Abstract:
The present invention relates to internal combustion engines and more particularly reciprocating piston engines utilising Scotch yokes to translate rectilinear movement to rotary motion. In particular, the piston and/or pistons of the engine of the present invention can be placed in their topmost position for a period of time for the effective ignition and combustion of the air/fuel mixture for a given fuel charge, hence therefore providing an increased efficiency of the piston engine with a more efficient coupling between the piston and/or the power shaft driving the crank.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    This invention relates to internal combustion engines and more particularly reciprocating piston engines utilising Scotch yokes to translate rectilinear movement to rotary motion. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    As the person skilled in the art will appreciate, the internal combustion engine has now been with us for many decades and has become a most familiar design wherein the reciprocating piston uses connecting rods to connect the piston to the crank pins of the crank shaft to translate linear reciprocating motion of the pistons to rotary motion of the crank shaft. 
         [0003]    For the most part, a connecting rod is articulable at both ends where it attaches to the piston and crank pin. This piston is connected to the connecting rod by a wrist pin that passes through the piston and the connecting rod. For the most part, these kinds of designs for such internal combustion engines are known as slider crank engines. Nonetheless, time has proven that these types of internal combustion engines do have significant disadvantages and limitations. 
         [0004]    There has been a push, particularly now that fossil fuels are becoming scarce and there is a greater community emphasis to protect the environment by way of exhaust coming from conventional internal combustion energy, to improve upon the conventional slider crank engine. 
         [0005]    The Scotch yoke has been used in certain engine designs seeking to utilize cyclic dynamics over the slider crank engines. 
         [0006]    For the most part, traditional Scotch yoke engines connect two horizontally opposed pistons by non-articulable connecting rods to a shuttle having a slot which accommodates the crank pin of a crank shaft. Guide services constrain the motion of the shuttle to a linear path and the crank pin slides within the slot as the crank shaft rotates through its range, converting the linear reciprocating piston movement to rotary crank shaft motion. 
         [0007]    As the person skilled in the art will realise, the slot within the shuttle must be at least as wide as the crank pin diameter and at least as long as the diameter of the crank pin travel. 
         [0008]    Further, as the piston rod is part of a piston plate or the like which is restricted to linear reciprocated motion, any movement of the crank shaft will automatically see the piston extended or retracted away from any settable momentary position, including the sparking position. 
         [0009]    A present trend in engine design is to increase engine rpm using the conventional piston rod with a Scotch yoke structure. The use of convention scotch yokes is not always possible for the most part as the piston stroke is short and the time available for drawing air into the combustion chamber is very short. This causes combustion at less than the ideal 15 to 1 air/fuel ration for the fuel which in turn, leaves unburnt fuel to be exhausted as pollutants into the atmosphere. 
         [0010]    With the exhausted unburnt fuel goes wasted energy which should have been converted to power to drive the piston. 
         [0011]    What effectively is happening in both currently available slider crank engines as well as Scotch yoke base designs is that there is inefficient coupling between the piston rod and the crank shaft, and to date, to overcome this problem all people have ever done is to try to counteract the problem by including additional expensive intake valves placed into each cylinder to facilitate the additional air intake that has resulted from incomplete combustion of the air/fuel mixture. 
         [0012]    Hence, one of the best ways to surmount the inefficiency in piston rod/crank shaft coupling is to create a mechanism whereby a piston rod would be in its fully extended position for a moment of time rather than a point of time, wherein the entire force of the piston would be in complete perpendicular positioning in its upper most position in the firing chamber to then provide an ignition which guarantees the effective combustion of the air/fuel mixture. 
         [0013]    It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome at least some of the aforementioned problems or to provide the public with a useful alternative. 
         [0014]    It is a further object of this invention to provide an internal combustion engine based on the principles of using a Scotch yoke configuration, wherein the piston and/or pistons can be placed in their topmost position for a period of time for the effective ignition and combustion of the air/fuel mixture for a given fuel charge, hence therefore providing arguably an increased efficiency of the piston engine with a more efficient coupling between the piston and/or the power shaft driving the crank. 
         [0015]    Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a complete reading of the following specification. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0016]    Accordingly, in one form of the invention, although this need not be the only nor indeed the broadest form of the invention, there is provided an internal combustion engine, said engine characterised by: 
         [0000]    at least one piston associated with a scotch yoke structure to translate substantially rectilinear motion of the at least one piston into rotatable motion of a crank shaft; and
 
wherein said scotch yoke structure is configured such that its mode of operation is interchangeable between a crank mode when the crank shaft is within a first range of angles and a cam mode when the crank shaft is within a second range of angles, said cam mode being such that the at least one piston dwells when the crank shaft is within the second range of angles.
 
         [0017]    Preferably said second range of crank shaft angles is between 0° and 45°. 
         [0018]    In preference said first range of crank shaft angles is between 45° and 360°. 
         [0019]    Preferably said scotch yoke structure includes an inner peripheral edge engageable by a wheel member associated with the crank shaft such that said wheel is rotatably guided therealong. 
         [0020]    In preference said inner peripheral edge includes a shoulder along said inner peripheral edge of the scotch yoke structure, said shoulder being shaped and positioned along said inner peripheral edge such that when the wheel member engages the shoulder, the piston is in and remains in its topmost position, wherein said piston will remain in said topmost position until the wheel member has been rotatably guided beyond the shoulder of the inner peripheral edge of the Scotch yoke structure. 
         [0021]    In preference said inner peripheral edge forms part of the same structure as the at least one piston, said structure including guide means to facilitate rectilinear motion thereof. 
         [0022]    In preference said guide means includes a series of rollers moveable along a housing which extends substantially parallel to the motion of the pistons, said rollers being rotatably supported in their respective housings. 
         [0023]    Preferably said scotch yoke structure includes two sets of guide means on either side thereof. 
         [0024]    Preferably the at least one piston includes a piston head and removeable inner slides as a means providing frictionless airtight support for the piston as it extends and retracts inside its chamber. 
         [0025]    In preference each scotch yoke structure includes two pistons associated therewith. 
         [0026]    In a further form of the invention there is proposed an internal combustion engine, said engine characterised by: 
         [0000]    at least one piston in combination with a Scotch yoke structure to translate substantially rectilinear motion of the extending and retracting piston into rotatable motion of a crank shaft, said communication including a wheel member having a crank mode and a cam mode, said Scotch yoke structure characterised with an inner peripheral edge to which said wheel is adapted to be rotatably guided thereabouts, said inner peripheral edge of the Scotch yoke including a shoulder along said inner peripheral edge length adapted to engage the wheel member such that the mode of operation of the wheel member functions as a cam, thereby maintaining the position of the piston in the same extended or retracted position until the wheel member is rotated beyond the shoulder of the inner peripheral edge of the Scotch yoke, thereby changing the mode of operation of the wheel member back to a crank mode wherein subsequent rotation of the wheel member translates the rectilinear motion of the extending and retracting piston into rotating motion against the crank shaft. 
         [0027]    Preferably the inner peripheral edge of the Scotch yoke is configured such that when the wheel member engages the shoulder along the length of the inner peripheral edge, and the wheel member goes into the mode of a cam, at the shoulder engagement, the piston is in and remains in its topmost position within the piston&#39;s cylinder chamber, wherein said piston will remain in said topmost position until the wheel member has been rotatably guided beyond the shoulder of the inner peripheral edge of the Scotch yoke structure. 
         [0028]    Advantageously the inner peripheral edge introduces the shoulder along its length such that the rotation of the wheel member about the edge is such that the wheel member remains upon the shoulder, and thereby in the cam mode for a period of guidance which sees crank shaft rotation between 0° to 45° when the piston is in the topmost extended position. 
         [0029]    Preferably when the piston is in the topmost position at the moment of ignition of the air/fuel mixture, the crank shaft continues a rotation between 0° to 45° without any of such rotary movement being translated on rectilinear motion of the piston. 
         [0030]    An advantage of such an arrangement is that the use of introducing a shouldered length along the inner peripheral edge of the Scotch yoke configuration means that the continual rectilinear motion between the piston and the crank shaft which sees the linear motion being transformed into rotatory motion is momentarily interrupted in that once the wheel member engages the shoulder, the wheel member begins a functionality change from being a crank to a cam. 
         [0031]    As the wheel member is not a cam when in contact with the shoulder, there is no change in the positioning of the piston from its topmost position. Advantageously as the piston rod and crank shaft are effectively decoupled by the switching or the change of mode of the wheel member from the crank to the cam, means that the piston can have a certain dwell time in remaining in the topmost position which causes complete combustion of the hydrocarbon fuel. 
         [0032]    Advantageously, there is no unburnt fuel to be exhausted as pollutants into the atmosphere. 
         [0033]    Also advantageously, as there is no exhausted unburnt fuel, there is no wasted energy, and in fact, as the fuel is ignited for the most part in its entirety, this is converted to additional power to drive the piston and so forth onto the crank shaft. 
         [0034]    Advantageously, this unique re-designing of the Scotch yoke to introduce the shoulder on the Scotch yoke allows the wheel member change from a crank into a cam to disengage the piston and crank shaft. This de-coupling creates a fixed length moment of time for the piston to be in the upmost position so that the igniting of the fuel will see the entire force of the piston being applied because all the fuel is burnt and this translates to a higher torque power at the output shaft to the crank shaft once the wheel member again becomes directly engaged as a crank. 
         [0035]    As the person skilled in the art will appreciate, this arrangement applies more of the piston&#39;s power to the output shaft and over a greater part of the power stroke than is possible with a conventional coupling between piston rod and crank shaft. 
         [0036]    Effectively, through this unique feature, one can design the inner peripheral edge of the Scotch yoke such that the rotatable movement of the wheel member about the inner peripheral edge can be such that for certain angles of degrees of rotation of the crank shaft rotation can see no movement whatsoever of the piston travel either between extended or retracted positions. 
         [0037]    In preference, the inner peripheral edge introduces the shoulder along its length such that the rotation of the wheel member about the edge is such that the wheel member remains upon the shoulder, and thereby in the cam mode for a period of guidance which sees crank shaft rotation between 0° to 45° when the piston is in the topmost extended position. 
         [0038]    Consequently, when the piston is in the topmost position at the moment of ignition of the air/fuel mixture, the crank shaft can continue a rotation between 0° to 45° without any of such rotary movement being translated on rectilinear motion of the piston. 
         [0039]    Preferably the rotation of Cam (pressure) and Crank (release) in preference follows these tabled results below in table 1; 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                 Crank rotation 0°-45° 
                 Piston dwell (piston dwell can be altered to any 
               
               
                   
                 crank degree - before/after TDC - top dead 
               
               
                   
                 centre). 
               
               
                   
                 Pressure release angle can be modified to suit 
               
               
                   
                 application. 
               
               
                 Crank rotation 45°-135° 
                 Piston pressure at its most effective to produce 
               
               
                   
                 crank rotation. 
               
               
                 Crank rotation 135°-180° 
                 Piston reaches BDC (bottom dead centre) of 
               
               
                   
                 stroke. 
               
               
                 Crank rotation 180°-0° 
                 Piston travels back to TDC as per scotch yoke 
               
               
                   
                 movement. 
               
               
                 Crank rotation 180°-0° 
                 Piston travel can be modified to have a BDC 
               
               
                   
                 dwell equivalent - to piston travelling down 
               
               
                   
                 (0°-45°) or other movement. 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0040]    Dwell allows all fuel to be burnt efficiently and effectively (lowering emissions) releasing all the pressure at the most effective crank angle (Torque). Frictionless design gains hp and reliability. Yoke design can be altered to any angle of movement before or after TDC. 
         [0041]    The contrary is the case in that through the use of the wheel member there is almost a decoupling effect between the crank shaft and the piston, thereby giving the piston once in the uppermost position, a certain dwelling time which will see the effective combustion of the fuel with the air mixture. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
         [0042]    The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate several implementations of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the advantages and principles of the invention. In the drawings: 
           [0043]      FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view of one embodiment of this invention wherein a four cylinder internal combustion engine is provided for; 
           [0044]      FIG. 2  illustrates an exploded view of  FIG. 1  in an exploded configuration showing one example of the Scotch yoke with two pistons attached thereto; 
           [0045]      FIG. 3  illustrates a schematic representation of the relevant translation of movement between the crank shaft and the piston within the respective cylinders over a period of rotation; 
           [0046]      FIGS. 4   a - 4   b  illustrate a further expansion of the representation shown in  FIG. 3 , wherein the complete crank shaft rotation between 0° to 360° is acknowledged with respect to the translated piston travel for that corresponding rotation; 
           [0047]      FIG. 5  illustrates a similar embodiment in the unexpanded configuration to that shown in  FIG. 2  with some additional features and description included; and 
           [0048]      FIG. 6  introduces a further embodiment of the invention wherein the crank shaft is constructed with modulated segments. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0049]    The following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings. Although the description includes exemplary embodiments, other embodiments are possible, and changes may be made to the embodiments described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the embodiments and the following description to refer to the same and like parts. 
         [0050]    Referring to the drawings now in greater detail, wherein the internal combustion engine  10  would include as part of its arrangement a Scotch yoke structure  12  which is divided into top portion  28  and a bottom portion  26 . 
         [0051]    The Scotch yoke structure  12  includes an inner peripheral edge  13  which provides a guide to which the wheel member  29  is adapted to rotate thereabouts. 
         [0052]    In  FIG. 1  a four piston, or more precisely, four cylinder internal combustion engine is illustrated. 
         [0053]    For simplicity, the actual cylinder chambers to which the respective pistons  16 ,  18 ,  20  and  22  would extend and retract therein, have been removed so that the important and inventive aspects of this invention can be discussed more clearly. 
         [0054]    Pistons pairs  16  and  18 , and  20  and  22 , form part of the overall scotch yoke structures  12 . Therefore, when combustion occurs inside a cylinder chamber the pistons and therefore the scotch yoke structure  12  move along a rectilinear path and such movement translates into rotational motion against the crank shaft via a crank arm  33  which extends alongside the scotch yoke structure  12 . In the embodiment shown, the crank shaft includes at its ends two discs  31  which are meshed on their outside surface to facilitate connection to a housing or other engine component (not shown). 
         [0055]    Guide members  30  have been included and through the arrangement of the ball bearing configuration shown generally as  32  in  FIG. 2 , includes a series of rollers  36  which are rotatably supported in respective housings  38 ,  39  and joined together by bolt  34 . 
         [0056]    The guide  30  along with the bearing or roller arrangement  32  contributes for the most part to a frictionless extension of the respective pistons from their extended and retracted positions within a cylinder chamber. 
         [0057]    As best seen in  FIG. 2 , the piston heads  17  and  19  are able to be easily removed through the use of the fastening pins  43  and  45 . 
         [0058]    Advantageously, this means that when the cylinder head or piston heads need maintenance or replacing, the job is straight forward as the respective heads can be disengaged from the upper structure of the Scotch yoke. 
         [0059]    As the bearing or roller arrangement  32  is able to be guided through the roller mechanism up and down guide  30 , means that there is no actual frictional engagement between the cylinder or piston heads as they make their way up and down the cylinder chamber. 
         [0060]    As possibly best seen in  FIG. 5 , the use of the rings and the oil scraper  102  means that no unnecessary heat or elevated temperature conditions are created as the piston makes its way up and down inside the cylinder chamber as the wheel member moves around the inner peripheral edge of the Scotch yoke structure as the substantially rectilinear motion of the moving pistons are translated to a rotary motion up against the crank shaft. 
         [0061]    As best seen in  FIGS. 2 and 5 , the upper and bottom portions of the Scotch yoke structure can be fastened together at the respective points  42   a ,  42   b  and  44   a ,  44   b  through respective bolts  61  and  63 . 
         [0062]    Removable inner slides  104  can also be included as part of the arrangement, again reinforcing with the guided system support for the piston in complete frictionless airtight extension and retraction inside the cylinder chamber as the piston is moved up and down through the effects of the wheel member rotatably moving about the inner peripheral edge of the Scotch yoke structure  12 . 
         [0063]    The preferred embodiment presents the piston with an inclined surface that provides for an ellipse surface area engagement of the piston head with the fuel to be ignited. The ellipse surface provides greater surface area. While it is advantageous to use such a design it is not essential to the invention. 
         [0064]    In consideration of  FIGS. 1-5 , a person skilled in the art should  15  appreciate how a system employed for this internal combustion engine is working, which for its main purpose is to see that each of the respective cylinders would have a piston in its uppermost position at the point of firing for a period of time rather than simply a point of time so that piston can remain at that uppermost position so that all the hydrocarbon fuel in the air/fuel intake is burnt rather than leaving any unburnt fuel to be exhausted. 
         [0065]    This ability to create a dwelling time for the piston to remain in the uppermost position inside the cylinder chamber is achieved by the fact that the wheel member  29  rotates up against shoulder  41  of the inner peripheral edge  13  of the Scotch yoke structure  12  and as this happens the functionality of the wheel member changes from being in a crank mode to a cam mode. 
         [0066]    Hence, as best seen in  FIG. 3 , while the crank shaft continues its rotation between 0°-45°, the pistons themselves have not moved from their uppermost position which means that as the piston is allowed to dwell in its uppermost position for a moment of time, despite the fact the crank shaft has continued its rotation, means that this additional time allows for the complete burning of the hydrocarbon fuel. 
         [0067]    Advantageously, peak pressure at the optimum crank angle is achieved not for a point of time but in fact a period of time. 
         [0068]    As the wheel member  29  continues its way around the inner peripheral edge  13  of the Scotch yoke  12 , the shoulder  41  has a defined length which holds the wheel member in the cam mode until it leaves shoulder  41  to again rejoin conventional configuration of the Scotch yoke and whereby the movement of the wheel member  29  away from the shouldered length  41  of the inner peripheral edge  13  of the Scotch yoke structure  12 , returns the functionality of the wheel member  29  back to a crank, such that any subsequent rotation of the crank shaft and vice versa any rectilinear motion of the piston sees a direct translation between such motion from the piston to the crank shaft and vice versa. 
         [0069]    In the conventional Scotch yoke arrangement, though it is difficult to apply to such designs readily to those illustrated in  FIGS. 1 to 5 , a person skilled in the art can appreciate that for the most part the wheel member is constrained very carefully within a guided rim of continuous rotation within the Scotch yoke structure. 
         [0070]    Any rotatable movement of the wheel member simply is translated to motion upon the crank shaft. 
         [0071]    Hence, the piston never stays stationary so long as the crank shaft is in rotation and so there is no opportunity for the piston to remain in its upmost position longer than simply a point of time rather than a period of time. 
         [0072]    However, advantageously in this invention, the introduction of the shoulder about the peripheral edge of the Scotch yoke has provided a means in which the piston and the crank shaft effectively become decoupled through certain degrees of rotation of the crank shaft. 
         [0073]    Advantageously, it is up to the designer of the engine to decide where and when the decoupling effect between the piston and the crank shaft takes place and for how long. 
         [0074]    Effectively such an engine provided by this invention means that designers can now decide their own degree of crank angle and cylinder pressure to achieve optimum flame burning of the hydrocarbon fuel. 
         [0075]    While this is the essential aspect of the invention, various advantageous to extensions can be included thereupon, not the least having two cylinders connected as a single piece to the Scotch yoke structure. 
         [0076]    As the person skilled in the art can appreciate, one cylinder can be at the point of ignition while the adjacent piston can be in a position for intake of air, and so forth. 
         [0077]    Advantageously, by being able to place two pistons conveniently upon the Scotch yoke structure means that the size of the internal combustion engine can be greatly reduced. 
         [0078]    As also introduced above, the introduction of the guided mechanism through guides  30 , along with rollers  32  means that respective pistons are held in place without any friction or contact with the sides of the cylinder chamber, thereby again keeping the temperature of the engine substantially lower. 
         [0079]      FIGS. 3 and 4  show schematically the relative distance traveled of the piston relative to the crank shaft rotation with the crank shaft rotation starting a 0° at  47 , then working through  47  to  92  when crank shaft rotation extends to 345°. 
         [0080]    During the crank shaft rotation as listed, the piston travels a certain length, however the piston will only travel once the wheel member is in crank mode rather than the cam mode which functionality is provided for once the wheel member begins to engage the shoulder upon the peripheral edge of the Scotch yoke structure. 
         [0081]      FIG. 6  provides for further embodiment of this invention wherein the crank shaft  110  can be divided into modular section  112  and  114  and so forth to build up additional Scotch yoke structures and thereby the cylinder capacity of the engine as required. 
         [0082]    Further advantages and improvements may very well be made to the present invention without deviating from its scope. Although the invention has been shown and described in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope and spirit of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices and apparatus. 
         [0083]    In any claims that follow and in the summary of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word “comprising” is used in the sense of “including”, i.e. the features specified may be associated with further features in various embodiments of the invention.