Variable compression ratio control

Claim 1

In a four cycle engine that includes a crankshaft having a plural number of main shaft sections defining the crankshaft rotational axis and a plural number of crank arms defining orbital shaft sections, a plural number of combustion cylinders, a movable piston within each cylinder, each said cylinder and its associated piston defining a combustion chamber, a connecting rod connecting each piston to an orbital shaft section of the crankshaft, and a plural number of stationary support walls spaced along the crankshaft axis for absorbing crankshaft forces: the improvement comprising means for adjustably supporting the crankshaft on the stationary walls such that the crankshaft rotational axis is adjustable along the piston-cylinder axis for the purpose of varying a resulting engine compression ratio; said adjustable support means comprising a circular cavity in each stationary wall, a circular disk swivably seated in each cavity, each circular disk having a circular opening therethrough eccentric to the disk center; said crankshaft being arranged so that respective ones of its main shaft sections are located within respective ones of the circular openings; means for rotating each circular disk around its center so that the main shaft sections of the crankshaft are adjusted toward and away from the combustion chamber; a pinion gear on an output end of the crankshaft in axial alignment with and positioned beyond the respective ones of the main shaft sections, and a rotary output gear located about and engaged with teeth extending from the pinion gear; said output gear being mounted on an axis coincident with the common centers of the aforementioned disks, whereby adjusting motions of the disks around their centers have no disturbing effect on gear mesh action.