Various embodiments of the present disclosure are directed towards free-piston combustion engines. As described herein, a driver section may be provided in a free-piston combustion engine for storing energy during an expansion stroke. The driver section may be configured to store sufficient energy to perform the subsequent stroke. In some embodiments, the driver section may be configured to store sufficient energy so as to enable the engine to operate continuously across engine cycles without electrical energy input. A linear electromagnetic machine may be provided in a free-piston combustion engine for converting the kinetic energy of a piston assembly into electrical energy.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure are directed towards free-piston combustion engines. As described herein, a driver section may be provided in a free-piston combustion engine for storing energy during an expansion stroke. The driver section may be configured to store sufficient energy to perform the subsequent stroke. In some embodiments, the driver section may be configured to store sufficient energy so as to enable the engine to operate continuously across engine cycles without electrical energy input. A linear electromagnetic machine may be provided in a free-piston combustion engine for converting the kinetic energy of a piston assembly into electrical energy.

Various embodiments of the present invention are directed toward a linear combustion engine, comprising: a cylinder having a cylinder wall and a pair of ends, the cylinder including a combustion section disposed in a center portion of the cylinder; a pair of opposed piston assemblies adapted to move linearly within the cylinder, each piston assembly disposed on one side of the combustion section opposite the other piston assembly, each piston assembly including a spring rod and a piston comprising a solid front section adjacent the combustion section and a gas section; and a pair of linear electromagnetic machines adapted to directly convert kinetic energy of the piston assembly into electrical energy, and adapted to directly convert electrical energy into kinetic energy of the piston assembly for providing compression work during the compression stroke.

Various embodiments of the present invention are directed toward a linear combustion engine, comprising: a cylinder having a cylinder wall and a pair of ends, the cylinder including a combustion section disposed in a center portion of the cylinder; a pair of opposed piston assemblies adapted to move linearly within the cylinder, each piston assembly disposed on one side of the combustion section opposite the other piston assembly, each piston assembly including a spring rod and a piston comprising a solid front section adjacent the combustion section and a gas section; and a pair of linear electromagnetic machines adapted to directly convert kinetic energy of the piston assembly into electrical energy, and adapted to directly convert electrical energy into kinetic energy of the piston assembly for providing compression work during the compression stroke.

Various embodiments of the present invention are directed toward a linear combustion engine, comprising: a cylinder having a cylinder wall and a pair of ends, the cylinder including a combustion section disposed in a center portion of the cylinder; a pair of opposed piston assemblies adapted to move linearly within the cylinder, each piston assembly disposed on one side of the combustion section opposite the other piston assembly, each piston assembly including a spring rod and a piston comprising a solid front section adjacent the combustion section and a gas section; and a pair of linear electromagnetic machines adapted to directly convert kinetic energy of the piston assembly into electrical energy, and adapted to directly convert electrical energy into kinetic energy of the piston assembly for providing compression work during the compression stroke.

Various embodiments of the present invention are directed toward a linear combustion engine, comprising: a cylinder having a cylinder wall and a pair of ends, the cylinder including a combustion section disposed in a center portion of the cylinder; a pair of opposed piston assemblies adapted to move linearly within the cylinder, each piston assembly disposed on one side of the combustion section opposite the other piston assembly, each piston assembly including a spring rod and a piston comprising a solid front section adjacent the combustion section and a gas section; and a pair of linear electromagnetic machines adapted to directly convert kinetic energy of the piston assembly into electrical energy, and adapted to directly convert electrical energy into kinetic energy of the piston assembly for providing compression work during the compression stroke.

An opposed, free-piston engine includes a pair of adjacent cylinders, each extending from a first cylinder end to a second cylinder end along an elongate axis and having a first cylinder housing a first pair of opposed, free pistons including a first piston housed towards the first cylinder end and a second piston housed towards the second cylinder end; a second cylinder housing a second pair of opposed, free pistons having a third piston and a fourth piston; and a pair of link rods including a first link rod and a second link rod. The first link rod has a first link rod end and a second link rod end, the second link rod having a third link rod end and a fourth link rod end.

A linear electro-mechanical system comprising: a stator including at least first and second stator electronic circuits or groups of circuits; a free piston mover movable in a reciprocating motion relative to the stator, the free piston including: a piston surface; a translator configured so that an electromagnetic force may be applied on the free piston mover by one or more of the stator electronic circuits or groups of circuits; and one or more translator electronic circuits, the system further comprising a switching device for each of the first and second stator electronic circuits or groups of circuits such that the current in each of the first and second stator electronic circuits or groups of circuits is independently controllable, and wherein at least one of the translator electronic circuits is configured to receive power from at least one of the independently controlled stator electronic circuits or groups of circuits during at least part of the stroke of the free piston mover.

Provided is a free piston generator based on a split thermodynamic cycle, which belongs to the technical field of power energy. The present disclosure solves the problem of low power generation efficiency of an existing free piston generator. The free piston generator includes a linear generator set and two internal combustion engine sets arranged at two ends of the linear generator set. Air is first subjected to first-stage compression by the low-pressure cylinder set in the internal combustion engine sets and is then subjected to second-stage compression in the high-pressure cylinders, so that the intake pressure of an internal combustion engine is effectively increased, which is favorable for increasing the average effective pressure in a work process, thereby improving the thermal efficiency and the power generation efficiency of the free piston generator. A combusted working medium is first subjected to first-stage expansion in the high-pressure cylinders and is then subjected to second-stage expansion in the low-pressure cylinders, which effectively increases the utilization rate of energy in exhaust gas, increases the expansion work, and further improves the thermal efficiency and the power generation efficiency of the free piston generator.

The present converter for converting reciprocating motion into rotary motion comprises a pair of rotors counter-rotating in axial alignment, said rotors having rotor magnets and auxiliary rotor magnets fastened thereon, and a pair of rods moving reciprocally in opposite directions relative to one another along the axis of rotation of the rotors, said rods having rod magnets and auxiliary rod magnets fastened thereon, wherein at least some of the rotor magnets and/or the rod magnets are arranged such that their poles are disposed on several concentric cylindrical working surfaces simultaneously.