Patent ID: 9103333
Filing Date: 2015-08-11
Classification: F01B,F02B,F03C,F04B,F16H

Abstract:
1. An axial piston machine acting as a thermodynamic engine, compressor, motor or pump comprising; a crankshaft rotatable about a crankshaft axis and carrying a crank having an inclined crank axis that is at an angle to the crankshaft axis but aligned to intersect therewith at an acute angle A at a point (point X) on the crankshaft, a cylinder cluster comprising at least two cylinders rigidly located with respect to each other, each cylinder spaced relative to the other(s) about a cylinder cluster axis that is coincident to said crankshaft axis, each said cylinder including at least one cylinder opening to allow fluid inlet and/or outlet to/from said cylinder controlled in a manner to allow the machine to operate as a thermodynamic engine, compressor, motor or pump, in each cylinder, a complementary piston to reciprocate along a reciprocating axis defined by its respective cylinder, a reciprocator mounted to rotate relative to said crank about said inclined crank axis, said reciprocator operatively connected to said pistons by a respective connection rod, such that the rotational motion of the crankshaft with respect to the cylinder cluster drives the reciprocal motion of the pistons within their respective cylinders or vice versa in a sinusoidal or near sinusoidal manner, and allows controlled reciprocating displacement of each piston within its respective cylinder between top dead centre (TDC) and bottom dead centre (BDC), a plurality of pairs of rotation constrainers operative between said cylinder cluster and said reciprocator, each pair of rotation constrainers comprising of: wherein each pair of rotation constrainers are positioned such that: