Woodward, Inc.

Charles Brennecke

Gregory James Hampson

Domenico Chiera

Suraj Nair

Jeffrey Carlson

Samuel James McCreery

John Karspeck

Taylor Ritchie

Arthur Pintauro

The subject matter of this specification can be embodied in, among other things, a method of igniting an air/fuel mixture in an internal combustion engine includes receiving an air/fuel mixture into a pre-combustion chamber, the pre-combustion chamber enclosing a portion of an igniter, igniting the air/fuel mixture in in the pre-combustion chamber with the igniter to produce a flame, directing the flame to eject the pre-combustion chamber through a collection of passages in a wall of the pre-combustion chamber, toward a peripheral wall of a main combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine, igniting, by the flame, air/fuel mixture in the main combustion chamber adjacent the peripheral wall, and then igniting air/fuel mixture in the main combustion chamber in a central region of the main combustion chamber with a propagating flame front of the ignited air/fuel mixture or a portion of the directed flame adjacent the peripheral wall.

Flame triggered and controlled volumetric ignition

A bearing device for supporting a shaft to rotate relative to an outer hub includes: an annular outer race mountable within an interior bore of the hub, the outer race including an inwardly facing radial groove sized to receive a rounded bearing element; and an annular inner race mountable to an outwardly curved exterior surface of the shaft. The inner race includes an outwardly facing radial groove sized to receive the bearing element, the respective radial grooves of the inner and outer races together forming an annular raceway to retain the bearing element when the bearing device is assembled. The inner race further includes an axially convex surface along an innermost diameter of the inner race, the convex surface shaped to directly engage the exterior surface of the shaft when mounted thereto, such that the inner race remains in contact with the shaft while accommodating radial deflection of the shaft.

Radial bearing device

Growing community of inventors

Cheyenne, WY, United States of America

Charles Brennecke