Patent ID: 6928965

Claim:
A reciprocating piston engine, comprising: a rotor housing, for transferring an acting torque to an output drive of said reciprocating piston engine; a contoured guide element, having a closed, curvilinearly contoured shape, contained in said rotor housing, such that said rotor housing is rotatable around said contoured guide element; at least one compression unit, in said rotor housing, each compression unit comprising: a piston; and a cylinder; such that a line of action of said piston in said cylinder is a straight line lying in a plane perpendicular to an axis of rotation of said rotor housing, and is eccentric to said axis of rotation of said rotor housing; a connecting rod, rigidly coupled to said piston, said connecting rod being movable along a path determined by said curvilinearly contoured shape of said contoured guide element to transfer controlled movement specified by said contoured guide element to said piston; and a guide part, joined to said connecting rod, and movable along a separate guide in said rotor housing, whereby said connecting rod, said piston, and said guide part each perform a single stroke along a straight line in said rotor housing.