WO1986003805A1

WO1986003805A1 - Internal combustion engine

Info

Publication number: WO1986003805A1
Application number: PCT/EP1985/000720
Authority: WO
Inventors: Josef Gail
Original assignee: Josef Gail
Priority date: 1984-12-18
Filing date: 1985-12-18
Publication date: 1986-07-03
Also published as: EP0205516A1

Abstract

An internal combustion engine comprises a plurality of cylinders (15) rotationally and symmetrically arranged with respect to a symmetry axis (9), the axis (17) of the cylinders being substantially perpendicular to the symmetry axis (9). The cylinders (15) are delimited on the side of the symmetry axis (9) by means of covers (19). Alternating pistons (21) sliding inside the cylinders are connected to an output shaft (11) turned to the side thereof towards the symmetry axis (9) through a rod mechanism (13) or optionally by means of a rocking mechanism arranged laterally with respect to the cylinders (15). The covers (19) of the cylinders (15) are provided with openings (53) connectable to a central gas exchange channel (51) by means of a valve device arranged in the central part between the cylinders (15). Said internal combustion engine has relatively reduced dimensions and a simple gas exchange control.

Description

Internal combustion engine

The invention relates to an internal combustion engine with a plurality of cylinders arranged rotationally symmetrically to an axis of symmetry.

US Pat. Nos. 1,839,592, 1,891,453, 2,369,002 and 4,129,102 as well as German Utility Model 6,753,008 make internal combustion engines with several rotationally symmetrical cylinders arranged to an axis of symmetry are known, the cylinder axes of which either run parallel to the axis of symmetry or intersect obliquely to the axis of symmetry at an intersection. The reciprocating pistons, which can be moved in the cylinders, work on an output shaft via a wobble gear.

The known internal combustion engines have, based on their performance, comparatively large dimensions. In addition, comparatively long inlet and outlet channels are required for the gas exchange.

It is an object of the invention to provide an internal combustion engine which has small dimensions at a comparatively high output and in which the gas change can be controlled by means of structurally simple valve arrangements.

In the context of the invention, the cylinder roofs of the cylinders arranged obliquely to the axis of symmetry are arranged on the side lying to the axis of symmetry. The cylinder axes preferably run approximately perpendicular to the axis of symmetry, so that an inlet and / or outlet valve arrangement can be accommodated within the space radially enclosed by the cylinder roofs and controls inlet or outlet openings provided in the cylinder roofs. The inlet openings or outlet openings are connected via the valve arrangement to channels for the inlet or outlet of the fuel gases which run essentially centrally in the region of the axis of symmetry.

The valve arrangement arranged radially within the area enclosed by the cylinder roofs can be an inlet valve arrangement or an exhaust valve arrangement. In particular in the case of two-stroke engines, the other valve arrangement is expediently formed by slots controlled by the piston in the area of the bottom dead center of the piston in the cylinder wall. In this way, the opening or Specify closing times of the valves without any problems, and longitudinal rinsing of the cylinders is achieved with little technical effort.

In the case of four-stroke engines, both the intake valves and the exhaust valves are preferably provided in the central area delimited by the cylinder roofs.

The central valve arrangement is preferably a rotary slide valve with a valve body rotating about the axis of symmetry. The valve body expediently has the shape of a truncated cone and is resiliently pretensioned into a complementary, conical valve seat. The coupling of the valve body to the output shaft takes place via an axial thrust arrangement which, when the valve body rotates relative to the output shaft, axially moves the valve body out of the valve seat against the force of the biasing springs due to the frictional resistance of the valve body in the valve seat and thereby reduces the frictional inhibition. Such a rotary slide valve seals due to the cone shape without tending to seize.

In a variant, the valve arrangement arranged centrally between the cylinder roofs comprises a plurality of valve slides, which are displaceable along the axis of symmetry and which seal against valve seats formed by the cylinder roofs. The valve slides are guided obliquely to the valve seats and are spring-biased in the closing direction in the manner of a wedge lock. The inclined guides improve the seal with respect to the valve seats. The valve slides are controlled against the force of the springs in the opening direction by an axial cam arrangement which is coaxial with the axis of symmetry.

In a further variant, the centrally arranged valve arrangement comprises poppet valves which are controlled by a radial camshaft which is coaxial with the axis of symmetry. All of the above-described configurations of the centrally arranged valve arrangement have in common that they can be controlled with little design effort and have short gas exchange paths to the inlet duct or outlet duct, which preferably runs coaxially in the region of the axis of symmetry. The short exhaust duct paths resulting from the star-shaped arrangement of the cylinders permit low-flow loss operation of an exhaust gas utility turbine, which may be coupled to the output shaft via a freewheel and allows the flow energy of the exhaust gases to be recovered. The utility turbine can be used not only in the case of a central outlet duct, but also in embodiments which have a central inlet duct but have outlet openings arranged at a radial distance therefrom, for example in the region of the lower piston dead center. In this case, the turbine wheel of the exhaust gas turbine is expediently arranged coaxially with the axis of symmetry, its diameter being so large that the turbine blades rotate axially next to the outlet openings and are acted upon directly by the outflowing exhaust gases via the outlet openings.

The gearbox coupling the pistons to the output shaft is designed as a crank gearbox in a configuration particularly suitable for two-stroke operation, the crank of which can be rotated about the axis of symmetry in the direction of the axis of symmetry and is arranged on the side of the cylinder and on the connecting rods arranged laterally outside of the cylinder the side facing away from the axis of symmetry

Piston is connected. In order to keep oblique forces away from the piston and to relieve the cylinder seals, the piston-side joint of the connecting rod is expediently guided so as to be linearly displaceable in the stroke direction of the piston. It can also be expedient to arrange the cylinders between two cranks and to form the connecting rods axially symmetrical to this, in order to symmetrize the forces acting on the piston. In the case of cylinders arranged in pairs diametrically and perpendicularly to the turning axis, in a preferred embodiment a Parsons gear arranged laterally of the cylinders is provided for coupling the lifting cylinders to the output shaft. For each pair of cylinders, the Parsons transmission comprises a second crank of the same length, which is rotatably arranged on a crank of the output shaft and is rotatably connected to a piston rod which is displaceably guided in the stroke direction of the pistons and connects the pistons of the cylinder pair to one another. The second crank is expediently designed as a circular eccentric disc, on the periphery of which a bearing ring connected to the piston rod is mounted, the diameter of the eccentric disc being greater than the length of the first crank in order to be able to better transmit the crank forces. If several pairs of cylinders are provided, the stroke directions are angularly offset from one another, the eccentric disks being expediently firmly connected to one another.

In conventional gearboxes coupling the pistons to the output shaft, the pistons perform a single double stroke per revolution of the output shaft, i.e. a reciprocating stroke movement. In the case of four-stroke engines, however, it is desirable that all four strokes are carried out during a single revolution of the output shaft, since this makes it easier to control the gas exchange. Another object of the invention is to provide a reciprocating piston internal combustion engine, the output shaft of which makes one revolution for every two double strokes of the pistons.

In this aspect of the invention, in turn, a plurality of cylinders arranged rotationally symmetrically to the axis of symmetry are provided, the cylinder axes of which expediently run essentially perpendicular to the axis of symmetry in the manner of a radial engine. However, this aspect of the invention is not restricted to cylinders, the cylinder roof of which is provided on the side of the cylinder lying on the axis of symmetry, as explained above. The Zy- A linder roof can also be provided on the side remote from the axis of symmetry, wherein the gear unit connecting the pistons to the output shaft can also be arranged radially between the cylinders.

The gear unit coupling the pistons to the output shaft is designed as a wobble gear unit, for example as a wobble plate gear unit or as a swash plate gear unit or as a helical axis gear unit. However, while the axial movement component is used in conventional wobble mechanisms of this type, it is provided according to the invention that the pistons are controlled via thrust links depending on the radial thrust component of the wobble mechanism. The thrust links articulated at one end to the wobble body of the wobble mechanism are connected at their other end directly or indirectly via a joint to the piston, the joint being in a cylinder-fixed, optionally housing-fixed guide substantially perpendicular to the symmetry axis is guided to be essentially linearly movable. Due to the radial thrust component of the wobble body, the movably guided joint of the thrust link and thus the piston perform two double strokes per revolution of the output shaft.

In embodiments of the internal combustion engine with a cylinder roof facing the axis of symmetry, the thrust links can be connected in an articulated manner to angled piston rods guided in the stroke direction. In a preferred embodiment, however, a double lever which can be pivoted about a cylinder-fixed axis is provided for coupling the thrust link to the piston and is articulated with one arm via a connecting rod to the piston and with the other arm is connected to the push rod. This has the advantage that the piston stroke can be varied relative to the radial stroke of the wobble mechanism by selecting the arm length ratio.

The wobble body of the wobble mechanism tumbles around a Melpunkt, which is either located on the axis of symmetry, or runs through the radial offset of the output shaft axis to the axis of symmetry at a distance from the axis of symmetry. In the latter case, by displacing the wobble point in the direction of extension of the pistons, the pistons can be guided up to the cylinder roof, so that the combustion gases can be pushed out of the combustion chamber essentially completely.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention are to be explained in more detail below with reference to drawings. It shows:

Figure 1 is a schematic axial longitudinal section through a two-stroke internal combustion engine with four star-shaped cylinders.

FIG. 2 shows a basic illustration of the internal combustion engine according to FIG. 1 in axial cross section;

3 shows a basic illustration of a ^* variant of the internal combustion engine according to FIG. 1 in axial longitudinal section; FIG. 4 shows a basic illustration of the internal combustion engine according to FIG. 3 in axial cross section; FIG. 5 to 7 schematic axial longitudinal sections through four-stroke internal combustion engines with a plurality of cylinders arranged in a star shape; 8 shows a schematic axial longitudinal section through a slide valve which can be used in the internal combustion engines of FIGS. 1 to 7; Fig. 9 shows a schematic axial cross section through the

Slider valve of Figure 8 seen along line IX-IX;

10 shows a schematic diagram of a four-stroke internal combustion engine with five cylinders arranged in a star shape and controlled by poppet valves, and FIG. 11 shows a schematic axial longitudinal section through the poppet valve arrangement of the internal combustion engine

Fig. 10.

1 and 2 show a two-stroke internal combustion engine with a housing 1 and a crankshaft 11, which is mounted in the housing 1 via bearings 5, 7 and is rotatable about an axis of rotation 9 and forms the output element of the internal combustion engine 11 arranged rotationally symmetrical to the axis of rotation 9. The cylinder axes of the cylinders 15 indicated at 17 lie in a common plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation 9 and are angularly offset from one another by the same angular spacing, in the present exemplary embodiment with four cylinders 15 by 90. The cylinders 15 are delimited on their side facing the axis of rotation 9 by cylinder roofs 19 which together with combustion chambers 23 in the cylinders 15 along the cylinder axis 17 along the displaceable reciprocating pistons 21 in the cylinders. The pistons 21 carry on their side facing away from the axis of rotation 9 rigid piston rods 25 which are connected via joints 27 to Z-shaped cranked connecting rods 29. The connecting rods 29 are pivotally mounted on a common bearing ring 35, which is rotatable about a crank axis 33 via bearings 31 on the crank pin 13. The end of each connecting rod 29 on the piston side, in order to absorb oblique thrust forces on the connecting rods 29 and to relieve the seals on the piston 21, is guided in the region of the joint 27 on two sliding guides 39, 41 so as to be displaceable in a straight line in the stroke direction of the piston 21. One of the two sliding guides 39 and 41 can optionally be omitted.

The four cylinders of the internal combustion engine pass through a two-stroke working cycle per revolution of the crankshaft 11 in a conventional manner. The working cycles of neighboring cylinders are offset by 90 with respect to the rotation of the crankshaft 11. For the control of the internal combustion engine, the pistons 21 have outlet slots 43 in the walls of the cylinders 15 in the area of the bottom dead center, ie the dead center, which is distant from the cylinder roof 19. The outlet slots 43 are each connected to an outlet channel 47 via ring channels 45. The outlet slots 43 are controlled by the edge of the piston 21 on the combustion chamber side. A rotary slide valve driven by the crankshaft 11, generally designated 49, connects a central inlet channel 51 in succession to inlet openings 53 provided in the cylinder roofs 19 of the cylinders 15. The rotary slide valve 49 has a Axis of rotation 9 coaxial, frustoconical valve body 55 with a control channel 57. The valve body 55 is slightly axially movable in a conical valve seat 57 formed by the cylinder roofs 19 and is axially sealed by several springs 59 in the direction of its tapered end System driven into the valve seat 57. The valve body 55 is driven in rotation via an axial thrust arrangement 61 which, when the crankshaft 11 and the valve body 55 rotate relative to one another, against the latter

Force of the springs 59 out of the valve seat 57, that is to say pulling towards the widened end. The Axial¬ pusher assembly 61 prevents the seizure of the sliding ^'ER valve 49 as it moves these with increasing frictional impediment of the valve body 55 from the conical valve seat 57 and thus the frictional impediment counteracts. The axial thrust arrangement 61 can, as shown in FIG. 1, be designed as a helical thread. Since the steep taper thread is only effective in a relative direction of rotation, pairs of axial thrust surfaces which are inclined in opposite directions can alternatively be provided in order to ensure that the valve body 55 can be pulled out of the valve seat 57 in any direction of rotation of the crankshaft 11.

1 and 2 has comparatively short exhaust paths and is particularly suitable for driving an exhaust gas turbine, the turbine wheel of which is shown schematically at 63. The turbine wheel 63 is mounted coaxially with the axis of rotation 9 and is coupled to the crankshaft 9 in a manner not shown, possibly via a freewheel. Due to the star-shaped arrangement of the cylinders 15, the outlet channels 47 lie on a common arrangement circle and can the turbine Hit wheel 63 in the direction of the axis of rotation 9 in the shortest way.

The internal combustion engine explained above permits, by suitable dimensioning of the rotary slide valve 49, problem-free longitudinal purging of the cylinders 15 and, if appropriate, charging of the combustion chambers via a charge pump connected to the inlet duct 51. As an alternative to the embodiment explained above, the channels 47 can also be used as inlet channels, while the channel 51 forms the common outlet channel. In this case, the slots 43 expediently run approximately tangentially, so that good swirling of the cylinder filling is achieved. The internal combustion engine works on the Otto principle, with spark plugs 65 being provided to ignite the mixture. However, operation according to the diesel principle is alternatively possible.

The crankshaft 11 is designed in the manner of an eccentric shaft, the radius of the crank pin 13 being greater than the eccentricity, i.e. the distance of the crank axis 13 from the axis of rotation 9. The bearing ring 35 is seated in an annular recess 65 surrounding the crank pin 13, which divides a counterweight 67 on the crankshaft 11 for balancing the crankshaft 11. The exemplary embodiment shown comprises only a crank. Alternatively, cranks can also be provided on both sides of the cylinders 15, both of which act symmetrically on the pistons via connecting rods.

3 and 4 show a variant of the internal combustion engine of FIGS. 1 and 2, which essentially differs only in the design of the crank mechanism. Parts with the same effect are therefore provided with the same reference numbers and with the letter a to distinguish them. For a more detailed explanation, reference is made to the description of FIGS. 1 and 2. 3 and 4 is constructed in the manner of a Parsons gear. The internal combustion engine comprises, in pairs diametrically opposite to the axis of rotation 9a of the crankshaft 11a, opposed, coaxial cylinders 15a, here two pairs of cylinders. For each pair of cylinders, a circular disk 71 is mounted eccentrically to the respective circular axis 73 on the crank pin 13a projecting from the crankshaft 11a coaxially with the axis of rotation 9a. The eccentricity, ie the distance of the circular axis 73 from the crank axis 33a, is equal to the distance of the crank axis 33a from the axis of rotation 9a of the crankshaft 11a. The circular disk 71 forms a second crank, the crank arm length of which is equal to the length of the crank arm of the crankshaft 11a. The diameter of the two circular disks 71 is greater than the crank arm length of the crankshaft 11a, and the two circular disks 71 are expediently firmly connected to one another. A bearing ring 75 is rotatably mounted on each of the two circular disks 71, from which piston rods 77 project diametrically opposite in the stroke direction of the pistons 21a. The piston rods 77 are guided displaceably in guides 41a fixed to the housing and are connected to them via piston rods 25a on the side of the pistons 21a facing away from the axis of rotation 9a. Because of the eccentricity dimensions of the circular disks 71, the connection points 79 of the bearing rings 75 and the piston rods 77 move in a straight line in the stroke direction of the pistons 21a on a path intersecting the axis of rotation 9a. The circular disks 71 are rotated by 180 ° relative to one another when the cylinder pairs are offset from one another by 90 °. A gearbox of this type works particularly vibration-free, since the piston rods 77 do not perform a pivoting movement. By doubling the number of cylinders and counter-rotating drive via Parsons gears, unbalanced forces of the reciprocating piston pairs can also be controlled.

5 shows an internal combustion engine which preferably operates in four-cycle operation. In a housing 101 is in Bear 103, 105 an output shaft 107 rotatably about an axis of rotation 109 and axially loadable. The output shaft 107 is connected to a piston 113 by means of a swashplate mechanism, generally designated 111, which can be displaced perpendicular to the axis of rotation 109 in a plurality of cylinders 115 arranged symmetrically about the axis of rotation 109 with the same angular spacing from one another. The cylinders 115 are delimited towards the axis of rotation 109 by cylinder roofs 117 which, together with the pistons 113, enclose combustion chambers 119 in the cylinders 115.

The swash plate gear 111 comprises a wobble pin 121, the axis 123 of which intersects the axis of rotation 109 at a wobble point 125. A swash ring 131 is rotatably and axially loadable mounted on the swash pin 121 via bearings 127, 129. The wobble ring 131 has a conical toothing 135 which is coaxial with the wobble axis 123 and which rolls on a complementary conical toothing 137 ^' which is coaxial with the axis of rotation 109 when the output shaft 107 rotates due to the wobbling movement of the wobble pin 121 and which rotates the wobble ring 131 Axis 123 rotates.

On the circumference of the wobble ring 131, thrust links 139 are articulated at one end via joints 141. The other ends of the thrust links 139 are each connected via joints 143 to an arm 145 of a double-armed lever, the other arm 147 of which is articulated to the piston 113 via connecting rods 149. The double levers are pivotably mounted on swivel bearings 151 fixed to the housing and guide the piston-side joint 143 of the thrust links 139 on a path which is circular, but which is curved, essentially radially to the axis of rotation 109 in the direction of the cylinder axis of the associated piston 113. The movement path runs essentially in a plane 153 containing the wobble point 125 and running perpendicular to the axis of rotation 109. During the rotational movement of the output shaft 107, the joints 141 of the wobble ring 131 move on one at 155 indicated axial path back and forth, which has a greater distance from the axis of rotation 109 in the area of the plane 153 than in its two reversal points. The piston-side joint 143 of each thrust link 139 and thus the associated piston 113 perform two complete double strokes per revolution of the output shaft 107 in accordance with the elliptical wobble movement.

The doubling of the number of strokes of the pistons 113 per revolution of the output shaft 107 makes it easier to control the gas exchange of the internal combustion engine operating in four-stroke mode. For the gas exchange, a rotary slide valve 157 is provided in the area radially delimited by the cylinder roofs 117, the rotary slide valve 159, which is coaxial with the axis of rotation 109, is coupled in a rotationally fixed manner to the output shaft 107 via a stub shaft 161. The rotary valve 159 contains an inlet control channel 163 which connects an inlet channel 165 in succession in accordance with the four-stroke sequence with openings 167 provided in the cylinder roofs 117. Via an additional outlet control channel 169 of the

Rotary slide 159, the openings 167 can be connected in succession to an outlet channel 171. The inlet duct 165 and the outlet duct 171 run centrally to the axis of rotation 109. The openings 167 are sealed in a conventional manner by sealing rings 173 to the rotary valve 159 in a resilient and / or gas-pressurized manner. At 175, spark plugs are provided to ignite the mixture during the work cycle. The rotary valve 159 is expediently made of ceramic material in order to withstand the thermal stress caused by the exhaust gases. The valve arrangement explained above allows the gas exchange control of the combustion chambers 119 in four-cycle operation in a confined space with little construction effort.

The exhaust gas path is the same and comparatively short for all cylinders 115. An exhaust gas utility turbine is therefore preferably connected to the exhaust gas duct 171, as indicated at 177, which, optionally via a freewheel, utilizing the flow energy of the exhaust gases on the output shaft 107.

In the internal combustion engine of FIG. 5, the axis of rotation 109 of the output shaft 107 coincides with the axis of symmetry of the cylinders 115. However, the axis of rotation 109 can also be offset laterally against the axis of symmetry transversely to the plane of the drawing, as a result of which the extension dead center of the pistons 113 is displaced toward the cylinder roof 117 and the combustion gases of the combustion chamber 119 are pushed out further. In this case, the stub shaft 161 must be designed as a cardan shaft. The joints of the push rods 139 and the double levers 145, 147 must also allow the selected movement.

6 shows a variant of an internal combustion engine operating in four-stroke mode, in which an output shaft 207 is mounted in a housing 201 via bearings 203, 205 and can be rotated about an axis of rotation 209 but is axially loadable. A rotor 211 is also rotatably mounted in the housing 201 about an axis of rotation 213 running obliquely to the axis of rotation 209 via bearings 215, 217. The axes of rotation 209, 213 intersect at an intersection 219, the output shaft 207 and the rotor 211 being coupled to one another in a rotationally fixed manner via bevel gears 221, 223 and rotating synchronously.

The rotor has a plurality of cylinders 225, the cylinder axes of which run radially to the axis of rotation 213 in a plane perpendicular to the latter and have the same angular distances from one another. The cylinders 225 are delimited by cylinder roofs 227 to the axis of rotation 213 forming the axis of rotational symmetry of the rotor. The cylinder roofs 227, together with reciprocating pistons 229 displaceable in the cylinders 225, enclose combustion chambers 231 in the cylinders 225.

The pistons 229 work on the output shaft via a swash plate 233 rotating with the output shaft 207 207. The swash plate 233, in conjunction with the rotor 211 rotating synchronously via the bevel gears 221, 223, forms an inclined axis gear which controls the stroke movement of the pistons 229.

On the outer circumference of the swash plate 233, a universal joint 235 is provided for each piston 229, via which a thrust link 237 has one end about a radial axis 239 running perpendicular to the axis of rotation 209 through the intersection 219 and a tangential axis 241 running tangentially in the radial axis plane is pivotally mounted. The push lever 237 is articulated at its other end via a joint 243 to a first arm 245 of a double lever, the other arm 247 of which is articulated to the piston 229 via a connecting rod 249. The double lever 245, 247 is pivotably mounted on the rotor 211 about a pivot axis 251.

When the swash plate 233 rotates, the universal joint 235 moves on one indicated at 253 with the

Rotor 211 and the swash plate 233 co-rotating, overall elliptical path. The arm 245 guides the joint 243 of the thrust link 237 on a curved path running essentially perpendicular to the axis of rotation 213 and performs two complete double strokes during each revolution of the output shaft 207 in accordance with the movement of the piston 229. The parts 237 and 241 to 251 correspond in turn to the parts 139 to 151 of the internal combustion engine according to FIG. 5. For further explanation of the function and mode of operation, reference is made to the description of FIG. 5.

To control the gas exchange, a rotary slide valve 253 with a cylindrical valve body fixed to the housing is provided, which is sealed with respect to a valve seat formed by the cylinder roofs 227 by means of resiliently pressed sealing rings 257. The valve body 225 contains an inlet channel 259 in the region of the axis of rotation 213, which at the rotation of the rotor is successively connected to openings 261 in the cylinder roofs 227. According to the four-stroke cycle, the openings 261 of the cylinders 225 are successively connected to an outlet channel 263 of the valve body 255 in the course of the rotational movement of the rotor 211. In Fig. 6, only a single inlet channel 259 is shown. There may also be a plurality of inlet channels which follow one another in the circumferential direction and through which mixture with a different mixing ratio can be fed to the combustion chambers in succession for a stratified charge of the combustion chambers 231. The valve body 255 expediently consists of ceramic material in order to withstand the thermal stress caused by the exhaust gases.

6 shows details of the cooling system of the internal combustion engine. The cooling liquid is supplied to the rotor 211 via a channel 265 which is coaxial with the axis of rotation 213 and, using the centrifugal pump effect, flows via radial channels 267 into ring channels 269 which enclose the cylinders. The ring channels are open to the interior of the housing for the return flow of the coolant. Circumferential ribs 271 provided on the inner casing of the housing and axial ribs 273 provided on the outer casing of the housing ensure convection cooling.

The exhaust gases of the outlet channel 263 flow out via an exhaust gas utility turbine held on the housing 201, the turbine wheel 277 of which drives a countershaft 281 rotatably mounted on the housing 201 via a toothed belt transmission 279. A pinion 285 sits on the countershaft 281 within the housing 201 with the interposition of a freewheel 283, which drives a gearwheel 287 which is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the rotor 211. The exhaust gas turbine 275 allows the exhaust gas flow energies to be recovered with comparatively good efficiency owing to the short exhaust gas paths. The freewheel 283 allows the rotor 211 to overlap the countershaft 281 driven by the turbine in a rotationally fixed manner. get . ,

FIG. 7 shows a variant of an internal combustion engine which differs from the internal combustion engine of FIG. 6 essentially in that the pistons are controlled via a swashplate gear with a swashplate fixed to the housing for converting the lifting movement into a rotary movement. Parts having the same effect are provided in FIG. 7 with the reference numbers of FIG. 6 and to distinguish them with the letter b. For explanation, reference is made to the description of FIG. 6.

The axis of rotation 209b of the output shaft 207b runs in the same axis as the axis of symmetry of the rotor 211b, which is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the output shaft 207b. The swash plate 223b, which is fixed in the housing 201b, rotatably supports an axially loadable bearing ring 291 about an axis of rotation which runs obliquely to the axis of rotation 209b and intersects the axis of rotation 209b at a wobble point 219b, to which the ends of the thrust links 237b remote from the piston are articulated via joints 293. The piston-side joints 243b are movably guided in the stroke direction of the pistons 229b approximately perpendicular to the axis of rotation 209b and, using the radial thrust forces of the bearing ring 291, effect the stroke control of the pistons 229b in the course of the rotary movement of the rotor 221b. The pistons 229b perform two complete double strokes per revolution of the rotor and thus of the output shaft 207b, which advantageously facilitates the gas exchange control of the four-stroke internal combustion engine.

Variants of valve arrangements which can be used in the internal combustion engines explained above are to be described below. 8 and 9 show a slide valve arrangement with valve slides 305 which can be displaced along the axis of symmetry 301 of the rotationally symmetrically arranged cylinders 303. The valve slides 305 control and are corresponding openings 309 in the roof 311 of the cylinder with slide openings 307 For this purpose, it can be displaced along a valve segment 313 shaped like a cylinder segment on the cylinder roof 311, as shown in FIG. 9 in cross section. The valve spools 305 connect a central channel 315, which is an inlet channel or an outlet channel, to the cylinders 303. Each of the valve spools 305 is moved by a spring 317 into its position closing the openings 309 against a position from the output shaft Axial cam arrangement 319, which is driven to rotate about the axis of rotation 301 and which opens or closes the valve slide 305 in accordance with the working cycle of the internal combustion engine, is pressed in a manner not shown.

In order to improve the sealing of the valve slide 305 against the valve seats 313, the valve slide 305 has

Wedge shape that tapers to the axial cam arrangement 319. Opposite the valve seat 313, the valve slides 305 are guided on inclined surfaces 321 which run inclined to the valve seat and which, during their closing movement, press the valve slides 305 radially away from the axis of symmetry 301 against the valve seats 313.

10 and 11 show, using the example of a five-cylinder, four-stroke internal combustion engine, a poppet valve arrangement for controlling the gas exchange. The cylinders 405 arranged in the rotationally symmetrical to an axis of rotation 401 of an output shaft 403 lead in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation 401 radially displaceable pistons 407, which via connecting rods 409 similar to the internal combustion engine of FIG. 1 onto a with the output shaft 403 connected crank mechanism 411 work.

The cylinders 405 have the cylinder roofs 413 facing the axis of rotation 401, in each of which an inlet plunger valve 415 and an outlet plate valve 417 controls the connection of an inlet duct 419 and an outlet duct 421 to the cylinder. The poppet valves 415, 417 have shafts 423, 425 and 42 projecting radially to the axis of rotation 401 are biased into their closed position by springs in the usual way. On a shaft 427 fixed to the housing, two interconnected radial cam disks 429, 431 are rotatably mounted which, depending on their cam shape, control the poppet valves 415, 417 according to a four-stroke cycle in the cylinder sequence 1 - 3 - 5 - 2 - 4. For this purpose, the cam disks 429, 431 are driven via a gear 433, which reduces the speed fourfold, with the direction of rotation opposite to the direction of rotation of the output shaft 403. The gear 433 comprises a stepped wheel 435 which is rotatably supported from a pin 437 coaxially with the crank axis 439 of the crank gear 411. The pitch circle diameters of the stepped gear 435 behave as 2: 1, the larger-diameter gear meshing with a pinion 441 fixed on the axle 427 and the smaller-diameter gear meshing with a gear 443 connected to the cam disks 429, 431. The gear 433 and the cam wheels 429, 431 are accommodated un¬ in the crankcase area, which ^s' I supply eliminates the need for additional Schmierölver-.

Claims

10Pentent claims e15

1. Internal combustion engine with a housing (1; 101; 201) and an output shaft (11; 107; 207) rotatably mounted in the housing (1; 101; 201) with several rotationally symmetrical to an axis of symmetry

2 _{Q of} one side by a cylinder roof (19; 117; 227) bounded cylinders (15; 115; 225), the cylinder axes (17) of which intersect the axis of symmetry approximately at a common intersection, in the cylinders (15; 115; 225 ) displaceable reciprocating pistons (21; 113; 229) which g together with the cylinders (15; 115; 225) between themselves and the cylinder roofs (19; 117; 227) delimit combustion chambers, with a stroke movement of the pistons (21; 113; 229) into a rotary movement of the output shaft (11; 107; 207) converting gear (13; 111; 221, 223, g 233; 223b), which is offset in the direction of the axis of symmetry against the cylinder (15; 115; 225) in the housing (1; 101; 201) arranged and coupled via thrust links (29; 139; 237) to the piston (21; 113; 229) and with an inlet and outlet valve arrangement

₃₅ (43, 49; 157; 253; 305, 319; 417, 419, 429, 431) for the combustion chambers in the cylinders (15; 115; 225), characterized in that the cylinder roofs (19; 117; 227) are provided on the side of the cylinders (15; 115; 225) facing the axis of symmetry and of the valve arrangement (43, 49; 157;

253; 305, 319; 417, 419, 429, 431) have controlled openings (53; 167; 261; 309) which lead to a common gas exchange channel (51; 165, 171; 259, 263; 419, 421) running in the region of the axis of symmetry.

Internal combustion engine according to claim 1, characterized in that the cylinder axes (17) are approximately perpendicular to the axis of symmetry (9), preferably in a common plane.

3. Internal combustion engine according to claim 1 or 2, characterized ge indicates that the valve arrangement is designed as a rotary slide valve arrangement (49; 157; 253), the valve body (49; 159; 255) arranged coaxially to the axis of symmetry against one of the Valve seat provided on the cylinder roofs (19; 117; 227) is sealed and at least one control channel (57; 163, 169; 259, connecting the common gas exchange channel with the openings (53; 167; 261) in the cylinder roofs (19; 117; 227) 263) contains.

4. Internal combustion engine according to claim 3, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that the valve seat (57) has a conical shape, that the valve body (55) has the shape of a truncated cone and axially movable in the valve seat (57) and axially resiliently biased into the valve seat (57) and that the valve body (55) is coupled via an inclined surface axial thrust arrangement (61) to the output shaft (11) which axially moves the valve body (55) out of the valve seat (57) when friction is inhibited.

5. Internal combustion engine according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the valve arrangement several has valve slides (305) which are displaceable along the axis of symmetry and are sealed against valve seats (313) provided on the cylinder roofs (311) and that an axial cam arrangement (319) which is coaxial with the axis of symmetry is coupled to the output shaft, which controls the valve spool (305).

6. Internal combustion engine according to claim 5, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that the valve slides (305) are each guided obliquely to the valve seat (313) and resiliently biased to the axial cam arrangement (319).

7. Internal combustion engine according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the valve arrangement has plate valves (415, 417) which are sealed against valve seats provided on the cylinder roofs (413) and that with the output shaft (403) to the axis of symmetry coaxial radial camshaft (429, 431) is coupled, which controls the poppet valves (415, 417).

8. Internal combustion engine according to claim 7, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that the output shaft (403) via a the direction of rotation of the camshaft (429, 431) with respect to the direction of rotation of the output shaft (403) reversing, the speed reducing gear (433) with the camshaft (429, 431) is coupled.

9. Internal combustion engine according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the cylinder roofs (19; 311) either from at least one valve body (55; 305) controlled inlet openings or from at least one valve body (55; 305) controlled outlet openings and that the cylinders (15; 303) of the piston (21) have slots (43) controlled in the region of the bottom dead center.

10. Internal combustion engine according to claim 9, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that it works as a two-stroke engine.

11. Internal combustion engine according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the piston (21; 21a) with the output shaft (11; 11a) coupling gear is designed as a crank gear, the crank about the symmetry axis rotatable (13; 13a ) arranged in the direction of the axis of symmetry on the side of the cylinders (15; 15a) and connected to the side of the pistons (21; 21a) facing away from the axis of symmetry via connecting rods (29; 77) arranged laterally outside the cylinders (15; 15a) .

12. Internal combustion engine according to claim 11, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that the piston end of the connecting rods (29; 71) in a housing-fixed guide (41; 41a) in the stroke direction of the pistons (21; 21a) is guided linearly.

13. Internal combustion engine according to claim 11, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that the crank-side ends of the connecting rods (29) are articulated on a common bearing ring (35) which is rotatable on one of the output shaft (11) to the cylinder (15) protruding crank pin (13) is mounted.

14. Internal combustion engine according to claim 11, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that the cylinders (15a) are arranged in pairs equidistantly opposite and connected to one another via a piston rod which can be displaced in a straight line in the stroke direction, that on the cure (13a) a second crank (71) is rotatably mounted for the output shaft (11a) for each pair of cylinders and is rotatable axially parallel to the piston rod (77) connecting the pistons (21a) of the pair of cylinders at a distance from the crank axis (33a) of the first crank (13a) ) are connected and that the crank arm lengths of the two crank arms (13a, 71) are the same.

15. Internal combustion engine according to claim 14, characterized is characterized in that the second crank is designed as a circular eccentric disk (71), which is axially parallel to the first crank (13a) with radial spacing of its circular axis (73) from the crank axis (33a), the eccentricity of the circle ¬ disc (71) is equal to the distance of the crank axis (33a) from the axis of rotation (9a) and that on the circular disc (71) is connected via the piston rod (77) with the piston (21a) displaceable in the cylinder pair. R bearing ring (75 ) is rotatably mounted about the circular axis (73).

16. Internal combustion engine according to claim 15, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that several angularly offset cylinder pairs are provided about the axis of symmetry and that the diameter of the eccentric discs (71) is greater than the crank arm length of the first crank (13a) and that the eccentric disc ( 71) are firmly connected.

17. Internal combustion engine according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the piston (113; 229) with the output shaft (107; 207) coupling gear is designed as a wobble gear, the inclined to the symmetry axis of wobble body (121; 223 ) is connected to the pistons (113; 229) via thrust links (139; 237), the thrust links (139; 237) being articulated at one end to the wobble body (121; 223) and a joint at the other end Bear (143; 243; 293), which is guided on a cylinder-fixed guide (145; 245), which is movable essentially perpendicular to the axis of symmetry.

18. Internal combustion engine according to claim 17, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that the wobble gear is designed as a swash plate gear, the rotating about the axis of symmetry swash plate (121) in the direction of 1 axis of symmetry to the side of the cylinder (115) located wobble point (125) that on the wobble plate (121) a wobble ring (131) guided relative to the axis of symmetry on the housing relative to the axis of rotation

5 to the swash plate (121) is rotatably mounted, and that the swash ring (131) is articulated via thrust links (139) to the side of the piston (113) facing away from the axis of symmetry.

1019. Internal combustion engine according to claim 17, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that the cylinders (225) are arranged in a rotatable about the symmetry axis relative to the housing (201) rotor (211) that the wobble gear is designed as an inclined axis gear, the

15 of the output shaft (207) connected swash plate (233) rotatably mounted in the housing (201) about an axis of symmetry in a wobble point (219) intersecting the cylinder (225) in the housing (201) and rotatably via a bevel gear (221, 223) with the rotor

20 (211) is coupled and that the swash plate (233) is connected in an articulated manner to the side of the piston (229) facing away from the axis of symmetry via thrust links (237).

2520. Internal combustion engine according to claim 17, characterized in that the cylinders (225b) are arranged in a rotor (211b) rotatable about the axis of symmetry relative to the housing (201b), that the wobble mechanism is designed as a swashplate mechanism, of that with the

30 housing (201b) firmly connected, swash plate (223b) running obliquely to the axis of symmetry carries a wobble ring (291) connected to the rotor (211b) in a rotationally fixed manner, whose wobble point (219b) in the direction of the axis of symmetry to the side of the cylinder (225b) is arranged

35 and that the wobble ring (291) is connected in an articulated manner to the side of the piston (229b) facing away from the axis of symmetry via thrust links (237b). 1

21. Internal combustion engine according to claim 20, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that the pistons (113; 229) each via connecting rods (149; 249) with an arm (147; 247) pivotally on a fixed to the cylinders (115; 225 )

5 connected part of the mounted double lever and that the thrust links (139; 237) are each guided on their piston-side joints (143; 243) on the other arm (145; 237) of the double lever.

10 22. Internal combustion engine according to claim 20, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that the movement path of the piston-side joints (143; 243) of the thrust link (139; 237) essentially in a plane containing the wobble point (125; 219) perpendicular to Axis of symmetry runs.

15

23. Internal combustion engine according to one of claims 17 to 22, characterized in that the wobble point is arranged at a distance from the axis of symmetry.

20 24. Internal combustion engine according to one of claims 17 to 23, characterized in that it works as a four-stroke engine.

25. Internal combustion engine according to one of the preceding claims 25, characterized in that an exhaust gas turbine connected to the outlet duct (47; 171; 263) is held on the housing (1; 101; 201), the turbine wheel (63; 77 ; 277) is coupled to the output shaft (11; 107; 207). 30

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