A pivoting piston machine includes a housing, a first piston and a second piston arranged in the housing, the first and second pistons being pivotable away from one another and toward one another about a pivot axis. The machine has a working chamber arranged between first and second piston. The working chamber increases and decreases in size in alternating fashion during pivoting of the first piston and of the second piston. The machine also has a inlet mouth for admission and discharge of the working medium. A closing element for closing and opening the inlet or the outlet has a valve disk interacting with a valve seat. Either the inlet mouth or the outlet mouth is arranged within the working chamber between the first end surface and the second end surface, and the valve seat and the valve disk are arranged at either the inlet mouth or the outlet mouth.

The present invention discloses a biaxial supporting device for a rotary opposed piston engine, comprising a cylinder body, a fixing component, a thick axle and a thin axle; the interior of the cylinder body has a cavity; the fixing component is fixed on the outer side wall of the cylinder body; the thick axle is provided with a through hole coaxial with the first axle hole, and is rotatably connected with the through hole; the thin axle is in transition fit with the through hole of the thick axle, and is rotatably connected with the fixing component. The present invention has simple structure, can effectively reduce a diameter difference of two axles to ensure the relatively small diameter of the thick axle and the relatively high strength of the thin axle, and can effectively realize biaxial support of the rotary opposed piston engine.

Aircraft power plants and associated methods are provided. A method for driving a load on an aircraft includes: transferring motive power from an internal combustion (IC) engine to the load; discharging a flow of first exhaust gas from the IC engine when transferring motive power from the IC engine to the load; receiving the flow of first exhaust gas from the IC engine into a combustor; mixing fuel with the first exhaust gas in the combustor and igniting the fuel to generate a flow of second exhaust gas; receiving the flow of second exhaust gas at a turbine and driving the turbine with the flow of second exhaust gas from the combustor; and transferring motive power from the turbine to the load.

Aircraft power plants and associated methods are provided. A method for driving a load on an aircraft includes: transferring motive power from an internal combustion (IC) engine to the load; discharging a flow of first exhaust gas from the IC engine when transferring motive power from the IC engine to the load; receiving the flow of first exhaust gas from the IC engine into a combustor; mixing fuel with the first exhaust gas in the combustor and igniting the fuel to generate a flow of second exhaust gas; receiving the flow of second exhaust gas at a turbine and driving the turbine with the flow of second exhaust gas from the combustor; and transferring motive power from the turbine to the load.

The disclosure provides rotary machines that include, in one embodiment, a shaft defining a central axis A, the shaft having a first end and a second end. The shaft can have a first gearbox disposed thereon defining one or more cavities therein. At least one contour is slidably received into an arcuate cavity in an exterior surface of the gearbox. The contour has a convex outer surface that cooperates with an inwardly facing curved surface of a housing to form a working volume. A gearbox mechanism consisting of gears, crankshafts, bearings and connecting rod creates an oscillatory motion 2 times per revolution such that the contour can navigate about the arcuate cavity without contacting the cavity at a high rate of rotating speed. Thus, said working volume can expand and compresses twice per rotatable shaft revolution.

The disclosure provides rotary machines that include, in one embodiment, a shaft defining a central axis A, the shaft having a first end and a second end. The shaft can have a first gearbox disposed thereon defining one or more cavities therein. At least one contour is slidably received into an arcuate cavity in an exterior surface of the gearbox. The contour has a convex outer surface that cooperates with an inwardly facing curved surface of a housing to form a working volume. A gearbox mechanism consisting of gears, crankshafts, bearings and connecting rod creates an oscillatory motion 2 times per revolution such that the contour can navigate about the arcuate cavity without contacting the cavity at a high rate of rotating speed. Thus, said working volume can expand and compresses twice per rotatable shaft revolution.

A rotary engine comprised of a pair of counterrotating rotors within a non-rotating outer housing. Each of the rotors is coupled to a common power shaft, one directly and the other through a reversing gear arrangement. Both are driven by the hyper-expansion of combustion gases in a repeating combustion cycle. Each has a generally circular, nearly frictionless working surface perpendicular to the power shaft axis. Each rotor surface defines chambers which rotate past each other. Within such chambers, compressed air and fuel are introduced, mixed, ignited, allowed to hyper-expand (and thus cause the rotation) and exhausted. The power shaft may be connected to a conventional clutch, torque converter, gearbox, differential, alternator or a similar system.

An engine configuration that uses multiple opposing piston pairs to form respective expansion chambers for expanding a gas within to move the pistons to drive a main shaft. The engine can be configured to operate as an internal combustion engine that uses diesel fuel, gasoline, or natural gas, or it can be configured as an expander to convert high pressure high temperature gas to rotary power. The pistons may be mounted on the circumference of one or more disks. For any given set of choices of numbers of pistons and sizes of pistons, disks, and gears, there are disclosed dimensional constraints useful for more efficient functioning of the engine. This engine can be provided with a compact design which results in high power to weight ratios.

An engine configuration that uses multiple opposing piston pairs to form respective expansion chambers for expanding a gas within to move the pistons to drive a main shaft. The engine can be configured to operate as an internal combustion engine that uses diesel fuel, gasoline, or natural gas, or it can be configured as an expander to convert high pressure high temperature gas to rotary power. The pistons may be mounted on the circumference of one or more disks. For any given set of choices of numbers of pistons and sizes of pistons, disks, and gears, there are disclosed dimensional constraints useful for more efficient functioning of the engine. This engine can be provided with a compact design which results in high power to weight ratios.

An internal combustion engine has a plurality of engine units, each having a working space, in which two rotary pistons are arranged so as mesh with each other and thereby divide the working space into an inflow region and an outflow region. Each engine unit has a closable inlet opening to the inflow region and a closable exhaust gas outlet opening. The internal combustion engine further includes a feed-line pipe to the inlet openings and an exhaust gas collection pipe connected to the exhaust gas outlet openings, so that the engine units are connected in parallel with each other. The internal combustion engine further includes exhaust gas lines which connect the engine units with each other in series. In certain cases, a control device operates some of the engine units either as internal combustion engines, or as expansion engines.