Internal combustion engine and operating cycle

An internal combustion engine comprising, in combination, a hollow cylindrical stator including bearing plates located at each end thereof and a common cylinder head located intermediate the ends thereof to thereby define a first and second cylindrical chambers therein;

• ignition means located in said cylinder head;
• fuel and air inlet means and exhaust means located in said common cylinder head;
• first and second rotor members respectively disposed within said first and second stator chambers;
• means for journalling said rotors for rotation within the respective stator chambers;
• a cam ring for each said rotor mounted at one end of each of said stator chambers;
• said rotor means each comprising means defining a plurality of cylindrical bores having the axes thereof parallel to the axis of that rotor and disposed annularly around the axis of that rotor;
• a piston disposed for reciprocal motion in each of said bores of each of said rotors;
• means for operatively connecting said pistons of each rotor to the profile of the respective cam ring such that rotation of said rotors causes rotation of said connecting means around said cam ring profile to thereby control the reciprocal motion of said pistons within said bores;
• and a common combustion chamber formed in said common cylinder head so as to brought into operative axial alignment with successive ones of the bores in both of said rotors during the rotation of said rotors, said common combustion chamber extending through said cylinder head with the axis thereof parallel to the axes of said rotors to provide direct permanent communication from one side thereof to the other and communicating with opposing bores of said rotors when brought to axial alignment therewith so as to provide simultaneous, common combustion between the pistons of said opposing bores, said common combustion chamber being operatively connected to said ignition means and being of such radial extent as to at least intermittently overlap two adjacent bores during rotation of said rotor thereby providing continuous combustion said air inlet means and said exhaust means being sequentially and operatively connected to said opposing bores from said common cylinder head.