Seal arrangement for rotary engines

Claim 1

In a rotary type engine including a housing, a rotary piston operably disposed in a piston chamber in the housing and cooperative therewith for forming a plurality of operating pressure chambers each alternately pressurized and depressurized in sequential order by operation of the piston, and respective seals for sealingly isolating the several chambers, particularly the chamber being pressurized, from each other and the others, respectively, during operation, each of said seals comprising: a. a seal strip slidably disposed in a slot cooperatively located relative to the housing and the piston, said slot having a closed end radially inwardly thereof and an outer open end opening to the piston chamber, one edge of said strip projecting from said open end of said slot to form a sealing relationship between the housing and the piston, and the opposite edge of said strip cooperating with said closed end of said slot to form a spring chamber adjacent thereto, b. said seal strip having formed therein a plurality of bores each having one end thereof opening to said spring chamber and the opposite ends thereof opening to the piston chamber, one half to one side of said one edge of the seal strip and the other half to the other side of said one edge of the seal strip; c. one-way check valves provided at the ends of each of said bores opening to said spring chamber; and d. spring means disposed in said spring chamber for exerting a spring force on and urging said seal strip radially outwardly from the slot to provide said sealing relationship.