Reciprocating piston engine with swash plate mechanism
AssigneeFiat Auto S.p.A.
InventorAntonio Burgio di Aragona
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A reciprocating engine, in particular for motor vehicles, incorporating a drive shaft, at least one pair of opposed pistons rigidly connected together by a rod, and a swash plate mechanism incorporating a pair of rotating swash plates coupled for rotation with the drive shaft and defining an annular cavity in which at least one oscillating plate is rotatably housed. Coupling means pivotally connect each oscillating plate with at least one respective rod connecting a pair of pistons, and a hydrodynamic thrust bearing is interposed between each of the two rotating plates and the facing surface of the oscillating plate.
Claims8
In a reciprocating engine incorporating a drive shaft, at least one pair of opposed pistons with their axes parallel to that of the drive shaft, and a swash plate mechanism for converting the reciprocating straightline motion of the pistons into rotary motion of the drive shaft, the improvement wherein a respective rod rigidly interconnects the opposed pistons of the or each said pair of pistons, and said swash plate mechanism comprises:
- a rotating containing structure which includes a pair of mutually-facing rotating swash plates, said rotating containing structure being coupled for rotation with said drive shaft and defining an annular cavity which is bounded by the two said rotating plates and has a bottom inclined relative to said drive shaft,
- at least one oscillating plate housed in said annular cavity and mounted for rotation relative to said bottom of said cavity,
- coupling means for pivotally connecting said at least one oscillating plate with at least one respective said rod connecting a said pair of pistons, and
- a hydrodynamic thrust bearing interposed between each of the two said rotating plates and the corresponding facing surface of said at least one oscillating plate for the purpose of bearing the thrust conveyed to said at least one oscillating plate from the pistons through said pivotal coupling means, wherein,
- each said hydrodynamic thrust bearing incorporates a thrust block which is rigid with the corresponding said rotating plate and is formed to define a spiral channel in the surface of said block that faces towards said at least one oscillating plate, said channel spiralling outwardly in a direction counter to that in which said drive shaft is intended to rotate, each thrust bearing further including means for feeding liquid lubricant to said spiral channel of the bearing, in correspondence with the inmost turn of said channel with said spiral channel terminating in an outer annular channel to define a pressurized bed for bearing the pulsating loads imparted by said pistons to said plates.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.