Rotary engine

A rotary internal combustion engine has a double pivot center and allows for efficient communication between a central cylindrical intake/compression chamber and a crescent-shaped expansion chamber. Power packs rotating about the upper pivot location receive compressed gases from the compression chamber located within a flywheel which is positioned to rotate about the lower pivot location. Intake gases are ultimately compressed within the power packs before being ignited and causing a delayed powering of the power packs through the expansion chamber. Intermeshing of the power packs with the flywheel allows for the conversion of the power of the expanding gases acting on the power pack into rotation of the flywheel to power a drive shaft intimately mounted to the flywheel. Further optional treatment of the combusted gases provides more power to the drive shaft and such treatment may include, for example, fuel injection, water injection, further sparking, clean air injection and high compression turbine operation. The engine provides for rotary motion of all moving parts and the engine power packs use every stroke of the four stroke internal combustion engine during each revolution of the flywheel.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to engines, and more particularly to a Rotary 
internal combustion engine which allows for the complete treatment of the 
combusted gases, greater efficiency of the gas cycle and cleaner exhaust 
than present day engines. 
Prior art rotary internal combustion engines are described, for example, in 
the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 3,165,093 to Etxegoien; 3,181,510 to Hovey; 
3,572,985 to Runge; 3,976,037 to Hojnowski; 4,077,366 to Hideg et al.; 
4,096,828 to Satou et al.; 4,848,296 to Lopez; 4,926,816 to Kita et al.; 
5,251,596 to Westland et al.; and 5,310,325 to Gulyash. 
By the present invention, there is provided a rotary internal combustion 
engine having an engine block with a hollow interior in the shape of two 
overlapping cylinders. A flywheel occupies the lower cylindrical cavity of 
the engine block interior and has an internal bore which defines a 
cylindrical compression chamber. The flywheel is rotatable about the 
longitudinal axis of the lower cylindrical cavity. The outer surface of 
the flywheel and the interior surface of the upper cylindrical cavity 
define a crescent shaped expansion chamber. 
Power packs rotate about a stationary power shaft extending through the 
flywheel along the longitudinal axis of the upper cylindrical cavity of 
the engine block interior. The power packs intermesh with the flywheel 
such that rotation of the power packs about the shaft results in rotation 
of the flywheel. As the power packs rotate past an intake opening, 
combustion materials are vacuumed into the cylindrical chamber to be 
compressed. 
As the power packs rotate further about the power shaft, the combustion 
materials are ultimately compressed into a cross-fire combustion chamber 
within each power pack before being ignited by a spark plug positioned in 
an injection opening in the engine block. The resulting release of power 
into the expansion chamber from the explosion in the combustion chamber 
propels the power packs through the expansion chamber, thereby rotating 
the flywheel which then rotates a drive shaft held in communication with 
the flywheel. Further treatment of the combustion materials is optionally 
provided through additional injection openings in the engine block. Such 
treatment may include, for example, fuel injection, water injection, 
additional sparking, and clean air injection. The spent gases finally exit 
the expansion chamber and may then enter a turbine employed to extract 
further power from the highly exploded gases to rotate the drive shaft. 
The complete treatment of the combusted gases allows the engine to produce 
relatively pollutant-free exhaust.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring to FIGS. 1, 10 and 11 of the drawings, the rotary engine housing 
assembly 10 of the present invention comprises mating cylindrical engine 
block covers 12, 70 which house a flywheel assembly 30, an engine block 
40, and a flywheel drive shaft plate 50. The housing assembly 10 may be 
secured together by bolts 18, boss welds or the like. Engine block 40 has 
a cylindrical outer surface and a hollow interior 48 in the shape of two 
overlapping cylinders. Rear engine block cover 12 is provided with a 
carburetor opening 15 through which air or an air/fuel mixture may be 
input into the engine. The front engine block cover 70 is provided with an 
exhaust port 74. A stationary power pack shaft 11 anchored by a bolt 19 or 
the like in an inner hub portion 13 of the rear engine block cover 12 
extends through the flywheel 30 and engine block 40 along the longitudinal 
axis 16 of the upper cylindrical cavity. 
The flywheel 30 includes an extended hub 33 having a circular ring portion 
32 on one face and a power pack spacer portion 31 on the opposite face. As 
the hub 33 mates with the flat side surface 39 of the engine block 40, the 
power pack spacer portion 31 occupies the lower cylindrical cavity of the 
engine block interior 48. The flywheel ring portion 32 is adapted to 
receive a ball bearing member 20 which mates with the inner hub portion 13 
of the rear engine block cover 12 so as to provide support for rotation of 
the power pack spacer portion 31 within the engine block 40 about the 
longitudinal axis 17 of the lower cylindrical cavity. The engine block 40 
and engine block covers 12, 70 do not rotate during operation of the 
rotary engine 
The engine block 40 and the flywheel assembly 30 further cooperate to 
define a cylindrical intake/compression chamber 120 and a crescent shaped 
expansion chamber 130. The compression chamber 120 is defined by an 
internal bore extending through the flywheel 30 sealed on one end by the 
inner hub portion 13 of rear engine block cover 12 and on the other end by 
the drive shaft plate 50. The expansion chamber 130 is defined by the area 
between the outer surface of the flywheel power pack spacer portion 31 and 
the interior surface 54 of the engine block upper cylindrical cavity. The 
drive shaft plate 50 and the flywheel extended hub 33 provide the front 
and back boundaries, respectively, for the expansion chamber 130. 
A cylindrical cavity between the rotating flywheel 30 and the rear engine 
block cover 12 may house additional equipment 14 to enhance engine 
performance. Such equipment 14 may include, for example, a 
starter/generator, a battery generator triggered by low voltage, control 
direct battery operated propulsion, an air, water, or hydraulic pump, or a 
supercharger to the intake opening 15 to be used if necessary to raise the 
compression ratio to the level of a diesel engine. 
The power pack spacer portion 31 of the flywheel 30 is cylindrical in shape 
and is provided with cylindrical openings 34 spaced about its 
circumference for receiving wrist pins 35. The number of openings 34 and 
corresponding wrist pins 35 is determined by the number of rotary pistons 
or power packs desired for the operation of the engine. In one embodiment 
of the invention, as shown in FIG. 10, the number of wrist pins 35 is 
three. The wrist pins 35 are of sufficient length to extend towards the 
front engine block cover 70 into wrist pin holes 52 in the drive shaft 
plate 50, as shown in FIG. 11. Wrist pin extensions 37 extending into the 
flywheel 30 and the drive shaft plate 50 allow for rotary movement of the 
wrist pins 35. The drive shaft plate 50 is secured directly to the 
flywheel 30 by bolts 38 or the like. The shaft 51 of the drive shaft plate 
50 is capable of receiving a ball bearing member 60 which mates with a 
bore 72 in front engine block cover 70 so as to provide support for 
rotation of the shaft 51. 
Each wrist pin 35 is provided with a slot 36 for receiving a power pack 
110. Each power pack 110 is rotatably mounted to the power shaft 11 which 
extends through the flywheel 30 and engine block 40 along the axis 16 of 
the upper cylindrical cavity of the engine block interior 48. The power 
packs 110 are of sufficient length to extend from the power shaft 11 to 
the interior wall of the upper cylindrical cavity of the engine block 
interior 48, thereby passing through the expansion chamber 130 during 
rotation. Additionally, each power pack 110 is provided with a channel 111 
which allows flow of compressed gases through the power pack 110 to an 
internal combustion chamber 116. The combustion chamber 116 is an enlarged 
space at the end of channel 111 which allows the combustion materials to 
expand in the most efficient manner to maximize the thrust imparted to the 
power pack 110 upon ignition. The gas compression ratio can be controlled 
by adjusting the size of the combustion chamber 116 without affecting the 
length of treatment of the expanding gases. A ball check valve 117 with 
spring 118 is capable of opening and closing the channel 111 to the flow 
of combustion elements. The spring 118 urges the valve 117 open when the 
valve 117 is not under pressure. 
Input port 112 is on the top of the power pack 110 and communicates with 
input holes 55 extending at 45 degree increments through the engine block 
40 into the interior 48 of the engine block upper cylindrical cavity. In 
one embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1, 1a and 12 through 16, input holes 55 
and input port 112 have a double hole configuration. Output port 114 is on 
the aft side of the power pack 110. In one embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 
12 through 16, output port 114 includes a series of rectangular openings 
extending across the width of the power pack 110. 
The hub 100 of the power pack 110 in the single pack configuration is of 
one piece construction extending across the width of the power pack 110 as 
shown in FIG. 15. The hub 100 for the two and three pack configurations 
are shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, respectively. In order to ensure that a gas 
tight seal is maintained by the hubs 100, an 0-ring 101 is placed within a 
cavity 102 on both ends of the single power pack 110 as shown in FIGS. 15 
and 16. In the two and three pack embodiments of FIGS. 17 and 18, 
respectively, a continuous floating bushing 103 is positioned within the 
power pack hubs 100 to maintain a gas tight seal. The surfaces of the 
bushing 103 actively support the motion of the power packs 110. 
Additionally, 0-rings may be placed within cavities in the hubs 100 in the 
multi-blade embodiments to improve the sealing capabilities along the hub 
mating surfaces. 
Thus, by the present invention, the power packs 110 rotate about the axis 
16 of the upper cylindrical cavity in the engine block 40 while the wrist 
pins 35 rotate with the flywheel 30 about the axis 17 of the lower 
cylindrical cavity in the engine block 40. While the wrist pins 35 never 
enter the expansion chamber 130, the power packs 110 rotate in full 
communication with the expansion chamber 130. During this rotation, the 
wrist pins 35 oscillate within their openings 34 in accordance with the 
movement of the power packs 110. Since each power pack 110 intermeshes 
with an individual wrist pin 35 contained within the flywheel 30, rotation 
of the power packs 110 is translated into rotation of the wrist pins 35 
and flywheel 30 about the flywheel axis 17 which thereby rotates the drive 
shaft plate 50 to drive the drive shaft 51. It is this rotation of the 
shaft 51 which is the primary purpose of the rotary engine. 
The rotation of the power packs 110 is effected by the four strokes 
associated with the internal combustion engine--intake, compression, 
power, and exhaust. All four strokes, including the power stroke, are 
employed during each revolution of the flywheel. This is in contrast to 
the typical modern-day engine which requires two revolutions of the 
flywheel to achieve one power stroke. 
The operation of the rotary engine is best illustrated by FIGS. 2 through 9 
which show the single power pack configuration as the power pack 110 makes 
one complete revolution. As the power pack 110 rotates clockwise, the pack 
functions as a traveling combustion chamber having two operational faces-a 
forward face 106 and an aft face 108. In the rotation through the 
compression chamber 120, the pack forward face 106 compresses the 
combustion materials while the aft face 108 acts as a vacuum past the 
intake opening 15 to sweep in combustion materials for compression by the 
following power pack or by the next revolution of the single power pack. 
In the rotation through the expansion chamber 130, the forward face 106 is 
the exhaust face pushing the materials remaining in the expansion chamber 
130 towards exhaust port 46 while the aft face 108 is the power face, 
accepting the power of the exploded gases in the compression chamber 130. 
Starting with the power pack at its location in FIG. 2, for example, the 
passing of power pack 110 past the intake opening 15 creates a suction of 
the air mixture through the intake opening 15 into the center compression 
chamber 120. The air mixture remaining from the previous cycle, denoted at 
49, begins to be compressed by power pack 110 and begins to enter channel 
111 as the ball check valve 117 is in the open position. Since the power 
pack combustion chamber output port 114 is sealed by wrist pin 35 once the 
power pack passes the intersection point 47 of the engine block cavity, 
the available space for the mixture in the compression chamber 120 and the 
channel 111 quickly becomes smaller, thereby compressing the air mixture 
contained therein as shown in FIG. 3. 
Eventually, this compressed mixture is contained entirely within the power 
pack combustion chamber 116 such as illustrated in FIG. 4 because there is 
no room for it left in its corresponding section of the compression 
chamber 120. The increasing pressure forces the ball check valve 117 
closed which closes the combustion chamber 116 to the channel 111 and 
traps the mixture under extreme pressure. In one embodiment, as shown in 
FIG. 16, each end of the tubular combustion chamber 116 is enclosed by a 
parabolic dome, with the focal points being 15 degrees up on one side of 
the horizontal axis of the combustion chamber 116 and 15 degrees down on 
the other side. Such a configuration results in a "cross-fire" system 
wherein the air mixture moves about in a swirling motion. 
At this point, a pair of spark plugs 41 secured within the first pair of 
engine block input holes 55 ignites the air/fuel mixture in the combustion 
chamber 116 as shown in FIG. 4. This ignition occurs without transfer of 
high pressures to other parts of the engine. Although access to the pack 
combustion chamber 116 is only available at the exact point where input 
holes 55 align with the pack input port 112, both ignition and injection 
can be accomplished in the expansion chamber 130 at any time in the 
expansion cycle. The firing point may occur at degrees past top dead 
center, or maximum compression, to allow the combusted gases to reach a 
higher point of pressure before release. After ignition, the gases are 
released into the expansion chamber 130 through output port 114, as shown 
in FIG. 5. The explosion of the compressed mixture propels power pack 110 
towards exhaust port 46 as shown in FIGS. 5 through 9. Gases existing in 
the expansion chamber 130 ahead of the power pack 110 are forced out of 
the expansion chamber 130 through the engine block exhaust outlet 46. 
Exhaust outlet 46 may have a double hole configuration, as shown in FIG. 
1a or may have a single hole configuration as shown in FIGS. 2 through 9. 
In FIG. 5, an optional fuel injector 42 injects a very lean mixture of air 
and a hot fuel into the volatile mixture through input port 112 for 
further powering power pack 110 and burning out the developed pollutants 
such as CO and hydrocarbons. In FIG. 6, an optional second set of spark 
plugs 43 further ignites the gaseous mixture. In FIG. 7, an optional water 
injector 44 injects water into the hot mixture through input port 112, 
thereby expanding the water into steam and even further powering the power 
power pack 110. This also changes the low pressure, high temperature gases 
into higher pressure, higher density usable energy by exhausting through a 
turbine. In FIG. 8, an optional clean air injector 45 blasts clean air 
into the expansion chamber 130 through input port 112 to further cleanse 
the exhaust gases of CO. Throughout the gas expansion cycle, power is 
directed radially and tangentially into the flywheel 30 giving maximum 
torque from the combined gases. In one embodiment of the invention, the 
engine block input holes 55 are of uniform size and the accessories for 
treating the combustion materials are interchangeable such that any 
desired sequence of firing and/or injection may be employed. 
At the end of this power stroke, as shown in FIG. 9, the almost spent gases 
are exhausted through the engine block exhaust outlet 46 and the exhaust 
port 74 of the front engine block cover 70 and may thereafter flow into a 
turbine 80. In one embodiment of the invention, a multi-stage turbine is 
employed. The turbine 80 may be keyed 83 to the drive shaft 51 as shown in 
FIG. 11. The turbine power packs 81 recover the remaining heat power 
normally lost in the typical engine and use it to impart additional torque 
to the drive shaft 51 before the gases finally exit the entire assembly 10 
through the turbine exhaust port 91 in the turbine shroud 90. The turbine 
shroud 90 may be secured to the front engine block cover 70 by boss welds 
or the like. In one embodiment of the invention, the expansion cycle of 
the power packs may be shortened such that a greater percentage of the 
expanding gases flow into the turbine 90 to be used for turbine power. 
This would necessitate a multi-stage turbine. In such an embodiment, the 
higher compression power will have been removed, but greater amounts of 
the expanding gases will have been passed into the turbine 80 at high 
pressure. 
The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing 
from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present 
embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative 
and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the 
appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes 
which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are 
therefore intended to be embraced therein.