US 9,086,013 B2Granted

Gerotor rotary Stirling cycle engine

OwnerEthan W Franklininventor

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Abstract

Stirling cycle engines with hot and cold gerotor sets separated by an insulation barrier. The barrier has regenerative gas passages to allow gasses to flow therethrough thus connecting displacing chambers of the hot and cold gerotor sets. Each gerotor set has a rotor within a stator and displacing chambers created in an offset space therebetween. The stators may rotate about the rotors, or vice-versa. Either the rotor of the cold gerotor set has an axis of rotation offset with respect to the rotor of the hot gerotor set or the stator of the cold gerotor set has an axis of rotation offset with respect to the stator of the hot gerotor set, and the non-offset rotors or stators rotate about a common axis and are rotationally connected and create an angular phase offset between connected hot and cold chambers. The gerotor apparatuses may be utilized for a Stirling cycle engine for generating electricity, for example.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A closed Stirling cycle power system, comprising:

a housing having a drive shaft defining a central axis;
a hot side including a hot rotor and a hot stator and hot side displacing chambers created in an offset space therebetween, the hot stator and hot side displacing chambers being fixed with respect to the housing and centered around the central axis, while the hot rotor rotates within the hot stator about a hot rotor axis offset with respect to the central axis and is connected to rotate the drive shaft, and wherein the hot rotor axis orbits around the central axis;
a cold side including a cold rotor and a cold stator and cold side displacing chambers created in an offset space therebetween, the cold stator and cold side displacing chambers being fixed with respect to the housing and centered around the central axis, while the cold rotor rotates within the cold stator about a cold rotor axis offset with respect to the central axis and is connected to rotate the drive shaft, and wherein the cold rotor axis orbits around the central axis, wherein the rotational angle of the cold rotor is out of phase with the rotational angle of the hot rotor;
and
a stationary barrier member of thermally insulating material between the hot and cold sides, the barrier member having regenerative gas passages to allow gasses to flow therethrough thus connecting the displacing chambers of the hot and cold sides, wherein
when rotary power is applied to the drive shaft the device will act as a heat pump and the hot side will get hotter and the cold side will get colder.

3 more elements

A closed Stirling cycle power system, comprising:

a housing having a drive shaft defining a central axis;
a hot gerotor set having a hot rotor with a first number of outwardly-extending lobes rotating within a stationary hot stator having a second number of recesses sized to closely receive the lobes, the first number being one less than the second number, and displacing chambers created in an offset space between the hot rotor and hot stator;
a cold gerotor set having a cold rotor with a third number of outwardly-extending lobes rotating within a stationary cold stator having a fourth number of recesses sized to closely receive the lobes, the third number being one less than the fourth number, and displacing chambers created in an offset space between the cold rotor and cold stator,
wherein the respective recesses of the cold stator and the hot stator are aligned, and the cold rotor has an axis of rotation offset with respect to the hot rotor, and wherein the cold and hot rotors are connected to rotate the drive shaft;
and
a stationary barrier member of thermally insulating material between the hot and cold gerotor sets, the barrier member having regenerative gas passages at the outward extents of the aligned hot and cold stator recesses to allow gasses to flow therethrough, wherein the displacing chambers of the hot and cold gerotor sets are connected via the regenerative gas passages, wherein
when rotary power is applied to the drive shaft the device will act as a heat pump and the hot side will get hotter and the cold side will get colder.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 13/795,632Filed 12 Mar 2013
Published: US 2014/0271308 A118 Sep 2014
Granted: 21 Jul 2015
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification18 codes

F02B 53/00
Internal-combustion aspects of rotary-piston or oscillating-piston engines
B60K 8/00
Arrangement or mounting of propulsion units not provided for in one of
F01C 1/103
Of internal-axis type with the outer member having more teeth or tooth-equivalents, e.g. rollers, than the inner member: the two members rotating…
F01C 11/004
Of similar working principle: and of complementary function, e.g. internal combustion engine with supercharger