Cyclic dwell engine
AssigneeAvalon Research
InventorGeorge L. Coad
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention disclosed herein is a cyclic power mechanism including means providing for a variable dwell between cycles of the mechanism. The mechanism produces energy during each cycle and stores the energy of each cycle for consumption. The variable dwell between cycles is terminated and a new cycle is initiated upon the consumption of a preestablished portion of the stored energy. A preferred embodiment of the mechanism is a free piston engine operation on an Otto cycle. The piston of the engine is restrained after each combustion cycle as the energy of that combustion is stored for use. When a preestablished portion of the stored energy has been consumed, the piston is released and forced into another compression and combustion cycle for further storage of the combustion energy.
Claims17
A method for operating a piston engine having an engine cylinder, at least one piston means mounted for reciprocation movement in said engine cylinder, means operated by said engine piston means for extracting kinetic energy from said piston means, and means for releasably restraining said engine piston means at any position within said cylinder after said energy has been extracted, said method comprising the steps of;
- (a) forcing said engine piston means in a first direction within said engine cylinder to initiate compression within said engine cylinder,
- (b) during said compression step introducing a combustible fuel into said engine cylinder to establish conditions that will cause combustion of said mixture and impart to said piston means kinetic energy in an opposite direction to said first direction from the energy of said combustion,
- (c) extracting said energy from said pistons means until said engine piston has come to zero velocity in said opposite direction and become substantially stationary at any position within said engine cylinder,
- (d) providing a force on said piston means tending to drive said piston means in said first direction into compression,
- (e) releasably restraining said engine piston at said any position within said engine cylinder to restrain said first direction movement into compression,
- (f) releasing said releasable restraining means when at least a portion of said extracted energy has been consumed,
- (g) and intermittently repeating a series of steps (a) through (f) as further energy is demanded after consumption of said at least a portion thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.