Rotary internal combustion engines

Claim 2

In a rotary internal combustion engine a combination including: (a) a housing comprising a cylindrically shaped shell and two parallel end plates closing said shell, said housing having an engine block rotatably mounted therein; said end plates each having a ball bearing eccentrically mounted therein and symmetrically disposed with respect to the ball bearing in the opposite end plate; a rotor mounted within said engine block with its rotational axis parallel to the axis of the housing but spaced therefrom, said rotor comprising a multifaced core having grooves therein parallel to its faces; (b) a plurality of piston cylinders angularly spaced from each other around said rotational axis; and (c) a plurality of pistons each slidably mounted in a different one of said piston cylinders and each having an integral base member carrying an elongated groove-follower slidably nesting in the groove in the proximal face, the eccentricity of the ball bearings within the end plates determining the throw of the pistons.

Claim 3

The combination set forth in claim 1 in which the opposite surfaces of said base member are substantially normal to said rotational axis to assure proper alignment, cooperation and articulation of the associated parts of the engine.

Claim 4

The combination set forth in claim 1 with the addition of an ignition chamber exterior of said housing communicating with the interior thereof; a fuel intake port in said housing; an exhaust port in said housing angularly spaced from said intake port; a fuel-supply conduit communicating with said intake port; and means for injecting fuel into said conduit.

Claim 5

The combination set forth in claim 1 in which the rotor comprises a drive shaft extending from at least one end of said core whereby motion may be transmitted thereto and therefrom.

Claim 6

The combination described in claim 1 in which each of said plates is provided with a ball bearing whose race is coaxial with the race in the opposite end plate, the races being eccentrically disposed with respect to the axis of symmetry of the housing, the amount of eccentricity determining the length of the piston stroke.

Claim 7

The combination set forth in claim 1 with the addition of an oil supply channel extending into said rotor from one end thereof and ducts leading from said channel to said grooves and piston cylinders.

Claim 8

The combination set forth in claim 1 in which the rotor has integral end sections of reduced diameter extending through said end plates whereby the rotor is journaled in said plates, at least one of said end sections having an axial duct extending from the exterior thereof to a point within said core that is in the same plane as the recited grooves in the core that are most remote from the axial duct''s exterior end, said core having radial ducts connecting said axial duct and said grooves, centrifugal force acting to drive oil from said axial duct through said radial ducts and thence into said grooves and piston cylinders.

Claim 9

In a rotary internal combustion engine a combination including: (a) a housing comprising a cylindrically shaped shell and two parallel end plates closing said shell, said housing having an engine block rotatably mounted therein; said end plates each having a ball bearing eccentrically mounted therein and symmetrically disposed with respect to the ball bearing in the opposite end plate; a rotor mounted within said engine block with its rotational axis parallel to the axis of the housing but spaced therefrom, said rotor comprising a multifaced core having grooves therein parallel to its faces; (b) a plurality of piston cylinders angularly spaced from each other around said rotational axis; and (c) a plurality of pistons each slidably mounted in a different one of said piston cylinders and each having an integral base member carrying an elongated groove-follower slidably nesting in the groove in the particular core face to which the groove is parallel, the eccentricity of the ball bearings within the end plates determining the throw of the pistons; and instrumentalities whereby the rotational inertia of said cylinders is utilized to partially offset their centrifugal force in order to avoid frictional drag between the outer ends of said piston cylinders and the inner wall of said cylindrically shaped shell, said instrumentalities comprising counterbalancing weights pivoted on fulcrums formed in said engine block, said weights acting in response to the centrifugal force produced by their own rotation around said rotational axis to neutralize a major portion of the centrifugal force of the cylinders and thus avoid said frictional drag.

Claim 10

In a rotary internal combustion engine a combination including: (a) a housing comprising a cylindrically shaped shell and two parallel end plates closing said shell, said housing having an engine block rotatably mounted therein; said end plates each having a ball bearing eccentrically mounted therein and symmetrically disposed with respect to the ball bearing in the opposite end plate; a rotor mounted within said engine block with its rotational axis parallel to the axis of the housing but spaced therefrom, said rotor comprising a multifaced core having grooves therein parallel to its faces; (b) a plurality of piston cylinders angularly spaced from each other around said rotational axis; and (c) a plurality of pistons each slidably mounted in a different one of said piston cylinders and each having an integral base member carrying an elongated groove-follower slidably nesting in the groove in the particular core face to which the groove is parallel, the eccentricity of the ball bearings within the end plates determining the throw of the pistons; and instrumentalities whereby the rotational inertia of said cylinders is utilized to partially offset their centrifugal force in order to avoid frictional drag between the outer ends of said piston cylinders and the inner wall of said cylindrically shaped shell, said instrumentalities comprising counterbalancing weights pivoted on fulcrums formed in said engine block, said weights acting in response to the centrifugal force produced by their own rotation around said rotational axis to neutralize a major portion of the centrifugal force of the cylinders and thus avoid said frictional drag.