Abstract:
Combustion engine comprising interconnected combustion cylinders ( 1, 2, 3, 4 ), comprising at least two sets of each two opposed working combustion cylinders ( 1, 2, 3, 4 ), said two cylinders of each set being interconnected by a common piston rod ( 5, 6 ), said two piston rods ( 5, 6 ) being connected by one balance arm ( 7 ), and the exploitable energy is taken from the kinetic energy of said balance arm ( 7 ).

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is an U.S. national phase application under 35 U.S.C. §371 based upon co-pending International Application No. PCT/NO2009/000030 filed on Jan. 27, 2009. Additionally, this U.S. national phase application claims the benefit of priority of co-pending International Application No. PCT/NO2009/000030 filed on Jan. 27, 2009 and Norway Application No. 20081383 filed on Mar. 14, 2008. The entire disclosures of the prior applications are incorporated herein by reference. The international application was published on Sep. 17, 2009 under Publication No. WO 2009/113862 A1. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention is related to a combustion engine having two sets of mutually connected piston. Said combustion engine can be combined with a steam engine comprising cylinders for combustion and steam. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     The efficiency of the Otto motor is known to be relatively low in relation to the energy of the fuel to be combusted. Several attempts have been made to increase the efficiency. Still, however, combustion engines produce large heat losses to the atmosphere. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Engines of the above mentioned type are disclosed e.g. in GB 125 395, GB 125 174, GB 189373, GB 300631, U.S. Pat. No. 2,237,014 and DE 10 2004 013 854. 
     With the combustion engine according to the present invention a substantial efficiency increase is reached in relation to conventional combustion engines. The combustion engine may be a two-stroke or four-stroke engine with optional type of fuel. In a development a further efficiency increase is obtained by utilization of the large amounts of heat from the combustion process of the combustion engine for operation of a steam engine connected to the combustion engine. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawing wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a combustion engine connected to a steam engine where four cylinders in a two-stroke combustion engine are connected with four cylinders in a steam engine. 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram of the balance arm connected to a balance wheel. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The combustion engine comprises combustion cylinders  1 ,  2 ,  3  and  4  where opposed pistons of combustion cylinders  1  and  3  are connected with a common piston rod  5  and pistons of the opposed combustion cylinders  2  and  4  are connected with a common piston rod  6 . The piston rods  5  and  6  are connected with a balance arm  7  which coordinate the movements of the piston rods. One end of the balance arm  7  is connected to a balance wheel  25 . Each combustion cylinder  1 ,  2 ,  3  and  4  comprises a cooling jacket  9 . Furthermore the combustion cylinders  1 ,  2 ,  3  and  4  each comprises a valve  10  for fuel, a valve  24  for air inlet to the combustion cylinders and a valve  11  for exhaust gas. 
     In a further development a steam engine may be connected to the combustion engine. Each cooling jacket  9  thereby being connected with a heat exchanger  12  where the heated cooling water is further heated by the exhaust gas from the exhaust gas valve  11  until the cooling water is in the state of super heated steam. Cooled exhaust gas thereafter is released to the atmosphere or to other possible use. The steam is transferred to a steam cylinder  14  in the steam engine through a pipe line  13 . 
     The pistons of the steam cylinders  14  and  15  are connected with a common piston rod  19  and the pistons of the steam cylinders  16  and  17  are correspondingly connected with a common piston rod  20 . Said piston rods  19  and  20  are connected with a balance arm  18 . The rocking movements of the balance arms  7  and  18  are coordinated by a connection  21 . Upon executed work in the steam cylinder  14  steam/condensate is returned to the cooling jacket  9  as cooled condensate. 
     In the drawing the combustion cylinder  1  is disclosed at the end of a working stroke. The heated cooling water in the cooling jacket  9  is conducted to the heat exchanger  12  through the pipe line  13  and further to the steam cylinder  14 . The exhaust gas is flushed out of by air from the air inlet  24  and through a valve to the heat exchanger  12  for heating and vaporization of the cooling water. Thereafter fuel is guided through the valve  10  for compressing and combustion. 
     The steam from the heat exchanger  12 , which is transferred through the pipe line  13 , brings the steam cylinder  14  to perform a working stroke in the steam cylinder  14  by forcing the piston rod  19  downwardly in  FIG. 1  whereby the piston rod  5  of the combustion cylinder  1  thereby is pressed upwardly. By the return stroke of the steam cylinder  14 , steam from the steam cylinder  14  is forced through the pipe line  22  to the temperature regulator  23  whereby cooled cooling water is transferred from the temperature regulator  23  to the cooling jacket  9  around the combustion cylinder  1 . With the arm  8  the movements of the mutually connected balance arms  7  and  18  may turn disclosed balance wheel  25  by rotation or the linear movement of the arm ( 8 ) may be used directly in a working machine. 
     The combustion cylinder with the piston connected with the piston rod  5  and the steam cylinder  15  work oppositely of the combustion cylinder  1  and the steam cylinder  14 . Correspondingly the combustion cylinder  4  and the steam cylinder  17  work together with the combustion cylinder  1  and the steam cylinder  17  by the heat exchanger  12  and the temperature regulator  23 . The combustion cylinder  2  and the steam cylinder  16  work oppositely of the combustion cylinder  1  and the steam cylinder  14 . 
     Correspondingly the combustion cylinder  2  of the combustion engine is connected with the steam cylinder  16 , the combustion cylinder  3  is connected with the steam cylinder  15  and the combustion cylinder  4  is connected with the steam cylinder  17 . Hereby pipe lines correspond with the pipe lines  13 ,  22  and temperature regulators corresponding with the temperature regulator  23  being connecting the cylinders. 
     The geometry between the connection of the balance arms  7  to the piston rods  5  and  6  and connection of the balance  18  to the piston rods  19  and  20  in relation to the turning point of the connection  21  as well as the distance to the turning point of the balance wheel arm  8  of the balance arm  7  is optimized as regards to achieving as large moment of force as possible. At the same time the output of the steam engine in relation to the heat development of the combustion engine is optimized thereby to achieve optimal efficiency.