Free piston engine with electrical power output

A free piston internal combustion engine, comprising:

• a housing defining each of a combustion cylinder and a generator/motor cylinder;
• a piston reciprocally disposed within said combustion cylinder;
• a piston rod coupled with said piston;
• a linear electric generator/motor located within said housing, said linear electric generator/motor including at least one magnet carried by said piston rod and at least one coil positioned in association with said at least one magnet, said piston rod and said at least one magnet carried thereby reciprocally disposed within said generator/motor cylinder;
• a battery;
• and
• an electrical circuit coupled with each of said at least one coil and said battery to selectively supply current from said battery to said at least one coil and from said at least one coil to said battery.

A method of operating a free piston internal combustion engine, comprising the steps of:

• providing a housing defining each of a combustion cylinder and a generator/motor cylinder;
• providing a piston reciprocally disposed within said combustion cylinder and a piston rod coupled with said piston;
• providing a linear electric generator/motor within said housing, said linear electric generator/motor including at least one magnet carried by said piston rod and at least one coil positioned in association with said at least one magnet, said piston rod and said at least one magnet carried thereby reciprocally movable within said generator/motor cylinder;
• providing a battery and a capacitor,
• coupling said at least one coil with at least one of said battery and said capacitor to move said piston during a compression stroke of said piston by supplying current from at least one of said battery and said capacitor to said coil;
• and
• coupling said at least one coil with said capacitor during an expansion stroke of said piston and supplying current from said at least one coil to said capacitor.