Patent ID: 6223846
Filing Date: 2001-05-01
Classification: B60K,B60T,F01B,F01L,F02B,F02D,F02N,Y02T,Y10T

Abstract:
A method of operating a wheeled vehicle, said method comprising the steps of:(a) providing an engine mounted in said vehicle and coupled to at least one vehicle wheel for its propulsion and braking, said engine including:(1) at least one cylinder,(2) a cylinder chamber within said at least one cylinder,(3) a head mounted to said at least one cylinder, and(4) a piston operatively engaging said at least one cylinder, with the piston to head and cylinder relationship being such that the volume of said cylinder chamber shrinks during a volume decreasing stroke, when said piston moves towards said head, and expands during a volume increasing stroke, when said piston moves away from said head,(b) providing an air-reservoir means mounted in said vehicle for receiving, storage, and discharge of compressed air,(c) providing a control means for controlling the operation of said engine and said vehicle in response to driver's demands and in accordance with a control program incorporated in said control means,(d) providing a gas exchange controlling means for selectively, variably, and alternatively connecting said cylinder chamber to outside atmosphere and to said air-reservoir, in timed relation to said engine operation,(e) providing a fuel delivery means for selectively and variably adding fuel to the air intended for participation in combustion in said engine in timed relation to said engine operation,(f) providing a means for allowing a vehicle driver to perform vehicle control functions including:(1) selectively demanding a vehicle braking force,(2) selectively demanding a vehicle propulsion force,(3) selectively demanding a change in magnitude of said vehicle braking force, and(4) selectively demanding a change in magnitude of said vehicle propulsion force,(g) operating said engine in a compressor mode driven by a vehicle momentum in response to a demand for a vehicle braking force, when said vehicle is in motion and said engine is coupled to said at least one vehicle wheel, by repeatedly performing a two-stroke compressor cycle in said at least one cylinder during which a charge of atmospheric air is received from said outside atmosphere into said cylinder chamber, compressed therein, and substantially displaced into said air-reservoir means for storage therein, whereby energy of the vehicle motion is transformed into energy of compressed air stored in said air-reservoir means, and(h) operating said engine in a prime mover mode propelling said vehicle in response to a demand for a vehicle propulsion force when there is no concurrent demand for said vehicle braking force, said prime mover mode including:(I) operating said engine in a mode selected from a variety of propulsion modes comprising:(1) a first propulsion mode including repeated performance of a hybrid four-stroke cycle in said at least one cylinder, said hybrid four-stroke cycle comprising two power strokes:a first power stroke including expansion of a compressed-air charge, received from said air-reservoir means, in said cylinder chamber during a first volume increasing stroke, anda second power stroke including expansion of combustion gas produced as a result of fuel combustion in said cylinder chamber during a second volume increasing stroke,whereby work performed during said first power stroke is added to work performed during said second power stroke, and(2) a second propulsion mode including operating said engine in a conventional internal combustion mode receiving air from said outside atmosphere, and(II) changing said engine operation from one propulsion mode to another one selected from said variety of propulsion modes.