Patent ID: 8714118
Filing Date: 2014-05-06
Classification: F02B

Abstract:
1. An engine comprising: an engine block having a longitudinal dimension and a diameter dimension orthogonal to said longitudinal dimension, said engine block having a linear shaft bore running therethrough along a centroidal axis of symmetry of said block from a power piston end of said block to an opposite exhaust piston end, a radially spaced array of five cylinders formed in said block, equally radially spaced around, and equally radially distal from, and parallel to said shaft bore, a power piston cam cavity formed in said power piston end of said block and connecting said shaft bore with said array of five cylinders, an exhaust piston cam cavity formed in said exhaust piston end of said block and connecting said shaft bore with said array of five cylinders, a shaft rotatably mounted in said shaft bore, five power pistons slidably mounted in said power piston ends of said array of five cylinders, and five exhaust pistons slidably mounted in said exhaust piston ends of said array of five cylinders, wherein each of said power pistons and each of said exhaust pistons in corresponding cylinders of said array of five cylinders have combustion chamber faces in opposed facing relation within each said corresponding cylinder so as to define a combustion chamber between said opposed facing combustion chamber faces, wherein said each of said power pistons has a power piston cam channel formed therein and disposed in registry with said power piston cam cavity, and wherein said each of said exhaust pistons has an exhaust piston cam channel formed therein and disposed in registry with said exhaust piston cam cavity, a power piston cam having an arcuately profiled substantially disc-shaped power piston cam member there-around, said power piston cam mounted to said shaft for rotation therewith and rotatably mounted in said power piston cam cavity so as to slidably mate said power piston cam member simultaneously with said power piston cam channels in said each power piston, an exhaust piston cam having an arcuately profiled substantially disc-shaped exhaust piston cam member there-around, said exhaust piston cam mounted to said shaft for rotation therewith and rotatably mounted in said exhaust piston cam cavity so as to slidably mate said exhaust piston cam member simultaneously with said exhaust piston cam channels in said each exhaust piston, said power piston cam member being arcuately profiled in accordance to a power piston stroke profile to translate said power pistons during a repeating five phase cycle of said engine along said corresponding cylinders as said shaft rotates relative to said block, said exhaust piston cam member being arcuately profiled in accordance to an exhaust piston position profile to translate said exhaust pistons during said five phase cycle of said engine along said corresponding cylinders as said shaft said rotates relative to said block, and wherein said each cylinder has an intake port and a corresponding exhaust port formed in a wall of said each cylinder, said intake port positioned to coincide in position with said combustion chamber during an intake dwell phase of said five phase cycle of said engine, wherein said five phase cycle includes, in repeating sequence: said intake dwell phase, a compression stroke phase, a power stroke phase, an exhaust stroke phase, and a vacuum stroke phase, wherein in said intake dwell phase for said each cylinder said piston is translated according to said stroke profile to an intake port open position wherein a corresponding said intake port is open and said exhaust piston is maintained by said positioning profile in an exhaust port closed position wherein a corresponding said exhaust port is closed so that a combustion mixture fills said combustion chamber from said intake port, wherein in said compression stroke phase for said each cylinder said power piston is translated according to said stroke profile to a fully compressed position wherein said combustion chamber is fully compressed for ignition of said combustion mixture in said combustion chamber, and said exhaust piston is in said exhaust port closed position, wherein in said power stroke phase for said each cylinder said power piston is translated to a power-from-combustion depleted position wherein said combustion chamber is expanded without opening said intake port to thereby transfer energy from combustion of said mixture following said ignition to rotation of said shaft, and said exhaust piston is in said exhaust port closed position, wherein in said exhaust stroke phase for said each cylinder said power piston is translated to substantially said fully compressed position and said exhaust piston is translated to an exhaust port open position wherein said exhaust port is exposed to vent therethrough by-products of combustion from said ignition of said mixture in said combustion chamber, wherein in said vacuum stroke phase for said each cylinder said power piston returns to said intake port open position and said exhaust piston returns to said exhaust port closed position, and wherein said five stroke cycle for said each cylinder is 72 degrees out-of-phase to said five stroke cycle for its next adjacent said cylinder in said array of five cylinders so as to provide for balanced operation of said engine.