Piston Machine With Counter-Rotating Plates For Mass Balance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing piston machines lack a compact and space-saving design while maintaining high efficiency and low component costs, which limits their operational effectiveness and service life.
Innovation Solution
A piston machine design featuring two housing parts shaped as rotated circular sectors with counter-rotating, synchronously driven double piston plates, each with parallel alignment and inclined side walls equipped with valves, creating a compact structure with low dead volume and efficient operation, driven by a common drive shaft and separate crankshafts connected via a gear train.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If a piston machine uses a conventional single housing design with double piston plates, then the structure is simpler, but the machine occupies more space and has higher dead volume
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is divided into two separate housing parts (3a, 3b) that are rotated by 180° and joined together to form a compact structure. Each housing part contains its own double piston plate (1, 2) that can be independently driven, allowing the machine to occupy less space while maintaining functional complexity through modular segmentation.
2Volume of moving object
If the piston machine uses a compact design with rotated housing parts, then space usage is reduced, but the mass balance and smoothness of operation are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The two housing parts (3a, 3b) are rotated by 180° relative to each other, creating a counterbalancing configuration where the double piston plates (1, 2) in each housing part move in opposite directions. This counter-rotating arrangement achieves optimal mass balance that ensures smooth operation while maintaining the compact space-saving design.
3Ease of operation
If separate crankshafts and crankshaft journals are used for each double piston plate, then the drive mechanism is more complex, but the synchronous opposite-direction drive is achieved
Solution Approach 1:
A gear train (26) is introduced as an intermediary mechanism between the drive shaft (9) and the two crankshafts (10). The gear train transmits rotational motion from a single drive shaft to two separate crankshafts, enabling synchronous opposite-direction drive of the double piston plates (1, 2) while reducing the need for completely independent drive systems.
4Device complexity
If the connecting rod loop is integrated into the double piston plate, then component count is reduced, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The connecting rod loop (piston loop) is merged with the double piston plate (1, 2) to form an integral unit. The guide groove (7) is formed directly in an end face of the double piston plate, eliminating the need for separate connecting rod components and reducing overall part count, while requiring precise integration during manufacturing.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a piston machine comprising two (or more) housing parts (3a, 3b), which are each in the shape a circular cylinder segment, but which are joined to each other in such a way that the housing parts are rotated 180° with respect to each other, and which enclose a common cavity and each have a dual piston plate (1, 2), wherein said dual piston plates are associated with the respective housing part and driven separately and synchronously in opposite directions. Said dual piston plates, together with the respective adjacent angled side wall (15, 16) of the housing part, said side wall having inlet and outlet valves (18a/b, 19a/b), define two outer working chambers (A1 and A2) and one (or more) inner working chambers (A3) are defined between the dual piston plates (1, 2), said one or more inner working chambers having inlet and outlet valves (18c, 19c) formed in a rear housing wall (13) at the height of an imaginary separating line X between the housing parts (3a, 3b). The piston machine thus formed, which can be operated as a pump, compressor, or expansion motor or as a combination thereof, is characterized by variable, efficient usage possibilities, a low dead volume, a correspondingly high efficiency, a compact and space-saving construction associated with low component expense, and a mass balance that is optimal due to the opposite synchronous drive of the dual piston plates offset by 180° from each other together with smooth running and correspondingly long service life.