The Simplicity (!) Motor Works One-Cylinder Rotary Engine. Sure, it sounds insane, but it makes perfect sense once you've seen it.
Still, it's the darnedest thing I've seen in awhile. Two connecting rods and a split crankshaft? Yowza! --And just to prove irony ain't rusted away yet, the makers note, "It is ideal for drones or UAVs!" Great; when they come for me, I'll be too fascinated by the kewl machinery to do anything about it....
That's crazy. The animation almost hurts more than it helps. Is the piston sleeve really rotating?
ReplyDeleteSeems likely to be kinda buzzy.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting and ingenious; I'd like to see how well it works in an actual engine.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see that adapted for a single cyl. bike.
ReplyDeleteIs the piston sleeve really rotating?
ReplyDeleteThe big animation says yes, the smaller one says no. I'm thinking that someone mis-rendered the big animation.
According to the "Features" tech sheet, the cylinder does rotate. You can see in the animation how it contains the valve port, which is rotated into various alignments throughout the cycle. I love, love, love that it doesn't have a traditional valve train.
ReplyDeleteThat planetary system has got to be loud, though. I imagine it sounds like a lawnmower riding through a South African football stadium during a match.
It will be interesting to see how that rotating cylinder seals against the stationary head under combustion pressures and temps. Anybody remember how much fun apex seals were in Mazda Wankel rotary engines back in the early days?
ReplyDeleteThe cylinder has to rotate with the piston to drive the rotary valve at the top of the cylinder. This sort of valve is old technology and not to be confused with tip seals on Wankel engines.
ReplyDeleteBeside aircraft, this could make an interesting motorcycle engine.
Sorry, Bobbie, that is not a rotary engine. That is a single cylinder, 4-Stroke, reciprocal engine. I didn't stick around for the animation,(dial-up), but, if they, some how got the cylinder to rotate, it will only add to the headache of owning such a device.
ReplyDelete--
Jerry
(Former ^&*# parts guy)
As a gearhead myself, I'm both intrigued by how he manages to keep the rotating piston and connecting rods oiled via a seriously dry sump system(fancy coatings aren't gonna do it all for you - let's see a video with that engine running under useful load for an hour or so...), and also appalled by the atrocious grammar of his multiple white papers. They look cheesy, almost grade school book report in composition and style. Does he really think he needs to power a 20-watt Koolance Exos computer liquid-cooling system via his invention? I have 4 of them, and they aren't spinning the wattmeter anywhere near bad enough to warrant an internal combustion engine for power.
ReplyDeleteYou'd think if the guy was trying to sell something online, he'd at least run a spell-checker and maybe hire somebody familiar with sales pitches.
You know if lubrication is an issue this could be a good place for ADLC coating to prove its worth to a broader market.
ReplyDeleteEspecially if the horsepower to weight ratio was good enough for aviation use.
Regarding his atrocious grammar:
ReplyDelete1)It makes my eyes hurt to read it
2)I proof read my resume (a paper intended to make me richer)-he can't proof his paper?
3) My engineering acquaintences can't spell to save their lives.
The heck with a single cylinder; I wanna know how to connect a bunch together to provide useful motion. Unless there's a way to tame asynchronously-moving pistons together so they don't destroy the "crankshaft" then timing would be a bit of an issue (and your part count and overall complexity goes up). Any of you gearheads know how to convert Brownian-like motion into something useful?