Patent ID: 7500461

Claim:
A rotary combustion engine designed for diesel fuel, the engine comprising: a peripheral housing describing an epitrochoidal orbit having a long axis and a short axis; an eccentric shaft mounted for rotation in a rotational direction; a triangular piston mounted on said shaft and having three faces separated by three tips which contact said epitrochoidal orbit to form three working spaces which pass through, in succession, a four-phase cycle with an ignition TDC and an overlap TDC on the short axis and two bottom dead centers on the long axis, each said face having a pocket; an intake port and an exhaust port located on either side of the short axis at the overlap TDC; a spark plug located after the short axis at the ignition TDC in the rotational direction, wherein the spark plug has an electrode and an insulator which is substantially flush with said electrode, the electrode being disposed substantially adjacent to the epitrochoidal orbit, thereby minimizing space between the spark plug and the orbit; and an injection nozzle surrounded by a recess positioned on the epitrochoidal orbit so that one of the tips of the piston does not reach the recess until the next one of the tips has passed the intake port, wherein the injection nozzle comprises a nozzle bore which directs a jet of fuel toward the spark plug, said housing having a guide edge in the housing between the nozzle bore and the spark plug, wherein the recess and the guide edge are shaped so that the tip produces a variable blow-by cross section as the tip passes over the recess and the guide edge.