Back to results
US 6,601,547 B2Granted
Axial piston rotary power device
AssigneeNone recorded
InventorOsama M. Al-Hawaj
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Loading patent…
Loading patent…
AssigneeNone recorded
InventorOsama M. Al-Hawaj
Estimating the term…
An axial piston rotary power device has a housing enclosing a cylindrical chamber. An axially undulating guide cam is medially fixed to the inner annular wall of the chamber. A central cylindrical stator protrudes axially through the chamber from one end of the housing. The stator has lateral intake and discharge ports communicating with axial channels for conveying working fluid to and from the chamber. A rotary cylindrical block has a plurality of closed-ended cylindrical bores parallel to and spaced apart at equal angular intervals around a central bore. The block rotatably encloses the central cylindrical stator. Each closed-ended cylindrical bore has, at each end, a radially inward opening through the central bore and axially aligned with lateral ports in the central stator. A plurality of double-acting pistons are slidably received in the bores. Each piston has a medial stub shaft protruding through a slot parallel to the axis. The stub shafts have respective cam followers that engage the surrounding undulating cylindrical guide cam. The action of the cam followers on the guide cam imparts rotation to the cylindrical block when the pistons reciprocate within their respective bores. Each of the end openings alternately registers with respectively aligned intake and discharge ports as the cylinder block rotates. Various embodiments of the rotary power device, which differ in the structure of the central stator, can serve as a four-stroke internal combustion engine, a compressor, a pump, a fluid-driven motor or an expander device.
An axial piston rotary power device comprising a stator portion and a rotor portion, the rotor portion comprising a rotatable shaft extending along an axis of the device,
A four stroke internal combustion engine having an output shaft fixedly attached to a rotatable cylindrical block, wherein the cylindrical block comprises:
A two stroke internal combustion engine having an output shaft fixedly attached to a rotatable cylindrical block, wherein the cylindrical block comprises:
A pump having an input shaft fixedly attached to a rotatable cylindrical block, wherein the cylindrical block comprises:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Valve means, e.g. valve plate: cylindrical valve means
Other engines: engines with cylinder axes coaxial with, or parallel or inclined to, main-shaft axis; Engines with cylinder axes arranged…
Having cylinder axes coaxial with, or parallel or inclined to, main shaft axis: having rotary cylinder block
Valves: cylindrical
Term ended 2 Nov 2021 (estimated)
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to axial piston rotary power device having one or more pistons disposed parallel to and displaced from an axis of rotation. More particularly, the invention relates to internal combustion engines, pumps, compressors, expanders and fluid motors. It additionally relates to any two such devices that differ in a simple structural modification of a central cylindrical stationary member.
2. Background Information
FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a four-stroke rotary power device having portions of the outer housing, cams, and rotor cut away for purposes of illustration.
FIG. 2 is an isometric view of one cam element of a double-track cam assembly of the rotary device of FIG.1.
FIG. 2a is an exploded view of an alternate embodiment of a cam element wherein a cam track is incised into a stator portion.
FIGS. 1-10, illustrate the principles of this invention through its application as a four-stroke internal combustion engine. FIGS. 12-18 illustrate the principles of this invention through its operation as a two-stroke internal combustion engine. A complete reading of the disclosure will lead one skilled in the art will to understand that these same principles can be successfully employed to yield other devices such as four-stroke and two-stroke pumps, compressors, fluid-driven motors or expander devices as shown in FIGS. 11 and FIG. 19, respectively, through a simple modification or replacement of the central stationary member.
Referring to FIGS. 1-10, the depicted embodiment of the rotary power device 13 of the invention comprises a stationary housing 10 having a generally cylindrical interior. The housing, or external stator 10, preferably comprises a middle portion 12 having a generally cylindrical interior that is closed off at its ends by a front end plate 14 having a central opening 18 and a back end plate 16. The end plates 14 and 16 are preferably secured to the middle portion 12 of the stationary housing by tie rods and bolts or other known fastening means (not shown). A generally cylindrical internal stator 40 extends along an axis 89 of the device into the interior of the housing 10 from the end plate opening 18 and is fixedly attached to the back end plate 16 by bolts or other suitable fastening means (not shown). Each end plate 14,16 preferably includes a multiplicity of openings 22 for cooling and ventilation purposes, where the cooling may be supplied by either liquid or gaseous heat transfer media.
A double-track cam 30 is disposed within the cylindrical housing 10 and preferably comprises a pair of outer mating elemental tracks 32, 36 enclosing another axially offset pair of inner mating elemental tracks 34, 38. Each elemental track, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 13, is preferably formed from a cylindrical tubular element having an axially undulating guide track surface at one end. In a four stroke device the guide track surface comprises a first pair of points, at which the guide track surface is a maximum distance from the back end plate 16 and a second pair of points at which the guide track surface is a minimum distance from the back end plate 16. These minima and maxima are disposed in alternating fashion, as shown in FIG. 2. Correspondingly, in a two stroke device the guide track surface comprises exactly one maximum and exactly one minimum, as depicted in FIG. 13. In some preferred embodiments, the distance between the guide track and back plate may vary in a sinusoidal fashion comprising one or two sinusoidal cycles, for the two or four stroke device, respectively. Each tubular element is disposed in a fixed relationship to the external stator 10 and may be fixedly attached to one of the end plates 14,16, or alternatively may be fastened to the middle cylindrical housing portion 12, by bolts or other suitable fastening means (not shown). Alternatively, the cam track 30 may comprise a groove cut in the inner surface of the middle portion 12 of the stator, as depicted in FIG. 2a, in which the middle portion 12 comprises two mating halves 12a, 12b coupled by alignment rods 15 and holes 17.