Cooling air distribution system for reciprocating aircraft engines
AssigneeAvco Corporation
InventorGeorge R. Schramm
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed is an improvement in aircraft engines of the opposed piston type comprising cylinders arranged side by side. Cooling efficiency is improved and both average and hot zone temperatures are decreased by an improved air distributor comprising channel and divider members. The channel member is so proportioned and arranged as to admit air in an open mouth near the unfinned portions of adjacent cylinder barrels and to divert some of the barrel zone cooling air to the heads. The divider penetrates substantially into the zone between heads and is offset so that the larger portion of diverted air goes to the hotter head zone.
Claims5
In a reciprocating engine of the type including at least two cylinders disposed side by side, each cylinder comprising a barrel and an enlarged head of bulging caplike contour, the barrel and the head being formed with groups of peripheral cooling fins,
- a cooling air distributor comprising a channel portion and a divider portion, the channel portion being formed with a runner and triangularly shaped wings transverse to the runner and terminating in flaps, the flaps being positioned closely adjacent the barrels and the runner forming an open mouth and next conforming first to the triangular wings and second to the bulging caplike head in the progression from the inner region of the barrel to the outer region of the head, the barrel-zone admitting orifices of cooling air being large with respect to the flap-barrel spacing which defines barrel-zone exit orifices, whereby part of the cooling air admitting via said open mouth and the barrel-zone admitting orifices is diverted from the barrels to the heads, the runner continuing substantially beyond the termination of the triangular wings and being formed so that its side edges are disposed to provide head-zone exit orifices that are large with respect to the head-zone admitting orifices, the divider being transverse to the channel portion and being formed with a triangular portion generally conforming to the wings and with a fin which substantially penetrates into the zone between heads.
In a reciprocating engine, the combination of a pair of juxtaposed cylinders, each cylinder comprising a barrel and a head, the barrels and heads being formed with groups of peripheral cooling fins, one of said heads having an intake port proximate to the space between them and the other of said heads having an exhaust port proximate to the space between them, and a cooling air distributor comprising a divider portion and a channel portion, the channel portion being formed and positioned in such manner as to divert cooling air from the barrels to the heads, the divider portion being transverse to the channel portion and projecting into the space between the heads and particularly into that portion of the space between said ports, the divider portion being offset relative to the channel portion toward said intake port so that the majority of the diverted air passes to the head with the proximate exhaust port.
In a reciprocating engine, the combination of:
- at least two cylinders disposed side by side, each cylinder comprising a barrel and an enlarged head of bulging caplike contour, the barrel and the head being formed with groups of peripheral cooling fins, and
- a cooling air distributor comprising a channel portion and a divider portion, the channel portion being formed with a runner and triangularly shaped wings transverse to the runner and terminating in flaps, the flaps being positioned closely adjacent the barrels and the runner forming an open mouth and next conforming first to the triangular wings and second to the bulging caplike head in the progression from the inner region of the barrel to the outer region of the head, the barrel-zone admitting orifices of cooling air being large with respect to the flap-barrel spacing which defines barrel-zone exit orifices, whereby part of the cooling air admitted via said open mouth and the barrel-zone admitting orifices is diverted from the barrels to the heads, the runner continuing substantially beyond the termination of the triangular wings and being formed so that its side edges are disposed to provide head-zone exit orifices that are large with respect to the head-zone admitting orifices, the divider being transverse to the channel portion and being formed with a triangular portion generally conforming to the wings and with a fin which substantially penetrates into the zone between heads.
A cooling air distributor for a reciprocating engine of the type including at least two horizontally positioned cylinders disposed side by side, each cylinder comprising a barrel and an enlarged head, the barrel and the head being formed with groups of peripheral cooling fins, said distributor comprising, in combination:
- a channel member and a divider member, the channel member being formed with a runner, the runner having near its one end transverse sloping wings terminating in flaps, the flaps forming acute angles with the wings and adapted to be positioned closely adjacent the barrels and the runner being adapted to form an open mouth between the flaps and being shaped to conform first by an outwardly sloping section to the wings, and second, by a flat section parallel to the cylinder axis and an inwardly sloping flat section, to conform to the head in the progression from the inner region of the barrel to the outer region of the head and toward the outer end of the runner, the runner continuing substantially beyond the termination of the wings and being formed so that side edge portions of a flat section are adapted to be positioned to provide head-zone exit orifices, the divider being positioned transverse to the channel member and being formed with a first triangular portion, which rises near one of the fin ends in conformity to the slope of the wings, and a fin portion which has a head-zone penetrating edge extending substantially into the zone between heads.
A cooling air distributor for a reciprocating engine of the type including at least two horizontally positioned cylinders disposed side by side, each cylinder comprising a barrel and a head, the barrel and the head being formed with groups of peripheral cooling fins, the cooling air-admitting orifices between heads being small compared to the air-admitting orifices between barrels, said cooling air distributor comprising, in combination:
- a channel portion and a divider portion, the channel portion being formed with a runner and the runner having near its one end triangularly shaped wings transverse to the runner and terminating in flaps, the flaps forming acute angles with the wings and adapted to be positioned closely adjacent the barrels and the runner being adapted to form an open mouth between the flaps and being shaped to conform first by an outwardly sloping section to the triangular wings and second, by a flat section parallel to the cylinder axis and then an inwardly sloping section to conform to the head in the progression from the inner region of the barrel to the outer region of the head and toward the other end of the runner, the distributor and cylinders being positioned to form barrel-zone exit orifices small with respect to the barrel-zone admitting orifices, whereby part of the cooling air admitted via said open mouth and the barrel-zone admitting orifices is diverted from the barrels to the heads, the runner continuing substantially beyond the termination of the triangular wings and being formed so that the side edges of a flat section are adapted to be positioned adjacent the heads to provide head-zone exit orifices large with respect to the head-zone admitting orifices between the heads, the divider portion being disposed transverse to the channel portion and being formed with a first triangular portion, which rises near one of the fin ends in conformity to the wings, and a second portion which has a head-zone penetrating edge extending substantially into the zone between heads.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.