Rotary valve for internal combustion engine
OwnerTerry Buelnainventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention herein is a rotary valve apparatus for a cylinder of an internal combustion engine, containing a valve housing having an internal axial bore and an opening over the combustion chamber, a circumferential bearing positioned within the bore, an axially aligned cylindrical valve body journaled in the bearings, at least one axially aligned hollow chamber in the valve body, a drive for rotating the body in correspondence to the operating strokes of the piston in the cylinder, port seals to prevent gas flow around the outer surface of the valve body, and ring seals extending around the inside of the valve housing and sealing with the outer surface of the valve body. A lip seal may also be used on the intake side of the valve. The valve is useful with both two-cycle and four-cycle engines.
Claims30
Rotary valve apparatus for a cylinder of an internal combustion engine, said cylinder having therein a piston, with said cylinder and said piston defining a combustion chamber at one end of said cylinder and said combustion chamber having an opening thereinto opposite said piston, said apparatus comprising:
- a valve housing positioned to cover said opening of said combustion chamber and having a cylindrical bore therein which has a longitudinal axis disposed perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of said cylinder, said bore having an open end in fluid communication with either the intake conduit or the exhaust conduit of said engine;
- circumferential bearing means positioned within said bore;
- a cylindrical valve body journaled in said bearings and aligned on said axis of said bore, said valve body having an open end corresponding to said open end of said bore;
- an axially aligned hollow chamber in said valve body, said open end of said bore defining one end of said hollow chamber and a second opening defining the opposite end of said hollow chamber, said hollow chamber extending longitudinally of said valve, with said second opening adapted to be aligned with said opening into said combustion chamber;
- rotative means for rotating said body within said bore, in correspondence to the operating strokes of said piston in said cylinder and at a constant speed relative to crankshaft speed, and for intermittently aligning said second opening of said hollow chamber with said opening into said combustion chamber such that gaseous material may be passed between said combustion chamber and said intake or exhaust conduit through said hollow chamber;
- port sealing means disposed in the outer surface of said valve body to prevent gas flow around said outer surface of said valve body;
- and
- ring sealing means disposed circumferentially in the inner surface of said bore at each end of said valve body and extending around said inner surface of said bore in sealing contact with the outer surface of said valve body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.