Abstract:
An engine includes a piston located in a cylinder, an inlet through which at least a portion of fuel for an ignition and combustion is passed into the cylinder, an outlet through which exhaust from the combustion is removed from the cylinder, and an air injector that injects air into the cylinder after the ignition and before exhaust escapes through the outlet. The air injector injects sufficient air to burn out all active matter of the fuel, whereby emissions from the engine are free of active matter of the fuel.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates generally to internal combustion engines. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for adding air to an explosion chamber in an engine cylinder.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0004]    This section is intended to provide a background or context to the invention that is recited in the claims. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.  
           [0005]    An internal combustion engine creates force by burning fuel and air. In general, internal combustion engines or “engines” have two assemblies—the engine head and the engine block. The head of conventional engines typically includes an intake valve that opens and closes an intake port and an exhaust value that opens and closes an exhaust port. The block of conventional engines generally includes a crankshaft which is turned by a piston as the piston moves up and down in a cylinder that connects the engine head and block. In operation, the intake valve opens to allow a fuel and air mixture to enter an explosion chamber in the cylinder with a piston forming the floor of the chamber. An explosion of the fuel and air is created by a spark from a spark plug. This explosion causes the piston in the chamber to move downward and rotate the crankshaft in the engine block. The exhaust value opens and allows the exhaust from the explosion to escape as the piston returns to its position in the chamber before the explosion, helping to push the exhaust through the exhaust valve.  
           [0006]    The block of the engine and the housing of the crankshaft are usually assembled in one casting. The camshaft, which operates the valves, can be located in the head or the block. In engines cooled with water, the head and the block of the engine have ducts for the cooling water. Generally, the pistons are connected by piston rods with the crankshaft that is rotating. The crankshaft has a fixed location to ensure uniformity of the rotation of the engine. The bottom of the engine at the lower end of the housing of the crankshaft serves for the placement of oil for lubrication.  
           [0007]    Many different types of combustion engines have been developed. For example, an Otto engine utilizes a four-stroke approach (known as the Otto cycle in honor of Nikolaus Otto, who invented it in 1867). The Otto engine prepares fuel and air for burning outside of the cylinder using a carburetor, which mixes the correct amount of fuel and air. Another type of engine is a diesel engine (also named after its inventor, Rudolf Diesel). Diesel engines do not have spark plugs, rather a diesel engine compresses air and injects fuel into the compressed air. The heat of the compressed air lights the fuel spontaneously. A third type of engine is the Wankel engine or Wankel rotary engine (named after Felix Wankel). Instead of moving a piston up and down, the Wankel engine rotates a triangular rotor. The force to move the rotor comes from a combustion of fuel and air contained in a chamber formed by part of the housing and one face of the triangular rotor.  
           [0008]    Modern engines can also be classified by how the fuel and air are provided and the exhaust is removed. A “four-stroke engine” has two valves for each cylinder—a suction valve and an exhaust valve. During the first stroke, the piston moves from an upper portion of the cylinder towards the bottom. The increased space in the cylinder (from the movement of the piston) creates a force that pushes the fuel and air mixture out of the carburetor into the explosion chamber. During the second stroke, the piston moves from the bottom portion of the cylinder towards the top. The piston compresses the fuel and air mixture in the cylinder because the valves are closed. In the third stroke, the mixture is ignited by a spark in the spark plug. The mixture burns, increasing the temperature and the pressure. This pressure from the burning process pushes the piston from the upper to the lower portion of the cylinder, exerting a force to rotate the crankshaft. In the fourth stroke, the burned gases are exhausted out through an opened exhaust valve. The piston moves from the bottom towards the upper portion of the cylinder, pushing the remnants of burned gasses from the cylinder. The process then repeats itself.  
           [0009]    In a “two-stroke engine,” the filling and emptying of the cylinder happens during one part of the rotation of the crankshaft. Instead of suction and exhaust valves, the two-stroke engine has openings on the cylinder liner which are closed and opened by movement of the piston. Typically, the exhaust opening is located closer to the top of the cylinder than the intake opening. When the piston is moving up it creates pressure to push exhaust out the exhaust opening. Before the piston reaches the top of its movement in the cylinder, it covers over the exhaust creating pressure in the explosion chamber for the combustion to occur. When the piston is moving down, it uncovers the intake opening and acts as a pump to move the fuel and air mixture into the chamber.  
           [0010]    Engines can also be categorized according to the position of the cylinders. Examples of engines with cylinders located in different positions are sequence or “in-line” engines, V-engines, rotation engines, and boxer engines. Sequence engine cylinders are placed one cylinder after another in a row. As a result, working strokes overlap, ensuring uniformity in the drive of the crankshaft. V-engine cylinders are placed in two lines set at an angle to each other. Thus, crankshafts for V-engines can be shorter than those for sequence engines. As discussed above, rotation engines, like the Wankel engine, do not have pistons that move in up-and-down fashion; rather the pistons are rotors formed in the shape of a triangle. In the first stroke of a rotation engine, the rotor rotates to open the intake opening, which allows a fuel and air mixture to enter a chamber. As the rotor rotates in a second stroke, the volume of the chamber decreases and the mixture is compressed. In a third stroke, a spark from the spark plug ignites the mixture. Burned gasses are spread and set the rotor in motion. The volume of the chamber again increases. In a fourth stroke, the first gasket of the chamber slides ahead along the exhaustion opening, opening it for the burned gasses to escape.  
           [0011]    Boxer engine cylinders are flat in that they are located 180 degrees from each other. The crankshaft can be shorter than the crankshaft of the sequence engine, and in four cylinder engines, boxer engines only need three standing bearings. In a boxer engine with four cylinders, there is ignition on each half rotation of the crankshaft. Boxer engines are characterized by uniform flow of the rotary momentum, enabling a quiet workflow, because movement on one side of the engine levels with the movement on the other side.  
           [0012]    Despite various advancements that have been made heretofore in engine technology, it would be desirable to improve conventional engines, such as the engines described above. For example, it would be desirable to reduce the quality of the exhaust from burning the fuel/air mixture. Moreover, it would be desirable to provide cleaner emissions from use of internal combustion engines.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0013]    In general, exemplary embodiments described herein relate to a system and method for adding air to an explosion chamber in an engine cylinder. An exemplary embodiment relates to an engine including a piston located in a cylinder, an inlet through which at least a portion of fuel for an ignition and combustion is passed into the cylinder, an outlet through which exhaust from the combustion is removed from the cylinder, and an air injector that injects air into the cylinder after the ignition and before exhaust escapes through the outlet. The air injector injects sufficient air to burn out all active matter of the fuel.  
           [0014]    Another exemplary embodiment relates to a system for adding air to an explosion chamber in an engine cylinder. The system includes a piston located in a cylinder and an air injector that provides air in an explosion chamber in the cylinder. The air is provided when fuel is combusting in the explosion chamber. The provided air is sufficient to burn out active matter in the fuel, whereby exhaust from the cylinder is substantially free of active matter in the fuel.  
           [0015]    Another exemplary embodiment relates to a method for adding air to an explosion chamber in an engine cylinder. The method includes providing fuel into a combustion chamber of an engine and inserting additional air into the combustion chamber. The additional air is sufficient for active matter in the fuel to burn out. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0016]    [0016]FIG. 1 is a general perspective view diagram of an engine in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 2 is a general top view diagram of the engine of FIG. 1.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 3 is a side view diagram of a piston used in the engine of FIG. 1.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 4 is a top view diagram of the piston of FIG. 3.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 5 is a side view diagram of a rotary member of the engine of FIG. 1.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 6 is a cut-out side view diagram of the piston and rotary member of the engine of FIG. 1 at a first position.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 7 is a cut-out side view diagram of the piston and rotary member of the engine of FIG. 1 at a second position.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 8 is a cut-out side view diagram of the piston and rotary member of the engine of FIG. 1 at a third position.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 9 is a cut-out side view diagram of the piston and rotary member of the engine of FIG. 1 at a fourth position.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 10 is an exploded side view of the rotary member of the engine of FIG. 1.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 11 is a cut-out side view of the rotary member of the engine of FIG. 1.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 12 is a side view of the rotary member of the engine of FIG. 1.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 13 is a cut-out side view diagram of an engine cylinder having a piston at a first position.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 14 is a cut-out side view diagram of the engine cylinder of FIG. 13 with the piston at a second position.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 15 is a cut-out side view diagram of the engine cylinder of FIG. 13 with the piston at a third position.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 16 is a cut-out side view diagram of the engine cylinder of FIG. 13 with the piston at a fourth position.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 17 is a cut-out side view diagram of the engine cylinder of FIG. 13 with the piston between the first and fourth positions. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS  
       [0033]    [0033]FIG. 1 illustrates a portion  10  of an engine having rotary members  12 , a piston  14 , and cylinder heads  16 . The piston  14  is located between rotary members  12 . The cylinder heads  16  are located at distal ends of the piston  14 . The cylinder heads  16  can include engine head components, such as a carburetor, intake value, exhaust value, and other components described in the discussion of the related art above. As shown in FIG. 2, the rotary members  12  are coupled to the piston  14  by a connector  18  and a connector  20 .  
         [0034]    In operation, combustion of fuel and air occurs in one of the cylinder heads  16 . This combustion creates a force on the piston  14  to move it laterally towards the other one of the cylinder heads  16 . A combustion of fuel and air occurs in the other one of the cylinder heads  16  and forces the piston  14  back toward the original one of the cylinder heads  16 . The timing of the combustions at either end of the piston  14  can be coordinated by a timing circuit. As a result of timed ignitions in the cylinder heads  16 , the piston  14  is moved laterally back and forth. This lateral movement of the piston  14  is translated into rotary motion of the rotary members  12  connected by the piston  14  by connectors  18  and  20 .  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 3 illustrates the piston  14 , including a circular aperture  23  and a rectangular aperture  25 . The connector  18  coupling the piston  14  and the rotary members  12  is located in a fixed position within the circular aperture  23 . The connector  20  that also couples the piston  14  and the rotary members  12  is located within the rectangular aperture  25 . The portion of connector  20  located within the rectangular aperture  25  is not in a fixed position. As shown in FIG. 4, in one embodiment, the piston  14  has a flat section  26  and cylindrical sections  28 . The cylindrical sections  28  are configured to fit within the cylinder heads  16  described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Other configurations of the piston  14  can also be utilized.  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 5 illustrates a rotary member assembly providing details of the construction of the rotary members  12  according to an exemplary embodiment. The rotary member assembly includes a main disc  31 , a first axis  32 , and an inset disc  34  which is offset from the first axis  32 . The inset disc  34  is positioned in a cut out section of the main disc  31  and rotates about a second axis  36 . In an alternative embodiment, the inset disc  34  is not inside a cut out of the main disc  31  but is coupled to the surface of the main disc  31 . The embodiment with the inset disc  34  is generally preferred to achieve a balance of masses in the assembly. The connector  18  shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 coupling the piston  14  to the rotary members  12  is attached to the inset disc  34  at a distance from the axis of the inset disc  34  (second axis  36 ). The connector  20  shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 passes through the aperture  25  of the piston  14  and attaches to the inset disc  34  at the second axis  36 . The connector  20  includes a cross bar  41  described with reference to FIGS. 10-12. The cross bar  41  is located in the same plane as the axis of the main disc  31 .  
         [0037]    [0037]FIGS. 6-9 illustrate the movement of the rotary member assembly as the piston  14  moves. In FIG. 6, the piston  14  is at its left-most position, which is the point at which a fuel and air explosion is created from a spark in the left cylinder, forcing the piston  14  toward the right. The inset disc  34  is positioned on the left of the main disc  31  with respect to the piston  14 . In FIG. 7, the piston  14  is located at a middle point. The main disc  31  has moved in a clock-wise direction while the inset disc  34  has moved in a counter-clock wise direction. The inset disc  34  is positioned at the top of the main disc  31  with respect to the piston  14 . In FIG. 8, the piston  14  is at its right-most position, which is the point at which a fuel and air explosion is created from a spark in the right cylinder, forcing the piston  14  toward the left. The inset disc  34  is positioned on the right of the main disc  31  with respect to the piston  14 . In FIG. 9, the piston  14  is located at a middle point. The main disc  31  moves in a clock-wise direction while the inset disc  34  continues to move in a counter-clock wise direction. The inset disc  34  is positioned at the bottom of the main disc  31  with respect to the piston  14 . The rotary member assembly continues to move in this fashion as the piston  14  moves laterally back and forth between the two cylinders heads  16 .  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 10 illustrates an exploded view of the rotary member assembly described with reference to FIG. 5, showing the main disc  31 , inset disc  34 , connectors  18  and  20 , and second axis  36 . The connector  20  includes a cross bar  41  that rotates about the second axis  36  but within the rectangular aperture  25  of the piston  14  described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 11 shows a cut-out view of the rotary member assembly and FIG. 12 shows a side view of the rotary member assembly including the connectors  18  and  20 .  
         [0039]    A number of advantages result from the design and operation described with reference to FIGS. 1-12. For example, the design provides balanced movement and uniform speed of rotary elements of different diameters. Further, the design provides an increase in the periods of active movement of constituent parts compared to conventional rotary transmissions. Another advantage is that the speed of the linear movement of the piston  14  is equalized with movement in the opposite direction, enabling the production of engines with high power and high rotational speed, independent of their working volume.  
         [0040]    Compared to conventional engines, the engine described herein benefits from a simplified piston assembly, a balanced rotary motion that reduces torsion and vibration, a reduction in the friction in the piston-cylinder assembly, and a reduction in thermal burden. Furthermore, the engine has the advantage of better combustion conditions due to an approximate constant speed of the piston assembly. Other benefits from the construction and design translate into greater efficiency and improved performance.  
         [0041]    A number of uses of the engine described are possible. For example, the engine design can be used in a wide variety of motors, compressors, water turbines, gas turbines, jet engines, propellers, hydraulics, and transmission systems. For example, the design described with reference to the Figures can be used in the transmission system of a bicycle. The design can also be utilized to reduce damages from vehicle crashes because the design provides an opposite force to slow the vehicle more easily than conventional designs.  
         [0042]    A wide range of adaptations can be made to the design described in the present application. For example, one adaptation can include two pistons positioned at angles to each other. This implementation would have four cylinders providing power, yet it would provide significant improvements over conventional four cylinder engines. Other configurations and variations can also be implemented depending on the needs of the design&#39;s use.  
         [0043]    In performance tests conducted by the inventors, the design has provided an increase in torque many times greater than conventional systems. A person of skill in the art can represent the forces created in formulaic terms such that the performance advantages of the design described herein can be mathematically compared to known systems.  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 13 illustrates a portion  50  of an engine having a piston  52 , an intake valve  54 , an exhaust valve  56 , a spark plug  58 , a combustion chamber  60 , an air injector  62 , a connecting rod  64 , and a crankshaft (or disc)  66 . The piston  52  moves up and down within a cylinder. The intake valve  54  opens and closes an intake port  68  to allow a fuel and air mixture to enter the combustion chamber  60  in the cylinder with the piston  52  forming the floor of the combustion chamber  60 . The exhaust valve  56  opens and closes an exhaust port  70  as the piston returns to its position in the combustion chamber  60  before the explosion, helping to push the exhaust from the fuel and air explosion out of the combustion chamber  60 . The spark plug  58  creates an electric spark in the combustion chamber  60  to ignite fuel and air and force the piston  52  downward and rotate the crankshaft  66 . The connecting rod  64  couples the piston  52  to the crankshaft  66 . When applied to the embodiments described with reference to FIGS. 1-12, the crankshaft  66  is the main disc  31 .  
         [0045]    The air injector  62  is located toward the top of the combustion chamber  60  at what is known as the head of the engine. Alternatively, the air injector  62  can be built into the piston  52 . In yet another alternative embodiment, the air injector  62  can be built into the body of the cylinder.  
         [0046]    The air injector  62  provides additional air to the combustion chamber  60  during the expansion stroke, or when the piston  52  is moving from the middle of the cylinder downward to its lowest point and upward toward the middle point of the cylinder again. This additional air from the air injector  62  provides the air necessary to complete the burning process of the fuel such that substantially all active matter of the fuel is burned out. As a result, the exhaust contains less fuel, meaning that the exhaust is a cleaner emission.  
         [0047]    [0047]FIG. 13 illustrates the piston  52  in a first position in which the intake valve  54  is open and fuel and air are coming into the combustion chamber  60  via the intake port  68 . The piston  52  is moving downward, which creates a suction effect to facilitate the intake of the fuel and air. For purposes of this description, the crankshaft  66  is located in a 0 degree position.  
         [0048]    [0048]FIG. 14 illustrates the piston  52  in a second position in which the intake valve  54  and exhaust valve  56  are closed. The piston  52  is moving upward, which creates pressure in the combustion chamber  60  to facilitate the combustion of the fuel and air. The crankshaft  66  is located in a 180 degree position compared to the position of the crankshaft  66  in FIG. 13.  
         [0049]    [0049]FIG. 15 illustrates the piston  52  in a third position in which the intake valve  54  and exhaust valve  56  remain closed. The piston  52  is moving downward from the force of an explosion of the fuel and air caused by an electric spark from the spark plug  58 . The crankshaft  66  is located in a 360 degree position compared to the position of the crankshaft  66  in FIG. 13.  
         [0050]    From the time the crankshaft  26  is located in the 360 degree position (FIG. 15) to a 540 degree position (FIG. 16), air is injected into the combustion chamber  60  by the air injector  62 . This additional air mixes with the fuel allows the fuel to substantially burn out, leaving substantially no fuel to escape through the exhaust port  70 .  
         [0051]    [0051]FIG. 16 illustrates the piston  52  in a fourth position in which the exhaust valve  56  is opened and exhaust escapes the combustion chamber  60  through the exhaust port  70 . The piston  52  is moving upward, which creates pressure to push the exhaust out the exhaust port  70 . The crankshaft  66  is located in a 540 degree position compared to the position of the crankshaft  66  in FIG. 13.  
         [0052]    [0052]FIG. 17 illustrates the piston  52  in a position in between the first position (FIG. 13) and the fourth position (FIG. 16) in which the intake valve  54  and exhaust valve  56  are closed. The piston  52  is at its up most position. The space above the piston  52  at this point is referred to as dead space. Without additional air from the air injector  62 , unused fuel can fill this dead space. The additional air from the air injector  62  allows substantially all of the fuel to burn out, leaving substantially no fuel to escape as exhaust.  
         [0053]    The exact timing that the air injector  62  provides air to the combustion chamber  60  depends on the compression characteristics of the particular engine. The location of the crankshaft when the air injector  62  provides air also is different depending on the type of engine. For example, in a two stroke motor embodiment, air from the air injector  62  is provided when the crankshaft is between 0 and 90 degrees rotation.  
         [0054]    When the burning fuel and air mixture is in its hottest state and all of the air in the combustion chamber  60  is used for the ignition and explosion so the additionally added air allows the fuel to continue to burn until active matter in the fuel is burned out.  
         [0055]    The air injector  62  can be utilized in four stroke engines, two stroke engines, and one stroke engines, such as the engine described with reference to FIGS. 1-12. The air injector  62  can also be used in a wide variety of motors, compressors, water turbines, gas turbines, jet engines, propellers, hydraulics, and transmission systems. The design described with reference to the FIG. 13-17 provides cleaner emissions of exhausting gases, thereby reducing the pollutants expelled by engines into the environment. The exhaust is also cooler and does not heat the environment.  
         [0056]    While several embodiments of the invention have been described, it is to be understood that modifications and changes will occur to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains. For example, although particular embodiments and implementations described contemplate particular configurations and dimensions, other designs and sizes may also include the functionalities described herein. The invention is not limited to a particular embodiment, but extends to various modifications, combinations, and permutations that nevertheless fall within the scope and spirit of the appended claims.