Achates Power, Inc. Patent applications |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20160138499 | EGR FOR A TWO-STROKE CYCLE ENGINE WITHOUT A SUPERCHARGER - A two-stroke cycle, turbo-driven, opposed-piston engine with one or more ported cylinders and uniflow scavenging has no supercharger. The engine includes a high pressure EGR loop and a pump in the EGR loop to boost the pressure of the recirculated exhaust products. | 05-19-2016 |
20160076468 | Air Handling Control For Opposed-Piston Engines With Uniflow Scavenging - In an air handling system of a uniflow-scavenged, two-stroke cycle opposed-piston engine, one or more engine operating state parameters are sensed, numerical values of air handling parameters based on trapped conditions in a cylinder of the engine at the last port closing of an engine operating cycle are determined in response to the sensed parameters, the numerical values are evaluated, and one or more of the numerical values is adjusted in response to the evaluation. The adjusted numerical values are used to control charge air flow and EGR flow in the air handling system. | 03-17-2016 |
20160053674 | Air Handling Control For Opposed-Piston Engines With Uniflow Scavenging - In an air handling system of a uniflow-scavenged, two-stroke cycle opposed-piston engine, one or more engine operating state parameters are sensed, numerical values of air handling parameters based on trapped conditions in a cylinder of the engine at the last port closing of an engine operating cycle are determined in response to the sensed parameters, the numerical values are evaluated, and one or more of the numerical values is adjusted in response to the evaluation. The adjusted numerical values are used to control charge air flow and EGR flow in the air handling system. | 02-25-2016 |
20160047296 | Mechanism For Varying Crankshaft Timing On A Belt/Chain Driven, Dual Crankshaft Opposed-Piston Engine - A mechanism for varying crankshaft timing on a belt/chain driven, dual crankshaft opposed-piston engine includes sprockets on corresponding ends of the two crankshafts, connected by a belt or chain which is tensioned by two or more tensioners. By changing the position of the tensioners the length of the two spans of the belt/chain are varied and thus the phase between the crankshafts is varied. | 02-18-2016 |
20160033030 | Split Gear Assembly With One-Way Roller Clutch For Controlling Backlash In Opposed-Piston Engines - Backlash is controlled in an opposed-piston engine that includes two crankshafts disposed in a parallel, spaced-apart relationship and a gear train coupling the first and second crankshafts, the gear train including a driving gear coupled to the first crankshaft and a split gear assembly engaged with the driving gear to transfer rotation from the driving gear to the split gear assembly. The split gear assembly includes first and second gears, a spring mechanism that acts to angularly offset the first gear relative to the second gear in a first direction, and a one-way clutch mechanism that prevents relative angular movement of the first gear relative to the second gear in a second direction opposite the first direction. | 02-04-2016 |
20160032861 | Opposed-Piston Engine Structure With A Split Cylinder Block - An engine structure for a multi-cylinder, opposed-piston engine includes a cylinder block with a plurality of inline cylinders. Each cylinder has ends with an outside diameter and an intermediate portion between the ends of a relatively larger outside diameter than the ends. The cylinder block includes a bearing web structure that positions bearing web elements outside of a plane that longitudinally bisects all of the cylinders. The cylinder block is split into two sections so as to permit cylinder liners to be inserted into and removed from cylinder tunnels in the cylinder block. | 02-04-2016 |
20160032824 | Exhaust Layout With Accompanying Firing Sequence For Two-Stroke Cycle, Inline, Opposed-Piston Engines - An opposed-piston engine includes an inline cylinder block with an open exhaust chamber that contains all of the engine's exhaust ports. Exhaust outlets open from the exhaust chamber through opposing sides of the cylinder block. A turbocharger is positioned on each side of the cylinder block and has an inlet closely coupled with a respective exhaust outlet. The exhaust chamber is divided into separate collector sections, each collector section containing the exhaust ports of one or more cylinders, and each turbocharger has a first inlet closely coupled with a first collector section and a second inlet closely coupled with a second collector section. The engine has a cylinder firing sequence which alternates between the cylinders in the first and second collector sections. | 02-04-2016 |
20150337728 | Open Intake and Exhaust Chamber Constructions for an Air Handling System of an Opposed-Piston Engine - An opposed-piston engine has a cylinder block with a plurality of cylinders arranged inline, with each cylinder including an intake port longitudinally separated from an exhaust port. The engine's air handling system includes open intake and exhaust chambers in the cylinder block. The open chamber constructions eliminate the need for multi-pipe manifolds and smooth the flow of charge air. | 11-26-2015 |
20150337727 | Air Handling Constructions for Opposed-Piston Engines - An opposed-piston engine has a cylinder block with a plurality of cylinders arranged inline, with each cylinder including an intake port longitudinally separated from an exhaust port. The engine is equipped with an air handling system that includes intake and exhaust chambers inside the cylinder block. All of the cylinder intake ports are contained in the intake chamber to receive charge air therein. The intake chamber includes elongated air inlets opening through opposing sides of the cylinder block. The exhaust chamber includes at least one exhaust outlet opening through a side of the cylinder block; all of the cylinder exhaust ports are contained in the exhaust chamber to discharge exhaust thereinto. | 11-26-2015 |
20150285127 | FUEL INJECTION WITH SWIRL SPRAY PATTERNS IN OPPOSED-PISTON ENGINES - In a fuel injection spray pattern for an opposed piston engine, the individual spray plumes have both radial and tangential components with respect to an injection axis ( | 10-08-2015 |
20150252715 | Piston Cooling Configuration Utilizing Lubricating Oil From Bearing Reservoir In An Opposed-Piston Engine - Pressurized lubricating oil is accumulated in the bearings of opposed pistons and accumulated oil is dispensed therefrom for bearing lubrication and also for cooling the undercrowns of the pistons by jets of oil emitted from the bearings. | 09-10-2015 |
20150219030 | Air Handling System for an Opposed-Piston Engine in which a Supercharger Provides Boost During Engine Startup and Drives EGR During Normal Engine Operation - The air handling system of a turbocharged opposed-piston engine with uniflow scavenging includes an a supercharger operable to provide boost during startup and to drive EGR during normal engine operation. | 08-06-2015 |
20150128920 | Lubricating Configuration for Maintaining Wristpin Oil Pressure in a Two-Stroke Cycle, Opposed-Piston Engine - A lubricating configuration in a two-stroke cycle, opposed-piston engine for a piston wristpin minimizes losses in oil pressure at the wristpin as the piston approaches bottom center and reduces the required oil supply pressure to the engine. The wristpin is constructed to absorb and store oil pressure energy when oil pressure at the wristpin is high, and to release that stored energy to pressurize the oil at the wristpin when connecting rod oil pressure is low. | 05-14-2015 |
20150128907 | Cold-Start Strategies for Opposed-Piston Engines - A strategy to cold-start an opposed-piston engine includes, before injecting fuel, preventing air flow through the engine while cranking the engine to heat air retained in the engine, followed by controlling mass air flow through and fuel injection into a cylinder of the engine according to cold-start schedules so as to create and preserve heat for stable engine firing and transition to an idling state of operation. | 05-14-2015 |
20150122227 | Combustion Chamber Construction with Dual Mixing Regions for Opposed-Piston Engines - A combustion chamber construction for opposed-piston engines in which fuel is injected from two opposed injectors includes a dual mixing region construction with a respective mixing region for each injector and a coupling region between the two mixing regions through which the mixing regions communicate. In some aspects, the mixing regions are bulbous and are connected by a waist, or tunnel, region that is relatively narrower than the bulbous mixing chambers. | 05-07-2015 |
20150068492 | Two Stroke,Opposed-Piston Engine With Engine Braking - In a two-stroke opposed-piston engine, a ported cylinder with a pair of opposed pistons is equipped with an engine brake including an engine braking valve that can be opened to release air from the cylinder as the pistons cycle between BDC and TDC positions. | 03-12-2015 |
20150020629 | Gear Noise Reduction in Opposed-Piston Engines - A quiet-running, multi-layer gear assembly includes a stiff center member sandwiched between a pair of outer members. At least one of the outer members is compliant; preferably, both are. The stiff center member has an outer peripheral surface with gear teeth. Each of the outer members has an outer peripheral surface with gear teeth disposed in a respective directed axial thrust pattern. The center and outer members are joined on a central hub with their outer peripheral surfaces aligned so as to form a gear assembly. | 01-22-2015 |
20150013649 | Combustion Chamber Constructions For Opposed-Piston Engines - A combustion chamber for an opposed-piston engine includes a squish zone defined between circumferential peripheral areas of opposing end surfaces of the pistons, a cavity defined by one or more bowls in the end surfaces, and at least one injection port that extends radially through the squish zone into the cavity. The cavity has a cross-sectional shape that imposes a tumbling motion on air flowing from the squish zone into the cavity. | 01-15-2015 |
20140373816 | System and Method for Air Handling Control in Opposed-Piston Engines with Uniflow Scavenging - In an air handling system of a uniflow-scavenged, two-stroke cycle opposed-piston engine, repeatable trapped mass and composition are achieved by determining provision of air handling setpoints that control operation of the engine's air handling system components. In some aspects, these setpoints govern operations of the air handling system by actively controlling the intake manifold pressure (IMP), EGR flow, and exhaust channel backpressure. | 12-25-2014 |
20140373815 | Trapped Burned Gas Fraction Control for Opposed-Piston Engines with Uniflow Scavenging - A trapped burned gas fraction is controlled in a two-stroke cycle opposed-piston engine with uniflow scavenging by adjusting an external EGR setpoint in real time. The adjusted setpoint is used to control EGR flow in the engine's air handling system. | 12-25-2014 |
20140332306 | Placement of an Opposed-Piston Engine in a Heavy-Duty Truck - An engine placement configuration for a heavy-duty truck includes a chassis having two spaced-apart frame rails running in a longitudinal direction of the chassis, between front and rear ends, and a front wheel assembly with an axle attached to the frame rails. An opposed-piston engine is supported on the frame rails and positioned between the front end and the axle. The opposed-piston engine includes a cylinder assembly with a longitudinal axis disposed between the frame rails and oriented vertically with respect to the longitudinal direction. Alternatively, the opposed-piston engine includes a row of cylinders disposed between the rails and running in the longitudinal direction. | 11-13-2014 |
20140331656 | Air Handling Constructions With Turbo-Compounding For Opposed-Piston Engines - An opposed-piston engine has an air handling system equipped with a turbo-compound system that includes a power turbine for producing a rotary output in response to a flow of exhaust gas flowing into the turbine. The rotary output is connected to a crankshaft or other rotating element of the opposed-piston engine for converting some of the exhaust gas energy into mechanical energy supplied to the crankshaft. | 11-13-2014 |
20140238360 | Rocking Journal Bearings for Two-Stroke Cycle Engines - A rocking journal bearing for a two-stroke cycle engine includes a bearing sleeve having a bearing surface with a plurality of axially-spaced, eccentrically-disposed surface segments and a rocking journal having a plurality of axially-spaced, eccentrically-disposed journal segments. The rocking journal is retained for rocking oscillation on the bearing surface. Space for receiving oil is provided in the rocking journal and oil delivery outlets acting through the journal segments deliver received oil to the bearing surfaces. | 08-28-2014 |
20140216425 | REDUCTION OF RING CLIPPING IN TWO-STROKE CYCLE ENGINES - A port for a cylinder of a two-stroke cycle engine includes at least one generally circumferential array of port openings. Port openings have a shape that reduces ring clipping during engine operation. The port opening shape is defined at a bore surface by opposing top and bottom edges joined by side edges. Each of the top and bottom edges is characterized by rounded corner transitions to the side edges, a rounded peak, and inclined ramp portions extending from the rounded corner transitions to the rounded peak. | 08-07-2014 |
20140090625 | Piston Thermal Management in an Opposed-Piston Engine - An opposed-piston engine includes pistons, each piston having an annular cavity in the piston's sidewall and positioned between its crown and ring grooves to block transfer of heat from the crown to the piston body. | 04-03-2014 |
20140083396 | Combustion Chamber Constructions for Opposed-Piston Engines - An opposed-piston engine includes a ported cylinder and a pair of pistons disposed to reciprocate in the bore of the cylinder. A combustion chamber is defined by opposing shaped piston end surfaces as the pistons approach respective top dead center (TDC) locations in the bore. At the end of scavenging, the shaped end surfaces of the pistons interact with swirl to produce turbulence in the charge air motion in the combustion chamber; the additional bulk motions include tumble. Fuel is injected into the turbulent charge air motion along a major axis, of the combustion chamber. | 03-27-2014 |
20140026864 | Cylinder and Piston Assemblies for Opposed Piston Engines - Integrated, multi-cylinder opposed engine constructions include a unitary support structure to which cylinder liners are removeably mounted and sealed and on which crankshafts are rotatably supported. The engine constructions include a cooled piston with a resiliently deformable joint connecting crown and skirt and a cooled cylinder liner with wipers to manage lubricant in the cylindrical interstice between the cylinder bore and the piston skirts. | 01-30-2014 |
20140026563 | EGR Constructions for Opposed-Piston Engines - A two-stroke, opposed-piston engine with one or more ported cylinders and uniflow scavenging includes an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) construction that provides a portion of the exhaust gasses produced by the engine for mixture with charge air to control the production of NOx during combustion. | 01-30-2014 |
20140014063 | Swirl-Conserving Combustion Chamber Construction For Opposed-Piston Engines - A combustion chamber construction for opposed-piston engines includes an elongated, bilaterally symmetrical shape referenced to a major axis and a pair of injection ports located on the major axis when the pistons are near respective top center positions. The combustion chamber is defined between a bowl in the end surface of a first piston of a pair of pistons and mirrored ridges protruding from the end surface of a second piston of the pair. Each ridge includes a central portion that curves toward a periphery of the end surface of the second piston and which transitions to flanking portions that curve away from the periphery. The ridge configuration imparts a substantially spherical configuration to a central portion of the combustion chamber where swirling motion of charge air is conserved. | 01-16-2014 |
20130213342 | Piston Crown Bowls Defining Combustion Chamber Constructions In Opposed-Piston Engines - A combustion chamber for an opposed-piston engine is defined between a pair of pistons disposed for opposing reciprocal movement in a cylinder. The combustion chamber is formed between crowns of the pistons and has a radius that decreases from the longitudinal axis of the cylinder. Each crown includes a periphery, a bowl within the periphery defining a concave surface with a first portion curving inwardly toward the interior of the piston and a second portion curving outwardly from the interior, and a convex surface within the periphery curving outwardly and meeting the second portion of the concave surface to form a ridge. Each ridge has a height that decreases with the distance from a longitudinal axis. | 08-22-2013 |
20130199503 | Opposed-piston cylinder bore constructions with solid lubrication in the top ring reversal zones - A cylinder for an opposed-piston engine is equipped with a cylinder bore that provides solid lubrication of bore/piston surface interfaces in top ring reversal zones of the cylinder bore. | 08-08-2013 |
20130174548 | EGR for a Two-Stroke Cycle Engine without a Supercharger - A two-stroke cycle, turbo-driven, opposed-piston engine with one or more ported cylinders and uniflow scavenging has no supercharger. The engine includes a high pressure EGR loop and a pump in the EGR loop to boost the pressure of the recirculated exhaust products. | 07-11-2013 |
20130112175 | Constructions for Piston Thermal Management - A piston construction with an end surface is equipped with a pattern of insulating cavities embedded in an upper end of the piston, between the end surface and interior portions of the piston that are cooled by circulating liquid coolant. | 05-09-2013 |
20130104848 | Fuel Injection Strategies in Opposed-Piston Engines with Multiple Fuel Injectors | 05-02-2013 |
20130025548 | Impingement cooling of cylinders in opposed-piston engines - A cylinder cooling construction includes a cylinder liner with a sidewall, exhaust and intake ports opening through the sidewall, a bore, and a plurality of feed channels that are formed with and extend along the sidewall from a central band of the cylinder toward the exhaust and intake ports. A sleeve covering the sidewall includes a plurality of impingement jet ports that are arranged in at least one sequence extending around the central band and that are in liquid communication with the plurality of feed channels. An annular member disposed between the liner and the sleeve reinforces the central band. The sleeve further includes an inside surface with spaced-apart annular recesses that with the sidewall define liquid coolant reservoirs in the vicinity of the ports that are in liquid communication with the feed channels. Channels through bridges of exhaust port have first ends in liquid communication with the coolant reservoir in the vicinity of the exhaust port and second ends that open through a portion of an exhaust end of the cylinder. | 01-31-2013 |
20120285422 | Dual crankshaft, opposed-opposed-piston engine constructions - A dual-crankshaft, opposed-piston, internal combustion engine includes one or more ported cylinders. Each cylinder has exhaust and intake ports, and the cylinders are juxtaposed and oriented with exhaust and intake ports mutually aligned. The crankshafts are rotatably mounted at respective exhaust and intake ends of the cylinders and are coupled by a multi-gear train. A pair of pistons is disposed for opposed sliding movement in the bore of each cylinder. All of the pistons controlling the exhaust ports are coupled by connecting rods to the crankshaft mounted near at the exhaust ends of the cylinders, and all of the pistons controlling the intake ports are coupled by connecting rods to the crankshaft mounted near at the intake ends of the cylinders. The crankshafts are connected by a timing belt operative to change the rotational timing between the crankshafts. The gear train support structure is stiffened to suppress gear train vibration. | 11-15-2012 |
20120210985 | Two stroke, opposed-piston engines with engine braking - In a two-stroke opposed-piston engine, a ported cylinder with a pair of opposed pistons is equipped with an engine brake including an engine braking valve that can be opened to release air from the cylinder as the pistons cycle between BDC and TDC positions. | 08-23-2012 |
20120186561 | Oil retention in the bore/piston interfaces of ported cylinders in opposed-piston engines - An opposed piston engine includes at least one cylinder with a bore surface and longitudinally-spaced exhaust and intake ports that open through the sidewall of the cylinder. A pair of opposed pistons is disposed in the cylinder for sliding movement along the bore surface. An oil-retaining surface texture pattern in an interface between the pistons and the bore surface extends in a longitudinal direction of the cylinder, aligned with bridges of at least one port. The surface texture pattern includes a plurality of separate recesses on an outside surface of a skirt of each piston. Alternatively, or in addition, the surface texture pattern includes a plurality of separate recesses extending in a longitudinal direction of the cylinder, aligned with bridges of at least one port. | 07-26-2012 |
20120152185 | Two-cycle, opposed-piston internal combustion engine - In a two-cycle, opposed-piston internal combustion engine, opposed pistons disposed in a cylinder are coupled to a pair of side-mounted crankshafts by connecting rods that are subject to substantially tensile forces acting between the pistons and the crankshafts. This geometry reduces or eliminates side forces between the pistons and the bore of the cylinder. The cylinder and the pistons are independently cooled to reduce cylindrical deformation caused by thermal expansion during engine operation. | 06-21-2012 |
20120125298 | Two stroke opposed-piston engines with compression release for engine braking - In a two-stroke opposed-piston engine, a ported cylinder with a pair of opposed pistons is equipped with a decompression port including a valve and a passage with an opening through the cylinder wall that is located between the cylinder's intake and exhaust ports. The decompression port enables release of compressed air from the cylinder after the intake and exhaust ports are closed. The valve is opened to permit compressed air to be released from the cylinder through the passage, and closed to retain compressed air in the cylinder. Engine braking is supported by release of compressed air through the decompression port into an exhaust channel when the pistons are at or near top dead center positions as the cycle transitions from the intake/compression stroke to the power/exhaust stroke. Compression release from the cylinder after intake and exhaust port closure can also support other engine operations. | 05-24-2012 |
20120080007 | Fuel injector support constructions for direct injection opposed-piston engines - An opposed-piston internal combustion engine with one or more ported cylinders and uniflow scavenging includes fuel injectors supported at compound angles with respect to the cylinders in order to directly inject spray patterns of fuel in opposing directions through the side walls of the cylinders. | 04-05-2012 |
20120073541 | Fuel injection spray patterns for opposed-piston engines - A combustion chamber for an opposed-piston engine includes a squish zone defined between circumferential peripheral areas of opposing end surfaces of the pistons, a cavity defined by one or more bowls in the end surfaces, and at least one injection port that extends radially through the squish zone into the cavity. The cavity has a cross-sectional shape that imposes a tumbling motion on air flowing from the squish zone into the cavity. Opposing spray patterns of fuel are injected into the combustion chamber. In some aspects, the opposing spray patterns are injected along a major axis of the combustion chamber. | 03-29-2012 |
20120073526 | Piston constructions for opposed-piston engines - A piston construction for an opposed-piston engine accommodates contoured end surfaces of the piston crowns and articulation of the pistons with piston rods. The shape of each piston crown includes a bowl with an adjoining ridge that protrudes axially of the piston. A cooling construction for the piston includes an outer gallery running around the inner surface of the piston sidewall in the vicinity of the crown. The outer gallery girds and is in fluid communication with a central gallery that abuts the deepest part of the bowl. The outer gallery has an asymmetric profile that rises under the ridge and that slants upwardly under a peripheral portion of the bowl. A mechanism for coupling the piston to a piston rod includes a biaxial slipper bearing. | 03-29-2012 |
20120037130 | Opposed-piston engine having a single crankshaft coupled to the opposed pistons by linkages with pivoted rocker arms - An opposed-piston engine with a single crankshaft has a rocker-type linkage coupling the crankshaft to the pistons that utilizes a rotatable pivot rocker arm with full-contact plain bearings. A rocker-type linkage utilizes a rotatable pivot bearing with an eccentric aspect to vary translation of piston linkage along the axial direction of a cylinder, which shifts the top dead center (TDC) and bottom dead center (BDC) locations of a piston so as to change the volume of charge air compressed during the power stroke. | 02-16-2012 |
20110289916 | EGR constructions for opposed-piston engines - A two-stroke, opposed-piston engine with one or more ported cylinders and uniflow scavenging includes an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) construction that provides a portion of the exhaust gasses produced by the engine for mixture with charge air to control the production of NOx during combustion. | 12-01-2011 |
20110271932 | Combustion chamber constructions for opposed-piston engines - A combustion chamber for an opposed-piston engine includes a squish zone defined between circumferential peripheral areas of opposing end surfaces of the pistons, a cavity defined by one or more bowls in the end surfaces, and at least one injection port that extends radially through the squish zone into the cavity. The cavity has a cross-sectional shape that imposes a tumbling motion on air flowing from the squish zone into the cavity. | 11-10-2011 |
20110186017 | Single-crankshaft, opposed-piston engine constructions - Ported engines with opposed pistons are coupled to a single crankshaft through rocker arm linkages. Each pair of opposed pistons is coupled to a single crankpin of the crankshaft. Each piston is coupled to a respective rocker arm linkage by a rolling thrust bearing which prevents linkage movement that is transverse to the axis of the piston from being transferred to the piston. Each piston of a pair of opposed pistons is coupled to the same crankpin by respective rocker arm linkages in which connecting rods run between the crankpin and respective rocker arms. One connecting rod is connected to first rocker arm below the rocker arm's pivot point and another connecting rod is connected to a second rocker arm above the rocker arm's pivot point. | 08-04-2011 |
20110186005 | Rolling thrust bearing constructions - A piston rolling thrust bearing construction is constituted of a pair of bearing plates with opposing faces disposed in a spaced alignment with a rolling ball assembly positioned between the opposing faces to support relative movement between the bearing plates. The piston rolling thrust bearing is mounted to the open end of the skirt of a piston disposed in a cylinder to compensate for non-axial motion relative to the cylinder axis due to the articulating motions of connecting elements or any structural misalignments within an engine drive train assembly. | 08-04-2011 |
20110114070 | Apparatus and method for controlling swirl in a ported, two-stroke, internal combustion engine - An apparatus and a method for controlling swirl of air in a ported, two-stroke internal combustion engine include deflecting air into the intake port of a ported cylinder by an array of vanes disposed around the cylinder's intake port. The angle of deflection establishes the swirl of air in the cylinder. Swirl is varied by changing the angular positions of the vanes under the control of a vane drive mechanism coupled to an actuator. A swirl control mechanization controls vane angular position in response to engine operating parameters. | 05-19-2011 |
20110114038 | Ported engine constructions with low-tension compression seals - In ported engine constructions, cooling of piston crowns and cylinder liners results in reduction or elimination of bore/liner distortions, thus ensuring circularity of the bore/piston interface throughout engine operation. Consequently, the need for heavily-tensioned piston rings is eliminated. Such engine constructions incorporate annular low-tension compression seals on the pistons, which substantially reduce port bridge wear during all phases of engine operation while also limiting blow-by during combustion. | 05-19-2011 |
20110094223 | Auxiliary systems for opposed piston engines - An opposed piston engine includes at least one cylinder with inlet and exhaust ports and opposed pistons disposed in the cylinder for reciprocating opposed motion toward and away from each other. An auxiliary system pumps liquid coolant separately to the cylinder and pistons. Another auxiliary system controls the flow of intake and exhaust gas in the engine. | 04-28-2011 |
20100319661 | Cylinder-Mounted oil wiper for an opposed piston engine - A ported cylinder for a diesel engine includes a circular groove in the bore, located on the outside of respective port. An oil wiper ring or a group of oil wiper rings is seated in the circular groove for wiping excess lubricating oil from a piston surface. A compressing ring is disposed between the oil wiper ring or group of oil wiper rings and the floor of the circular groove to urge the oil wiper rings into contact with the piston surface. An oil wiper ring construction includes a major surface with oil-conducting channels. | 12-23-2010 |
20100212638 | Opposed piston engines with controlled provision of lubricant for lubrication and cooling - In multi-cylinder opposed engine constructions provision of lubricant for lubricating bearings, for cooling cylinders, and for cooling pistons includes pumping an inlet stream of lubricant through a gallery in the engine that is in fluid communication with bearing lubricant passages and cylinder coolant passages and providing lubricant from the inlet stream of lubricant into at least one piston coolant manifold in response to a first engine operating condition. | 08-26-2010 |
20100212637 | Cylinder and piston assemblies for opposed piston engines - Integrated, multi-cylinder opposed engine constructions include a unitary support structure to which cylinder liners are removeably mounted and sealed and on which crankshafts are rotatably supported. The engine constructions include a cooled piston with a resiliently deformable joint connecting crown and skirt and a cooled cylinder liner with wipers to manage lubricant in the cylindrical interstice between the cylinder bore and the piston skirts. | 08-26-2010 |
20100212613 | Multi-Cylinder opposed piston engines - Integrated, multi-cylinder opposed engine constructions include a unitary support structure to which cylinder liners are removeably mounted and sealed and on which crankshafts are rotatably supported. The unitary support structure includes cooling manifolds that provide liquid coolant to the cylinder liners. Exhaust and intake manifolds attached to the support structure to serve respective ports in the cylinder liner. The engine constructions may also include certain improvements in the construction of cooled pistons with flexible skirts, and in the construction of cylinders with sealing structures mounted outside of exhaust and inlet ports to control lubricant in the cylindrical interstice between the through bore and the pistons. | 08-26-2010 |
20100109343 | Generating electricity with a hypocyloidally driven, opposed piston, internal combustion engine - An electrical generator includes an opposed piston, internal-combustion engine with a piston and a hypocycloidal drive connected by a rod to the piston. The construction of the hypocycloidal drive imposes a sinusoidal period on the linear motion of the piston and connecting rod. As generator associated with the piston produces a sinusoidal voltage in response to the liner motion of the piston and connecting rod. | 05-06-2010 |
20100071671 | Opposed piston, compression ignition engine with single-side mounted crankshafts and crossheads - In an opposed piston, compression ignition engine two crankshafts are single-side mounted with respect to a row of cylinders, which is to say that the crankshafts are mounted so that their axes of rotation lie in a plane that is spaced apart from and parallel to a plane in which the axes of the cylinders lie. Each piston of the engine is coupled to one of the crankshafts by a single linkage guided by a crosshead. The piston has a piston rod affixed at one end to the piston. The other end of the piston rod is affixed to the crosshead pin. One end of a connecting rod swings on the pin and the other end is coupled to a throw on a crankshaft. Each crosshead is constrained to reciprocate between fixed guides, in alignment with the piston rod to which it is coupled. | 03-25-2010 |
20100071670 | Opposed piston, compression ignition engine with single-side mounted crankshafts and crossheads - In an opposed piston, compression ignition engine two crankshafts are single-side mounted with respect to a row of cylinders, which is to say that the crankshafts are mounted so that their axes of rotation lie in a plane that is spaced apart from and parallel to a plane in which the axes of the cylinders lie. Each piston of the engine is coupled to one of the crankshafts by a single linkage guided by a crosshead. The piston has a piston rod affixed at one end to the piston. The other end of the piston rod is affixed to the crosshead pin. One end of a connecting rod swings on the pin and the other end is coupled to a throw on a crankshaft. Each crosshead is constrained to reciprocate between fixed guides, in alignment with the piston rod to which it is coupled. | 03-25-2010 |
20100012055 | Cylinder and piston assemblies for opposed piston engines - In an opposed piston engine, a pair of pistons are disposed in opposition in the bore of a cylinder. The cylinder includes first liquid coolant grooves having a first cooling capacity to cool a portion of the cylinder extending from a central portion toward an exhaust port, and second liquid coolant grooves having a second cooling capacity, less than the first cooling capacity, to cool a portion of the cylinder extending from the central portion toward an inlet port. Each piston includes a cylindrical skirt with a crown and an open end opposite the crown, a piston rod with a bore, a first end attached to a back surface of the crown, and a second end extending through the open end of the skirt, a radial array of liquid coolant flow passages in communication with the bore and disposed between the first end and the back surface of the crown, and a single wristpin retained on the second end section of the piston rod and positioned externally to the piston. | 01-21-2010 |
20090293820 | Two-cycle, opposed-piston internal combustion engine - In a two-cycle, opposed-piston internal combustion engine, opposed pistons disposed in a cylinder are coupled to a pair of side-mounted crankshafts by connecting rods that are subject to substantially tensile forces acting between the pistons and the crankshafts. This geometry reduces or eliminates side forces between the pistons and the bore of the cylinder. The cylinder and the pistons are independently cooled to reduce cylindrical deformation caused by thermal expansion during engine operation. | 12-03-2009 |
20080314688 | Internal combustion engine with provision for lubricating pistons - An internal combustion engine including a cylinder with bore and a piston disposed to reciprocate in the bore is operated by moving the piston in the bore between top and bottom dead center positions and applying lubricant to a portion of the piston that protrudes from the bore. Lubricant is wiped from the piston as the piston travels into the bore toward its top dead center position. | 12-25-2008 |