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US 2020/0025064 A1Published application
Fuel ignition methods for opposed piston engines and related structures
AssigneeWarren Engine Company, Inc.
InventorsJames Warren, William Vincent Meyers, Jr., Steven Niswander
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Fuel is ignited in an opposed-piston engine by the mating of unique protruding and recessed portions of opposed pistons.
Claims6
An opposed piston engine comprising:
- one or more cylinders. each cylinder comprising a respective pair of opposed pistons;
- a recessed portion formed in a top surface of a first opposed piston of each of the cylinders;
- a protruding portion formed on a top surface of a second opposed piston for each of the cylinders and configured to correspond to a shape of the recessed portion, the recessed and protruding portions operable to ignite a portion of homogenous fuel trapped in the recessed portion as the first and second pistons move towards top dead center;
- and
- a plurality of channels in radial array within the first piston, wherein each channel begins at an interior wall of the annular recessed portion and extends to an ending position at a combustion chamber to communicate the ignited portion of the homogenous fuel to bulk homogenous fuel within the combustion chamber to ignite the bulk fuel and allow heat and excess pressure of combustion to be expelled.
2 more elements
An opposed piston engine comprising:
- a plurality of cylinders. each cylinder comprising a respective pair of opposed pistons;
- a recessed portion formed in a top surface of a first opposed piston of each of the cylinders;
- a protruding portion formed on a top surface of a second opposed piston for each of the cylinders and configured to correspond to a shape of the recessed portion, the recessed and protruding portions operable to ignite a portion of homogenous fuel trapped in the recessed portion as the first and second pistons move towards top dead center;
- and
- a plurality of channels in radial array within the first piston, wherein each channel begins at an interior wall of the annular recessed portion and extends to an ending position at a combustion chamber to communicate the ignited portion of the homogenous fuel to bulk homogenous fuel within the combustion chamber to ignite the bulk fuel and allow heat and excess pressure of combustion to be expelled.
2 more elements
A method for igniting fuel in an opposed piston engine comprising:
- compressing and igniting a portion of homogenous fuel trapped within a recessed portion of a first opposed piston by moving the first piston and a second opposed piston comprising a protruding portion towards top dead center within a cylinder, the protruding portion corresponds to a shape of the recessed portion;
- and
- communicating the ignited portion of homogenous fuel through a plurality of channels in radial array within the first piston, wherein each channel begins at an interior wall of the recessed portion and extends to an ending position at a combustion chamber to ignite bulk homogenous fuel within the combustion chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.