Separate compressor arrangements for engines

An engine, comprising

• an engine having an engine cylinder defining an interior space and including a surface defining said interior space having a first aperture and a second aperture, the interior space being supplied with ignitable fuel;
• an engine crank shaft;
• an engine piston that moves upon rotation of said engine crank shaft in said interior space of said engine cylinder;
• a first valve at least partly in said first aperture;
• a second valve at least partly in said second aperture;
• an air tank in which compressed air is stored;
• an engine intake conduit leading from said air tank to said first aperture;
• an igniter for igniting a mixture of fuel and air in said interior space of said engine cylinder;
• an engine outlet conduit leading from said second aperture;
• a turbocharger connected to said engine outlet conduit;
• a turbocharger compressor connected to said turbocharger;
• a turbocharger compressor inlet conduit leading from the ambient environment to said turbocharger compressor;
• a compressor conduit leading from said turbocharger compressor to said air tank;
• and
• an apparatus for providing an additional source of compressed air for said air tank, said apparatus comprising:
• a rotatable compressor crank shaft;
• a compressor cylinder defining an interior space and including a surface defining said interior space having a first aperture and a second aperture;
• a third valve at least partly in said first aperture of said surface of said compressor cylinder;
• a fourth valve at least partly in said second aperture of said surface of said compressor cylinder;
• a piston compressor moved upon rotation of said compressor crank shaft in said interior space of said compressor cylinder;
• a compressor intake conduit leading from the ambient environment to said first aperture of said surface of said compressor cylinder;
• a compressor outlet conduit leading from said second aperture of said surface of said compressor cylinder to said air tank;
• and
• interconnection structure that selectively interconnects said compressor crank shaft to said engine crank shaft to provide two operating states wherein in one of the operating states, rotation of said engine crank shaft causes rotation of said compressor crank shaft and in the other of the operating states, said compressor crank shaft is not rotated by said engine crank shaft when said engine crank shaft rotates,
• whereby rotation of said compressor crank shaft causes movement of said piston compressor in said interior space of said compressor cylinder and compression of air inlet into said interior space of said compressor cylinder through said compressor intake conduit and said first valve and outflow of compressed air through said compressor outlet conduit and said second valve to said air tank, and
• whereby exhaust gas flowing through said engine outlet conduit interacts with said turbocharger to power said turbocharger compressor to draw air from the ambient environment through said turbocharger compressor inlet conduit, compress the drawn air from the ambient environment and provide the compressed air to said air tank through said compressor conduit.

A method for compressing air using an engine having an engine crank shaft, comprising:

• selectively coupling a rotatable compressor crank shaft to the engine crank shaft by a controllable clutch to provide an operating state of the engine in which the compressor crank shaft is coupled to the engine crank shaft and another operating state in which the compressor crank shaft is not coupled to the engine crank shaft;
• generating, when the compressor crank shaft is in the operating state wherein it is coupled to the engine crank shaft, compressed air upon rotation of the compressor crank shaft by causing the compressor crank shaft to move a piston compressor in an interior space of a compressor cylinder, regulating flow of air from ambient environment into the interior space defined in part by the piston compressor through a first valve, and regulating flow of compressed air from the interior space into an air tank through a second valve, the compressed air being stored in the air tank;
• and
• supplying compressed air from the air tank for use by the engine when the compressor crank shaft is in the operating state wherein it is coupled to the engine crank shaft and also when the compressor crank shaft is in the operating state wherein it is not coupled to the engine crank shaft.