Abstract:
An internal combustion device is provided for starting a parent engine, the device having a frame having a piston in a cylinder forming a combustion chamber, the frame further having an air passage and a fuel passage for receiving air and fuel into the combustion chamber. A rod connects the piston to a gear train, the gear train being operationally connected to a crankshaft of the parent engine. An ignition mechanism is operationally connected to the combustion chamber for initiating a combustion process using the received fuel and air within the combustion chamber. The piston is driven one power stroke, causing the crankshaft of the parent engine to rotate. A fuel subsystem utilizing a conventional, replaceable compressible fuel canister. Air forced from the cylinder on the piston is routed to the combustion chamber for purging the combustion chamber of spent gases, and mixing with subsequent fuel gas entry.

Description:
REFERENCE TO PRIOR APPLICATIONS 
   This application claims the benefit of the filing date of provisional application 60/568,768, filed in the United Stated Patent &amp; Trademark Office on May 5, 2004, by the above-named inventors. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The field of the invention is internal combustion engines, and more particularly, the use of a smaller internal combustion device to start a larger internal combustion engine. 
   2. Description of Related Art 
   A typical small internal combustion engine, such as that on a lawn mower, has a rope starter that rotates the engine&#39;s crankshaft, which starts the engine. Electric starters are also used to rotate the crankshaft for the same purpose. Once the crankshaft is rotated both these starters are separated from the crankshaft. The rope starter requires physical exertion that is unacceptable to many users, while the electric starter requires relatively expensive and complicated apparatus. What is needed is a simple and inexpensive device for rotating the internal combustion engine&#39;s crankshaft such that the engine starts. The device should require no battery or external electric power, and should be scalable to internal combustion engines of various sizes. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   Our invention provides a simple and inexpensive internal combustion device that is adaptable for rotating an internal combustion engine&#39;s crankshaft such that the engine starts. Our device provides a hand-initiated fuel source and igniter that are operationally connected to a cylinder with a piston. Our device fires once, forcing the piston to move a connecting rod that extrudes from the device and is operationally connected to the internal combustion engine&#39;s crankshaft, the movement of the connecting rod rotating the crankshaft to the extent necessary to start the engine. Our internal combustion device requires no battery or external electrical power, and is scalable to internal combustion engines of various sizes. 
   In an exemplary embodiment of our invention, we have provided an internal combustion device for starting a parent engine, the parent engine having a crankshaft, comprising: a frame having a cylinder and a piston in the cylinder forming a combustion chamber, the frame further having an air passage and a fuel passage for receiving air and fuel into the combustion chamber; a rod interconnecting the piston to a gear train, the gear train being operationally connected to a crankshaft of the parent engine; and an ignition mechanism operationally connected to the combustion chamber, the ignition mechanism for initiating a combustion process using the received fuel and air within the combustion chamber, wherein the piston is driven one power stroke within the cylinder, causing the crankshaft of the parent engine to rotate. In some exemplary embodiments, the cylinder has a lower end and an upper end, and further wherein the piston within the cylinder forms a purge chamber, the device further comprising a purging air shroud about the cylinder forming a purged air conduit, the purged air conduit extending from the lower end of the cylinder to the upper end of the cylinder, such that air purged from the purging chamber enters the purged air conduit and flows through the conduit into the combustion chamber. In some exemplary embodiments, the device further comprises a resilient bias member operationally connected to the rod such that the piston is biased to return from a second position in the cylinder lower end, to a first position in the cylinder upper end. In some exemplary embodiments, the device further comprises a decoupling mechanism operationally connecting the gear train to the crankshaft of the parent engine such that as the parent engine begins to rotate independently the gear train is decoupled from the parent engine. In some exemplary embodiments, the device further comprises a fuel subsystem in operative communication with the frame wherein a controlled amount of fuel is supplied into the combustion chamber. In some exemplary embodiments, the device further comprises an actuator assembly operationally connected to the fuel subsystem for causing the fuel subsystem to deliver the fuel to the combustion chamber for mixture with the air in the combustion chamber, and operationally connected to the ignition mechanism for causing the ignition mechanism to ignite the fuel-air mixture. In some exemplary embodiments, the piston travel, following combustion, compresses air in the purging chamber, forming an air buffer for controlling piston speed during the power stroke. 
   Some exemplary embodiments of our invention provide an internal combustion device for securing a fuel source and receiving fuel from the fuel source, comprising: a piston; a frame having a cylinder, the piston being positioned within the cylinder and dividing the cylinder into a combustion chamber and a purging chamber, the cylinder having an upper end and a lower end, the frame further having an exhaust port extending from the cylinder, an injection port for receiving fuel from the fuel source into the combustion chamber, and a conduit for routing air from the purging chamber to the combustion chamber; a conduit valve for allowing air from the conduit into the combustion chamber when open, and blocking air from entering the conduit from the combustion chamber when closed; a connecting rod attached to the piston and slidably extending from the cylinder lower end through the frame; a resilient bias member operationally connected to the connecting rod such that the piston is biased to return from a second position in the cylinder lower end, to a first position in the cylinder upper end; an igniter; and an actuator assembly operationally connected to the fuel source for causing the fuel source to deliver fuel to the combustion chamber for mixture with air in the combustion chamber, and operationally connected to the igniter for causing the igniter to ignite the fuel-air mixture, the resulting combustion event forcing the piston to move along a cylinder downstroke first length, wherein fresh air is forced out of the purging chamber through the exhaust port, and then along a cylinder downstroke second length, wherein fresh air is forced from the purging chamber through the conduit, the fresh air opening the conduit valve to allow fresh air into the combustion chamber, the fresh air expelling post-combustion fuel-air mixture from the cylinder through the exhaust port; and further wherein, when the piston completes the movement along the cylinder downstroke second length, the conduit valve closes and the bias member moves the piston back to the cylinder upper end, first along a cylinder upstroke first length, wherein the piston forces post-combustion combustion chamber contents through the exhaust port, then along a cylinder upstroke second length wherein fresh air from the conduit is trapped within the combustion chamber. In some exemplary embodiments, the conduit valve further comprises a conduit valve bias member, the conduit valve bias member being depressed by air moving through the conduit as the piston moves along the cylinder downstroke second length, allowing the conduit valve to open. 
   Our invention, in some exemplary embodiments, provides a method of starting a parent engine having a crankshaft, utilizing a single power stroke internal combustion engine having a cylinder and a piston positioned within the cylinder to form a combustion chamber and a purging chamber, the single power stroke engine being in communication with a fuel subsystem and operationally connected to a gear train which is operationally connected to the crankshaft of the parent engine, the method comprising: a. injecting fuel into the combustion chamber from the fuel subsystem; b. igniting the fuel within the combustion chamber, thereby causing the piston to move downward within the cylinder; c. as the piston travels downward within the cylinder, initiating the movement of the gear train in a first direction causing the crankshaft of the parent engine to rotate; d. simultaneously with step c., and as the piston moves downward, expelling air from the purging chamber and routing the air to the combustion chamber, the air entering the combustion chamber forcing spent gases from the combustion chamber through an exhaust port; e. decoupling the gear train from the parent engine crankshaft as the piston completes its downward travel; and f. returning the gear train and the piston to their original positions. 
   In some exemplary embodiments of our invention, we have provided an internal combustion device for starting a parent engine, the parent engine having a crankshaft, comprising: a frame having a cylinder and a piston in the cylinder forming a combustion chamber and a purging chamber, the frame further having means for receiving air and fuel into the combustion chamber; means for operationally connecting a gear train to a crankshaft of the parent engine; and means for initiating a combustion process using the received fuel and air within the combustion chamber, wherein the piston is driven one power stroke within the cylinder, causing the crankshaft of the parent engine to rotate. In some exemplary embodiments, the device further comprises means for routing air forced by the driven piston from the purging chamber to the combustion chamber during the one power stroke. In some exemplary embodiments, the device further comprises means for returning the piston to its position at the beginning of the one power stroke. In some exemplary embodiments, the device further comprises means for decoupling the gear train from the crankshaft of the parent engine such that the gear train is decoupled from the parent engine crankshaft as the piston completes the one power stroke. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a cross-section of an exemplary embodiment of the device with the piston in the first position and air only in the combustion chamber. 
       FIG. 2  is a frontal view of the conduit valve. 
       FIG. 3  is a cross-section depicting the actuating rod in a position moving from right to left, the cam follower on top of the cam, the canister angled and the canister nozzle bent discharging fuel into the combustion chamber. 
       FIG. 4  is a cross-section depicting the actuating rod in the full left position, the cam follower off the cam, the canister flat and the canister nozzle straight, preventing the further discharge of fuel into the combustion chamber. 
       FIG. 5  is a cross-section depicting the actuating rod being forced from left to right, the cam follower retracted into the cam follower extension, and the actuating rod magnet in the magneto causing an electrical impulse to trigger the igniter, the combustion moving the piston to the second position. 
       FIG. 6  is an enlarged cross-section of the actuating assembly with the components&#39; positions corresponding to  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 7  is an enlarged cross-section of the actuating assembly with the components&#39; positions corresponding to  FIG. 3 . 
       FIG. 8  is an enlarged cross-section of the cam, cam follower, cam follower extension, and actuating rod with the components&#39; position corresponding to  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 9  is an enlarged cross-section of the cam, cam follower, cam follower extension, and actuating rod with the components&#39; position corresponding to  FIG. 3 . 
       FIG. 10  is an enlarged cross-section of the cam, cam follower, cam follower extension, and actuating rod with the components&#39; position corresponding to  FIG. 5 . 
       FIG. 11  is an isometric view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
   The following discussion describes in detail exemplary embodiments of the invention. This discussion should not be construed, however, as limiting the invention to those particular embodiments. Practitioners skilled in the art will recognize numerous other embodiments as well. 
     FIGS. 1 ,  3 – 7 ,  11  illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the present invention in cross section. The device  50  cooperates with a fuel subsystem, that is, a replaceable compressed fuel canister  14  that is commercially available. The canister includes its own fuel metering valve  25  and discharge nozzle  25   a . This type of canister releases fuel in a gaseous state in response to a slight bending of the discharge nozzle relative to the canister. 
   The device  50  includes a frame  52  having a cylinder  1 , and a piston  2 , the piston being positioned within the cylinder, using conventional rings  76 , and dividing the cylinder into a combustion chamber  21  and a purging chamber  54 , the cylinder having an upper end  1   c  and a lower end  1   a . An exhaust port  16  extends from the cylinder. 
   In this exemplary embodiment, purged air exit ports  56 , allow air to exit the purging chamber, and the frame  52  includes a purging air shroud  17  placed about the cylinder  1 , forming a purged air conduit  17   a  for routing air from the purging chamber to the combustion chamber. The purged air inlet ports  58  allow the air purged from the purging chamber into the combustion chamber when a conduit valve  30  opens in response to pressure from the purged air. In this exemplary embodiment, and as shown in  FIG. 2 , the conduit valve is a ring having a width sufficient to block the conduit completely when biased against the cylinder and purging air shroud by a spring  15  placed between the ring and a cylinder head  19 . The conduit valve spring is sized to correspond to the conduit valve ring, thus providing an equal distribution of force about the ring&#39;s circumference. 
   The cylinder  1  and purging air shroud  17  are secured between the cylinder head  19  and a cylinder base plate  29 , using cylinder head bolts  18 . The cylinder head receives and positions an igniter  20 , which in this exemplary embodiment is a spark plug. A cap screw  22  is positioned on the cylinder head to provide access to the combustion chamber. The cylinder base plate has a hole  60  that closely receives and positions a packing gland  11 , through which a connecting rod  12  slidably extends, the rod being connected to the piston  2 . A resilient bias member  4  cooperates with the connecting rod to bias the piston to a first position. 
   In the exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 1 , the connecting rod bias member is a spring  4  positioned about a connecting rod shaft  10  and against structure  4   a  such that the spring is stretched when the piston moves from the first position (as shown in  FIG. 1 ) to a second position (as shown in  FIG. 5 ). In some exemplary embodiments the external structure  4   a  is part of the parent engine, while in other exemplary embodiments, the structure is part of the device, and is a conventionally attached extension or other member capable of withstanding the compression of the spring  4 . 
   For the exemplary embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the connecting rod  12  includes a rack gear  3  that is operationally connected to the parent engine shaft  9  in a conventional manner. In this exemplary embodiment, the connecting rod rack gear is supported by a support bearing  5  on a support bearing shaft  6 . In some exemplary embodiments, the support bearing and support-bearing shaft are part of the parent engine, while in other exemplary embodiments they are part of the device  50 . The rack gear cooperates with a pinion gear  7  that is operationally connected with the parent engine shaft  9 . A conventional unidirectional, one-way bearing  8  is provided that causes the parent engine shaft to rotate clockwise when the piston moves from the first to the second position, and causes the pinion gear  7  to decouple from and free-wheel about the parent engine shaft when the piston moves from the second to the first position. 
   In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 2 , an injection port  62  is provided for receiving fuel from the discharge nozzle  25   a  into the combustion chamber  21 . The discharge nozzle is partially inserted within the injection port and is sealed therein with a sealing member  25   b . The sealing member in this exemplary embodiment is an O-ring. 
   Turning now to  FIGS. 6–7 , an actuator assembly  70  is shown in closer detail for this exemplary embodiment, including a resilient fuel canister retaining member  28  with spring clips  23  that secure the fuel canister  14  proximate the frame  52 . When the fuel canister is positioned in the canister retaining member  28  the canister discharge nozzle  25   a  is inserted into the injection port. The actuator assembly further includes an actuating rod  72  held in place by actuating rod supports  33 , the rod being slidable within the supports. A bias member  34  is attached to the actuating rod at rod flange  74  and also to one of the actuating rod supports. In this exemplary embodiment the bias member is a spring that biases the actuating rod to a first position. 
   In the exemplary embodiment of  FIGS. 5–6 , the actuating rod  72  has a magnet  26  and the rod extends through a conventional magneto  26   a  with an interior coil. An ignition wire  13  extends from the magneto to the spark plug  20  and a ground wire  24  extends for grounding to the frame  52  or other external structure. The actuating rod further includes a cam  31  positioned on the rod near a fuel canister retaining member extension  27 . 
   As shown in even closer detail in  FIGS. 8–10 , the fuel canister retaining member extension  27  positions a partially rotatable cam follower  32  against the actuating rod cam  31 , such that when the actuating rod is moved in a left direction the cam follower cannot rotate because it is restrained by a fuel canister retaining member block  32 .  FIG. 8  depicts the cam follower prior to left movement of the actuating rod. The cam follower is rotatable but biased to a fully extended downward position against the actuating rod. As the actuating rod moves to the left, the cam follower moves upward and along the surface of the cam, thus pushing the fuel canister retaining member extension  27  upward, and causing the resilient fuel canister retaining member to bend. This cam follower position is shown in  FIG. 9 , and FIGS.  3 , 9  depict the device when the cam follower is on top of the cam. This fuel canister retaining member bending moves the fuel canister  14  relative to its discharge nozzle  25   a , causing fuel to be released into the injection port  62 . As the actuating rod completes its left motion, the cam follower descends from the cam as depicted in  FIG. 10 , and the canister retaining member returns to its original position with the canister again being flat, with the discharge nozzle straight, thus terminating the discharge of fuel from the canister. In this exemplary embodiment the amount of fuel released is dictated by the length of the cam. 
   In this exemplary embodiment, the device components are in the position depicted in  FIG. 1  immediately prior to use. To begin use the operator pushes the actuating rod  72  and the cam follower  32  lifts the canister retaining member  28  as the cam follower is elevated by the cam  31 , as depicted in  FIG. 3 . As the canister retaining member is lifted the canister discharge member  28  is bent and fuel is discharged into the combustion chamber  21  through the injection port  62 . The conduit valve  30  is in a closed position and the piston  2  is in the first position making the exhaust port  16  inaccessible, thus the fuel is trapped with existing air in the combustion chamber. As the operator finishes the complete left push on the actuating rod, the device components are positioned as shown in  FIG. 4 , with the cam follower to the right of the cam and such that the canister retaining member is lowered to its original position, with the canister being flat and the discharge nozzle straight, thus completing the fuel discharge into the combustion chamber. In this full left position the actuating rod spring  34  is stretched. 
   When the operator releases the actuating rod  72  the actuating rod spring  34  contracts and starts the actuating rod in a right movement. As the actuating rod moves to the right the cam follower encounters the cam  31 , but is rotated into the canister retaining member extension, such that the canister retaining member is not lifted, the canister is not moved and the canister nozzle remains straight. No fuel is discharged as the actuating rod moves to the right. During this right movement, and as shown in  FIG. 5 , the actuating rod magnet  26  is rapidly pulled through the magneto  26   a  and an electric pulse is delivered along the ignition wire  13  causing the spark plug  20  to fire, thus igniting the fuel and air in the combustion chamber  21 . The resulting combustion forces the piston  2  to move in a left direction along a cylinder downstroke first length, wherein fresh air is forced out of the purging chamber  54  through the exhaust port  16  (while forming an air buffer in the purging chamber to control the piston speed), and then along a cylinder downstroke second length, wherein fresh air is forced from the purging chamber through the purged air exit ports  56 , through the purged air conduit  17   a , the fresh air opening the conduit valve  30  against the conduit valve spring  15  to allow fresh air into the combustion chamber, the fresh air expelling post-combustion fuel-air mixture from the cylinder  1  through the exhaust port. During this movement of the piston, the connecting rod  12  is moved through the packing gland  11  and the rack gear  3  rotates the pinion gear  7 . Rotation of the pinion gear causes the parent engine shaft  9  to rotate thus initiating the starting sequence within the parent engine. 
   As the piston  2  completes this movement in response to the combustion event it is in its second position with the connecting rod spring  4  compressed. At this point, the conduit valve bias member  15  closes the conduit valve  30 , and the connecting rod spring moves the piston back to the cylinder upper end  1   c , in a right direction, first along a cylinder upstroke first length, wherein the piston forces some of the post-combustion combustion chamber contents through the exhaust port  16 , and then along a cylinder upstroke second length wherein fresh air from the conduit is trapped within the combustion chamber  21 . At the completion of the piston right movement, the device components are again in the position shown in  FIG. 1 . 
   In the exemplary embodiment depicted in  FIG. 1 , the magneto  26   a  is a conventional magneto device that generates an electrical impulse when the steel magnet  26  is drawn through its coil. The conduit valve  30 , conduit valve bias member  15 , cylinder head bolts  18 , connecting rod  12 , rack gear  3 , fuel canister retaining member  28 , and its spring clips  23 , are made from stainless steel. The piston rings  76  and frame  52  are constructed from cast iron. The piston  2 , cylinder  1 , actuating rod  72 , purging air shroud  17 , cylinder base plate  29 , cam  31 , cam follower  32 , fuel canister retaining member extension  27 , connecting rod spring  4 , actuating rod spring  34 , and cylinder head  19  are made from aluminum. The fuel canister  14  is a commercially available device which discharges compressed butane or propane fuel when the nozzle  25   a  is bent. The nozzle O-ring  25   b  is a conventional, rubber O-ring. 
   With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum device configuration for the particular situation, will include variations in the device shape, size, and component materials that will occur to those skilled in the art upon review of the present disclosure. 
   All equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification and claims are intended to be encompassed by the present invention. The descriptions in this specification are for purposes of illustration only and are not to be construed in a limiting sense.