Means to control piston movement in relationship to crank arm rotation in an internal combustion engine

Claim 1

In an internal combustion engine having a crank arm and a piston within a cylinder, a two-piece connecting arm linkage apparatus for controlling piston movement in relation to crank arm rotation comprising: a con rod link and a crank arm link, said con rod link being substantially longer than said crank arm link; said con rod link being integrally formed with two ends, one end which is rotatably affixable to the piston with pivot pin means, the other end comprising a yolk having a base and two arms extending downward therefrom and means for linking said yoke base of said con rod link to said crank arm link using link pin means; said crank arm link comprising means disposed at one end thereof for linking said crank arm link to said yoke base of said con rod link using said link pin means and means disposed at the other end thereof for rotatably affixing said crank arm link to the crank arm; cam means affixed on said crank arm for selectively engaging surfaces on said yoke of said con rod link; and means for controlling the amount of rotation of said crank arm link about said link pin means, whereby said rotation controlling means and said yoke engaging cam means, during operation, act cooperatively to provide an effective top position for the piston within the cylinder after the crank arm affixing means has moved a predetermined amount past a top dead center position, thereby providing for fuel ignition to occur after the crank arm has passed its point of top dead center.