External combustion vane engine with conformable vanes

In combination:

• an external combustion engine with conformable vanes and comprising a motor member including means for comprising air and expanding combusted gas resulting from the combustion of a fuel in the compressed air,
• a combustion member for receiving compressed air from the motor member, mixing the fuel with the compressed air, igniting the mixture and burning the fuel, and delivering the combusted gas to said motor member, and
• a shaft connecting the compressing and expanding means for delivering power by means of an external drive shaft,
• the motor member further including a plurality of generally cylindrical center bodies, a plurality of generally cylindrical hollow external structures surrounding and enclosing corresponding ones of the center bodies, a plurality of flanges supporting the center bodies and hollow external structures for relative rotation therebetween about the shaft axis, each center body and corresponding hollow external structure being positioned between a corresponding pair of adjacent flanges, the external hollow structures and the center bodies having continuously curved surfaces positioned to face each other, a plurality of vane means extending between each one of two adjacent flanges at a plurality of circumferentially spaced locations from an outer facing surface of the center body to an associated inner surface of the hollow external structure to thereby define a plurality of substantially circumferentially spaced sealed spaces between the flanges and the two associated circumferential facing surfaces, each one of the vane means comprising a rigid curved vane structure having four sides and two generally parallel curved faces, two opposite sides being enabled to slide on associated flat surfaces of the flanges, one first side of the other two opposite sides being enabled to slide along said inner facing surface and the second side of the other two opposite sides being articulated by means of a cylindrical axle mounted in an associated lodging located on the outer surface of the associated center body, the radii of curvature of the vane curved faces being equal to the corresponding radii defining the center body outer surface, the vane first sliding side being constantly urged to follow the inner surface of the hollow external structure, thus rendering the vane means conformable to the shapes imposed on the sealed spaces, the curvatures and relative positions of the facing circumferential surfaces being such that some of the sealed spaces progressively decrease in volume whilst the balance of said sealed spaces progressively increase in volume as relative rotation of the facing surfaces takes place, an air inlet at the location where the decreasing volume is largest, an air outlet at the location where the decreasing volume is smallest, a combusted gas inlet at the location where the increasing volume is smallest and a combusted gas outlet at the location where the increasing volume is largest;
• and
• a plurality of air cushion bearings located between all sliding surfaces formed by the relative motions of the center bodies, the external structures, the vanes and the shaft, each air cushion being formed in a shallow cavity positioned between two closely located contiguous sliding surfaces, said cavity being defined by a first sliding surface on one side and a generally matchinglyshaped second surface on the other side, the first and second surfaces being generally parallel, the second surface being surrounded by a third narrow surface substantially orthogonal to the second and first surfaces and extending around the perimeter of the second surface and rising to a fourth surface generally parallel to the first surface and forming the other associated cooperating sliding surface, the supporting means so provided by said plurality of air cushion bearings further including:
• means for supplying and ducting pressurized air to each of said shallow cavities,
• a fixed size restricting orifice positioned in the ducting means between the air supplying means and each shallow cavity,
• means for enabling the pressurized air to leave each air cushion bearing between its corresponding two sliding surfaces for venting into the corresponding sealed spaces, and
• means for enabling two cooperating air cushion bearings to operate in opposition against two of the first surfaces, said surfaces being fixed and separated by a fixed distance, the air cushion bearings being housed in a structural member so as to be guided by and restrained between said two first surfaces in its sliding motion, said structure extending between two of the fourth surfaces separated by a distance slightly smaller than the distance separating the first two surfaces, so as to form two gap openings, each one gap being positioned between associated cooperating first and fourth sliding surfaces, one gap opening becoming automatically larger when the other gap opening becomes smaller and vice-versa,
• whereby each gap opening created by the distance separating each pair of cooperating sliding surface along a perimeter of the corresponding cavity forms a variable area restricting orifice, thereby enabling the pressure inside the cavity to vary according to said distance between the two sliding surfaces, and
• whereby a guided and restrained structural member equipped with said air cushion bearings becomes automatically centered and is maintained in said centered position between the two guiding and restraining first surfaces without solid contact being made.