Control of chamber combustion and operation of a guided-vane rotary internal combustion engine

In a guided-vane rotary internal combustion engine including a housing including a body having an interior opening, one rotor assembly which is mounted within the housing opening for rotation therein about an axis, and a plurality of vane assemblies arranged about the one rotor assembly for movement radially inwardly or outwardly with respect to the rotation axis in conjunction with the rotation of the one rotor assembly within the opening of the housing body and wherein the vane assemblies separate the interior of the housing into a plurality of working chambers of the one rotor assembly within which an air/fuel mixture can be introduced during an intake cycle, compressed during a compression cycle, ignited during a combustion phase, expanded during an expansion cycle and exhausted during an exhaust cycle during each revolution of the one rotor assembly, a spark plug for igniting the air/fuel mixture within a working chamber of the plurality of working chambers of the one rotor assembly during the combustion phase and means for energizing the spark plug, the improvement comprising:

• each working chamber of the plurality of working chambers of the one rotor assembly is capable of being activated or de-activated and wherein the operation of each working chamber is independent of the activated or de-activated condition of any other working chamber of the plurality of working chambers of the one rotor assembly so that the operation of any but less than all of the working chambers of the plurality of working chambers of the one rotor assembly can be de-activated while the remaining working chambers of the plurality of working chambers of the one rotor assembly continue to operate;
• and
• means for selectively activating or de-activating the operation of at least one working chamber of the plurality of working chambers of the one rotor assembly of the engine upon the occurrence of a predetermined event so that the engine continues to operate with either all or less than all of the working chambers of the one rotor assembly undergoing a power-producing cycle during the rotation of the one rotor assembly about the rotation axis and so that the engine is not shut off by the de-activation of at least one but less than all of the plurality of working chambers of the one rotor assembly of the engine, wherein the means for selectively activating or de-activating includes an engine control unit which contains pre-programmed information relating to the operating characteristics of the engine under pre-selected conditions for identifying how many and which working chambers of the plurality of working chambers of the one rotor assembly are to be selectively de-activated during engine operation, and
• the means for selectively activating or de-activating the operation of at least one working chamber of the plurality of working chambers of the one rotor assembly includes a sensor for sensing a characteristic of the engine operation or the disposition of an engine component which is indicative of a condition at which the output power of the engine can be reduced or is indicative of a condition at which the output power of the engine can be increased
• so that upon sensing of said characteristic, the output of the engine is altered, by way of the engine control unit, by activating or de-activating selective ones of the working chambers of the plurality of working chambers of the one rotor assembly of the engine, and
• wherein the de-activating of the operation of at least one working chamber of the plurality of working chambers of the one rotor assembly does not immobilize a component of the one rotor assembly of the engine during operation of the engine.

In a guided-vane rotary internal combustion engine including a housing including a body having an interior opening, one rotor assembly which is mounted within the housing opening for rotation therein about an axis, and a plurality of vane assemblies arranged about the one rotor assembly for movement radially inwardly or outwardly with respect to the rotation axis in conjunction with the rotation of the one rotor assembly within the opening of the housing body and wherein the vane assemblies separate the interior opening of the housing into a plurality of working chambers within which an air/fuel mixture can be introduced during an intake cycle, compressed during a compression cycle, ignited during a combustion phase, expanded during an expansion cycle and exhausted during an exhaust cycle during each revolution of the one rotor assembly, the improvement comprising:

• the one rotor assembly includes a plurality of sectors wherein each sector is disposed between adjacent pairs of vane assemblies arranged about the one rotor assembly and each sector includes a body having a radially-outwardly facing outer surface so that each sector and the radially-outwardly facing surface thereof rotates with the remainder of the one rotor assembly and relative to the housing body about the rotation axis, and
• a plurality of spark plugs wherein each spark plug is mounted within the radially outwardly-facing surface of a corresponding sector of the one rotor assembly for rotation with the corresponding sector within the interior opening of the housing body for igniting the air/fuel mixture contained within a corresponding working chamber of the plurality of working chambers of the one rotor assembly;
• means connected to the spark plugs for energizing the spark plugs as the spark plugs are rotated with the one rotor assembly about the rotation axis and wherein each working chamber of the plurality of working chambers of the one rotor assembly is capable of being activated or de-activated and wherein the operation of each working chamber is independent of the activated or de-activated condition of any other working chamber of the plurality of working chambers of the one rotor assembly so that the operation of any but less than all of the working chambers of the plurality of working chambers of the one rotor assembly can be de-activated while the remaining working chambers of the plurality of working chambers of the one rotor assembly continue to operate;
• and
• means for selectively activating or de-activating the operation of a working chamber of the plurality of working chambers of the one rotor assembly of the engine so that the engine is not shut off by the de-activation of at least one but less than all of the working chambers of the plurality of working chambers of the one rotor assembly of the engine wherein the means for selectively activating or de-activating includes an engine control unit which contains pre-programmed information relating to the operating characteristics of the engine under pre-selected conditions and information relating to the sequencing of the activated working chambers so that a balancing of the engine during operation is obtained for identifying how many and which working chambers of the plurality of working chambers of the one rotor assembly are to be selectively de-activated during engine operation
• so that the selective activating or de-activating of the operation of a working chamber of the plurality of working chambers of the one rotor assembly is coordinated with the predetermined sequencing of the activated working chambers of the plurality of working chambers of the one rotor assembly in order to achieve a balancing of the engine during operation.