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US 8,474,435 B2Granted
Opposed piston, compression ignition engine with single-side mounted crankshafts and crossheads
AssigneeAchates Power, Inc.
InventorJames U. Lemke
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In an opposed piston, compression ignition engine two crankshafts are single-side mounted with respect to a row of cylinders, which is to say that the crankshafts are mounted so that their axes of rotation lie in a plane that is spaced apart from and parallel to a plane in which the axes of the cylinders lie. Each piston of the engine is coupled to one of the crankshafts by a single linkage guided by a crosshead. The piston has a piston rod affixed at one end to the piston. The other end of the piston rod is affixed to the crosshead pin. One end of a connecting rod swings on the pin and the other end is coupled to a throw on a crankshaft. Each crosshead is constrained to reciprocate between fixed guides, in alignment with the piston rod to which it is coupled.
Claims15
An opposed piston engine, comprising:
- a plurality of cylinders aligned in a row, each cylinder having intake and exhaust ports, an intake manifold near an end of the cylinder and in communication with an intake port, and an exhaust manifold near an opposing end of the cylinder and in communication with an exhaust port, and in which the cylinders are aligned such that the intake manifolds are positioned near an intake side of the engine and the exhaust manifolds are positioned near an exhaust side of the engine;
- a pair of opposed pistons slidably disposed in each cylinder;
- two crankshafts positioned to one side of the row of cylinders so that the axes of rotation of the crankshafts lie in a plane that is spaced apart from and parallel to a plane in which the longitudinal axes of the cylinders lie;
- and,
- a linkage between each piston and a respective one of the crankshafts;
- a crosshead assembly for each linkage;
- in which each crosshead assembly comprises:
- spaced-apart opposing guides;
- a pin positioned between the guides;
- and,
- spaced-apart bearings;
- each bearing including a first edge mining the pin and a second edge slidably engaging a respective guide;
- and,
- in which each linkage comprises:
- a connecting rod having a first end with two spaced-apart collars that rotatably engage a pin between spaced-apart bearings and a second end rotatably engaging a throw of a crankshaft;
- and
- a piston rod with a first end affixed to a piston and a second end affixed to the pin between the spaced-apart collars of the connecting rod.
14 more elements
An opposed piston engine, comprising:
- a plurality of cylinders aligned in a row, each cylinder having intake and exhaust ports, an intake manifold near an end of the cylinder and in communication with an intake port, and an exhaust manifold near an opposing end of the cylinder and in communication with an exhaust port, and in which the cylinders are aligned such that the intake manifolds are positioned near an intake side of the engine and the exhaust manifolds are positioned near an exhaust side of the engine;
- a pair of opposed pistons slidably disposed in each cylinder;
- two crankshafts positioned beneath the row of cylinders;
- the crankshafts having axes of rotation running in a direction that is perpendicular to a direction in which longitudinal axes of the cylinders run;
- a plurality of first linkages, each coupling a respective piston near an intake port only to a first crankshaft;
- a plurality of second linkages, each coupling a respective piston near an exhaust port only to a second crankshaft;
- and,
- a crosshead assembly for each of the first and second linkages;
- in which each crosshead assembly comprises:
- spaced-apart opposing guides;
- a pin positioned between the guides;
- and,
- spaced-apart bearings;
- each bearing including a first edge engaging the pin and a second edge slidably engaging a respective guide;
- and,
- in which each linkage comprises:
- a connecting rod having a first end with two spaced-apart collars that rotatably engage a pin between spaced-apart bearings and a second end rotatably engaging a throw of a crankshaft;
- the diameter of the connecting rod collars being greater than the diameter of the crosshead bearing collars;
- and,
- a piston rod with a first end affixed to a piston and a second end affixed to the pin between the spaced-apart collars of the connecting rod.
17 more elements
An opposed piston engine, comprising:
- a frame;
- a row of cylinders attached to the frame,
- each cylinder having intake and exhaust manifolds;
- the intake manifolds being aligned near a first edge of the row of cylinders and the exhaust manifolds being aligned near a second edge of the row of cylinders opposite the first edge;
- a pair of opposed pistons slidably disposed in each cylinder;
- bearing supports in the frame, beneath the row of cylinders;
- a pair of crankshafts received in the bearing supports;
- the axes of rotation of the crankshafts lying in a plane that is spaced apart from and parallel to a plane in which longitudinal axes of the cylinders lie;
- a plurality of first linkages, each coupling a respective piston near an intake manifold only to a first crankshaft;
- and
- a plurality of second linkages, each coupling a respective piston near an exhaust port only to a second crankshaft;
- a crosshead assembly for each linkage, each crosshead assembly comprising:
- spaced-apart guides;
- a pin positioned between the guides;
- spaced-apart bearings;
- and
- each bearing including a collar rotatably engaging the pin and an arc-shaped bearing piece extending from the periphery of the collar and engaging a surface of a first guide;
- in which each linkage comprises:
- a connecting rod having a first end with two spaced-apart collars that rotatably engage a pin between spaced-apart bearings and a second end rotatably engaging a throw of a crankshaft;
- the diameter of the connecting rod collars being greater than the diameter of the crosshead bearing collars;
- and,
- a piston rod with a first end affixed to a piston and a second end affixed to the pin between the spaced-apart collars of the connecting rod.
19 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.