Orbital internal combustion engine

A rotary power device comprising:

• at least one set of opposed cylinders having closed remote ends and open inner ends, each cylinder also having an inlet port and an exhaust port;
• a crank case rigidly interconnecting the inner ends of the cylinders and enclosing the space between the cylinders;
• a piston reciprocally mounted in each of the cylinders;
• engine mounts with a crankshaft rotatably supported by said engine mounts;
• a crank throw on said crankshaft in spaced relation to the rotational axis of the crankshaft for movement in a circular path having a center coinciding with the rotational axis of the crankshaft;
• a rigid piston rod having opposed ends rigidly connected to each of said pistons, said piston rod being journaled on said crank throw;
• bearing surfaces on the engine mounts rotatably supporting the crank case and cylinders for rotation about an axis spaced from the axis of rotation of the crankshaft and for rotation of the cylinders in the same direction as the crankshaft in a manner in which the cylinders and pistons rotate 180 degrees and the crankshaft and crank throw rotate 360 degrees;
• the crank case including an inlet manifold and outlet manifold communicating with inlet ports and exhaust ports, said pistons opening and closing said ports during reciprocation;
• an opening in each engine mount alignable with said manifolds during a portion of each rotation of the crank case and cylinders, said supports being in contact with the crank case to form a slide valve for each of said manifolds;
• and
• an ignition device at the closed end of each cylinder to ignite a compressed combustible mixture for exerting a force on the piston and a power stroke to said crankshaft continuously through the 360 degree rotation of the crankshaft as the cylinders, piston and crank case orbit about the crankshaft during a throw rotation of 360 degrees around the crank axis thereby forming an internal combustion engine with optimum use of thermal energy in the combustible mixture.