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US 4,322,950 AGranted
Combined internal combustion and steam engine
OwnerMarshall P. Jepseninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
My invention relates to internal combustion engines that are intermittently operated as steam engines with the changeover from one phase to the other controlled by the heat of the metal of the engine in the region of the combustion.
Claims5
An internal combustion engine that operates on alternating internal combustion and steam phases comprising:
- (a) metal defining a combustion chamber and a working chamber.
- (b) a piston reciprocable within the working chamber;
- (c) means for introducing fuel into the combustion chamber;
- (d) means for introducing water into the combustion chamber;
- (e) means for selectively actuating the fuel-introducing means or the water-introducing means;
- (f) and a sensor for sensing the heat of the metal and connected to the selectively actuating means to actuate either the water-introducing means or the fuel-introducing means, whereby the engine may be operated automatically as a steam engine when the heat of the metal exceeds a predetermined temperature and may be operated as an internal combustion engine when the temperature of the metal is below a preselected minimum.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.