Patent ID: 7484366

Claim:
A multistage Stirling engine comprising: a plurality of cylinders each internally holding a working fluid and provided with a displacer piston and a power piston disposed in series and fitted in the cylinder; a plurality of heaters respectively combined with the cylinders to heat the working fluid contained in the plurality of cylinders and using a high-temperature heating fluid provided by a heat source; and a heating fluid passage for passing the heating fluid sequentially through the heaters; wherein the plurality of cylinders include adjacent cylinders disposed in parallel arrangement; and wherein a plurality of heat exchangers are provided which comprise respectively said plurality of heaters, a plurality of coolers for cooling the working fluid within the plurality of cylinders, and a plurality of regenerators each interposed between an associated heater being one of the plurality of heaters and an associated cooler being one of the plurality of coolers; each of the plurality of heaters is connected to one end of each of the plurality of cylinders; each of the plurality of coolers is connected to the other end of each of the plurality of cylinders; the plurality of heat exchangers are each in the form of a stack of each heater, each regenerator and each cooler; and two of the heat exchangers forming adiacent stacks are interposed closely between adjacent two cylinders of the plurality of cylinders to form an integral structure having a shape of a flat rectangular solid including the adjacent cylinders and the heat exchangers.