GB1046504A - Rotary piston internal combustion engines or pumps - Google Patents

Abstract

1,046,504. Rotary-piston I.C. engines; jetpropulsion plant. W. HAYTER. June 5, 1963 [June 6, 1962; Sept. 19, 1962], No. 22301/63. Headings F1F and F1J. In a rotary-piston I.C. engine, the piston 19, Figs. 4 and 6 (not shown), has a circular disc-like configuration and is eccentrically mounted on a crank-pin or eccentric 26 carried by a poweroutput shaft 25 within a chamber 20 which is defined by a stationary housing 24 and has a substantially oblongo-circular profile. In operation, the piston reciprocates along a rectilinear path from one end of the chamber 20 to the other whilst it revolves about the eccentric 26, the motion of the piston being controlled by a gear-wheel 22 fixed thereto and meshing with an internally-toothed gear-wheel 23 formed in an end wall 18 of the housing. The engine operates on a two-stroke cycle, fuel-air mixture, or air alone, being drawn into a sump 21 through a port 28 and subsequently transferred to the upper side of the piston through a port 30. The spent products of combustion are ejected through a port 29. Sealing members 33 for the piston, are slidably lodged in the peripheral wall of the chamber 20, the uppermost pair of members 35 being pressure-loaded by gas in the said chamber whereas the lowermost members are spring-loaded. The piston may be filled with sodium to effect cooling thereof. In a modification of the engine, Figs. 8 and 9 (not shown), a flywheel 46 for the piston 42 serves as a rotary valve-member which controls the flow of fuel-air mixture into the sump on the lowermost side of the piston. The motion of the piston is controlled by gearing 41, 43 which similar to the gear-wheels 22, 23 in Fig. 4. The piston is sealed relative to the housing by axially-orientated sealing-strips 51, 52, or 53, 54, lodged in the peripheral wall of the housing on each side of the piston. In another modification of the engine, Fig. 10 (not shown), the piston 58 is sealed relative to the housing by radial sealing strips 60, 61 which include orifices 62 to permit transfer of the fuel-air mixture from one side of the piston to the other. In yet another modification of the engine, Fig. 11 and 12 (not shown), pairs of transfer passages 67 for the fuel-air mixture are provided in the end walls of the housing. Alternatively, the motion of the piston is controlled by mechanism comprising pins 69, 70, Figs. 15 and 16 (not shown), attached to one side face of the piston 74, and a slide-block 73 carried by the pin 70 so as to engage with a transverse slide 71 whilst the pin 69 engages with a perpendicular slide 69. In a modification of said mechanism, Fig. 13 (not shown), the block 73 is omitted, the pins 69, 70 being lodged in intersecting mutuallyperpendicular stationary guides 71. In another modification of said mechanism, Fig. 14 (not shown), the block 73 is replaced by a roller 72. Working chambers on both sides of the piston may be arranged to provide useful energy, a pump being provided to effect scavenging. The piston may be lodged in an open-ended chamber 9, Fig. 3 (not shown), formed in a rotor 10 which is situated in a stationary housing 11, fuel-air mixture being admitted to one end of said chamber whilst the piston occupies the opposite end thereof. Spent products of combustion are ejected from the chamber 9 by the incoming fuel-air mixture and serve to effect jet propulsion of e.g. an aircraft. The engine may be mounted on one end of a helicopter blade 14, Fig. 2 (not shown), air or fuel-air mixture being supplied to the engine through a duct 17 in the blade. Thrust for rotating the blade may be effected by reaction due to exhaust gases ejected through a pipe 16 or a propellor 15 driven by the engine. The engine may be modified to operate as a pump.