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US 5,039,290 AGranted
Rotary expander
OwnerAnthony P. Nardiinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A positive displacement single expansion steam expander engine. Cylinder heads are fixed to the wall of the engine. A rotatable power shaft assembly has a plurality of nests. Received in each of the nests is a free-floating piston (nonengaged) having lobes which allows free movement of the pistons in the nests.
Claims12
A rotary steam engine which comprises:
- a stationary sleeve having an inner surface and an outer surface and exhaust port formed in the sleeve;
- face plates each joined to an end of the sleeve;
- a power shaft rotatably received in the sleeve and extending through one of the face plates the power shaft carrying a nested assembly;
- cylinder heads having V-shaped walls secured to the inner surfaces of the sleeve located downstream of the exhaust ports with reference to the direction of rotation of the power shaft;
- virtual pistons received in the nests and adapted for movement in balanced and unbalanced modes, the pistons when in the unbalanced mode in free floating engagement in the nests;
- the pistons having lobes, the surfaces of which cooperate with the cylinder walls to define chambers;
- and means to introduce steam through the cylinder heads and into a chamber in timed sequence to effect a balanced power stroke whereby the force acting on the piston is transformed to the power shaft via the nested assembly while the piston remains balanced.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.