Abstract:
A hybrid engine including an electric generator, an electric motor, and a rotary internal combustion engine including pivoted vane elements mounted on a rotor and biased into engagement to sequentially form intake, compression, combustion and exhaust chambers between the rotor and its annular wall.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     None 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Research and development of this invention and Application have not been federally sponsored, and no rights are given under any Federal program. 
     REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to hybrid engines combining electric motors and generators with combustion engines, in general, and to a hybrid engine in which the motor and generator is combined with a rotary internal combustion engine, in particular. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     As is well known and understood, automotive manufacturers are either producing or developing automobiles with hybrid engines which combine electrical power with internal combustion engines. In these designs, the generator constantly charges the vehicle&#39;s batteries, while increasing revolutions during moments of deceleration increases the charging of the batteries and the braking forces applied to the drive shaft. There, the electric motor always assists the engine during vehicle acceleration, but at the same time always senses the drive shaft load in reacting on demand; in these configurations, the electric motor also acts as a primary driver in preventing battery over-charge. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     As will become clear from the following description, the present invention provides a hybrid engine which combines an electric motor and generator with a rotary internal combustion engine. As will be seen more specifically, the hybrid engine utilizes a rotary internal combustion engine which incorporates features of my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,347(issued Jul. 27, 1976) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,307,695 (issued Dec. 29, 1981). 
     As is known, the main benefits to be derived from rotary internal combustion engines relative to reciprocating piston engines are that they are comprised of fewer operating parts, can be run on a number of different fuels, are more compact and are more efficient: 
     a) My U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,347 describes a rotary internal combustion engine housing and a concentrically arranged chamber within the housing in receiving an eccentrically disposed cylindrical rotor; the rotor cooperates with the chamber to define a crescent-shaped chamber which is sequentially divided into intake, compression, combustion and exhaust chambers by means of vanes which are pivotally mounted on the annular surface of the rotor and which engage the inner surface of the housing in defining the chamber. The resulting configuration provides efficiency of operation, effective sealing between the rotor and the housing, effective minimalization of heat build up due to frictional contact, and a great rigidity and strength. 
     b) My second U.S. Pat. No. 4,307,695 provides enhanced operation by having a blower and/or superchargers that are driven by the rotary engine. The design includes a rotor, a plurality of pistons angularly mounted in the rotor, an actuator mounted for eccentric rotation relative to the access of rotation of the rotor, a blower, a transverse actuator pin connecting each piston to the actuator, and a plurality of fixed pins connecting the rotor to the actuator. With the fixed pins mounted on the rotor so as to pass through clearance holes in the blower in carrying extension gears which mate with internal gears mounted in the actuator, rotation of the rotor causes rotation of the blower and of the actuator as well. As there set forth, the rotational force that results changes the pressure line in its direction, moving it towards the direction of rotation as the rotational speed increases. 
     As will become clear from the following description, the hybrid engine of the present invention includes the basic configuration of my U.S. Pat. No. 4,307,695 patent—but, instead of employing its pistons, utilizes the pivoting vane concept of my U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,347 patent albeit somewhat modified. Also, in so doing, the blower and supercharger of my later design is eliminated—leading to the end result of a very small engine yet with a comparable amount of power as with hybrid engines utilizing standard cylinder engines. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     These and other features of the present invention will be more clearly understood from a consideration of the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of a rotary engine modified in accordance with the teachings of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the three elements which make up the drive system in a hybrid automobile embodying the invention—a generator, a motor, and the rotary engine of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a diagrammatical view of the automotive drive system including the battery bank and the fuel tank, indicative of how they function together; 
     FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the rotary engine of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the rotary engine taken along its actuator; 
     FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the engine of FIG. 1 with its vanes in the  4  phases of intake, compression, combustion and exhaust while the intake vane is in the purging mode and the combustion vane is at top dead center (TDC); 
     FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the engine with the intake vane at bottom dead center (BDC), while the combustion vane proceeds through its power phase; and 
     FIG. 8 shows a combined cooling and lubricating system for the rotary engine of FIG.  1 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to the exploded view of the rotary engine  14  of the invention shown in FIG. 1, reference numeral  1  identifies its housing end plate, reference numeral  2  identifies its actuator, reference numeral  3  depicts its fixed pins, and reference numeral  4  shows its actuating pins. The fan disc of the engine is shown at  5 , the rotor is shown at  6 , and the pivoting vanes are shown at  7 —all riding on a shaft  8  extending through a T-ring  9 . The exhaust outlet for the engine is then shown at  10 . Coupled together as a hybrid engine  14  with an electric generator  12  and electric motor  13 , the hybrid engine of the invention may be of a depth 100 of some 24 inches, and a height  101  of some 8 inches. The depths of the generator ( 102 ), the motor ( 103 ) and the rotary engine ( 104 ) may be of the order of 5 inches, 7 inches and 12 inches, respectively—all as shown in FIG. 2 along with the end plate  1 . 
     In the drive system illustrated in FIG. 3, electrical power from a battery bank  17  travels along a path  16  to the motor  13 , whereas the generator  12  charges the battery bank  17  along a path  15 , each as indicated in the direction of the arrows. A fuel tank  18  supplies gasoline or other fuel to the engine  14  along a fuel line  19 , in the direction of its own respective arrow. 
     As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the cross-sectional view of the rotary engine  14  (FIG. 4) includes a fuel injector  11 , an actuator bearing  20 , a rotor bearing  21 , an eccentric  22 , a double bearing  23 , pairs of fan seals  24 , and pairs of ring seals  25 . Reference numeral  26  identifies the oil ports included in the rotor  6 . Reference numeral  8  continues to show the shaft of the rotary engine. 
     FIG. 5 then shows a sectional view of the rotary engine of the invention taken at the actuator  2 , along the line A—A. FIG. 6 shows a sectional view taken at the rotor  6 , along the line B—B, with the four vanes  7  in their phases of intake, compression, combustion and exhaust, and while the intake vane is in the purging mode and the combustion vane is at top dead center (TDC). Reference numeral  27  identifies the intake at the purge position, with the compression, combustion and power phases indicated clockwise. The “fuel” and “air” inputs are as indicated, with the notation BDC representing the bottom dead center position. FIG. 7, on the other hand, shows the same section view at the rotor  6  along the line B—B with the intake vane the bottom dead center (BDC) position and the combustion vane proceeding through the power phase. The intake vane at the bottom dead center (BDC) position is shown at  28 . 
     Adding the cooling and lubricating system with the rotary engine of FIG. 4 provides the view of FIG. 8 in which reference numeral  29  identifies the oil inlet, reference numeral identifies the oil outlet, the filter is shown at  31 , the heat exchanger shown at  32  and its “in” and “out” pumps shown at  33 ,  34 , respectively. Again, the various arrows signify the flow of the coolant and lubricating fluids, in typical fashion. 
     As a reading of my above-noted patents will show, the rotary engine design of this invention utilizes both the pivotal vanes of the earlier patent with the actuator system of the later patent. With the cylinders of the later patent and with its blower and supercharger removed, the rotary engine of the invention becomes the primary driving force and the fuel the primary power medium—with all the other elements assisting the engine except during moments of demand. Each vane  7  will be seen to have a fixed pin which supports its pivoting action, while at the same time, stabilizes the rotary action of the rotor by terminating into the actuator through a double acting bearing. Each vane  7  also includes an actuator pin to provide a reciprocal action to each vane for each revolution. 
     In operation, the rotor, through supercharging by way of the rotor fan discs, undergoes the normal four stages of intake, compression, combustion and exhaust during each revolution. A crossover scavenging of the exhaust gases prior to full intake initiates the intake stage, as shown in FIG.  6 . The combustion stage can be spark or diesel generated—and the absence of intake and exhaust valves aids dramatically in avoiding sequencing while improving efficiency. This, joined together with the absence of any stop motion at the top dead center and bottom dead center, further improves the efficiency. 
     With the dimensions set forth, the three elements of the generator, motor and rotary engine of FIG. 2 thus form a compact cylindrical shape with a single central drive shaft ( 8 ) —allowing the motor to be of an 8 hp pm type. With dimensions of 18 inch diameter and some 12 inches long, an approximate volume of the hybrid engine of some 700 cubic inches is attainable. With the dimensions of the engine rotor (without the discs) being of 10 inch diameter×6.5 inches long, a volume of approximately 200 cubic inches results. The motor and generator then could displace another 800 cubic inches, for an approximate overall volume of the entire system of only 1,500 cubic inches. With each of the four vanes 7 being some 5.5 inches long and with a width of 6.5 inches, a stroke of approximately 3 inches provides a single combustion chamber of approximately 50 cubic inches—such that with four vanes, a combined displacement of approximately 200 cubic inches, 3.3 liters, would then follow. Assuming the rotary engine efficiency at 100% as compared to standard engines, the 3.3 liter displacement would then be substantially increased to provide a large horsepower within an envelope some 10 times smaller than a conventional engine. (The rotary engine coupled to the motor and generator would continue to be more than 6 times smaller than a standard 6-cylinder stand-alone engine.) The absence of valves for the intake and exhaust will be understood to allow greater efficiency at higher revolutions, eliminating the parts and timing problems associated with conventional engines. 
     As will be understood, in the operation of the hybrid engine, the generator  12  constantly charges the batteries of the bank  17 , while increasing revolutions during moments of deceleration increase the charging to the batteries and the braking forces to the drive shaft. As the electric motor  13  always assist the engine  14  primarily during the acceleration, but at the same time is always sensing the drive shaft load to react on demand, the electric motor  13  also assumes a primary driver to prevent battery over-charge. 
     As the rotary engine requires less combustion forces to achieve equal power of a standard piston engine because the spinning rotor mass develops power through kinetic energy forces much in the way the electric motor operates, the efficiency of the rotary engine in this invention would be much higher than that of a standard piston engine, which begins at 50%. With the modification to the vanes to provide enhanced displacement, a more stable operation is realizable in a smaller package, because of the elimination of the elimination of the previously utilized piston arms and their inherent side loading. 
     While there have been described what are considered to be preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the teachings herein. For at least such reason, therefore, resort should be had to the claims appended hereto for a true understanding of the scope of the invention.