Internal combustion engine and operating cycle therefor

An internal combustion engine, comprising:

• block means having at least a first and second cylinder formed therein;
• a first piston located in said first cylinder for controlled reciprocating motion and a second piston located in said second cylinder for controlled reciprocating motion;
• passageway means connected between said first and second cylinders to permit communication therebetween;
• valve means operable between an open position and a closed position between said first and second cylinders;
• control means connected to said first and second pistons for causing reciprocating motion thereof by causing each piston to advance in its respective cylinder to respective advance positions and to retract to respective retracted positions;
• introducing means for introducing air only into said second cylinder and for introducing a predetermined ratio of air and fuel in said first cylinder, said control means causing said first piston to advance toward its advanced position to compress the air and fuel mixture in said first cylinder to a predetermined pressure less than that which would effect ignition and causing said second piston to advance toward its advanced position to compress the air therein to a predetermined pressure sufficient to raise the temperature of the air therein to a temperature greater than the self-ignition temperature of the compressed air-fuel mixture in said first chamber;
• actuator means connected to said valve means for closing said valve means during the compression of the air in said second cylinder and the air and fuel in said first cylinder and for the opening thereof at a predetermined time to cause the so-compressed air which is at a temperature above the ignition temperature of the air/fuel charge from said second chamber to enter the compressed air and fuel mixture of said first chamber to cause ignition thereof;
• said pistons retracting in response to the formation of combustion products from said so-ignited air-fuel mixture;
• and
• exhaust means for exhausting the combustion products of the so-ignited air-fuel mixture after retraction of said pistons.

An internal combustion engine, comprising:

• block means having a plurality of cylinders formed therein and aligned parallel to and spaced from a central longitudinally extending axis;
• a piston pair, having first and second pistons, located in each of said cylinders for controlled reciprocating motion toward an advanced position and away therefrom to a retracted position;
• valve means located in each of said cylinders between said respective first and second pistons thereof and operable between an open position permitting communication between a first chamber defined between said first piston, said cylinder, and said valve means and a second chamber defined between said second piston, said cylinder, and said valve;
• control means connected to said first and second pistons for controlling the reciprocating motion thereof by periodically causing each of said pistons to each advance to a predetermined advanced position adjacent to said valve means and permitting each of said pistons to retract away from said first predetermined position to a respective second retracted position;
• introducing means for introducing air into said second chamber when said second pistons are in a position other than said first predetermined position and for introducing an air and fuel mixture of predetermined ratio into said first chamber, said control means operative to cause said first piston to compress said fuel and air mixture in said first chamber to a first predetermined pressure less than that which would effect ignition and operative to cause said second piston to compress said air in said second cylinder to a predetermined pressure sufficient to raise the temperature thereof to a temperature above an auto-ignition temperature of the compressed air and fuel mixture;
• actuator means connected to said valve means for closing said valve means during the compression of the air in said second chamber and the air and fuel mixture in said first chamber and for opening said valve means at a predetermined time to cause the compressed air which is at a temperature above the ignition temperature of the air/fuel charge from said second chamber to enter the compressed air and fuel mixture of said first chamber to cause ignition thereof;
• said pistons retracting in response to the formation of combustion products from said so-ignited air-fuel mixture;
• and
• exhaust means for exhausting the combustion products of said ignited air and fuel mixture after retraction of said pistons.

An internal combustion engine comprising:

• first and second working pistons mounted for controlled reciprocation in first and second cylinder means to define a first compression chamber for compressing an air/fuel charge by a selected compression ratio and raising the temperature of said air/fuel charge to a temperature less than that which would effect ignition and a second compression chamber for compressing an ignition air charge by a selected compression ratio sufficient to cause the temperature of the so-compressed ignition air to rise to a temperature greater than the ignition temperature of said air/fuel charge;
• valve means operative between an opened and a closed positon and connected between said first and second compression chambers;
• and
• means for introducing said air/fuel charge into said first compression chamber and said air charge into said second compression chamber, for causing said first and second working pistons to compress their respective charges, and for opening said valve means to allow the so-compressed ignition air which is at a temperature above the ignition temperature of the fuel/air charge into the air/fuel compression chamber to effect ignition of the air/fuel charge, said first and second working pistons moving through a power stroke in response to the combustion products formed by said so-ignited air/fuel charge.