Patent ID: 7441534

Claim:
A method for operating rotary internal combustion engine systems, comprising: providing two independent rotary internal combustion engines having power trains and linking apparatus for linking said power trains, each of said two independent rotary internal combustion engines further comprising: a casing defining an internal plenum; a rotatable shaft extending through said plenum with a first radial piston permanently attached thereto; a rotatable sleeve on said shaft with a second radial piston permanently attached thereto such that said first radial piston and said second radial piston define two substantially closed spaces within said plenum; a first engageable locking mechanism for preventing rotary movement of said first radial piston and said second radial piston, the position of said first radial piston and said second radial piston when engaged by said first locking mechanism being a first position; a second engageable locking mechanism for preventing rotary movement of said first radial piston and said second radial piston, the position of said first radial piston and said second radial piston when engaged by said second locking mechanism being a second position, a substantially closed space between said first radial piston and said second radial piston when one of said first radial piston and said second radial piston is in the first position and the other of said first radial piston and said second radial piston is in the second position being an initial combustion space; an exhaust outlet in communication with said plenum; an oxidizer insertion inlet in communication with said plenum; a fuel insertion inlet in communication with said plenum; means for combusting a fuel and oxidizer mixture in said initial combustion space so as to drive one of said first radial piston and said second radial piston from said second position around said shaft towards said second position, said first radial piston and said second radial piston alternating as the driven piston; and wherein at least one of said first engageable locking mechanism and said second engageable locking mechanism engages at least one of said first radial piston and said second radial piston to prevent rotary movement of said radial piston; and initiating combustion of fuel in said two independent rotary internal combustion engines at different times such that one of said two independent rotary internal combustion engines is initiating combustion in its initial combustion space after the other of said two independent rotary internal combustion engines has already initiated combustion in its initial combustion space.