Two piston, concentric cylinder, alpha free piston Stirling machine
AssigneeSunPower Corporation
InventorWilliam T. Beale
Life of this patent
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AssigneeSunPower Corporation
InventorWilliam T. Beale
Estimating the term…
A two piston, free piston, alpha Stirling cycle machine has a compression piston with a cylindrical bore that is coaxial with the cylinders in which the pistons reciprocate. An expansion piston sealingly extends into both an expansion cylinder and into the cylindrical bore in the compression piston. The expansion piston has the same diameter within both the expansion cylinder and the cylindrical bore. A spring, preferably a gas spring, drivingly connects the pistons. The reciprocation of the expansion piston varies only the volume of the expansion space and the reciprocation of the compression piston varies only the volume of the compression space. The spring that drivingly connects the pistons allows the two pistons to be properly phased without a mechanical linkage so that they can operate in a thermodynamically effective phase over a range of strokes.
A free piston, alpha, two piston, concentric cylinder, Stirling cycle machine having a casing confining a working gas and comprising within the casing:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.