Rotary engine oil metering pump

Claim 1

A rotary engine having gas seals, an output shaft and a throttle, an oil metering pump comprising a pump body having a bore, a pump shaft rotatably mounted in said bore, means drivingly connecting said output shaft to rotate said pump shaft, said pump shaft having a central axially extending cylinder in one end thereof, a plunger mounted in said cylinder, said plunger and said cylinder cooperatively defining a chamber in said pump shaft whose volume varies when said plunger is reciprocated in opposite expanding and contracting directions, an inlet port in said pump body opening through said bore for supplying oil to said chamber, an outlet port in said pump body opening through said bore for delivering oil from said chamber to lubricate said gas seals, a timing port in said pump shaft for alternately connecting said inlet port and said outlet port to said chamber during each revolution of said pump shaft, plunger biasing means comprising a lever pivotally mounted on said pump body and engageable with said plunger and a spring acting on said lever for biasing said plunger to stroke in said plunger contracting direction to decrease chamber volume, said pump shaft on said one end having an annular cam about said cylinder for moving said lever against the bias of said spring to a plunger limiting position during each revolution of said pump shaft to permit said plunger to stroke in said expansion direction to but not past a non-variable maximum expanded position determined by engagement of said plunger with said plunger biasing means to thereby determine a non-variable maximum chamber volume condition, said pump shaft cam having maximum and minimum lift heights angularly spaced with respect to said timing port and the direction of pump shaft rotation so that said timing port connects said inlet port and said chamber when said plunger is moving in said expanding direction and connects said outlet port and said chamber when said plunger is moving in said contracting direction, a throttle controlled cam mounted in said pump body for engaging said lever to prevent said spring biased lever from biasing said plunger in said contracting direction past a variable maximum contracted position that varies in distance from said non-variable maximum expanded position as said throttle controlled cam is turned, and means operatively connecting said throttle to turn said throttle controlled cam to increase the distance between said variable maximum contracted position and said non-variable maximum contracted position as said throttle is opened and thereby increase plunger stroke and volumetric displacement with increasing throttle opening whereby oil is metered from said inlet port to said outlet port for gas seal lubrication at a rate which increases with increasing output shaft speed and increasing throttle opening.