Coaxial oil pump for barrel engines
AssigneeThomas Engine Company, LLC
InventorRandall R. Gaiser
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A barrel internal combustion engine includes a plurality of pistons, a drive shaft, a cam plate and an oil pump. The plurality of pistons is slidably coupled to a plurality of cylinders for reciprocal movement along axes generally parallel with a central axis. The drive shaft is rotatable about the central axis. The cam plate is coupled to the drive shaft for rotation therewith. The cam plate is operatively coupled to the pistons to cause rotation of the drive shaft about the central axis in response to the reciprocal movement of the pistons. The oil pump has a rotatable input member coupled coaxially with the drive shaft for rotation therewith about the central axis for actuating the oil pump. The oil pump may be provided in the form of a geroter.
Claims10
A barrel internal combustion engine comprising:
- a plurality of pistons slidably coupled to a plurality of cylinders for reciprocal movement along axes generally parallel with a central axis;
- a drive shaft rotatable about the central axis;
- a cam plate coupled to the drive shaft for rotation therewith, the cam plate being operatively coupled to the pistons to cause rotation of the drive shaft about the central axis in response to the reciprocal movement of the pistons;
- and
- an oil pump having a rotatable input member coupled coaxially with the drive shaft for rotation therewith about the central axis for actuating the oil pump, the oil pump having a housing including a bearing support, a bearing being disposed in the bearing support, the bearing supporting an end is a pump.
A barrel internal combustion engine comprising:
- a plurality of pistons slidably coupled to a plurality of cylinders for reciprocal movement along axes generally parallel with a central axis;
- a valve assembly controlling the intake and exhaust of gases from the plurality of cylinders;
- a cam shaft rotatable about the central axis to cause actuation of the valve assembly, the cam shaft having a first plurality of spline teeth;
- an oil pump actuated by rotation of an input member, the input member having a second plurality of spline teeth;
- a dive shaft rotatably driven about the central axis by the plurality of pistons, the drive shaft having a plurality of spline teeth formed on an end thereof, the spline teeth of the drive shaft engaging both the first and second plurality of spline teeth for actuating the cam shaft and the oil pump during rotation of the drive shaft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.