Patent ID: 7257949

Claim:
A Stirling engine comprising: a piston that is fitted inside a cylinder and that is driven to reciprocate by a driving means; a displacer that is fitted inside the cylinder and that reciprocates with a phase difference kept relative to the piston; a compression chamber formed by partitioning off a space between the piston and the displacer; an expansion chamber formed by partitioning off a space on a side of the displacer opposite to the compression chamber; an inverter power supply circuit for supplying electric power to the driving means; a danger-of-collision detecting means for detecting danger of collision of the displacer with the piston or with a closed end of the cylinder; an inverter power supply circuit controlling means for controlling the electric power supplied from the inverter power supply circuit to the driving means based on information detected by the danger-of-collision detecting means; a casing for holding the cylinder; and a balance mass fitted to the casing for absorbing vibration of the casing resulting from reciprocating movement of the piston and the displacer, wherein the balance mass vibration detecting means is the danger-of-collision detecting means.