Connecting rod assembly for an axial cylinder or barrel-type engine

Abstract: A two piece connecting rod assembly (30) for an axial cylinder-type internal combustion engine includes a pair of opposed, side-by-side connecting rods (32, 34). Each connecting rod has a bearing sleeve (36, 37) at each end for pivotal engagement with respective universal joint trunnions (54, 49) connected to a piston (20) and spider (16) respectively. The two rods (32, 34) are connected to each other at their centers with their bearing sleeves (36, 37) spaced apart in concentric relation through a pair of raised bosses (40, 38) having mating surfaces (44, 42), and a bolt (46) for retention of the two rods (32, 34) as a unified structure.

Description: The present invention relates to internal combustion piston engines, and more specifically to the universal joint connecting rod of barrel type or axial piston engines wherein the cylinders are arranged around a central drive shaft, with the axes of the cylinders lying parallel to the drive shaft. Many patents on barrel type engines have been granted over the years, including applicant's own U.S.-A-5,094,195. Despite their early designs, barrel engines have not had any significant commercial successes. Their only commercial success has been in the configuration of hydraulic pumps and motors rather than internal combustion engines in the last fifty years. There have been military applications as a torpedo engine powered by liquid oxygen and hydrocarbon fuels. In aviation, barrel engines have particular appeal because of their compact design and reduced frontal area, as compared with radial engines or opposed air cooled cylinder engines of comparative cylinder displacement. In barrel engines, the conversion of reciprocating piston motion to rotary drive shaft motion has been accomplished by devices referred to as swash plates or wobble plates, as shown in Schramm U.S-A-4,497,284; or a cylindrical cam and roller followers, as shown in Sappington U.S.-A-2,256,952. They have also been referred to as spiders which are driven by offset shafts, as shown in applicant's own above-mentioned patent. Due to the rotational and wobbling action of the swash plate or spider, it is necessary to have universal joints located somewhere between the engine pistons and the spider. In applicant's above-mentioned patent, this universal joint action was achieved with ball and socket joints which are difficult to service and maintain. Furthermore, the construction of a ball and socket joint is very difficult to machine while holding tolerances, and therefore is very costly. Various barrel engine designs providing this mechanical connection between a reciprocating piston and a wobbling or rotating swash plate have been made, as typified in the above-mentioned patents to Schramm and Sappington, and in Schlenker U.S.-A-1,869,440, which corresponds to the preamble of claim 1, and Fuhr U.S.-A-1,696,676. In most of the above-mentioned designs, the connecting rod between the piston and the spider is a unitary structure such as is utilized with conventional crankshaft engines. Reference is also made to US-A-1,885,976 which discloses a connecting rod assembly similar to that defined in claim 1 in that it includes a pair of connecting rods joined together in side by side relation. However, the assembly is for use in a conventional crank shaft engine or pump, and the connecting rods of the assembly are permanently riveted together, face to face, and, at each end, are cranked apart with a bushing mounted between the cranked apart end portions. It is an object of the present invention to provide a connecting rod assembly for an axial cylinder-type engine which is relatively simple to manufacture, assemble and service. According to the present invention, there is provided a connecting rod assembly as defined in claim 1. In one embodiment, the connecting rod assembly includes two connecting rod halves, also referred to as connecting rods, joined as a unitary structure upon assembly by an extended boss on each connecting rod which has mating surfaces engagable with the boss of the opposing rod, whereby the bearings at opposite ends of each connecting rod are maintained in concentric alignment for support and engagement of both the universal joint trunnion of the spider and the universal joint trunnion of the piston. After opposing connecting rods have been slid in place over the ends of the spider trunnion and the piston trunnion, they are retained in place by a bolt passing through the center of the mating bosses providing a rigid, spaced apart connecting rod structure. The lateral tolerance fit between the connecting rod halves and trunnions is varied by inserting different size spacer sleeves between the two engaging bosses on the opposing connecting rods. The present invention provides a simplified connecting rod design which incorporates a pair of opposing like rods with unbroken bearings. The present invention also provides a connecting rod assembly with a maximum of bearing area. The present invention also provides a connecting rod assembly which is simpler to manufacture, assemble and service. In order that the invention may be more readily understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a side elevation, in longitudinal section, of a barrel engine with some portions omitted, illustrating connecting rods embodying the present invention along with some portions of the engine in symbolic form; Figure 2 is a side view of an assembled connecting rod with one of the spider ears broken away; Figure 3 is an exploded view of the piston rod assembly, including its piston and spider trunnions and a portion of the spider. Figure 4 is an exploded view of a modified piston bearing surface, including the piston trunnion. The connecting rod assembly embodying the present invention is best seen in Figures 2 and 3 and is generally indicated by reference numeral 30. The internal combustion barrel engine in which the connecting rod assembly 30 is located is generally indicated by reference numeral 10, as seen in Figure 1, and generally includes a stationary cylindrical cylinder block 14 having a rotating drive shaft 12 passing therethrough. Driveshaft 12 includes an offset end portion 13 which rotatably supports a spider 16 on a pair of sleeve bearings 26 and a roller thrust bearing 21. While only one cylinder 18 is shown in Figure 1, the engine 10 can include 5, 7 or 9 cylinders, arranged around the axis of the drive shaft 12 with the axes of the cylinders lying parallel to the drive shaft axis. Spider 16 includes a ring gear 28 which meshes with a ring gear 29 on cylinder block 14 as it wobbles. The intermeshing gear rings prevent the spider 16 from rotating. The connecting rod assembly 30 includes a pair of connecting rods or connecting rod halves 32 and 34, as best seen in Figure 3, which engage journals 60 of a piston trunnion 52 and journals 58 of a spider trunnion 49, and will be later described in detail. Drive shaft 12 rotates in cylinder block 14 in a pair of sleeve bearings 24, and is limited from axial movement by a thrust roller bearing 27, which bears against the cylinder head 15 which is only symbolically shown since it is not a part of the present invention. Both connecting rods 32 and 34 include a pair of unbroken or circumferentially continuous bearings 36 and 37 at opposite ends of the respective rods. Bearings 36 on each rod 32 and 34 engage the pair of journals 60 extending outwardly from both sides of piston trunnion 52 in a sandwiched relationship. Piston trunnion 52 includes two bushings 62 positioned normal to journals 60, through the center of piston trunnion 52. Bushings 62, in turn, engage a piston pin 64 once assembled. Piston pin 64 is held in place in piston 20 by a pair of conventional snap rings 66. At the left end of connecting rods 32 and 34, as seen in Figure 3, is a similar bearing 37 in both rods which engages the pair of journals 58 extending outwardly from both sides of spider trunnion 49. Spider trunnion 49 includes two bushings 56 positioned normal relative to journals 58 passing completely through trunnion 49. Trunnion 49 is in turn rotatably journaled on a pin 68 which is anchored to spider 16 through a pair of bushings 74 located in a pair of ears 57 which are an integral part of spider 16. Pin 68 is held in place in spider 16 by a concentrically positioned bolt 70 which passes through enlarged retainer washers 72 and 76 for engagement with a nut 78. Spider trunnion 49 includes a thrust bearing surface 54 which handles thrust loadings through washer 50 against the inside surfaces of the ears 57 on the spider. On the inside of piston skirt 86, as seen in Figure 3, is a raised thrust surface 61 which transmits thrust loading from the piston trunnion bearing surface 88 to the piston 20. Bearings 36, 37 and trunnions 52, 49 form a part of the connecting rod assembly 30. Figure 4 illustrates a modified bearing surface 92 on the piston skirt 86. Positioned between surface 92 and the trunnion bearing surface 88 is a washer 90 which is fully supported by bearing surface 92. Located in the approximate center of each piston rod 32 and 34 is a outwardly extending boss 40 and 38 respectively as seen in Figure 3. Boss 38 includes a cross slot 44 sized to receive a two-sided end post 42 located on the opposing connecting rod 32. End post 42 is snugly received in the mating slot 44 in the opposing connecting rod half which maintains a concentric alignment of the pairs of bearings 37 and 36. The bosses 40 and 38 are not centered between bearings 37 and 36 but rather are offset so they cannot be wrongly assembled. Also positioned between connecting rods 32 and 34 is a spacer sleeve 48 which is held in place therebetween by a bolt 46 which passes through a recessed opening 45 and a bolt hole in connecting rod (34) for engagement with a threaded bolt opening 47 in opposing connecting rod 32. With the two connecting rod halves 32 and 34 fully assembled in sandwiched relation around journals 58 and 60 and the attachment bolt properly torqued, spacer sleeve 48 provides the correct lateral tolerance fit for the opposing pair of bearings 37 and 36 on their respective trunnions 49 and 52. Bolt 46 can utilize various well known forms to lock the bolt in place. Sleeve spacer 48 can be changed to adjust the tolerance fit of the connecting rod assembly 30. Both trunnions 49 and 52 basically provide universal joints at the ends of pistons rods 32 and 34 due to the normally positioned rotational bushings 62 and 56, thereby allowing their respective trunnion to freely pivot on pins 64 and 68 respectively. Fig. 2 illustrates an assembled side view of the connecting rod assembly assembled on piston 20 for pivotally attached to spider 16. Figure 2 illustrates spider 16 with its upper ear 57 broken away to better illustrate the assembly. Located between thrust bearing 54 and each ear 57 is a flat thrust washer 50. The double connecting rod design, which engages trunnion journals 58 and 60 in a sandwiched relationship, allows the use of solid bearings 36 and 37 in place of conventional bolt-on split bearings which are most commonly used in piston engines. This pair of connecting rods 32 and 34 with solid bearings surrounding and retaining journals 58 and 60 provides a very simple, high strength connecting rod design for a piston engine with a minimal number of rod bolts as compared with conventional designs.

Claims: A connecting rod assembly for use in an axial cylinder-type internal combustion engine (10) having a drive shaft (12) with an offset portion (13) driven by a spider (16) or other wobble device which in turn is driven by reciprocating pistons (20) through one connecting rod assembly for each piston (20), the connecting rod assembly having at each of its ends an universal joint tunnion (52, 49) engaged between a set of two bearings (36, 37) characterised in that the connecting rod assembly (30) for each piston (20) further includes: a pair of opposing connecting rods (32, 34) joined together in a side by side spaced apart relationship, each connecting rod (32, 34) including a pair of bearings (36, 37), one bearing located at each end thereof, and releasable connecting means (38, 40, 46, 47) joining the pair of opposing connecting rods (32, 34) as an unitary structure with the bearings (36, 37) being in mutual concentric alignment to form said sets of bearings. A connecting rod assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the releasable connecting means (38, 40, 46, 47) joins the pair of opposing connecting rods at a point between the pair of bearings. A connecting rod assembly as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said connecting means includes a boss (40, 38) on each opposing connecting rod (32, 34), located between said pair of bearings (36, 37), at least one boss (40) having a mating surface (42) engageable with a mating surface (44) on the opposite connecting rod, and a threaded fastener (46) cooperable with a mating threaded opening (47) in one of said bosses (40) for joining said opposing connecting rods. A connecting rod assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein each boss (38, 40) has a mating surface (44, 47) ongageable with a mating surface (47, 44) of the other boss, and including spacer sleeve means (48) positioned between the pair of bosses to provide the correct tolerance spacing between the pair of opposing connecting rods and the trunnions engaged therebetween. A connecting rod assembly as claimed in claim 4, including an opening (45) through the boss (38) of one connecting rod (34), the threaded fastener (46) being inserted through said opening (45) to engage the threaded opening (47) in the other boss (40) to retain the two connecting rods joined together in alignment with each other. A connecting rod assembly as claimed in claim 3, 4 or 5, wherein each boss on each connecting rod is offset from the midpoint between the pair of the bearings (36, 37) at opposite ends of each connecting rod (32, 34). A connecting rod assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the bearings (36, 37) are unbroken bearings, such as bushings or sleeves. An axial cylinder-type internal combustion engine (10) including: a plurality of generally axially parallel cylinders (18) containing reciprocatory pistons (20); a drive shaft (12) having an axis of rotation, and an offset portion (13), the cylinders being arranged around the drive shaft axis with their axes generally parallel thereto; a spider or other wobble device (16) rotatably journaled to the offset portion (13); and connecting rod assemblies (30) as claimed in any preceding claim, connecting each piston (13) to the wobble device (16) via the trunnions of the associated universal joints (49, 52).

Inventors: GONZALES CESAR, GONZALES, CESAR
Applicants: CESSNA AIRCRAFT CO, CESSNA AIRCRAFT COMPANY
Application year: 1997
Main classification: F16C7
IPC codes: F16C7