Stotler radial rotary piston engine

Abstract

An internal four-cycle combustion engine with at least one piston that rotates in relation to a hub that acts as a rotary valve is provided. The rotary valve hub includes passageways to provide for fuel/air intake, exhaust, and coolant as well as an ignition devise and services all cylinders that revolve around it. Each piston compresses inward toward the hub and is actuated by its own gear driven crankshaft that is driven by a gear affixed to the hub. The crankshaft gear having one half the radius of the hub gear, will rotate twice as it circles the hub, providing four cycles of piston motion.

I claim:  
     
         1 . An internal combustion four-cycle engine with one or more cylinders arranged radially around the axis of engine rotation with pistons that compress inward and with a central hub that acts as a rotary valve and allows for fuel/air intake, provides a seal, provides ignition, and provides an escape for exhaust to all cylinders around it. .  
     
     
         2 . The central rotary valve hub of the system of  claim 1  that includes: a passageway for a fuel/air mixture to enter the cylinders during the intake stoke, an ignition device, a passageway for exhaust gasses to exit the cylinders during the exhaust stoke, passageways for coolant and acts as single rotary valve that services all the pistons that revolve relative to it.  
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the rotary valve hub is mounted in a stationary position and the cylinder block rotates around the hub.  
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the rotary valve hub rotates and the cylinder block is mounted in a stationary position.  
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the rotary valve hub rotates and the cylinder block rotates in the opposite direction as the rotary valve hub.  
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the pistons are actuated by a crankshaft with a crankshaft gear having a circumference of one half that of the hub gear of which it engages thereby causing four piston stokes for every revolution relative to the hub.  
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the gear driven crankshaft system is replaced by a cam system.  
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the engine of the type of the present invention may be made with multiple rings of radially aligned pistons and a multiple number of cylinders within those rings therefore providing for an unlimited number of pistons and configurations.  
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the ignition devise is either a spark plug or a glow plug.  
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the engine of the type of the present invention may be made with various locations of the intake passageway, exhaust passageway, and ignition devise within the hub with respect to the cylinder cycles thereby changing their timing with the cycles. This can also be achieved during engine operation by including mechanisms within the hub that change the dimensions and or locations of these devises within the hub. In addition a mechanism that rotates the gear hub with respect to the hub would have a similar tuning effect by advancing the cylinder cycles.  
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the engine of the type of the present invention may be made with various locations of the coolant passageways within the hub to create different cooling effects.  
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the engine of the type of the present invention may be made with various locations of coolant passageways within the cylinder block to create different cooling effects.  
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the engine of the type of the present invention may be made with various locations of lubricant passageways within the hub to create different lubrication and cooling effects.  
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the engine of the type of the present invention may be made with various locations of lubricant passageways within the cylinder block to create different lubricant and cooling effects.  
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the engine of the type of the present invention may be made with a sleeve around the piston that also acts as a cylinder linier that is spring loaded to form a tight seal with the hub.  
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the engine of the type of the present invention may be made with bearings between the hub and the cylinder block.