first length of said first depression side wall at a junction of the first depression side wall with the first depression upper lip is greater than a second length of the first depression side wall at a junction of the first depression side wall with the first depression floor,
wherein the first depression side wall is curved or ramped from the first depression upper lip to the first depression floor, and
wherein the engine cylinder has a generally rectangular cross-section with rounded corners, and wherein the piston has a generally rectangular cross-section with rounded corners.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 15/937,293Filed 27 Mar 2018 · continuation in part
Priority: 30 Mar 2017
Published: US 2018/0283264 A14 Oct 2018
Granted: 27 Apr 2021
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification11 codes

F02F 3/28
Pistons: other pistons with specially-shaped head
F01L 3/00
Lift-valve, i.e. cut-off apparatus with closure members having at least a component
F01L 3/20
Lift-valve, i.e. cut-off apparatus with closure members having at least a component of their opening and closing motion perpendicular to the…:…
F02B 33/04
Engines with reciprocating-piston pumps; Engines with crankcase pumps: with simple crankcase pumps, i.e. with the rear face of a non-stepped…

Family

Application62/479,013Us provisional application · filed 30 Mar 2017
Application62/491,629Us provisional application · filed 28 Apr 2017
Application62/501,295Us provisional application · filed 4 May 2017
Application15/903,636Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 23 Feb 2018
Application15/934,625Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 23 Mar 2018
Application15/934,742Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 23 Mar 2018
Application15/936,713Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 27 Mar 2018
US 2018/0283316 A1Pre-grant publication · published 4 Oct 2018
US 10,465,629 B2Parent of this continuation-in-part
US 10,526,953 B2Parent of this continuation-in-part
US 10,590,834 B2Parent of this continuation-in-part
US 11,041,456 B2Related patent
US 2018/0283264 A1Published application
US 2018/0283265 A1Published application
US 2018/0283312 A1Published application
US 2018/0283314 A1Published application
US 10,989,138 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.