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US 4,091,769 AGranted
Non-air breathing option for an internal combustion engine
OwnerRichard J. Baldwininventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An internal combustion engine having an auxiliary monopropellant fuel supply for operation where reliance on atmospheric air for support of combustion would be undesired or not feasible. The auxiliary monopropellant fuel system includes a fuel selector valve for disconnecting supply of hydrocarbon fuel, and an air cutoff valve for closing the engine cylinder air intake.
Claims6
In an internal combustion engine comprising a piston-cylinder means having a valved air intake and valved combustion products exhaust;
- means for injecting hydrocarbon fuel into the cylinder;
- spark ignition means for igniting the air-fuel mixture in the cylinder;
- said fuel injecting means comprising a hydrocarbon fuel tank, an engine-driven fuel pump connected to said tank, a pressure-responsive injector delivering the pump output to the cylinder;
- and timing means for cyclically disconnecting the injector from the pump:
- the improvement comprising a monopropellant fuel tank;
- a monopropellant pump for delivering propellant from its tank to the aforementioned timing means;
- a fuel selectro valve having a first normal run position wherein the hydrocarbon fuel pump communicates with the hydrocarbon fuel tank, and a second emergency position wherein the propellant pump communicates with the propellant tank;
- and an air cut-off valve for closing the cylinder air intake only while the selector valve is in its emergency position.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.