Patent ID: 6966183

Claim:
A supercharged internal combustion engine, comprising: a common exhaust manifold and a common combustion air manifold for all combustion chambers of cylinders of said internal combustion engine; a plurality of exhaust-driven superchargers that are staggered as a function of the output of said internal combustion engine, wherein each of said superchargers has an exhaust-driven turbine via which said supercharger is engageable or disengageable with said exhaust manifold, and wherein each of said superchargers has a compressor; a charging fan, wherein said charging fan is disposed upstream of and in series with the compressor of one of said superchargers, wherein each of said superchargers, at an input side of its compressor, has a line connection, via a respective valve mechanism to an output of said charging fan, and wherein all of said valve mechanisms, for an oppositely directed changeover between supply air compressed by said charging fan, and ambient air, are adjusted as a function of a speed of an associated supercharger and a combustion air operating pressure; a separate motor for driving said charging fan; and a processing means having a stored requirements profile for the sole release of the valve mechanism of a given one of said superchargers that is to be engaged in a staggered operation.