High efficiency internal explosion engine

Abstract

A four-stroke, piston-powered internal explosion (“IE”) engine for providing power output through a rotating crankshaft. The IE engine includes an engine block having power cylinders formed therein for receiving working pistons, bearing means for supporting the crankshaft, and a crankshaft supported within the bearing means having an output end extending outside of the engine block and a plurality of offset power cranks. The IE engine further includes connecting rods operably coupled to the power cranks and configured to transfer power from the working pistons to rotate the crankshaft, and working pistons that are received into the power cylinders and operably coupled to the power cranks. Each working piston has a head end positioned adjacent to a cylinder head to form a compression chamber and is configured to receive power from an explosion of a compressed volume of air/fuel mixture located within the compression chamber, and to transfer the received power to the connecting rods. The IE engine is further configured so that the compressed volume of air/fuel mixture is substantially constant, and a peak compression ratio is maintained, from an angular position of the rotating crankshaft of at least 20 degrees prior to a TDC position of a compression stroke, to an angular position of at least 20 degrees after the TDC position of a power stroke, and prior to detonation.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is: 
     
         1 . A piston-powered internal explosion engine for providing power output through a rotating crankshaft having at least one power crank, said internal explosion engine comprising:
 an engine block having a power cylinder formed therein for receiving a working piston;   a connecting rod operably coupled to said power crank and configured to transfer power from said working piston to rotate said crankshaft, said working piston being supported within said power cylinder and operably coupled to said power crank; and   a compression chamber defined at least in part by a head end of said working piston adjacent a cylinder head, said working piston being configured to receive power from an explosion of a detonated compressed volume of air/fuel mixture located substantially within said compression chamber and to transfer the received power to said connecting rod,   wherein said compressed volume of air/fuel mixture is held substantially constant, and a desired compression ratio maintained, from an angular position of said rotating crankshaft of at least 20 degrees prior to a top dead center position of said working piston during a compression stroke, to an angular position of at least 20 degrees after said top dead center position of said working piston during a power stroke, and prior to detonation, to facilitate an explosive, rapid expansion reaction at the time of said explosion.