Stirling machine
AssigneeBattelle Memorial Institute
InventorJean-Pierre Budliger
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A Stirling-cycle assembly comprises an engine with a displacer piston mounted in a cylinder and defining a compression compartment and an expansion compartment respectively of a gaseous working fluid. These compartments communicate via a heat exchanger associated with a hot source, a regenerator and a heat exchanger associated with a heat sink. The engine is coupled to a heat pump having the same structure, via a resonance tube acting as an oscillatory drive member. The displacer piston of the heat pump is associated with a return means, e.g. a rod mounted in sealing-tight relationship in a closedchamber disposed on the compression compartment side.
Claims10
A Stirling machine comprising a cylinder, a displacer piston mounted in the cylinder to define two variable-volume compartments for the compression and expansion respectively of a gaseous working fluid contained in said machine, a conduit providing communication between the compression compartment and the expansion compartment, a heat exchanger in said conduit. adapted to be associated with a hot source, a regenerator in said conduit, and a heat exchanger in said conduit adaPted to be associated with a heat sink, and an oscillatory member synchronized with said displacer piston. characterised in that the said oscillatory member is a resonance tube tuned to the frequency of the said piston, and a return means associated with the end of said piston defining the said compression compartment is provided for effecting return motion of said piston.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.