Title of Invention Hydra-Mechanical Dual Engine

Technical Field The Hydra-Mechanical Dual Engine presented here is an aggregate motor where movement of pistons is generated using both, either the internal combustion process, or electrical power. While, the rest of the engine operation, such as: power and movement transmission; convertion of the rectilinear movement of the piston into rotary motion of the engine shaft; activation of other auxiliary functions and parts, are realized through the hydraulic-mechanical system. In this engine, the work and function of the piston-connecting rod-crankshaft mechanical linkage has been replaced by the piston-oil-rotor hydraulic interaction. The rotor is rigidly connected to the engine shaft.

Background Art Most of the internal combustion engines are reciprocating engines having pistons that reciprocate back and forth in cylinders internally within the engine, transmitting the energy and pressure from the combustion chamber to the rotating crankshaft. Almost in all types of internal combustion engines, the power originated in cylinder by combustion of gases is delivered to a rotating output crankshaft by mechanical linkage piston-connecting rod- crankshaft. Historically, rotational speed and power output in the internal combustion engines, inter alia, are function of the piston stroke length, volume of gases and number of cycles feasible to be achieved. So, for a given set of parameters of the gas mixture, cylinder parameters, piston and piston-connecting rod-crankshaft mechanical linkage, we get a certain maximum power output and rotational speed. The configuration of the mechanical linkage between the piston and main shaft of the engine has remained unchanged throughout the history of reciprocating engine development.

Disclosure of Invention The Hydra-Mechanical Dual Engine is a combination of two power and motion generation systems, both connected to the same hydraulic mechanical system that performs the operation of the engine and all of its auxiliary components. The power generating systems are both, the conventional internal combustion system as well as the electric one. The rest of the engine, which represents the invention claimed, is a hydraulic mechanical system that accomplishes all the engine work processes as well as the operation of all engine auxiliary parts. The hydraulic mechanical system performs the following basic functions: connecting the pistons and synchronizing their movement; moving cylinder lids and synchronizing their movement; forcing the hydraulic oil circulation; as well as the movement and synchronization of the cylinder valves when using internal combustion. Although the engine has both power generating systems installed, it can use both at the same time, or only the electrical system. The difference is made by the role played by the electric motor attached to the motor. When the electromotor performs the starter role and then the internal combustion process takes the lead in moving the pistons, we use two power sources. When the electromotor performs not only the initial role of the starter, but also serves as the feed source for piston movement, in which case the internal combustion process is completely bypassed, we have the complete operation of the engine as an electric motor. The pistons are designed to perform the same function as hydraulic pistons, thus pushing the oil under pressure. The cylinder, as shown in Figure D, beyond the Bottom Dead Centre, is conceived so as to enable the oil fill of this part and the passage of the oil through a window opened at the end of the cylinder body. The middle part of the cylinder is removable and serves as a sliding cover. This adjustment enables full oil filling of the cylinder and airtight sealing of it when the piston performs its power stroke. The engine as a whole, as shown in Fig. A and B, is a grouping of two blocks parallel to each other, placed cross of the engine main shaft. In Fig. A-a, for the purpose of clarification, each block is framed within a discontinued rectangle. As shown in Fig. A-b, Block A consists of: one rotor 10, which is rigidly joined to the engine main shaft 9; two cylinders 1 and 2, located on both sides of rotor; two pistons 5 and 6; two pairs of pushing shafts 21, one for each piston; two revolving arms; two sliding lids 15 and 16, one for each cylinder; two end joints, one per each pair of pushing shafts; one connecting rod 22; one crankshaft 23; two stearing gear 24, rigidly connected to the crankshaft; two intermediate gear 25; two crank gear 26; to connecting rods 27, which connect the crank gear with the respective sliding lid. The two blocks are connected and interact with each other in two ways: the first is by means of a pinion that is geared to one of the steering gears of each block; the second is by means of a revolving arm 29 connecting the end joints of one of the pushing shaft pairs of each block. Moreover, the pinion serves to transmit in blocks the initial motion initiated by the starter, when the internal combustion process is used as the main source of energy, or as the primary means of transmitting power and movement when the motor is electrically only. The rotary movement of the engine main shaft and of the rotor fixed on it is loose and independent of the piston movement. This is due to the lack of mechanical coupling of the piston with the rotor. This fact enables the main shaft to receive accumulating rotational speed, i.e., the speed gained by the current power stroke of the piston is added to the remaining speed of the previous rotation of the rotor. Oil is the key element in the operation of The Flydra-Mechanical Dual Engine. Prior to starting the engine, the two compartments of the engine body enclosing the cylinders and moving parts of the engine are filled with oil to the extent that it covers more than the engine needs for a full cycle. Also, a sufficient amount of oil is in the third compartment where the oil is deposited after completing the working cycle. The path of its circulation within engine is related to the stroke of the piston and the position of the respective sliding lid. It is imperative that when a piston performs its power stroke the respective lid must be in closed position and remain as such throughout the power stroke. This becomes possible by the added gear system, which syncronize movement of the piston with the positioning of the lid. Since the gear system is connected to the shafts system that connect the pistons, then the lids are mechanically connected directly to the pistons, and therefore any movement thereof is reflected in the lid movement. This means that when the piston is positioned at the extremities of its movement, the respective lid is also positioned at the extremities of its motion. When the piston performs the power stroke, the sliding lid is held locked in position due to the modification of the intermediate gear 25 as shown in Fig. G. Intermediate gear 25 is a combination of two gears, one half gear mounted on a full gear. The full component of the intermediate gear 25 is always geared to the steering gear 24, while the half component is geared only to the gear 26. As a result of this modification, when the gear 25 performs a full rotation the gear 26 performs a half rotation, taking turns only when geared to the half component of the gear 25. So, for a complete rotation of te gear 25 (a complete piston round-trip motion), the gear 26 makes a half rotation and then stops, waiting for subsequent gearing with the half component of te gear 25. As long as the gear 26 stays idle, so will the lid attached to it by the connecting rod 27. Figure A-b, which shows the plan-section A-A of Block A, helps us to understand the role of the oil and the function of The Flydra-Mechanical Dual Engine. At this point piston 5 is ready to start its power stroke. Meanwhile, the cylinder 1 is filled with oil and the lid 15 rests in closed position. The piston 5 pushes the oil toward the window 13 that connect the cylinder 1 with the chamber where rotor 10 rotates. The chamber comprising the cylinder space, the window space and the space between the two rotor blades positioned up and down the window forms a fully and hermetically sealed volume. Under these conditions, the only way for the oil to come out of this chamber is to push the blade of rotor 10 positioned opposite the window 13, giving rotary motion to the rotor 10 and consequently to the engine shaft 9. The oil pressurizes the rotor blade for a distance equal to the circumferential length between two blades, then, under the effect of centrifugal forces, exits into the interior of the engine. Communication with the interior of the engine is made possible through open windows 43 cut on the peripheral and side surface of the rotor cover. The number of rotor blades that are forcefully pushed during piston 5 power stroke equals the ratio of the volume of oil displaced by the piston to the volume between the two blades. This number determines the rotation that the main shaft of the engine receives during piston operation at power stroke. In order to make the piston return to its original position, the pistons of each block are connected to each other by two pairs of pushing shafts 21 and two revolving arms 20 (see Figure C). The revolving arms 20 rotate freely around the main engine shaft 9 and are fixed in one side with the pushing shafts 21 of one piston, while on the other side with the pushing shafts 21 of the other piston of the same block. The revolving arm is constructed in such a way that it allows the straight-line movement of its joint with the pushing shafts and the rotation of the arm around the main engine shaft. As shown in Fig. F, this is made possible by the ability of the arm shaft to slide inside the arm cylinder, one end of which is joined to the pushing shaft. The arm cylinder can rotate to the point of attachment to the pushing shaft. Pistons of the same block, for the given configuration of the intermediate shafts system and revolving arms, always move in opposite directions to one another. Also, the two pistons of one block always move in opposite directions with the pistons of the other block. This is due to the interaction of the blocks between them through, either of the pinion 28, or revolving arm 29, which simultaneously transmit the movement from one block to the other (Figure C). The pushing shafts 21 on one side are rigidly joined to the respective piston, while on the other, after passing through the respective cylinder body, are connected to each other by the end joints 30. The Hydra-Mechanical Dual Engine, as a whole, is conceived with two parallel blocks, that is, with 4 cylinders in total, to enable its operation as a 4-stroke internal engine. Let's look at the full cycle of The Hydra-Mechanical Dual Engine starting from the moment when the gas explosion process has just been completed in cylinder 1, while the pistone 5 is positioned at the starting point of its stroke. At this moment: lid 15 is closed, lid 16 is open, lid 17 is open, lid 18 is closed; pistons 5 and 6 are pozitioned at TDC, while pistons 7 and 8 are positioned at BDC. Piston 5 pushes the oil towards the end window 13 of the cylinder 1. The oil exerts pressure on the blade positioned in front of the window and pushes it thereby giving rotary motion to the rotor 10 and consequently to the main shaft 9 of the engine. Mechanical coupling between pistons by means of pushing shafts and rotating arms, as shown in Fig. C, allows simultaneous passage of the piston 5 rectangular motion to the other engine pistons. While piston 5 performs power stroke, piston 6 performs intake, piston 8 performs exhaust and piston 7 performs compression. In the second stroke the pistons perform: piston 7 power, piston 6 compression, piston 5 exhaust, piston 8 intake. In the third stroke the pistons perform: piston 6 power, piston 8 compression, piston 7 exhaust, piston 5 intake. In the fourth stroke the pistons perform: piston 8 power, piston 5 compression, piston 6 exhaust, piston 7 intake. Thus, all four engine pistons perform (in parallel) their 4-stroke cycles, simultaneously creating for the engine a 4-stroke cycle, but with the specificity that each of the four engine stroke is power one. The engine body comprises two blocks within it. It is configured in such a way as to create three main partitions around each block. In the case of figure D the first compartment encloses cylinder 1, the second compartment comprises the enclosure over cylinder 2, as well as the chambers where the gears and other movable parts are located, while the third compartment comprises all free space around the rotor cover and that below the cylinder 1. The first two compartments communicate with each other through the window 41, being in the same time completely isolated from the third one. The third compartment serves to collect the volume of oil that has completed the cycle of work on the rotor. Hence, driven by the oil piston 32, the oil passes through the tubes 33 to the circular compartment 44 of the circular deposit 42 covering the cylinder 1. The circular compartment 44 communicates with the circular deposit 42 through the window 40 positioned in its upper part. When the oil reaches the level of window 41 it begins to fill the chambers 45 of the second compartment above the cylinder 2. The chambers 45 are provided with openings which enable the oil to pass freely between them and towards the cylinder 2. It is worth pointing out that each piston must withstand during its power stroke not only the resistance presented by the respective rotor but also the work of moving the mechanical linkage between the pistons, as well as the gear system of the four sliding lids of the engine. Practically, the whole gear system only serves for lid movement and synchronization, so the resistance presented by this system is not sensitive to piston operation. Also, the positioning of the lids at any time of the cycle is such that only one of them, namely the respective lid of the cylinder where the power stroke is performed, realizes the cylinder closure and creates the pressure conditions inside the cylinder. Two other lids are opened, as such they do not present resistance, while the fourth one, even though closed, does not represent resistance, as the respective piston performs the exhaust stroke, that is moves towards TDC. So, given that the resistance presented by the mechanical linkage system and that of the gears of the lids is relatively low, not to say negligible, the real work of the piston at the power stroke is to only withstand the resistance presented by the rotor and the realization of its motion. In the case of The Hydra-Mechanical Dual Engine operating purely as a genuine electric motor, the entire description of the operation of the hydraulic-mechanical system remains valid. In this case, the shafts 21 do not act as propellants for the opposite piston, but rather they act to retract them. The pistons in turn perform the same role again, which is to push the oil under pressure. Again, the synchronized positioning of the pistons and sliding lids makes the pistons operate the same as in the case of the internal combustion process, which means that each piston performs effective work only at that stroke when it moves from TDC to BDC and the corresponding sliding lid is in locked position. Even in this case of operating as a genuine electric motor, the motor as a whole performs a full 4-stroke cycle, each stroke being a power stroke. Maintaining this way of operating of the hydraulic-mechanical system, even when The Hydra-Mechanical Dual Engine operating purely as a genuine electric motor, ensures maximization of oil performance, as each piston performs real work only in one of its strokes, giving the oil sufficient time to fill cylinder in every power stroke.

Brief Description of Drawings Fig. A-a shows the top view of The Hydra-Mechanical Dual Engine, which consists of two parallel blocks transversely mounted on the engine main shaft. Here, for the purpose of clarification, each block is framed within a discontinued rectangle and is marked with different letter. Also, here is indicated the positioning of the plan-section A-A. Fig. A-b shows the appearance of plan-section A-A. The positioning of pistons 5 and 6 against rotor 10 is highlighted in this figure. This figure indicates more clearly the limitation of the volume of oil trapped by lid 15 within cylinder 1, that is; the thrust surface of the piston 5, the inner surface of the cylinder 1, the inner surface of the sliding lid 15, the inner surface of the window 13, the inner surface of the rotor cover 34, the peripheral surface of the rotor 10, the blade positioned in front of the window 13 and the subsequent blade positioned below the window 13. Note that the lid 16 of the cylinder 2 is in the open position. This means that when the piston 6 moves, the oil inside the cylinder 2 can freely return to the deposit 42 around the cylinder 2. In this way, since at this point the piston 6 is moved by the operation of the piston 5, its movement does not add resistance to the piston 5. Fig. B shows the schematic orthogonal view of The Hydra-Mechanical Dual Engine, stripped of the engine body. Fig. C shows the orthogonal appearance of the mechanical linkage between the pistons. This figure allows one to easily understand the fact that the given configuration of mechanical coupling between pistons by means of pushing shafts pairs and rotating arms favors the simultaneous movement of the pistons. Also, here is clearly perceived the opposite direction of the pistons, both within the block and between the two blocks. This fact enables the 4-stroke cycles to be performed simultaneously by all four pistons, and the combination that when one piston completes its power stroke, the other pistons perform the other three stroke. This last combination results in the engine as a whole running a 4-stroke cycle, each stroke being in fact power stroke. Fig. D shows the orthogonal view of a cylinder (Fig. D-a), the front view of the cylinder (Fig. D- b), as well as the appearance of the plan-sections A-A, as defined in Fig. D-b. In this case the cylinder is conceptually divided into three parts, where the middle part 2 serves as a sliding cover. The lid 2 slides over the third part of the cylinder body, the latter having an outer diameter equal to the inner diameter of the lid 2. The two extreme parts of the cylinder are joined by two guide shafts 3 that serve to maintain stability and precision of lid 2 movement. Both, Fig. D-a and Fig. D-c give a better perception of the window 4 positioning at the end of the cylinder. Fig. D-c presents the view of the plan-section A-A defined in Fig. D-b. This figure shows the relative positions of the cylinder parts, the lid, the two piston positions (TDC and BDC), and the length of the piston stroke (s). Fig. E shows the top and front view of the engine body (Fig. E-a), appearance of the plan-section A-A (Fig. E-b), and the appearance of the plan-section B-B (Fig. E-c) Fig. F shows the side view of a revolving arm, as well as the appearance of the respective plan- section A-A. The plan-section A-A serves to clarify the positioning of the shaft of the arm within the respective arm cylinder and to understand the mode of interaction between them. The shaft of the arm slides freely within the respective cylinder, while the cylinder rotates freely around the coupling point positioned at one end of it. Fig. G represents intermediate gear 21. The orthogonal view highlights the semi-sector of the gear where the teeth are reduced to a portion of their width. This modification makes it possible for the sliding cover to remain stationary in the extreme position where it is, while the piston performs one of the cycle strokes. More precisely, the initial positioning of the gears and connecting rods should be such that when the lid is idle, the piston performs either power stroke (lid is closed), or intake stroke (lid is open). Fig. FI represents orthogonal view of the rotors and main shaft. The purpose of this figure is simply to clarify the shape of the rotor blade. The shape of the rotor blade should be such that it fully matches the shape of the cylinder window where the pushing oil passes.

Best Mode for Carrying out the Invention The model shown schematically here in Fig. A and B can be considered as the best basic model for the implementation of The Flydra-Mechanical Dual Engine invention. The model has flexibility in the size variation of its parts to obtain a range of power values and rotating speeds at the output. The schematically illustrated engine in Fig. B is the basic model of the invention. It fully represents the functional configuration and design of The Flydra-Mechanical Dual Engine. In this model the cylinder is conceptually divided into three parts, where the middle part serves as sliding cover. The lid slides over the third part of the cylinder body, the latter having an outer diameter equal to the inner diameter of the lid. The two ends of the cylinder are joined by two guide shafts that serve to maintain stability and precision of lid movement. The advantages of this configuration are amplified when the oil deposit is designed to extend along the entire circumference of the cylinder / lid. This means that the part of the cylinder inside the deposit and the lid are always submerged in oil. The lid slides for a distance that is equal to or greater than the displacement s of the piston. When the lid performs this displacement, the oil of deposit will completely fill the space between the two extreme parts of the cylinder. When the lid makes the return movement, it simply shuts off the volume of oil between it and the piston. In any case, the volume of oil entrapped by the lid is greater than the volume of oil displaced by the piston motion. Using the middle part of the cylinder as a lid makes it possible to achieve 100% cylinder filling, which results in maximizing the oil's working efficiency. Another advantage of the circular configuration of the lid and the oil reservoir around it, is the possibility of full filling of the cylinder with oil, even when the angle of inclination of the cylinder is large. This means that the engine runs smoothly at any angle of inclination, even if it turns over. The model presented here has the flexibility to be converted immediately to engine with two main output shafts, where each shaft retains the same parameters at speed and output power. This is achieved by dividing the main shaft of the engine into two parts, each of which is rigidly connected to one of the rotors. Split of shaft 9 is made at the intermediate point of two rotors. With this flexibility The Hydra-Mechanical Dual Engine gets added value, as one active shaft can be fully dedicated to the main engine operation, while the other active shaft can be dedicated partly to the engine operation and partly to the auxiliary and parasitic functions of the engine, such as the dynamo operation, oil pumps, air conditioners, water circulation system, etc.

Industrial Applicability The Hydra-Mechanical Dual Engine, as presented here, can find application in all areas of industry and technology where internal combustion engines or electric power motors are currently used. The most noticeable advantages are in the road, rail and sea transport sector, especially in machines and equipment, where high rotational speed is required at engine output. The high levels of rotational speed that the engine shaft receives, as well as the flexibility of the two main active shafts, make this model quite suitable for use in power generation, or as a primary in hybrid electric car aggregates. Furthermore, the operation of this model solely based on its electrical component of the power source, combined with additional power generators, represents in itself a genuine electric motor aggregate suitable for any electric vehicle.