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US 3,942,484 AGranted
Impeller type engine
OwnerDelbert W. Pileinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An impeller type engine is disclosed which includes two cover members joined to form a housing, two cam members disposed in the housing facing each other to form a sinuous track of uniform width, a shuttle slidably disposed in the track, an impeller to carry the shuttle as it slides in the track, and means for introducing and igniting a fuel charge and discharging the combustion by-products.
Claims22
In an impeller driven engine, the combination comprising:
- two oppositely disposed wall members adapted to move in concert with each other;
- cam means cooperating with said wall members to form a tunnel, said cam means being stationary with respect to said wall members and including two oppositely disposed cam surfaces equally spaced from each other so as to impart a uniform width to said tunnel and spacially disposed on a curving path so as to impart a serpentine configuration to said tunnel;
- impeller means having a web rigidly linking said wall members and dividing said tunnel into individual compartments, said web being located between said cam surfaces on a straight line projecting coextensively with portions thereof so that said compartments alternate with each other in over-lapping relationship on opposite sides of said web and being apertured by at least one elongated slot extending in a direction perpendicular to said line so as to alternately communicate with said compartments as said impeller means moves;
- carrier means for transporting said impeller means along said line;
- first shuttle means for sequentially sweeping through said compartments in response to movement of said impeller means, said first shuttle means being slidably mounted to reciprocate in said slot and having its periphery in continuous contact with both of said wall members and said cam surfaces so as to form a seal therewith and to divide each compartment into two individual chambers as its sweeps therethrough whereby gaseous material in the chamber ahead of said moving first shuttle means will be compressed and gaseous material in the chamber behind said first shuttle means will be expanded:
- means for selectively charging compartments with an explosive gaseous mixture, detonating said gaseous mixture and discharging compartments to exhaust the by-products of said gaseous mixture after it has exploded, and
- port means for conducting a gaseous mixture compressed in a compression chamber located on one side of said first shuttle means into a combustion chamber located on the other side of said first shuttle means, said port means comprising a passage passing through said web for transitionally connecting said compression and combustion chambers and being wholly contained within said impeller means whereby said passage moves with said impeller and a gaseous mixture compressed in said compression chamber will expand into said combustion chamber when the two are connected by said passage.
4 more elements
In an impeller driven engine, the combination comprising:
- first cam means having a plurality of lands and grooves arranged in a symetrical pattern;
- second cam means having similar lands and grooves arranged in a pattern identical to the pattern on said first cam means and being oriented so that lands and grooves on both cam means cooperate to form a curvilinear shuttle track of uniform width;
- impeller means having a web interposed between said first and second cam means in contact with the lands on both and moveably disposed in said shuttle track, said web being perforated by a slot extending perpendicularly to the surface of said land;
- cover means for establishing discrete compartments in said shuttle track by enclosing portions thereof which lie between said web and the grooves in said first and second cam means, said cover means being rigidly attached to said web so as to move in concert with said impeller means and including a pair of oppositely disposed parallel grooves communicating with said slot;
- carrier means for transporting said impeller means along said shuttle track;
- shuttle means slidably disposed in said slot and grooves and embracing in continuous peripheral contact said first and second cam means to form a seal therewith as said impeller means moves whereby each compartment is divided into a compression chamber and an expansion chamber as said shuttle means passes therethrough;
- means for selectively charging compartments with an explosive gaseous mixture, detonating said gaseous mixture and forcibly purging said compartments to exhaust the by-products of the explosion of said mixture, and
- port means for transitionally linking a compression chamber located on one side of said shuttle means with an expansion chamber located on the other side of said shuttle means, said port means being wholly contained within said impeller means and including a passage extending through said web whereby said port means moves with said impeller and a gaseous mixture compressed in said compression chamber will expand into said expansion chamber when the two are connected by said port means.
5 more elements
In a rotary engine, the combination comprising:
- a circular rotor having a hub joined to a shaft, a pair of annular flanges and a central web joining said flanges to said hub so as to form first and second concentric annular channels oriented in opposite registration with each other;
- a first side cover slidably engaging the periphery of said first channel and having a plurality of lands and grooves disposed on its inside face in a symetrical annular pattern to form a first cam surface, said first cam surface being located in registration with said first channel so that lands therein are in contact with said web and grooves therein are spaced from said web to form a series of compartments;
- a second side cover slidably engaging the periphery of said second channel and having a plurality of lands and grooves disposed on its inside face to form a second cam surface identical to said first cam surface, said second cam surface being located in registration with said second channel so that lands thereon are in contact with said web and said grooves therein are spaced from said web to form a series of compartments, said first and second cam surfaces cooperating with each other and said first and second channels to form an enclosed first shuttle track of uniform width;
- first shuttle means projecting through said web and slidably mounted in a set of opposed slots extending from one channel to the other, said first shuttle means having a length equal to the width of said first shuttle track so as to form a seal with said first and second chambers and cam surfaces and form a sealed compression chamber in one compartment and a sealed vacuum chamber in a second compartment as it passes simultaneously through said compartments in response to rotation of said rotor;
- means for selectively charging compartments with an explosive gaseous mixture, detonating said mixture and forcibly purging said compartments to exhaust by-products of the explosion of said mixture, and
- port means for transitionally extending a passage between a sealed compression chamber located on one side of said first shuttle means and a sealed vacuum chamber located on the other side of said first shuttle means, said port means being wholly contained within said rotor and including a passage extending through said web whereby said port means will move with said rotor and a gaseous mixture compressed in said compression chamber will expand into said vacuum chamber when the two are connected by said port means and said port means having a configuration adapted to delay communication between said compression chamber and said vacuum chamber during rotor movement whereby a low pressure will develop in said vacuum chamber and thereby facilitate transfer of said gaseous mixture through said port means.
3 more elements
A shuttle type engine having opposed cams oriented to form a curvilinear shuttle track of uniform width between the cam working surfaces, cover means slidably engaging said cams and enclosing said shuttle track to form a tunnel, an impeller dividing said tunnel into compartments and a shuttle carried along said shuttle track by said impeller and adapted to divide each compartment into a compression and expansion chamber as it passes therethrough CHARACTERIZED IN THAT said cover means includes a pair of opposed grooves aligned in registration with the long dimension of said shuttle, the longitudinal edges of said shuttles are slidably engaged within said grooves and the ends of said shuttle are notched to embrace said cams.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.