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US 2003/0116111 A1Published application
Method and apparatus for venting excessive cylinder pressure
OwnerJ. Michael Shiffletteinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for releasing excessive pressure from a cylinder of an internal combustion engine comprises a sealing element inserted into a passageway that extends from an internal surface of the cylinder through the engine block or cylinder head to end at a point of ambient air pressure. The sealing element is thermally responsive and will release to cause the passageway to form a vent passage between the cylinder and the ambient air upon the occurrence of any one of a number of conditions of excessive pressure and temperature in the cylinder.
Claims25
An apparatus for releasing excessive pressure from a cylinder of an internal combustion engine comprising:
- a cylinder in an internal combustion engine;
- a passageway having an internal terminus at an internal surface of said cylinder and extending through at least a portion of the material within which said cylinder is formed;
- said passageway having an external terminus at a point exterior to said cylinder, the air pressure at said external terminus being lower than the maximum air pressure within said cylinder;
- said passageway being hermetically sealed with a sealing element;
- said sealing element being releasable to cause said passageway to form a vent passage between said internal terminus and said external terminus upon the occurrence in said cylinder of any one of a plurality of predetermined conditions of pressure and temperature.
2 more elements
An apparatus for releasing excessive pressure from a cylinder of an internal combustion engine comprising:
- a cylinder in an internal combustion engine, said cylinder having internal surfaces formed by a material surrounding said cylinder;
- a passageway extending through said material forming said cylinder and having an internal terminus at an internal surface of said cylinder and an external terminus at an area remote from said cylinder, the ambient pressure at said external terminus being lower than the maximum pressure within said cylinder;
- a sealing element comprising a single component, said sealing element providing a hermetic seal in said passageway between said internal terminus and said external terminus when said sealing element is exposed to pressures and temperatures within a predetermined normal operating range;
- said sealing element releasing to form a vent passageway between said internal terminus and said external terminus when said sealing element is exposed to pressures greater than said pressures within said predetermined normal operating range.
1 more element
An apparatus for venting excessive cylinder pressure comprising:
- a cylinder in an internal combustion engine;
- a passageway having an internal entrance formed in an internal surface of said cylinder, said passageway extending between said cylinder and a region remote to said cylinder, the air pressure in said remote region being lower than the maximum pressure in said cylinder;
- a sealing element within said passageway forming a hermetic seal when exposed to pressures and temperatures within a predetermined normal operating range;
- said sealing element comprising a plurality of components, at least one of said plurality of components being releasable to create a vent passage in said passageway upon the exposure of said sealing element to any one of a plurality of predetermined conditions of pressure and temperature that exceed said predetermined normal operating range.
1 more element
An apparatus for releasing excessive pressure from a cylinder of an internal combustion engine comprising:
- a cylinder in an internal combustion engine, said cylinder having an internal surface formed by a cylinder head;
- a passageway having a first terminus at said internal surface formed by a cylinder head and extending at least partially through said cylinder head, said passageway having a second terminus at a point remote to said cylinder, said second terminus being in an area of pressure that is lower than the maximum pressure in said cylinder;
- a sealing element comprising a plurality of components, said sealing element having a threaded outer portion for mating engagement with a threaded internal portion of said passageway, at least a portion of said sealing element being located within one quarter of the length of said passageway from said second terminus,
- said sealing element releasing to form a vent passage in said passageway upon being exposed to any one of a plurality of predetermined conditions of pressure and temperature.
1 more element
A method of releasing excessive pressure from a cylinder of an internal combustion engine comprising the steps of:
- creating a passageway between the cylinder of an internal combustion engine and a region having a pressure that is substantially lower than the peak pressures normally developed in said cylinder, said vent passageway being formed by and extending through at least a portion of the material forming said cylinder;
- sealing said vent passageway with a threaded sealing element;
- releasing said sealing element to form a vent passage in said passageway upon the exposure of said sealing element to one of a plurality of predetermined conditions of pressure and temperature.
A method of releasing pressure from a cylinder of an internal combustion engine comprising the steps of:
- creating a passageway between the cylinder of an internal combustion engine and a region of ambient air pressure, said passageway extending through at least a portion of the material forming said cylinder;
- inserting a sealing element in said passageway;
- securing said sealing element in said passageway with a temperature responsive adhesive substance;
- releasing said sealing element to form a vent passage in said passageway upon the exposure of said sealing element to one of a plurality of predetermined conditions of temperature and pressure.
1 more element
A method of releasing pressure from a cylinder of an internal combustion engine comprising the steps of:
- creating a passageway from a cylinder of an internal combustion engine to a region external to said engine, said passageway passing through the material forming said cylinder;
- inserting a sealing element having a key into said passageway to seal said passageway;
- securing said sealing element within said passageway by engaging said key with a mating key receptacle within said passageway;
- releasing said sealing element upon exposure of said sealing element to one of a plurality of predetermined conditions of pressure and temperature.
1 more element
A method of releasing excessive pressure from a cylinder of an internal combustion engine comprising the steps of:
- creating a cylinder having internal surfaces formed from an engine block and a cylinder head;
- creating an air passageway extending from one of said internal surfaces of said cylinder to a region of ambient air pressure;
- sealing said air passageway with a sealing element;
- securing said sealing element within said passageway by a press fitting between said sealing element and said air passageway;
- releasing said sealing element to form a vent passage within said air passageway when said sealing element is exposed to one of a plurality of predetermined conditions of temperature and pressure.
2 more elements
A method of releasing excessive pressure from a cylinder of an internal combustion engine comprising the steps of:
- creating a vent passageway between the cylinder of an internal combustion engine and a region having a pressure that is substantially lower than the peak pressures normally developed in said cylinder, said vent passageway extending through at least a portion of the material forming said cylinder;
- sealing said vent passageway with a sealing element;
- releasing said sealing element from said vent passageway when abnormal cylinder operating conditions are encountered.
A sealing element for sealing a vent passageway for a cylinder of an internal combustion engine comprising:
- a temperature sensitive portion having thermal characteristics responsive to an increase in the temperature of said temperature sensitive portion;
- means for securing said sealing element within a vent passageway that is not a receptacle for a spark plug;
- such that, upon an increase in the temperature of said temperature sensitive portion and an increase of internal cylinder pressure, said sealing element will deform to form a vent passageway to release said internal cylinder pressure.
A sealing element for sealing a vent passageway for a cylinder of an internal combustion engine comprising:
- a first temperature sensitive component having first expansion characteristics responsive to an increase in the temperature of said first temperature sensitive component;
- a second temperature sensitive component having at least a portion of its surface in contact with the surface of said first temperature sensitive component, said second temperature sensitive component having second expansion characteristics responsive to an increase in the temperature of said second temperature sensitive component;
- said first expansion characteristics of said first temperature sensitive portion being different from said second expansion characteristics of said second temperature sensitive portion;
- means for securing said sealing element within a vent passageway that is not a receptacle for a spark plug;
- said first and said second temperature sensitive components expanding by different amounts upon an increase in temperature to cause a decrease in the surface friction at their contacting surfaces;
- said sealing element releasing one of said temperature sensitive components upon being exposed to one of a plurality of predetermined conditions of temperature and pressure.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.