Ringless piston engine
AssigneeSouthwest Research Institute
InventorCharles D. Wood
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An non-lubricated, ringless piston engine without a conventional heat exchange system having a cross-head guide for guiding and restraining the piston within a cylinder of a two-stroke engine. The piston-bore radial clearance gap is maintained during engine operation by means of a capacitance sensor controlling a temperature equilibrium flow system within the piston head and the cylinder jacket. The engine operates at high speeds to minimize horsepower losses due to gas leakage, while benefiting from reduced friction losses resulting from absence of piston rings. Blowing gases are collected and returned to the combustion chamber from a pumping chamber formed beneath the piston and above the cross-head guide.
Claims5
A internal combustion engine without conventional means for transferring heat to the surrounding atmosphere comprising:
- a. means for introducing a fuel and air mixture into a cylinder of said engine;
- b. a non-lubricated, ringless piston connected to a first end of a piston rod and dispositioned to reciprocate within said cylinder, said piston and piston rod guided within and substantially restrained from contacting an inner wall of said cylinder by a cross-head guide, an intermediate section of said piston rod passing through a sealed opening in said cross-head guide, said cross-head guide further separating and isolating said cylinder from a crankcase oil sump of said engine, said cylinder having a pumping chamber formed beneath said piston, said pumping chamber in fluid communication with a combustion chamber above said piston through a transfer port;
- c. means for translating reciprocating motion of said piston to rotational motion of an output shaft;
- d. means for causing combustion of said fuel and air mixture within said cylinder during a combustion cycle of said engine;
- and
- e. a means for exhausting exhaust products of said combustion cycle during an exhaust cycle of said engine.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.