Air purging and cooling system for internal combustion engines

Claim 1

An engine comprising: a block having at least one cylinder formed therein and defining a pair of upstanding walls, a head attached to said block to cover said cylinder, said head being substantially rectangular in cross-section with the longer dimension thereof being of the same substantial length as said block and the shorter dimension thereof being aligned and forming an extension of said upstanding walls, first chamber means formed in said block closely adjacent to said cylinder, said first chamber means circumventing said cylinder substantially long the full axial length thereof, and a piston reciprocally mounted in said cylinder and fuel injection means mounted in said head, said head further forming a second chamber means, said chamber means being substantially unobstructed whereby the fuel injection means is substantially totally exposed to a coolant passing therethrough, first passage means communicating said first and second chamber means, third chamber means formed in said block vertically below said second chamber means for receiving coolant from said first chamber means by way of said second chamber means, and combined air purging and second passage means directly communicating said second chamber means with said third chamber means and having an inlet positioned upwardly in said second chamber means for delaying direct communication of coolant, in an at least generally vertically downwardly direction, from said second chamber means to said third chamber means until said second chamber means has been at least substantially filled with coolant.