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Piston thermal management in an opposed-piston engine

  • US 10,174,713 B2
  • Filed: 09/26/2016
  • Issued: 01/08/2019
  • Est. Priority Date: 04/18/2011
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. An internal combustion engine comprising:

  • at least one cylinder with longitudinally-separated exhaust and intake ports and a pair of pistons disposed in opposition to one another in a bore of the cylinder, each piston including a piston body with a crown at one end, an end surface on the crown, and a bowl formed in the end surface, in which a combustion chamber has a cavity defined between the end surface bowls when the pistons are near respective top dead center positions in the cylinder;

    wherein;

    each piston includes at least one ring groove in a piston sidewall near the crown, and a thermal resistor for reducing or blocking heat transfer from the crown to the at least one ring groove, the thermal resistor comprising;

    an annular cavity in the piston sidewall along a circumference of the piston body and positioned between the end surface and the at least one ring groove, the annular cavity having a mouth that opens through the piston sidewall; and

    a low thermal conductivity material contained in the annular cavity, in which a sleeve is seated on an outer circumferential surface of the crown with an upper flange held against a shoulder of the crown and a lower flange covering the mouth of the annular cavity, the upper flange extending in a radial direction of the piston and the lower flange extending downwardly in an axial direction of the piston.

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