Rotary Stirling cycle machine

Claim 1

A rotary Stirling cycle machine comprising, at least two chambers, being a first chamber and a second chamber, said first chamber being epitrochoidal in cross sectional area and having an upper portion, a middle waist portion and a lower portion, said second chamber being epitrochoidal in cross sectional area and having an upper portion, a middle waist portion and a lower portion, said second chamber being mounted to said first chamber, a first seal means attached to said waist portion of said first chamber and inwardly disposed, a second seal means attached to said waist portion of said second chamber and inwardly disposed, a crankshaft rotatably mounted within said first and second chambers and extending therethrough, said crankshaft having a first crank throw portion within said first chamber and a second crank throw portion within said second chamber, said first crank throw portion being 180° out of phase with said second crank throw portion, first and second rotor elements adapted to register with said upper portions and said lower portions of said first and second chambers, respectively, said first rotor element being rotatably mounted to said first crank throw portion so that said first rotor element cyclically rotates about said first crank throw portion from a position in registration with said upper portion to a position in registration with said lower portion to return to a position in registration with said upper portion, said second rotor element being rotatably mounted to said second crank throw portion so that said second rotor element cyclically rotates about said second crank throw portion from a position in registration with said upper portion to a position in registration with said lower portion to return to a position in registration with said upper portion, said first seal means being in constant sealing engagement with said first rotor element to define a first cavity in said upper portion of said first chamber and a second cavity in said lower portion of said first chamber, said second seal means being in constant sealing engagement with said second rotor element to define a first cavity in said upper portion of said second chamber and a second cavity in said lower portion of said second chamber, and first and second heater-regenerator-cooler means to condition a working fluid through repeated Stirling cycles, said first heater-regenerator-cooler means operatively connected to said first cavities of said first and second chambers and said second heater-regenerator-cooler means operatively connected to said second cavities of said first and second chambers, said first chamber being rotatably mounted to said second chamber to permit selective variance of the angle between the longitudinal axis of said first chamber and the longitudinal axis of said second chamber for selective control of power output of said machine when said machine is operated as a prime mover.

Claim 17

The method of using a rotary Stirling cycle machine as a refrigeration machine, said machine having at least chambers being epitrochoidal in cross sectional area, two rotor elements adapted to register with the upper and lower portion of said respective chambers, a crankshaft rotatably mounted within said chambers with said rotor elements rotatably mounted to said crankshaft so that said rotor elements planetarily rotate about said crankshaft within said respective chambers and a heater-regenerator-cooler means, the steps of the method comprising, applying rotational power to said crankshaft to rotate said crankshaft and said rotor elements, and conditioning a working fluid through repeated Stirling cycles so that said heater-regenerator-cooler means operates as a refrigeration coil means and heat rejection means, rotating said first chamber with respect to said second chamber to cause selective variance of the phase angle between the longitudinal axis of said second chamber and said first chamber.

Claim 18

The method of using a rotary Stirling cycle machine as a refrigeration machine, said machine having at least chambers being epitrochoidal in cross sectional area, two rotor elements adapted to register with the upper and lower portion of said respective chambers, a crankshaft rotatably mounted within said chambers with said rotor elements rotatably mounted to said crankshaft so that said rotor elements planetarily rotate about said crankshaft within said respective chambers and a heater-regenerator-cooler means, the steps of the method comprising, applying rotational power to said crankshaft to rotate said crankshaft and said rotor elements, and conditioning a working fluid through repeated Stirling cycles so that said heater-regenerator-cooler means operates as a refrigeration coil means and heat rejection means, rotating said first chamber with respect to said second chamber to cause selective variance of the phase angle between the longitudinal axis of said second chamber and said first chamber.