Axial piston rotary engine

A rotary internal combustion engine of the type having pistons mounted for reciprocatory movement in respective cylinders which are arranged in equally-spaced relationship around a longitudinal axis of rotation, said axis being the axis of rotation of an output shaft passing rotatably through an aperture of a first or drive end plate of two opposed end plates of a housing within which the pistons and cylinders move as part of a rotatable rotor assembly secured to said output shaft, while the pistons are simultaneously movable reciprocably in the cylinders, cam follower means being associated with each piston and adapted to coact with undulating cam track means around the housing, means being provided for conveying combustible fuel to, and for conveying exhaust gases from the operative ends of the bores of the cylinders whereby cyclical combustion of said fuel in said bores imparts reciprocation to the pistons with resultant thrust against the cam track means so as to cause rotation of the rotor assembly and output shaft, the pistons including two sets thereof each having at least two pistons, the pistons of each set being spaced about the axis of rotation of the rotor assembly and output shaft and being interconnected by piston-connection means so that they move in unison, the said cam follower means and the undulating cam track means being arranged so that movement of one set of pistons in their respective cylinders is generally in the direction opposite to the direction of movement of the other set of pistons;

• characterized in that each set of pistons includes two or more pairs of pistons with the pistons of each pair being at opposite sides of the axis of rotation of the rotor assembly and output shaft and the pistons of one pair of each set are on the power stroke at the time when the pistons of another pair of the same set are on the intake stroke.

A rotary internal combustion engine of the type having pistons mounted for reciprocatory movement in respective cylinders which are arranged in equally-spaced relationship around a longitudinal axis of rotation, said axis being the axis of rotation of an output shaft passing rotatably through an aperture of a first or drive end plate of two opposed end plates of a housing within which the pistons and cylinders move as part of a rotatable rotor assembly secured to said output shaft, while the pistons are simultaneously movable reciprocably in the cylinders, cam follower means being associated with each piston and adapted to coact with undulating cam track means around the housing, means being provided for conveying combustible fuel to, and for conveying exhaust gases from the operative ends of the bores of the cylinders whereby cyclical combustion of said fuel in said bores imparts reciprocation to the pistons with resultant thrust against the cam track means so as to cause rotation of the rotor assembly and output shaft, the pistons including two sets thereof each having at least two pistons, the pistons of each set being spaced about the axis of rotation of the rotor assembly and output shaft and being interconnected by piston-connection means so that they move in unison, the cam follower means and the undulating cam track means being arranged so that movement of one set of pistons in their respective cylinders is generally in the direction opposite to the direction of movement of the other set of pistons;

• characterized in that the parts are so made and arranged that the piston cam follower means coact with the cam track means in a manner which causes movement of each set of pistons in their respective cylinders for the compression and/or exhaust strokes but not for the intake and/or power strokes.

A rotary internal combustion engine of the type having pistons mounted for reciprocatory movement in respective cylinders which are arranged in equally-spaced relationship around a longitudinal axis of rotation, said axis being the axis of rotation of an output shaft passing rotatably and sealably through apertures of respective first and second end plates of a housing within which the pistons and cylinders move as part of a rotatable rotor assembly secured to said output shaft, while the pistons are simultaneously movable reciprocably in the cylinders, cam follower means being associated with each piston and adapted to coact with undulating cam track means around the housing, means being provided for conveying combustible fuel to, and for conveying exhaust gases from the operative ends of the bores of the cylinders whereby cyclical combustion of said fuel in said bores imparts reciprocation to the pistons with resultant thrust against the cam track means so as to cause rotation of the rotor assembly and output shaft, the pistons including two sets thereof each having at least two pistons, the pistons of each set being spaced about the axis of rotation of the rotor assembly and output shaft and being interconnected by piston-connection means so that the pistons of each set move in unison, the cam follower means and the undulating cam track means being arranged so that movement of one set of pistons in their respective cylinders is generally in the direction opposite to the direction of movement of the other set of pistons;

• characterized in that the cam follower means engages only with a face of the cam track means that generally faces the respective pistons.