An intake device of an internal combustion engine, includes: a plurality of intake ports which have outer walls and partition walls and are adjacent to each other via the partition walls; a valve body which is provided in each of the intake ports, and switches a flow path of the intake port by rotation around a rotation shaft; a holding member which is installed on each of the outer walls and the partition walls; and a rolling bearing which is mounted on at least one of the holding members, and supports the valve body to be freely rotatable, wherein the holding member includes a wall surface between the rolling bearing and the valve body in a direction in which the rotation shaft extends.

A method of operating an exhaust valve of a two-stroke internal combustion engine is disclosed. The engine has a cylinder and a piston movably disposed within the cylinder. The cylinder defines at least one exhaust port for discharging exhaust fluid from the cylinder. The exhaust valve is configured to cyclically obstruct the exhaust port. The method includes: rotating the exhaust valve in a first direction for clearing the exhaust port before the piston uncovers the exhaust port during a downstroke of the piston, the first direction being opposite a direction of rotation of a crankshaft of the engine; and rotating the exhaust valve in the first direction for at least partially closing the exhaust port before the piston fully covers the exhaust port during an upstroke of the piston, said rotating of the exhaust valve relative to the rotation of the crankshaft at least partially counterbalancing the crankshaft.

The present invention concerns an external heat source engine comprising: —at least one cylinder (2), —a piston (3) that is movable back and forth in the cylinder, —a cylinder head (4) defining a working chamber (5) with the piston and the cylinder, —a heat exchanger (6) for exchanging heat between a working gas and a heat-transfer fluid, —a distribution comprising two rotary slide valves (20, 30) mounted so as to be able to rotate in the cylinder head and bringing the working chamber selectively into communication with the following resources: •a working gas inlet (A), •a cold end (B) of the exchanger, •a hot end (C) of the exchanger, •an exhaust (D). The slide valves (20, 30) comprise internal passages that open through the side wall of same through at least one opening that communicates selectively with the working chamber (5) via at least one opening formed in the cylinder head (4).

The present invention concerns an external heat source engine comprising: —at least one cylinder (2), —a piston (3) that is movable back and forth in the cylinder, —a cylinder head (4) defining a working chamber (5) with the piston and the cylinder, —a heat exchanger (6) for exchanging heat between a working gas and a heat-transfer fluid, —a distribution comprising two rotary slide valves (20, 30) mounted so as to be able to rotate in the cylinder head and bringing the working chamber selectively into communication with the following resources: •a working gas inlet (A), •a cold end (B) of the exchanger, •a hot end (C) of the exchanger, •an exhaust (D). The slide valves (20, 30) comprise internal passages that open through the side wall of same through at least one opening that communicates selectively with the working chamber (5) via at least one opening formed in the cylinder head (4).

A rotary valve seal for a coolant control valve is provided that offers improved sealing with a rotary valve body. The rotary valve seal includes a central axis, a cylindrical seal body, and a seal skeleton. The cylindrical seal body has a first stiffness and a first end that is configured with a radially outwardly extending flange. The seal skeleton, having a second stiffness and embedded within the cylindrical seal body, has a plurality of fingers circumferentially arranged within the flange. The second stiffness can be greater than the first stiffness. The plurality of fingers and flange can define alternating stiffness zones. The first end of the seal body and the flange define a bottom surface configured for sealing engagement with a rotary valve body. The rotary valve body can be shaped in the form of at least one spherical segment.

A rotary valve seal for a coolant control valve is provided that offers improved sealing with a rotary valve body. The rotary valve seal includes a central axis, a cylindrical seal body, and a seal skeleton. The cylindrical seal body has a first stiffness and a first end that is configured with a radially outwardly extending flange. The seal skeleton, having a second stiffness and embedded within the cylindrical seal body, has a plurality of fingers circumferentially arranged within the flange. The second stiffness can be greater than the first stiffness. The plurality of fingers and flange can define alternating stiffness zones. The first end of the seal body and the flange define a bottom surface configured for sealing engagement with a rotary valve body. The rotary valve body can be shaped in the form of at least one spherical segment.

An invention is provided for a new and novel intake/exhaust device for an internal combustion engine. A rotating cylinder having an intake/exhaust port penetrating the outer surface of the rotating cylinder and meet at an axis of rotation and have a connective relationship which allows fluid to flow easily. The rotating cylinder when used in a 4-stroke engine aligns the intake port with the combustion chamber, and when rotated will align the exhaust port with the combustion chamber each at the correct time. This novel invention overcomes the limitations of current valve trains by only using rotation, and not by using rotation and linear motion to activate valves thereby allowing the engine to attain much greater RPMs.

A split-cycle engine includes: a first cylinder housing a first piston, wherein the first piston performs an intake stroke and a compression stroke, but does not perform an exhaust stroke; a second cylinder housing a second piston, wherein the second piston performs an expansion stroke and an exhaust stroke, but does not perform an intake stroke; and a valve chamber housing a valve, the valve comprising an internal chamber that selectively fluidly couples to the first and second cylinders, wherein the valve and internal chamber move within the valve chamber and relative to the first and second cylinders.

A split-cycle engine includes: a first cylinder housing a first piston, wherein the first piston performs an intake stroke and a compression stroke, but does not perform an exhaust stroke; a second cylinder housing a second piston, wherein the second piston performs an expansion stroke and an exhaust stroke, but does not perform an intake stroke; and a valve chamber housing a valve, the valve comprising an internal chamber that selectively fluidly couples to the first and second cylinders, wherein the valve and internal chamber move within the valve chamber and relative to the first and second cylinders.

A valve system/method suitable for an internal combustion engine (ICE), compressor pump, vacuum pump, and/or reciprocating mechanical device is disclosed. The system/method is optimized for construction of a four-stroke ICE. The rudimentary system incorporates an intake engine block cover (IEC) and exhaust engine block cover (EEC) that enclose an intake rotary valve disc (IVD) and exhaust rotary valve disc (EVD) that control intake/exhaust flow through a respective intake rotary valve port (IVP) and an exhaust rotary valve port (EVP) into and out of a combustion cylinder that provides power to a piston and crankshaft. An intake multi-staged valve (IMV) and exhaust multi-staged valve (EMV) provide intake and exhaust flow control for the IVD/IVP and EVD/EVP. An enhanced system may include a variety of intake/exhaust port seals (IPS/EPS), forced induction/discharge (FIN), centrifugal advance (CAD), and/or cooling channel spool (ICS/ECS).