Patent ID: 8485161

Claim:
An opposed piston engine, comprising: a plurality of cylinders aligned in a row, each cylinder having intake and exhaust ports, an intake manifold near an end of the cylinder and in communication with an intake port, and an exhaust manifold near an opposing end of the cylinder and in communication with an exhaust port, and in which the cylinders are aligned such that the intake manifolds are positioned near an intake side of the engine and the exhaust manifolds are positioned near an exhaust side of the engine; a pair of opposed pistons slidably disposed in each cylinder; two crankshafts positioned to one side of the row of cylinders so that the axes of rotation of the crankshafts lie in a plane that is spaced apart from and parallel to a plane in which the longitudinal axes of the cylinders lie; a linkage between each piston and a respective one of the crankshafts; and, a crosshead assembly for each linkage; in which each crosshead assembly comprises: spaced-apart guides; a pin positioned between the guides; and, spaced-apart bearings; each bearing including a collar rotatably engaging the pin and an arc-shaped bearing piece extending from the periphery of the collar and engaging a surface of a first guide; and, in which each linkage comprises: a connecting rod having a first end with two spaced-apart collars that rotatably engage a pin between spaced-apart bearings and a second end rotatably engaging a throw of a crankshaft; the diameter of the connecting rod collars being greater than the diameter of the crosshead bearing collars; and, a piston rod with a first end affixed to a piston and a second end affixed to the pin between the spaced-apart collars of the connecting rod.