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US 5,140,953 AGranted
Dual displacement and expansion charge limited regenerative cam engine
OwnerHenrik C. Fogelberginventor
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OwnerHenrik C. Fogelberginventor
Estimating the term…
A combination, in a supercharged expansible chamber engine having at least one cam driven piston, of a piston drive cam profile that alternately drives the piston to a higher or lower top dead center TDC position producing different expansion ratios, of a valve cam drive arrangement that shifts firing position between the two TDC positions selecting an expansion ratio, of a continously variable charge volume limiting system that controls the charge by controlling intake valve open duration eliminating throttling losses, of a control system that limits the maximum charge volume or intake displacement in accordance with the firing TDC and the supercharged pressure thereby avoiding pre-ignition firing and allowing supercharger compression to replace cylinder compression instead of adding to it, comprising: a piston drive cam (18) with two TDC positions that differ in height; a planetarily mounted bevel gear (68) whose position is rotated to change the angular relationship of valve cam (58) to main drive shaft (54); a cam driven hydraulically operated valve system that allows intake valve (48) to close, when cam follower (24) is driven by valve cam (58) to the continously adjustable position of release controller (36) where, follower annulus (26) overlaps controller annulus (30) and the fluid supporting valve lifter (50) is released; a control system (164) that limits the maximum open duration of intake valve (48) in accordance with the selected TDC, supercharged pressure and accelerator demand.
An expansible chamber engine having at least one cylinder, said cylinder having a piston, said piston defining in part a clearance volume at top dead center, said clearance volume continously alternating between a maximum and a minimum clearance volume, said cylinder having a functional cycle following the piston top dead center position, said functional cycle being shiftable to follow each of the maximum and minimum clearance volumes.
A hydraulic valve control system for an expansible chamber engine having a valve, said valve being biased towards closure, a valve cam, a cam follower being axially displaceable along a longitudinal axis, said cam follower having a path defining edge, said edge coming into communication with an exit port thereby defining a flowpath, the position of said exit port being variable along the length of said longitudinal axis.
A method of performing a functional cycle with a valve cam system for an expansible chamber engine having a valve, a cam follower following the valve cam, drivetrain means effecting opening of said valve in response to said valve cam, said drivetrain means including the step of closing said valve before the return of said cam follower to a quiescent position, and the further step of returning said cam follower to said quiescent position, at a period of time after the latest time when said valve closes under normal operating conditions for said engine.
A method of operating an expansible chamber engine having at least one cylinder, said cylinder having a piston, said piston defining in part a clearance volume at top dead center, said clearance volume being one of a continous series of clearance volumes, said cylinder having a functional cycle following the piston top dead center position, comprising the step of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.