Patent Publication Number: US-2006000206-A1

Title: Vacuum engine

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to the field of engines, and more particularly to the field of atmospheric and vacuum driven engines.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Engines which are powered by air exist in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,370,857 to Miller describes a vehicle which utilizes pressurized air contained in storage tanks for actuating double acting cylinders which in turn transmit a driving force to an axle of the vehicle. The engine of the instant invention is an improvement over the Miller description because no source of compressed air is required to operate the cylinders. In contrast the present invention requires only atmospheric pressure and a vacuum to drive the cylinders.  
      U.S. Pat. No. 4,596,119 to Johnson describes another compressed air propulsion system for a vehicle. Again, an air compressor is used as the source of power. The present invention, by contrast, requires no source of compressed air.  
      U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,675 to Bindschatel also describes the use of compressed air and converts a four stroke internal combustion engine into a two-stroke pneumatically powered engine.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention provides an air powered engine that includes at least one pair of diametrically opposing cylinders, each having a piston, and dividing into a first space and a second space, each cylinder having a connecting rod pivotally connected to each piston, a crankshaft pivotally receiving each connecting rod, a pair of solenoid valves in fluid communication with the first space and the second space, respectively, of each of the cylinders, and an intake manifold in fluid communication with one valve of the pair of solenoid valves of each space for communicating with the ambient, an exhaust manifold in fluid communication with the other valve of the pair of solenoid valves of each space, an oil pump in fluid communication with the exhaust manifold, and an oil reservoir containing an oil pump therein to lubricate the moving parts of the engine.  
      It is an object of the present invention to provide an engine wherein the pistons are suspended in the middle of the cylinder with vacuum on both sides of the pistons at different times. By timing the valves as taught herein, atmospheric pressure is induced on one side of the piston, causing it to move to the vacuum side of the cylinder. Pistons are attached to a connecting rod and crankshaft, as is typically found in conventional internal combustion engines. The vacuum is generated by using a roots-type supercharger on the intake side or a large oil pump driven off the crank shaft, again using the intake side of the pump. Solenoid valves are used to open and close the valves. Since little heat is generated, aluminum is a suitable material for use in the present invention. Also, the engine can be started by using conventional starter and flywheel. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a schematic drawing showing the engine of the present invention.  
       FIG. 2  is a schematic drawing showing the timing sequence of the engine of the present invention.  
       FIG. 3  is a schematic drawing showing the engine of the present invention showing the oil reservoir and oil pump. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      In operation, the engine is started in a conventional manner by using a starter and flywheel. When the engine has reached sufficient rotational speed (rpm) and has generated sufficient vacuum, it will drive the pistons, thus turning the crankshaft. The rotational speed of the engine in operation is in a range of about 1 rpm to about 5,000 rpm.  
       FIG. 1  shows a cylinder engine suitable for use in an automobile having pistons suspended in a vacuum inside the cylinders. By proper timing of the opening and closing of the valves to evacuate one side of the chamber next to the piston and admit atmospheric pressure into the other side of the chamber, it will cause the pistons to move the connecting rods and in turn, rotate the crank shaft.  
       FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram showing one embodiment for timing the opening of the solenoid valves.  
      For convenience of reading the description, set forth below is a list of the drawing elements:  
                                                      air powered engine    9           cylinder on side one   10           cylinder on side two   12           piston on side two   14           piston on side one   16           side one first space   18           side one second space   20           side two first space   28           side two second space   26           connecting rod cylinder 10   22           connecting rod cylinder 12   24           solenoid valve side one first space intake    1           solenoid valve side one second space intake    2           solenoid valve side two second space intake    3           solenoid valve side two first space intake    4           solenoid valve side two second space exhaust    5           solenoid valve side two first space exhaust    6           solenoid valve side one second space exhaust    7           solenoid valve side one first space exhaust    8           intake manifold   30           exhaust manifold   32           supercharger   34           crankshaft   36           rotating disk   40           oil reservoir   50           oil pump   52           side one   54           side two   56                      
 
      An air powered engine  9  includes a pair of diametrically opposing cylinders  10 , 12 , each having a piston in,  14 , 16 , respectively, and one side  54  (side one) fluidly dividing into a first space  18  and a second space  20 , and a second side  56  (side two) fluidly dividing into a first space  28  and a second space  26 , each cylinder  10 , 12  having a connecting rod  22 , 24  pivotally connected to each piston  14 ,  16 , respectively, a crankshaft  36  pivotally receiving each connecting rod  22 ,  24 , a pair of solenoid valves  1 ,  8  in fluid communication with the first space  18  and a pair of solenoid valves  2 ,  7  in fluid communication with the second space  20 , respectively, of each of the cylinders  10 , 12 , and intake manifold  30  in fluid communication with valves  1 , 2 , 3 , 4  for communicating with the ambient, an exhaust manifold  32  which is in fluid communication with a roots type supercharger  34  which can be belt driven from the crankshaft  36  at twice crankshaft speed using the vacuum from the intake side to create some additional vacuum and aids in drawing the exhaust air out of the system, or is gear driven. The supercharger  34  can also be gear driven. The supercharger is a large displacement device with rotors inside that will generate 10-20 psi of pressure and at least 26″ of vacuum. They range from 500 cubic inches to 1000 cubic inches, or bigger. One such device is made by Weiand and is available on line at AdvanceAutoParts.com. Another example is made by Powerdyne and is available on line at jcwhitney.com. The exhaust manifold  32  is in fluid communication with the valves  5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , and an oil reservoir  50  (shown in  FIG. 3 ) containing the oil pump  52  therein. To start, valves  2 , and  4  are open and valves  1  and  3  are closed; valves  6  and  8  are open and  7  and  5  are closed. This drives pistons  16 ,  14  from left to right. The oil provides lubrication for the moving parts and has no impact on the generation of power.  
       FIG. 2  shows one timing sequence suitable for use in the engine of the present invention. Valves  1 , 2 , 3 , 4  are normally closed. Open valves  1 , 2 , 3 , 4  to atmospheric pressure, and valves  5 , 6 , 7 , 8  are in fluid contact with vacuum source. Close valves  5 , 6 , 7 , 8  which are normally open. Brushes A,B,C,D, are double brushes which have contacts on each side of rotating insulated disk  40 . Rotating insulated disk  40  is on the crankshaft  26  and as the crankshaft  26  rotates the disk  40  rotates. To move pistons  14 ,  16  to the left, open valves  2  and  4  and close valves  5  and  7 . To move pistons  14 , 16  to the right, open valves  1  and  3  and close valves  6  and  8 . When disk  40  is in contact with brushes C and D only one lead wire is required to contact brushes A and B. If the vacuum pump does not evacuate the cylinders at a sufficient rate to evacuate the cylinders between rotations, the timing disk can be gear reduced to a 2 to 1, 3 to 1, or 4 to 1 ratio, as is customary with gasoline engines to admit atmospheric pressure after the cylinders have been evacuated.  
      The engine block of this engine can be made from any suitable materials, such as aluminum or other machinable metal, for example.  
     EXAMPLE 1  
      In this example, 4 cylinders using 12 inch diameter pistons are used to create a 4″ stroke. This generates 4″×12″×3.146″4=603.19 cubic inches in displacement. Since many engines generate about 1 hp per cubic inch, this engine would generate about 600 hp. Even if the vacuum engine of the present invention generated only half that amount, the output would be 300 hp. Although a 12 inch piston is used, any size piston can be used depending on the output required. Also, there is no practical limit to the number of cylinders which can be used.  
     EXAMPLE 2  
      In this example, 8 cylinders using 12 inch diameter pistons are used to create a 4″ stroke. This generates 4″×12″×3.146×8=1206.4 cubic inches in displacement. Since many engines generate about 1 hp per cubic inch, this engine could generate about 600-1200 hp. Although a 12 inch piston is used, any size piston can be used depending on the output required.  
      Although this invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments, it is not intended to be limited thereto and various modifications which will become apparent to the person of ordinary skill in the art are intended to fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as described herein taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.