Patent ID: 6390052
Filing Date: 2002-05-21
Classification: F01C,F02B,Y02T

Abstract:
A wobble engine comprising:a housing including an outer annular portion having an interior with a spherical shape that is symmetrically truncated on opposite sides of a great circle thereof, the housing also including a pair of cone portions that converge toward each other along a central rotational axis and that have truncated inner extremities, the spherically shaped outer annular portion cooperating with the truncated cone portions to define an annular cavity, and a vane that extends parallel to the central axis across the annular cavity; a shaft that extends along and is rotatable about the central axis; and a wobble plate assembly located within the housing for wobbling motion and including a spherical member rotatively fixed to the shaft, the spherical member having an annular bearing that extends obliquely with respect to the central axis, the wobble plate assembly also including a wobble plate of a generally annular shape having an inner extremity that is rotatably supported by the annular bearing of the spherical member and having an outer extremity that is slidably engaged with the spherical shape of the outer annular portion of the housing, the wobble plate having a slot that extends radially with respect to the spherical member and that receives the vane of the housing in a slidable relationship therewith, and the wobble plate having oppositely facing surfaces that respectively roll along the pair of truncated cone portions of the housing at diametrically opposite sides of the spherical member.