Internal combustion engine having a variable engine displacement

An internal-combustion engine having a variable engine displacement comprising:

• a housing having a generally centrally located axis;
• an odd number of cylinders formed at a first end of said housing parallel to said axis and arranged in a circular array centered on said axis, said cylinders being equally spaced in said circular array and each of said cylinders being provided with a piston;
• a movable ball in said housing centered on said axis and articulated to said pistons along an equator of said ball for producing a nutational movement thereof;
• a drive shaft journaled in said ball having a shaft axis passing through the center thereof and perpendicular to the plane of said equator;
• a first output shaft journaled at a second end of said housing along said axis of said housing;
• slide means on said first output shaft engaging one end of said drive shaft for translating the nutational motion thereof to rotary motion, said plane being tiltable variably in response to the torque on said first output shaft;
• a support on said housing mounted outwardly of said ball and shiftable toward and away from said cylinders journalling said ball and provided with means for biasing said ball along the axis of said housing and positioning said ball in an equilibrium position responsive to the load on said first output shaft.