Patent ID: 7406938

Claim:
A cooling mechanism for a rotary valve cylinder engine comprising a rotary valve cylinder rotatably mounted within an outer cylindrical valve element, the rotary valve cylinder and the outer cylindrical valve element each being formed with a respective valve port, the rotary valve cylinder being rotatable relative to the outer cylindrical valve element to a position in which the ports are aligned, the cooling mechanism comprising at least one passage formed in the rotary valve cylinder through which, in use, cooling fluid flows, wherein the rotary valve cylinder comprises a circular top surface which closes one end of the rotary valve cylinder to define a combustion chamber between the underside of the top surface and the top of a piston located inside the rotary valve cylinder, the cooling fluid being forced over the circular top surface of the rotary valve cylinder to cool the circular top surface of the rotary valve cylinder, and the rotary valve cylinder comprises a cylindrical cylinder wall in which the fluid cooling passage is formed.