Hybrid cycle rotary engine
An internal combustion engine includes in one aspect a source of a pressurized working medium and an expander. The expander has a housing and a piston, movably mounted within and with respect to the housing, to perform one of rotation and reciprocation, each complete rotation or reciprocation defining at least a part of a cycle of the engine. The expander also includes a septum, mounted within the housing and movable with respect to the housing and the piston so as to define in conjunction therewith, over first and second angular ranges of the cycle, a working chamber that is isolated from an intake port and an exhaust port. Combustion occurs at least over the first angular range of the cycle to provide heat to the working medium and so as to increase its pressure. The working chamber over a second angular range of the cycle expands in volume while the piston receives, from the working medium as a result of its increased pressure, a force relative to the housing that causes motion of the piston relative to the housing.
1. A combustion engine utilizing a virtual piston assembly, the combustion engine comprising:
a body having an interior and additionally having an inlet port, an exhaust port, and a first angled slot configured to function as a first fluidic diode; and
a rotating member mounted within the body, the rotating member including a second angled slot configured to function as a second fluidic diode, the first angled slot and the second angled slot being oppositely disposed in the body and rotating member respectively at corresponding outer radial locations so that when the rotating member rotates, the opposed first and second slots define therebetween a first circumferential swath of varying angular extent;
wherein the body further includes a third angled slot configured to function as a third fluidic diode and the rotating member including a fourth angled slot configured to function as a fourth fluidic diode, the third angled slot and the fourth angled slot being oppositely disposed in the body and the rotating member respectively at corresponding inner radial locations so that when the rotating member rotates, the opposed third and fourth slots define therebetween a second circumferential swath of varying angular extent;
wherein the rotating member is disposed in relation to the body, and the body has a correspondingly shaped interior, so as to form,
(i) in the outer radial locations, a first virtual chamber having a volume that varies with the rotation of the rotating member in a manner corresponding to the angular extent of the first circumferential swath and
(ii) in the inner radial locations, a second virtual chamber having a volume that varies with the rotation of the rotating member in a manner corresponding to the angular extent of the second circumferential swath; and
wherein one of the first and second virtual chambers is configured as a compressor in the engine and the other of the first and second virtual chambers is configured as an expander in the engine.
2. A combustion engine according to claim 1 , wherein the rotating member is a disk.
3. A combustion engine according to claim 1 , wherein the rotating member is conical.
4. A combustion engine according to claim 1 , wherein each of the angled slots is defined by a plurality of channels within the respective rotating member, the channels bifurcating proximate to a first opening on the rotating member and converging at a conflux region proximate to a second opening on the rotating member, the channels having a shape so as to impede a flow of fluid in one direction and to allow ready flow of the fluid in an opposite direction.
5. A combustion engine according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the angled slots is defined by a plurality of angled structures within a recess so as to cause a fluid to bifurcate and then perpendicularly converge, thereby impeding the flow of fluid in one direction while allowing ready flow in another direction.
6. A combustion engine according to claim 1 , wherein the virtual chamber comprises fluid trapped between the moving fluidic diode and the stationary fluid diode as result of the rotation of the rotating member.