Opposed piston engine with reserve power capacity
AssigneeSouthwest Research Institute
InventorsRobert Wayne Burrahm, John Craig Hedrick
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Two pistons are reciprocatively disposed in each cylinder of an engine thereby forming combustion chambers at each end of the cylinder that operate in a four-stroke cycle, and a third combustion chamber formed between the pistons that selectively operates in a two-stroke mode. The combustion chambers at the ends of the cylinders have heads in which intake and exhaust valves are disposed, and the third chamber between the pair of pistons is ported to provide scavenged flow. The third chamber is not fueled and remains inactive except when maximum power is needed.
Claims7
An internal combustion engine having at least one cylinder with spaced-apart ends, said engine comprising:
- a cylinder head disposed at each of the spaced-apart ends of the cylinder;
- a pair of pistons reciprocatively disposed in said cylinder and operatively connected to a crankshaft, each piston of said pair of pistons having a first end cooperating with one of the cylinder heads to form respective first and second combustion chambers adapted for operation in a four-stroke combustion mode, and a second end spaced from the respective first end and cooperating with each other to form a third combustion chamber therebetween adapted for selective operation in a two-stroke combustion mode.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.