Heat engine
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Institute of Health
InventorsJack E. Noble, Peter Riggle, Stuart G. Emigh, William R. Martini
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A regenerative heat engine designed to produce power for the operation of equipment such as an artificial heart is disclosed. The heat engine includes a temperature control heat pipe located around the periphery of the engine cylinder and a temperature distribution heat pipe located around the periphery of the heat source. A flywheel and bellows seal is included as part of the displacer piston drive, and a flexure support is positioned on the hot end of the displacer piston to allow the piston to move longitudinally while restricting lateral motion.
Claims2
In a heat engine operating on a regenerative cycle and having a cylinder, the end portions of which define, respectively, a hot chamber and a cold chamber, a regenerator and a displacer piston, the end portions of which respectively extend into the hot and cold chamber, the improvement comprising a flexure support for the hot end of the displacer piston, said flexure support operating to allow the displacer piston to move longitudinally while restricting lateral motion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.