Pivot Valve Rotary Engine Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional rotary internal combustion engines face disadvantages such as low power output, complexity, and high weight due to the use of pistons, which limits their commercial success compared to piston-driven engines.
Innovation Solution
A rotary internal combustion engine design utilizing a rotor and pivoting flap valves within an annular planar housing, eliminating the need for pistons and incorporating an axial shaft, cam block, and sparkplugs, which allows for continuous spinning and increased power density by combining strokes and reducing energy losses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If conventional rotary internal combustion engines use pistons, then they can achieve reliable power generation, but they suffer from high weight and complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the piston component from the rotary engine design, replacing it with a pivot valve system. This extraction of the piston eliminates the associated weight and complexity while maintaining the essential function of chamber sealing and gas containment, directly resolving the contradiction between reliable power generation and reduced weight/complexity
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using a piston that moves linearly within a cylinder, the patent inverts the approach by using a pivot valve that rotates with the rotor. This inversion transforms the linear motion mechanism into a rotational valve system, reducing complexity and weight while achieving the same chamber sealing function
2Loss of energy
If conventional rotary internal combustion engines use pistons, then they can maintain chamber sealing, but they produce high weight and energy losses
Solution Approach 1:
The pivot valve system operates continuously with the rotor rotation, maintaining chamber sealing throughout the entire rotational cycle without the energy losses associated with piston reciprocation. The continuous rotational motion eliminates energy losses from repeated acceleration and deceleration of piston mass, directly addressing the energy loss contradiction
Solution Approach 2:
The patent eliminates the need for counterweights that would be required to balance reciprocating piston motion. By using a continuous rotational pivot valve system instead of reciprocating pistons, the design removes the weight penalty of counterbalancing mechanisms while maintaining effective chamber sealing
3Power
If conventional rotary internal combustion engines are designed with pistons, then they achieve adequate power output, but they have low power density and high component count
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the valve function with the rotor structure itself, where the pivot valve is integrated into the rotating assembly. This consolidation eliminates separate piston components and reduces the overall component count, increasing power density while maintaining adequate power output through the unified rotor-valve system
Data Source
AI summary
A pivoting flap valve is provided for an internal combustion rotary that produces mechanical torque. The engine includes an annular planar housing with a substantially circular annulus flanked by first and second cavities, an axial shaft, a rotor disposed on the shaft and rotating within the annulus. The valve is disposed within one cavity of said cavities and includes an arc wedge and a pivot shaft. The wedge has outer convex surface and an inner concave surface and a shaft hole between and parallel to the surfaces along a rocking axis. The pivot shaft passes through the shaft hole that enables the wedge to rock back and forth within the cavity in the annular planar housing without interference with the cam block. Each valve includes indents to pass around fore and aft circular wings on a rotor. The engine includes the housing, the rotor, first and second sparkplugs, first and second flap valves, an axial shaft and fore-and-aft covers. The housing includes a quadrilateral symmetry including a substantially circular annulus flanked by first and second cavities. The wings of the rotor intermittently block at least one port while the axial shaft rotates.