Opposed piston engine with serial combustion chambers
First Claim
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1. An internal combustion engine comprising:
- a driveshaft having a first end and a second end and disposed along a driveshaft axis;
a first cam mounted on the driveshaft, the first cam having a circumferential shoulder of a first cam diameter and a first curvilinear shape with a first frequency;
a second cam mounted on the driveshaft spaced apart from the first cam, the second cam having a circumferential shoulder of a second curvilinear shape which second curvilinear shape has the same frequency as the first curvilinear shape;
a first combustion cylinder defined along a center cylinder axis, the combustion cylinder having a first end and a second end with an intake port formed in the cylinder between the first and second ends and an exhaust port formed in the cylinder between the intake port and the second end, the center cylinder axis being parallel with but spaced apart from the driveshaft axis, wherein a combustion chamber is defined within the cylinder between the two cylinder ends;
a first piston assembly disposed in the first cylinder end of the first combustion cylinder and an opposing second piston assembly disposed in the second cylinder end of the first combustion cylinder, the first piston assembly engaging the curvilinear shaped shoulder of the first cam and the second piston assembly engaging the curvilinear shaped shoulder of the second cam, each piston assembly movable between an inner dead center position in which the piston assembly is fully extended in the combustion chamber away from its corresponding cam and an outer dead center position in which the piston assembly is fully retracted in the combustion chamber away from the inner dead center position;
a second combustion cylinder having a first end and a second end, the second combustion cylinder defined along the center cylinder axis so as to be axially aligned with the first combustion cylinder;
a third piston assembly disposed in the first cylinder end of the second combustion cylinder; and
an opposing fourth piston assembly disposed in the second cylinder end of the second combustion cylinder; and
at least one fuel injector disposed adjacent the center of each combustion cylinder and in communication with a respective combustion chamber.
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Abstract
An opposed piston engine has a driveshaft with at least two combustion cylinders serially aligned along a center cylinder axis so as to be coaxial, where the center cylinder axis is parallel with but spaced apart from the driveshaft axis. A cam is disposed between adjacent combustion cylinders, as well as adjacent the outermost end of each combustion cylinder in order to reciprocatingly drive piston pairs disposed in each combustion cylinder.
51 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An internal combustion engine comprising:
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a driveshaft having a first end and a second end and disposed along a driveshaft axis; a first cam mounted on the driveshaft, the first cam having a circumferential shoulder of a first cam diameter and a first curvilinear shape with a first frequency; a second cam mounted on the driveshaft spaced apart from the first cam, the second cam having a circumferential shoulder of a second curvilinear shape which second curvilinear shape has the same frequency as the first curvilinear shape; a first combustion cylinder defined along a center cylinder axis, the combustion cylinder having a first end and a second end with an intake port formed in the cylinder between the first and second ends and an exhaust port formed in the cylinder between the intake port and the second end, the center cylinder axis being parallel with but spaced apart from the driveshaft axis, wherein a combustion chamber is defined within the cylinder between the two cylinder ends; a first piston assembly disposed in the first cylinder end of the first combustion cylinder and an opposing second piston assembly disposed in the second cylinder end of the first combustion cylinder, the first piston assembly engaging the curvilinear shaped shoulder of the first cam and the second piston assembly engaging the curvilinear shaped shoulder of the second cam, each piston assembly movable between an inner dead center position in which the piston assembly is fully extended in the combustion chamber away from its corresponding cam and an outer dead center position in which the piston assembly is fully retracted in the combustion chamber away from the inner dead center position; a second combustion cylinder having a first end and a second end, the second combustion cylinder defined along the center cylinder axis so as to be axially aligned with the first combustion cylinder; a third piston assembly disposed in the first cylinder end of the second combustion cylinder; and
an opposing fourth piston assembly disposed in the second cylinder end of the second combustion cylinder; andat least one fuel injector disposed adjacent the center of each combustion cylinder and in communication with a respective combustion chamber. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An internal combustion engine comprising:
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a driveshaft having a first end and a second end and disposed along a driveshaft axis; a first cam mounted on the driveshaft, the first cam having a circumferential shoulder of a first cam diameter and a first curvilinear shape with a first frequency; a second cam mounted on the driveshaft spaced apart from the first cam, the second cam having a circumferential shoulder of a second curvilinear shape which second curvilinear shape has the same frequency as the first curvilinear shape; a third cam mounted on the driveshaft between the first and second cams, the third cam having a circumferential shoulder of a third curvilinear shape which third curvilinear shape has the same frequency as the first and second curvilinear shapes; a first piston assembly engaging the curvilinear shaped shoulder of the first cam and a second piston assembly engaging the curvilinear shaped shoulder of the second cam, a third piston assembly engaging the curvilinear shaped shoulder of the second cam and a fourth piston assembly engaging the curvilinear shaped shoulder of the third cam, each piston assembly movable between an inner dead center position in which the piston assembly is fully extended in the combustion chamber away from its corresponding cam and an outer dead center position in which the piston assembly is fully retracted in the combustion chamber away from the inner dead center position, wherein each of the first, second, third and fourth piston assemblies are aligned axially along a piston axis that is parallel with, but spaced apart from the driveshaft axis. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17)
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14. An internal combustion engine comprising:
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a driveshaft having a first end and a second end and disposed along a driveshaft axis; a first combustion cylinder defined along a center cylinder axis, the combustion cylinder having a first end and a second end with an intake port formed in the cylinder between the first and second ends and an exhaust port formed in the cylinder between the intake port and the second end, the center cylinder axis being parallel with but spaced apart from the driveshaft axis, wherein a combustion chamber is defined within the cylinder between the two cylinder ends; a second combustion cylinder having a first end and a second end, the second combustion cylinder defined along the center cylinder axis so as to be axially aligned with the first combustion cylinder; a first cam mounted on the driveshaft adjacent the first end of the first combustion cylinder, the first cam having a circumferential shoulder of a first cam diameter and a first curvilinear shape with a first frequency; a second cam mounted on the driveshaft adjacent the second end of the first combustion cylinder and the first end of the second combustion cylinder, the second cam having a circumferential shoulder of a second curvilinear shape which second curvilinear shape has the same frequency as the first curvilinear shape; a third cam mounted on the driveshaft adjacent the second end of the second combustion cylinder, the third cam having a circumferential shoulder of a third curvilinear shape which third curvilinear shape has the same frequency as the first and second curvilinear shapes; a first piston assembly disposed in the first cylinder end of the first combustion cylinder and an opposing second piston assembly disposed in the second cylinder end of the first combustion cylinder; a third piston assembly disposed in the first cylinder end of the second combustion cylinder; and
an opposing fourth piston assembly disposed in the second cylinder end of the second combustion cylinder.
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18. An internal combustion engine comprising:
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a driveshaft having a first end and a second end and disposed along a driveshaft axis; and at least two combustion cylinders defined along a center cylinder axis so as to be axially aligned with one another along the center cylinder axis, each the combustion cylinder having a first end and a second end with a reciprocal piston disposed in each end of each combustion cylinder, the center cylinder axis being parallel with but spaced apart from the driveshaft axis. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification