A piston arrangement comprising: a piston; a rotatable element, rotatable about an axis, having a first engagement profile; and a mechanism comprising: a first connecting element connected to the piston; a second connecting element pivotable about a fixed point and pivotally connected to the first connecting element; and a second engagement profile coupled to the first and/or second connecting element, configured to mechanically engage and disengage with the first engagement profile of the rotatable element.

A reciprocating internal combustion engine is disclosed having co-axially aligned cylinder blocks within a housing, each cylinder block having a piston structure comprising a piston head and a connecting rod. The piston heads are adapted to reciprocate within their respective cylinder blocks. The connecting rods are connected to opposite ends of a central yoke structure, pivotally, with the ability to angularly deviate from a longitudinal axis during a cycle of motion. The central yoke structure consists of a roller gear disposed within a void of the central yoke structure, and the linear motion of the piston structure is translated into the rotary motion of the roller gear.

A device for compensating for the operating clearances of an engine comprising a transmission device likely to move transversely in an engine block) during an engine cycle includes a pressing device exerting a holding force on the transmission device. The holding force is adjusted to the instantaneous speed of transverse movement of the transmission device in the engine block.

An internal combustion engine includes a standard connecting rod as well as a gear rack. The connecting rod can be a standard connecting rod that reciprocates with the piston and that drives a rotatable crank mechanism to convert the reciprocating motion of the piston into rotation of the crankshaft. The gear rack is also connected to and reciprocates with the piston. The gear rack is engaged with a gear that is mounted on the crankshaft. A one-way drive mechanism is provided between the gear and the crankshaft that transmits torque (i.e. rotary force) to the crankshaft only during the power stroke of the piston.

A motion conversion apparatus (100) comprises a rodrack assembly (110), which includes two guide members (140) and a first gear connection member (120) comprising opposing engaging arrangements (1201). The motion conversion apparatus (100) further comprises a gearshaft member (150) causing reciprocating linear motion of the rodrack assembly (110) along a reciprocation direction (D) by rotational motion of the gearshaft member (150). The gearshaft member (150) includes a second gear connection member (160) configured to engage with the first gear connection member (120), and a guiding surface arrangement (170) configured to contact a guide member (140) during rotational motion of the gearshaft member (150), wherein one gearshaft member (150) revolution causes a single period of reciprocating linear motion of the rodrack assembly (110). The guiding surface arrangement (170) contacts one of the two guide members (140) at an endpoint of the reciprocating linear motion of the rodrack assembly (110).

A motion conversion apparatus (400, 500) comprises at least one set including a rodrack assembly (110) between two gearshaft member end sections (155), and a gearshaft member mid section (156) between the two gearshaft member end sections (155). The rodrack assembly (110) comprises a first gear connection member (120) and two guide members (140). The gearshaft member mid section (156) comprises a second gear connection member (160) configured to engage with the first gear connection member (120). The two gearshaft member end sections (155) each comprise a guiding surface arrangement (170) configured to contact the two guide members (140). The rodrack assembly (110) is configured to provide rotation of the gearshaft member mid section (156) about a rotational axis (A) by reciprocating linear motion of the rodrack assembly (110) along a first spatial dimension (D1) orthogonal to the rotational axis (A), or vice versa.

A piston arrangement comprising: a piston; a rotatable element, rotatable about an axis, having a first engagement profile; and a mechanism comprising: a first connecting element connected to the piston; a second connecting element pivotable about a fixed point and pivotally connected to the first connecting element; and a second engagement profile coupled to the first and/or second connecting element, configured to mechanically engage and disengage with the first engagement profile of the rotatable element.

A system may be used for determining a parameter relating to a piston in an engine. The parameter may be the piston position, speed, etc., which may be determined at a reference point in a cylinder. The system may be controlled based on the determined parameter. The engine may be a linear reciprocating engine, opposed piston engine, etc. The system may include a first sensor provided on a base connected to the engine, and a second sensor provided on the base. The first sensor may be configured to generate a signal in response to a component coupled to the piston being in a region of the first sensor. The second sensor may be configured to generate a signal in response to a component coupled to the piston interacting with the second sensor. The system may include an energy transformer configured to transform motion of the engine to electrical power.

A motion conversion apparatus (110) comprises a rodrack assembly (110) and a gearshaft member (150). The rodrack assembly (110) comprises a first gear connection member (120) and two guide members (140). The gearshaft member (150) comprises a second gear connection member (160) configured to engage with the first gear connection member (120), and a guiding surface arrangement (170) configured to contact the guide members (140). The rodrack assembly (110) is configured to provide rotation of the gearshaft member (150) about a rotational axis (A) by reciprocating linear motion of the rodrack assembly (110) along a first spatial dimension (D1) orthogonal to the rotational axis (A), and/or the gearshaft member (150) is configured to provide reciprocating linear motion of the rodrack assembly (110) along the first spatial dimension (D1) by rotational motion of the gearshaft member (150) about the rotational axis (A). The guiding surface arrangement (170) is configured to simultaneously contact each guide member (140) during at least a portion of the reciprocating linear motion of the rodrack assembly (110).

A bearing guide device of a combustion piston for a variable compression ratio engine. The movement of the combustion piston from a top dead center to a bottom dead center drives the movement of a synchronized roller made up of a cylindrical body and a pinion from a first position to a second position relative to first and second racks. According to the disclosure, the first and/or second racks have a different circular pitch than the pinion so that the flanks of the teeth of the pinion engage with the flanks of the teeth of the first and second racks only when the pinion is in the first or second position.