Opposed-piston engine having a single crankshaft coupled to the opposed pistons by linkages with pivoted rocker arms
AssigneeAchates Power, Inc.
InventorKevin B. Fuqua
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An opposed-piston engine with a single crankshaft has a rocker-type linkage coupling the crankshaft to the pistons that utilizes a rotatable pivot rocker arm with full-contact plain bearings. A rocker-type linkage utilizes a rotatable pivot bearing with an eccentric aspect to vary translation of piston linkage along the axial direction of a cylinder, which shifts the top dead center (TDC) and bottom dead center (BDC) locations of a piston so as to change the volume of charge air compressed during the power stroke.
Claims20
An opposed-piston engine including at least one cylinder, a pair of pistons disposed in opposition to one another in a bore of the cylinder, and linkages for coupling the opposed pistons to a crankshaft, in which each linkage has a pivoted rocker arm with an eccentric pivot bearing with which the rocker arm pivots on a fixed pivot shaft and an end for coupling to a piston rod, the end including a piston bearing seat defining a substantially cylindrical shape, and the piston bearing seat includes a central half-cylindrical cutout forming a gap between two rings, a continuous half-cylindrical portion joining the two rings, and a bushing seated in the half-cylindrical portion.
An internal combustion engine including at least one cylinder with longitudinally-separated exhaust and intake ports, a pair of pistons disposed in opposition to one another in a bore of the cylinder, and linkages for coupling the opposed pistons to a crankshaft, in which each linkage has a pivoted rocker arm with a first end for coupling to an end of a piston rod, a second end for coupling to an end of a connecting rod, an eccentric pivot bearing with which the rocker arm pivots on a fixed pivot shaft, each of the first and second ends including a bearing seat defining a substantially cylindrical shape with a rotation axis that is substantially perpendicular to an elongate extent of the rocker arm, each bearing seat including a central half-cylindrical cutout forming a gap between two rings and a continuous half-cylindrical portion joining the two rings, in which the cutout lies on one side of the rocker arm and engages an end of a piston rod or a connecting rod, and an elongate trough runs in the side from the cutout toward a midpoint of the rocker arm.
A linkage for coupling a piston to a crankshaft, including a fixed pivot shaft, a rocker arm with longitudinally spaced-apart ends and an eccentric pivot bearing between the ends that pivotally mounts the rocker arm to the pivot shaft, in which the rocker arm has a first end for coupling to an end of a piston rod and a second end for coupling to an end of a connecting rod, each of the first and second ends including a bearing seat defining a substantially cylindrical shape with a rotation axis that is substantially perpendicular to an elongate extent of the rocker arm, the bearing seat including a central half-cylindrical cutout forming a gap between two rings, a continuous half-cylindrical portion joining the two rings and a bushing seated in the half-cylindrical portion, the rocker arm further including an elongate trough running in the side from the cutout toward a midpoint of the rocker arm, wherein the cutout lies on one side of the rocker arm and engages an end of a piston rod or a connecting rod.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.