Working chamber assembly of a rotary piston engine

Abstract

Described here are the working chamber assembly of a rotary engine comprising the outer cover and first and second piston assemblies, each of which assemblies includes a piston hub to which coaxial piston shafts and at least one pair of diametrically opposite pistons are affixed; circular seal means housed along the crevice between the two piston assemblies, and along the crevices between the two piston assemblies and the outer cover; seal means housed along the convex outer ridge surface of each piston; and a lubricant oil delivery/recycling system to those seal means. Piston rings are provided with a centrifugal force containment mechanism to minimize the negative effect of centrifugal force on them.

I claim:  
     
         1 . Working chamber assembly of a rotary piston engine comprising, 
 outer cover and first and second piston assemblies forming a working chamber, each of said piston assemblies including a piston hub, at least one pair of diametrically opposed pistons, rotatable about a rotational axis of said pistons dividing said working chamber into a plurality of pairs of diametrically opposed subchambers,    said piston hub of said first piston assembly and said piston hub of second piston assembly being separated by a crevice between them,    a seal means including first and second facing grooves having outer walls in said respective first and second piston hubs, and a chamber ring located in said facing first and second grooves and extending therebetween,    said chamber ring being pressed against said outer wall of said facing grooves by spring effect of said chamber ring for sealing off leaks from said working chamber through said crevice.    
     
     
         2 . Working chamber assembly of a rotary piston engine as defined in  claim 1  including mechanical means for pressing said chamber ring against said outer walls of said facing grooves.  
     
     
         3 . Working chamber assembly of a rotary piston engine comprising, 
 outer cover and first and second piston assemblies forming a working chamber, each of said piston assemblies including a piston hub, at least one pair of diametrically opposed pistons, rotatable about a rotational axis of said pistons dividing said working chamber into a plurality of pairs of diametrically opposed subchambers,    said piston hub of first piston assembly and said outer cover being separated by a crevice between them,    said piston hub of second piston assembly and said outer cover being separated by a crevice between them,    at least one bridge seal groove in said outer convex surface of each of said pistons extending between said two piston ring grooves,    bridge seals housed in said bridge seal grooves,    spring means housed in said bridge seal groove for pressing said bridge seals against said piston hub and outer cover at said crevices.    
     
     
         4 . Working chamber assembly of a rotary piston engine as defined in  claim 3 , wherein 
 said bridge seal comprises first and second sections and first and second spring means housed in said bridge seal groove,    said first spring means pressing said first bridge seal against said outer cover at said crevices,    said second spring means pressing said second bridge seal against said piston hubs at said crevices.    
     
     
         5 . Working chamber assembly of a rotary piston engine comprising, 
 outer cover and first and second piston assemblies forming a working chamber, each of said piston assemblies including, a piston hub, at least one pair of diametrically opposed pistons, rotatable about a rotational axis of said pistons dividing said working chamber into a plurality of pairs of diametrically opposed subchambers, wherein 
 said piston hub of first piston assembly and said outer cover being separated by a crevice between them,  
 said piston hub of second piston assembly and said outer cover being separated by a crevice between them,  
 each of said pistons having piston surfaces comprising outer and inner half circular segments and a rectangular segment in between them, and  
 said crevices between said outer cover and piston hubs being located along the extension of the border between said outer half circular portion and rectangular portion of said piston surface.  
   
     
     
         6 . Working chamber assembly of a rotary piston engine comprising, 
 outer cover and first and second piston assemblies forming a working chamber, each of said piston assemblies including, a piston hub, at least one pair of diametrically opposed pistons, rotatable about a rotational axis of said pistons dividing said working chamber into a plurality of pairs of diametrically opposed subchambers, wherein 
 said piston hub of said first piston assembly and said outer cover being separated by a crevice between them,  
 said piston hub of said second piston assembly and said outer cover being separated by a crevice between them,  
 each of said pistons having a substantially ellipsoidal shaped piston surfaces,  
 said ellipsoidal shaped piston surface of each of said pistons comprising substantially identically shaped outer and inner half segments, and  
 said crevices between said outer cover and piston hubs being located along the extension of the border between said outer half and inner half of said piston surface.  
   
     
     
         7 . Working chamber assembly of a rotary piston engine comprising, 
 outer cover and first and second piston assemblies forming a working chamber, each of said piston assemblies including, a piston hub, at least one pair of diametrically opposed pistons, rotatable about a rotational axis of said pistons dividing said working chamber into a plurality of pairs of diametrically opposed subchambers,    each of said pistons having an outer convex surface, piston ring grooves in said outer convex surface, and piston rings in said piston ring grooves,    each of said first and second pistons including first and second means to contain centrifugal force on said piston ring, wherein 
 said piston ring having a boss at a mid section which boss divides said piston ring into outer and inner parts,  
 one end of said outer part of piston ring being articulately connected to said first means to contain centrifugal force,  
 one end of said inner part of piston ring being articulately connected to said second means to contain centrifugal force,  
 each of said first and second means to contain centrifugal force including a fulcrum and a lever/weight for substantially balancing centrifugal force generated by each half of said piston ring and associated lever/weight.  
   
     
     
         8 . Working chamber assembly of a rotary piston engine as defined in  claim 7 , wherein 
 said piston ring comprises first and second sections separated at the middle of said boss.    
     
     
         9 . Working chamber assembly of a rotary piston engine comprising, 
 outer cover and first and second piston assemblies forming a working chamber, each of said piston assemblies including, a piston hub, at least one pair of diametrically opposed pistons, rotatable about a rotational axis of said pistons dividing said working chamber into a plurality of pairs of diametrically opposed subchambers,    each of said pistons having an outer convex surface, piston ring grooves in said outer convex surface, and piston rings in said piston ring grooves,    each of said first and second pistons including a means to contain centrifugal force on said piston ring, wherein 
 said piston ring having a boss at a mid section which boss divides said piston ring into outer and inner parts,  
 one end of said outer part of piston ring being articulately connected to said means to contain centrifugal force,  
 one end of said inner part of piston ring being articulately connected to said means to contain centrifugal force,  
 said means to contain centrifugal force including a fulcrum and a lever for substantially balancing centrifugal force generated by each half of said piston ring.  
   
     
     
         10 . Working chamber assembly of a rotary piston engine as defined in  claim 9 , wherein 
 said piston ring comprises first and second sections separated at the middle of said boss.    
     
     
         11 . Working chamber assembly of a rotary piston engine comprising, 
 outer cover and first and second piston assemblies forming a working chamber, each of said piston assemblies including, a piston hub, at least one pair of diametrically opposed pistons, rotatable about a rotational axis of said pistons dividing said working chamber into a plurality of pairs of diametrically opposed subchambers,    said piston hubs of said first and second piston assemblies being separated by a crevice between them,    a seal means including a groove having a back clearance in said first piston hub, and a chamber ring in said groove, and a spring means in said back clearance of said groove;    said chamber ring being pressed against said second piston hub by a spring means for sealing off leaks from said working chamber through said crevice.    
     
     
         12 . Working chamber assembly of a rotary piston engine as defined in  claim 11  including mechanical means for pressing said chamber ring against said outer walls of said facing grooves.  
     
     
         13 . Working chamber assembly of a rotary piston engine comprising outer cover, and first and second piston assemblies forming a working chamber, 
 said outer cover including an exhaust port,    said first piston assembly including at least one pair of diametrically opposed pistons and attached inner coaxial shaft,    said second piston assembly including at least one pair of diametrically opposed pistons and attached outer coaxial shaft,    said piston assemblies being rotatable about a rotational axis of said pistons and dividing said working chamber into a plurality of pairs of diametrically opposed subchambers,    lubricant oil delivery mechanism including oil delivery bores for delivering lubricant oil to working chamber assembly.    
     
     
         14 . Working chamber assembly as defined in  claim 13 , wherein said oil delivery bores include an axial bore in said inner piston shaft.  
     
     
         15 . Working chamber assembly as defined in  claim 13 , wherein said lubricant oil delivery means uses centrifugal force as a means to power oil delivery.  
     
     
         16 . Working chamber assembly as defined in  claim 13  including an oil drainage gutter attached to an edge of said exhaust port at said outer cover.