Patent GB-1322222-A (GB)
Title: Rotary internal combustion engines
IPC: F02B57/08
Filed: 1970-02-19
Abstract: 1322222 Rotary internal combustion engines P C CONRAD and G A HINTON 30 April 1971 [19 Feb 1970] 8078/70 Heading F1B Rotary I.C. engine has a relatively rotating cylinder assemblage having at least one cylinder containing a reciprocable piston and a ported structure around which inlet and outlet ports are spaced, so that one end of the cylinder which opens on to an annular surface of the ported structure communicates successively with the ports, the said end of the cylinder being encircled by a sealing member which is mounted on the  cylinder assemblage for movement towards and away from the said surface and means being provided for maintaining the sealing member at a minimum predetermined distance from the said surface. The assemblage has three cylinder bores 12 each containing a fixed liner 13 and a piston 14. The cylinder bore is increased at its outer end 20 and opens into a channel 21 extending across the outer periphery of the assemblage, the width of the channel being greater than the diameter of the end 20. A sealing member 22, Fig.4, consists of an annular cuff 23 which enters the annular space between the liner 13 and the end of the cylinder bore, and a rectangular part 24 which is received in the groove 21 and has a curved upper surface 22a of the same radius as the inner surface of the ported structure. The end portions of the rectangular part are engaged by two arcuate segments 31 located in recesses 32 in the assemblage, the segments in turn being supported at each end by follower members 33 which are received in radial openings 34 in the assemblage. The radially outer faces of the followers 33 engage annular tracks 35 secured to the ported structure. A very small clearance between the outer surface of the sealing member and the ported structure by initially making the followers a fraction of an inch too short to lift the sealing member clear of the annular surface of the ported structure. The faces are then run together for a few hours, to lap each other in, so that the sealing members are supported by the followers and no further wear occurs. The curved surface of the sealing member is spray coated with tungsten carbide. To counteract the large centrifugal force developed at high engine speed, the upper face of each arcuate segment 31 is engaged by one end of a rocker 40, the other end of which engages a piston 42 located in a radial bore 43. The mass of the piston is chosen so that the outward force on the piston decreases the net outward force of the sealing member. To maintain a seal during starting, the sealing member is biased outwardly by four spring-loaded plungers. The liner and sealing member are cooled by oil which is fed into a scroll 50 cut into the liner and passes around the cuff 23 to outlet passages around bolts 52 which clamp the assemblage together. In a modification, Figs.8-13 (not shown), the cylinder assemblage has a hexagonal external periphery and three equi-angularly spaced cylinder bores opening into alternate faces of the hexagon. The remaining faces of the hexagon are sealed to the annular face of the ported structure by solid sealing segments, each of which has a partcylindrical outer surface and is pressed against the ported structure by a coil spring. Centrifugal force on the sealing segments is counteracted by the use of a rocker, as for the sealing members.