Patent ID: 7341041
Filing Date: 2008-03-11
Classification: F01C

Abstract:
1. A rotary engine or generator comprising, in combination: a stationary toroidal piston cylinder with an interior chamber which is circular about a main axis of radial symmetry; a piston assembly, comprising a circular mounting disk rotatable about said main axis and at least one piston fixedly mounted to the periphery of said disk for motion in a circular path through the chamber of said toroidal piston cylinder; a central shaft extending from the center of said mounting disk, coaxial with said main axis for transmission of energy from the engine; timed on/off valving means which, in use, periodically open within the chamber to permit a passage of said at least one piston therethrough and then close the passage sealingly, forming an expansion chamber between the closed valving means and said at least one piston receding; control means for actuating said on/off valving means in preselected synchronization with the rotation of said central shaft and said piston assembly; an air blower for injecting said pressurized fluid into said expansion chamber to impart thrust to said piston in a power stroke; and exhaust means for venting fluid from the cylinder, following said power stroke, from a selected downstream position on the cylinder intermediate said on/off valving means and said at least one piston receding, each said position corresponding to a selected expansion stroke length and expansion displacement volume, wherein said exhaust means comprises an exhaust manifold in communication with a second plurality of ports opening into said cylinder at said selected downstream locations, each of said ports being provided with independently operable valves for selectively opening one of said valves and closing the others for a predetermined expansion displacement volume.