A rotary engine includes: a frame; a flywheel rotor having an axle rotatably mounted on the frame; a plurality of erectable pistons respectively mounted in an annular trough concentrically recessed in a rim of the flywheel rotor; and a cylinder block fastened on a housing secured to the frame and cooperatively forming an engine cylinder with the annular trough of the flywheel rotor, whereby each erectable piston is operatively erected beyond a cylinder head of the engine cylinder to dynamically define an instant combustion chamber among the cylinder head, the cylinder block, the piston and the annular trough of the rotor; and whereby upon combustion and explosion in the combustion chamber, the explosion gases will force and drive the erectable piston to rotate the flywheel rotor for outputting mechanical energy.

An electro hydrostatic actuator comprises a hydraulic pump driven by an electric motor to supply hydraulic fluid to a hydraulic actuator. The pump comprises an inlet and an outlet for the hydraulic fluid and an active flow path arranged therebetween such that, in an active mode of operation when the pump is driven by the electric motor, hydraulic fluid is actively drawn in through the inlet and exhausted out through the outlet. The pump further comprises a bypass flow path arranged to open between the inlet and outlet such that, in a damping mode of operation when the pump is not driven by the electric motor, hydraulic fluid is able to pass through the pump along the bypass flow path between the inlet and outlet.

The present invention relates to a method for evacuating at least two external vacuum chambers i and j (20, 20) with a vacuum pump (10), in particular a rotary vane vacuum pump (10), whereby the vacuum chamber i (20) is evacuated from the initial pressure p.sub.02(i) to a final pressure p.sub.12(i) via the second inlet (2) during an evacuation time t.sub.p2(i) and at the same time the vacuum chamber j (20) is evacuated via the first inlet (1) from the initial pressure p.sub.01(j) to a final pressure p.sub.11(j) during an evacuation time t.sub.p1(j).

A rotary vane vacuum pump (10) designed for this purpose is characterized in that it has two inlets (1, 2) and one outlet (3), the two inlets (1, 2) being arranged offset at an angle to one another, and is also subject matter of the present invention, as is its use in the method according to the invention and a vacuum packaging machine which comprises a rotary vane vacuum pump (10) designed in this way.

A magnetic driver generates a magnetic field that rotates about an axis and induces nutation in a disc with an array of magnets (wobble plate). The magnetic driver can be a drive disc with an array of magnets and rotated by a drive motor, or can be electromagnetic coils sequentially energized, to provide the rotating magnetic field. The wobble plate nutates about the axis of the rotating magnetic field but is constrained from rotating about the axis. The wobble plate can be enclosed in a pump housing where nutation of the wobble plate causes pumping of a fluid to occur, such as in an implanted Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) or a Total Artificial Heart (TAH). Driven in reverse, an input pumping fluid may induce nutation of the wobble plate which in turn induces rotary motion of a drive disc that drives a generator or a motor/generator.