Rotary valve internal combustion engine

A rotary valve internal combustion engine comprising:

• a piston connected to a crankshaft and reciprocatable in a cylinder, the cylinder having a combustion end;
• a combustion chamber being defined in part by the piston and the combustion end of the cylinder,
• a valve housing fixed at an outer portion of the combustion end of the cylinder and defining a bore, and
• a rotary valve rotatable about a rotary valve axis with a close sliding fit in the bore in the valve housing, the rotary valve having a hollow valve body having an interior volume forming a part of the combustion chamber wherein the interior volume of the hollow valve body is subjected to combustion gases throughout the combustion process, and further having in a wall part thereof a port giving, during rotation of the valve, fluid communication successively to and from the combustion chamber via inlet and exhaust ports in the valve housing,
• wherein the base material of both the valve body and valve housing is aluminium, a sealing function being carried out between a surface of the main body of the rotary valve and a contiguous surface of the bore in the valve housing,
• wherein the sealing function is carried out between the surface of the body of the rotary valve and the surface of the valve housing only, there being no additional sealing devices incorporated between the rotary valve and the valve housing.