Unlike
that of the standard internal combustion engine , the
current ROTOBLOCKOscillating
Piston Engine*design
incorporates four pairs of pistons.
Each
of these eight pistons is alternately attached, through
twoopposed oscillating adjacent thrust discs*,
to two coaxial drive
shafts*
extending from the center of one face of the cylinder
block.
Each piston
is attached to a single disc such that four non-adjacent
pistons are rigidly affixed to the upper disc and the
remaining four to the lower disc. Each concentric shaft is
attached, respectively, to the connecting discs.
The discs, in turn, couple the motion of the oscillating
pistons to a single crankshaft, via the coaxial shafts, and a dualscotch
yoke*mechanism.
Each
piston is a segmentedtoroidal*section traveling within the
closed toroidal chamber of the rotating cylinder block. The combustion chamber is formed between each pair of pistons as the oscillating cycle continues.
The round cylinder
block containing the pistons, connecting discs and coaxial
output shafts is free to continuously rotate in a counter
clockwise direction. It is caused to revolve 90°
for every complete revolution of the rotating crankshaft.
This action is accomplished by a four-to-one ratio gear
reduction mechanism that couples these two components together.
Rotation
of the cylinder block causes a pair of intake and exhaust ports,
as well as twodiametrically
positioned*spark
plugs, to regularly appear in the intervening spaces formed
between the faces of the pistons as they oscillate backwards
and forwards between the limits of allowed travel within the
toroidal cylinder.
When in operation,
thediametrically opposed*inlet ports in the cylinder block
are supplied with a combustible fuel/air mixture through an
attached intake manifold, such that the separating opposing
piston pairs each draws in a fresh fuel/air charge mixture as the rotating
cylinder block passes through the first of four combustion cycles.
The second cycle begins
as the same piston pairs reaches their limits of
travel, reverse direction and proceed to compress
the charge mixture captured between their faces.
Compression continues until
the approaching piston faces reach their closest
point at the end of their range of travel.
The third cycle starts with
the appearance of the spark plugs in the intervening
space between the moving pistons just at the point
in the cycle when they make their closest approach
to each other.
At this juncture, timed
firing of the spark plugs ignites the compressed
charge mixture confined between the faces of each
of the two piston pairs.
The exploding fuel/air mixture is rapidly
heated and expands, thereby forcing the opposing piston pair
faces apart and, by so doing, produces the power cycle. The
force applied to the separating pistons by the expanding gas
is coupled, through the two connecting discs and coaxial drive shafts, to the scotch
yokes, which, in turn cause the continuous rotation of the crankshaft
and output shaft.
As the cylinder block continues to rotate,
the fourth cycle begins. Next, exhaust ports appear between
the piston pairs coincident with their change of direction at
the end of the power stroke. The approaching piston faces now
expel the burnt exhaust gases through the exhaust ports. This
brings to a close the final cycle of the four-cycle sequence.
The endless repetition of
these four combustion cycles produces sixteen power
strokes for each revolution of the cylinder block.
Momentum stored in the inertial
mass of the rotating cylinder block substitutes
for the action of the flywheel found in conventional
reciprocating engine designs.
This feature adds to the
simplicity the RotoblockOscillating Piston Engine, while
simultaneously, permitting extremely smooth, vibration
free operation.
Definitions
Reciprocating
Engine Technology Reciprocating internal combustion engines are based on the principle of reciprocal, linear motion of a piston within a closed end cylinder. The force of expanding gases, generated from the combustion of a fuel/air mixture introduced within the closed cylinder, acts on the piston face thereby causing the piston to be pushed toward the open end of the cylinder. A connecting rod couples this motion to a crank shaft which converts the reciprocating, linear piston motion into rotational motion. The overwhelming majority of internal combustion engines are, at present, of this type of design.
Opposed Oscillating Adjacent Thrust Discs The purpose of the opposed oscillating thrust discs is to couple the force exerted on the face of the pistons by the expanding gas in the combustion chamber, to the coaxial drive shafts.
Coaxial
Drive Shafts The drive
shafts are held in self-contained, separate containers or channels
that are responsible for the individual motions achieved.
Oscillating
Pistons The oscillating pistons each move back and forth through 22.5 degrees of axial rotation within the confines of the toroidal cylinder housing. Their mean location, however, with respect to an outside reference frame, remains fixed.
Scotch Yoke A Scotch Yoke is an ingenious mechanism, the purpose of which is to convert oscillating rotational motion into continuous, unidirectional, rotational motion together with the crank shaft.
Toroidal
Having the shape of a toroid. A toroid is a mathematical construction formed by rotating a circle of fixed radius about an axis in the plane of a circle while not cutting that circle. In layman's terms - a donut.
Diametrically
Opposed Oppositely positioned in a symmetrical pattern such that one looks like the reflection of the other.
