Patent ID: 7192244

Claim:
A rotary machine operable for transformation of energy between rotary mechanical energy and fluid kinetic energy, comprising: a drive shaft; a tubular housing defining a fluid input and a fluid output and a rotor operating region; a rotor mounted within said rotor operating region for rotation about a rotor axis of rotation through said drive shaft, said rotor comprising a first rotor end and a second rotor end, said axis of rotation extending between said first rotor end and said second rotor end, said rotor operating region being positioned between said fluid input and said fluid output; and a plurality of rotor elements for said rotor, said plurality of rotor elements being axially spaced from each other along said rotor, said plurality of rotor elements comprising a plurality of conical surfaces or domed surfaces oriented on said rotor so as to be concentric to said rotor axis of rotation, said plurality of rotor elements defining therebetween a plurality of radial flow paths, said plurality of rotor elements defining a plurality of centrally positioned apertures that collectively define an unrestricted interior opening that surrounds said drive shaft and connects to said plurality of radial flow paths to permit radially outwardly fluid flow through said plurality of radial flow paths, said unrestricted interior opening receiving fluid flow from said fluid input to provide said radially outwardly fluid flow through said plurality of radial flow paths.