Crankless engine

Abstract

The crankless sinusoidal engine has at least one cylinder, one standard piston and head with combustion chamber and inlet and exhaust valves. A main shaft with one flywheel with incorporated sinusoidal track, Connection between the piston and the sinusoidal track consists of four items; to wit, one connecting rod, one bearing trolley and two segmented rollers, said rollers being in constant contact with said sinusoidal track, one bearing on each side thereof. The bearing trolley sliding on guide pins anchored in opposite ends of cast (alternatively fabricated) housing, said guide pins positioned parallel to the main shaft.

Pressure from the piston forces the segmented rollers against the sinusoidal track, causing rotation.

Claims

1. A crankless sinusoidal engine comprising at least one cylinder, complete with head and inlet and exhaust poppet valves. A main shaft mounted parallel to the cylinder, one flywheel with incorporated sinusoidal track, mounted near the center of the main shaft, one connecting rod attached to the piston at one end and to a bearing trolley at the other by means of a wrist pin, said bearing trolley having two segmented rollers spaced so as to fit snugly, one against each side of the sinusoidal track. The bearing trolley is mounted on two guide pins so that it will slide parallel to the main shaft and cylinder. The guide pins are rigidly mounted in and between the front and back ends of the housing. Force from the piston through the connecting rod, bearing trolley, and segmented bearings against the sinusoidal track cause the track, flywheel, and main shaft to rotate, all enclosed in a housing.

2. A crankless sinusoidal engine as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that it comprises one or more cylinders located around the main shaft.

3. A crankless sinusoidal engine as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the driving mechanism comprises a segmented roller constantly in contact with one cam surface and a second segmented roller in constant contact with the opposed cam surface.

4. A crankless sinusoidal engine as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the sinusoidal track has a continuously variable thickness to match the spacing between the two segmented rollers mounted on the bearing trolley at all points during rotation.

5. A crankless sinusoidal engine as claimed in claim 1 where the bearing trolley is a separate part from both the connecting rod and the sinusoidal track.

6. A crankless sinusoidal engine as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the rollers are segmented to provide velocity at each end appropriate to the different distances traveled around the sinusoidal track.

7. A crankless sinusoidal engine as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the engine may be adapted to operate with multiple cycles of the piston(s) with each rotation of the main shaft.

8. A crankless sinusoidal engine as claimed in claim 1 where the alternative housing embodiment is a simple, constructible housing that may be desired when manufacturing volume does not justify the expense of the preferred cast housing.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] FIG. 1 illustrates a single cylinder embodiment of the invention; a cross longitudinal section showing relationship of the major parts.

[0026] FIG. 2 shows a sectioned view of the roller trolley, rollers and guide pins

[0027] FIG. 3 shows detail of segmented rollers.

[0028] FIG. 4 shows major pieces for fabricated housing

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] In FIG. 1, the sectioned view is through the centerline of the engine in the same plane as the main shaft.

[0030] The crankless sinusoidal engine illustrated in FIG. 1 comprises a main shaft (3) mounted in bearings in the housing (illustrated as 10, 11, & 12), a flywheel (1) securely mounted on the main shaft (3), a sinusoidal track (2) integrated with the flywheel (1), which is in constant engagement with the segmented rollers (5) that are mounted on the trolley (4) which slides on and is guided by two guide pins (7) that are anchored at each end in the housing (or end plates 10, & 12). The trolley is attached to connecting rod (6) the other end of connecting rod (6) being attached to the piston (8) which reciprocates in the cylinder (9).

[0031] FIG. 2 shows tow partially sectioned views of the trolley (4) with attached segmented rollers (5) and partial views of guide pins (7).

[0032] FIG. 3 shows sectioned roller (5), detailing the manner of construction of the segment stack forming the rollers.

[0033] FIG. 4 shows tubing (10), front plate (11), and back plate (12) used to fabricate optional housing.

[0034] It will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to the embodiments of the invention that have been described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Various changes and modifications within the broad scope of the invention described will be apparent to a person skilled in the art.