Combustion and vapor cycle lobed rotor engine
OwnerJoseph Daniel Bestinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An internal combustion engine utilizing an additional vapor expansion piston/cylinder to capture traditionally rejected energy. Hot combustion gases from the combustion process are used to power an additional vapor expansion cycle in a separate cylinder from the combustion cycle. Comprised of at least two pistons/cylinders (one fuel combustion and one vapor expansion) diametrically opposed; where the reciprocal motion of the pistons is transferred to the output shaft via a multiple-lobed rotor assembly.
Claims40
An internal combustion engine comprising at least one cylinder unit, said cylinder unit comprising:
- a shaft having a first (outer) multiple-lobed rotor axially fixed to said shaft, an adjacent second (middle) multiple-lobed rotor differentially geared to said first multiple-lobed rotor for axial counter rotation about said shaft and a third (outer) multiple-lobed rotor axially fixed to said shaft duplicating the first multiple-lobed rotor orientation;
- a cylinder set (comprising two cylinders) associated with said multiple-lobed rotors, each cylinder driving a respective side of the multiple-lobed rotors, each cylinder having an axis, the cylinders being diametrically opposed with respect to said shaft with said multiple-lobed rotors interposed there between;
- a reciprocating piston in each said cylinder, which said pistons are not rigidly interconnected;
- wherein:
- said multiple-lobed rotors each comprise 2+n lobes where n is zero or an even-numbered integer;
- and wherein, reciprocating motion of said pistons in said cylinders imparts rotary motion to said shaft via contact between said pistons and the periphery surfaces of said multiple-lobed rotors.
A method of:
- operating an internal combustion engine;
- recovering rejected thermal energy of said internal combustion engine;
- converting said rejected thermal energy to useful work.
An internal combustion engine, thus comprising:
- a fuel combustion cylinder.
- a fuel combustion piston reciprocating in said fuel combustion cylinder.
- a means to produce an intake, compression, expansion, and exhaust stroke in said combustion cylinder.
- a means to introduce fuel and oxidizer into said combustion cylinder.
- a means to deflagrate said fuel and oxidizer in said combustion cylinder.
- a vapor expansion cylinder.
- a vapor expansion piston reciprocating in said vapor expansion cylinder.
- a means to produce an intake, compression, expansion, and exhaust stroke in said vapor expansion cylinder.
- a means to introduce compressed fluid into said vapor expansion cylinder.
- a vapor condenser.
- wherein:
- reciprocating motion of said pistons is converted to rotary motion via connecting rod and crankshaft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.