Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Masahiro Asai

Masaki Ban

Yoichi Ishibashi

Shinichi Isomura

Masashi Amano

Hideki Noritake

Yoici Ishibashi

Takeshi Wakabayashi

Kenjiro Saito

Takeshi Koyabu

Takaharu Kurosaki

Osamu Kudou

Yuji Marui

Toshio Mizushima

Toshiro Kawai

Shigemitsu Akutsu

Masami Takubo

Osamu Kudo

Yoshiaki Uozumi

To provide a Stirling engine and a control unit for a Stirling engine capable of disposing a displacer unit and a power cylinder unit separately from each other, thereby increasing the degree of freedom of layout thereof. A displacer unit and a power cylinder unit of a Stirling engine E are disposed separately from each other. A compression chamber of the displacer unit is connected to an operation chamber of the power cylinder unit via a pressure conduit. A control actuator capable of arbitrarily controlling the displacer piston of the displacer unit is connected to the displacer piston.

Stirling engine

To generate mechanical energy and electrical energy efficiently, by combining a Stirling engine and a fuel cell. A solid electrolyte type fuel cell FC is disposed between an air passage for supplying air to a heater of a Stirling engine E and a fuel passage for supplying fuel. Air and the fuel react with each other in the solid electrolyte type fuel cell FC to generate electrical energy, an off gas containing the unreacted fuel discharged from the solid electrolyte type fuel cell FC is supplied to the heater of the Stirling engine E and subjected to catalytic combustion. The resulting heat is used to operate the Stirling engine E to generate mechanical energy. The solid electrolyte type fuel cell FC is arranged in an annular-shape and so disposed as to surround the heater. The heat of reaction generated in the solid electrolyte type fuel cell FC acts on the heater, thereby contributing to elevation of the temperature of the heater.

Compound-type energy generation system

A drive unit for a prosthetic limb for driving a prosthetic limb with comfort for a long time. A Stirling engine is composed of a displacer unit mounted at an arbitrary portion other than prosthetic limb bodies and a power cylinder unit mounted between the prosthetic limb bodies and for bending/stretching the prosthetic limb bodies and relative to each other. A compression chamber of the displacer unit is connected to an operation chamber of the power cylinder unit via a flexible pressure conduit. A combustor for heating an expansion chamber disposed in a displacer cylinder of the displacer unit is provided around a head portion of the displacer cylinder. A fuel supply device is connected to the combustor. An actuator for arbitrarily driving a displacer piston of the displacer unit is connected to the displacer piston.

Drive unit for prosthetic limb

To generate electric power efficiently with a thermoelectromagnetic generator using the heat regenerator of a Stirling engine. When a high-temperature operating gas and a low-temperature operating gas alternately pass through a heat regenerator of a Stirling engine, the temperature of the heat regenerator increases and decreases periodically. A thermoelectromagnetic generator G integrally associated with the heat regenerator has a yoke making up a closed magnetic circuit passing through the heat regenerator, a permanent magnet for supplying magnetic fluxes to the magnetic circuit, and an induction coil responsive to changes in the magnetic fluxes of the magnetic circuit. The heat regenerator which is made of a ferromagnetic material has a Curie temperature which is present in a range of varying temperatures of the heat regenerator. When the temperature of the heat regenerator periodically changes across the Curie temperature, the magnetic fluxes passing through the induction coil are varied greatly each time the temperature of the heat regenerator passes through the Curie temperature, generating a large electromotive force across the induction coil.

To provide a heating device for an external combustion engine, which is capable of improving the stabilization of combustion in a controlled state with a relatively small quantity of heat and for controlling the properties of an exhaust gas. An increased long-time operation of the external combustion engine is achieved by the present invention. A heating device for an external combustion engine includes a combustion housing provided for surrounding a heating portion of an external combustion engine. An fuel-air mixer is provided at one end of the combustion housing and an exhaust pipe provided at the other end of the combustion housing. An oxidation catalyst is disposed in the combustion housing for accelerating the combustion of a fuel-air mixture of fuel and air supplied through the fuel-air mixer.

Heating device for external combustion engine

An assist gas fuel injection mechanism for a 2-cycle internal combustion engine includes a chamber communicated to a combustion chamber through a communicating passage. A rotary valve is provided in the communicating passage for controlling the opening and closing of the communicating passage. A fuel injection device is provided in the communicating passage between the rotary valve and the chamber. With this configuration, a highly compressed gas from the chamber, and fuel from the fuel injection device, are mixed with each other, and a concentrated mixture gas is supplied to the combustion chamber through the communicating passage. A protective layer is provided on the outside surface of the valve body of the rotary valve by using a material which is softer than the valve body of the rotary valve and the housing of the rotary valve and which is susceptible to plastic deformation.

Assist gas fuel injection mechanism for 2-cycle internal combustion engine

A high output 2-cycle engine and a watercraft powered by the 2-cycle engine. The 2-cycle engine includes a crank case having a water jacket, and a cylinder block with a water jacket for cooling the cylinder block. Cooling water is supplied separately to the crank case water jacket and the cylinder block water jacket to increase cooling of the crank case and the cylinder block. The 2-cycle engine may be an air scavenging engine in which fresh air is supplied to the engine through the crank case, and fuel is injected into a combustion chamber by a fuel injection device. The cylinder head and the exhaust manifold of the engine may also include water jackets.

2-cycle engine and a watercraft having the 2-cycle engine installed therein

To provide a two-cycle internal combustion engine capable of preventing the blow-by phenomenon to improve fuel economy and attain a high exhaust gas purifying performance, and increasing the responsiveness of fuel injection volume. In a two-cycle internal combustion engine, a chamber is disposed in scavenging passages for communicating a crank chamber to a combustion chamber, sealable control valves are respectively disposed in an inlet and an outlet of the chamber, and a fuel feeding system for the supply of fuel into the chamber is provided. The chamber is communicated to one scavenging passage out of a plurality of parallel scavenging passages. The combustion chamber side control valve disposed at an outlet of the chamber on the downstream side of the crank case side control valve provided at an inlet of the chamber, is positioned at the bottom portion of a scavenging passage communicated to the chamber.

Two-cycle internal combustion engine

A two-cycle internal combustion engine includes a control valve disposed in a communicating passage for communicating the combustion chamber to a chamber portion adjacent to the combustion chamber. The control valve controls the opening and closing of the communicating passage. A fuel or an air-fuel mixture is supplied into the combustion chamber through the communicating passage. The fuel injection opening of the communicating passage has a height which is smaller than the distance between outermost side surfaces of the piston rings to reduce the amount of the air-fuel mixture or combustion gas leaking from the combustion chamber into the crank chamber through gaps between the piston and the opening. Therefore, reduction in engine output or seizure of the piston due to local temperature rise is avoided.

To provide a 2-stroke cycle internal combustion engine for a vehicle in which less blowoff of a gas mixture occurs in a combustion chamber, fuel consumption is low and high exhaust gas purifying performance is attained. The cylinder of the internal combustion engine is slightly inclined toward the forward side of the vehicle body from its upright position. The high pressure chamber and the communication passages are arranged forwardly toward the vehicle body from the cylinder. Openings of the communicating passages toward the combustion chamber are arranged, from the scavenging port, near the combustion chamber. The intake control valve rotated from the crank chamber near the openings of the communicating passages toward the combustion chamber is arranged near the openings of the communicating passages, and the exhaust pipe and the exhaust expansion chamber communicating with the exhaust gas passage of the internal combustion engine are arranged at a rear part of the vehicle body from the cylinder.

2-stroke cycle internal combustion engine

An exhaust passage for connecting to an exhaust port of a cylinder is provided. The exhaust passage includes a first path extending in a direction generally orthogonal to the central axis of the exhaust port. A second path connects the first path and the exhaust poil and a control valve is provided in the first path. The rotational axis of the exhaust control valve is generally parallel to the direction in which the first path extends. The surface area of an opening connecting the first path and the second path is variable as the exhaust control valve rotates, so as to carry out controlled combustion and exhaust timing. This makes it unnecessary to provide a hollow section for housing an exhaust control valve and bearing at a position close to the exhaust. It is also possible to reduce the size of a cylinder block and to realize smooth flow of exhaust gases by making the inner peripheral surface of the exhaust passage smooth.

Exhaust control valve structure for 2-cycle engine

To provide a compact two-cylinder engine in which adjacent cylinders are located close to each other. In the two-cycle engine of the present invention, the scavenging passages of scavenging ports adjacent to the exhaust ports are flat or elongate in their cross section and extend to the sides of the exhaust ports. This structure allows the cross-sectional area of the scavenging passages to be sufficient, but allows the width of the cylinder section between adjacent cylinders to be decreased. Furthermore, in the two-cycle engine of the present invention, the exhaust passages of the cylinders are arranged in the direction substantially orthogonal with the direction of alignment of the cylinders, and the exhaust control valves are positioned near the exhaust ports in order to control an opening amount of the exhaust ports. The exhaust control valves are rotatably supported by a pivot extending substantially in parallel with the juxtaposed direction of the cylinders, and are turned in a plane which is parallel with the opening direction of the exhaust ports.

Two-cycle engine

The expected performance of a jet-propelled boat is maintained, exhaust control valves are controlled and driven in an improved accuracy on the basis of the traveling speed of the jet-propelled boat. Thus, the fuel consumption is improved and the exhaust gas is purified. A two-stroke cycle engine drives a jet propulsion unit to make the jet propulsion unit suck in water and jet water therefrom to propel a hull of the boat. An exhaust control valve is disposed near the exhaust port of the engine to change the opening ratio of the exhaust port according to the operating condition of the engine. A driving mechanism for driving the exhaust control valve includes a hydraulic actuator. The power of water jetted by the jet propulsion unit represents the traveling speed of the jet-propelled boat accurately. The exhaust control valve is driven for opening and closing according to the pressure of water jetted by the jet propulsion unit to achieve the optimum exhaust control by the exhaust control valve without entailing an excessive increase in the output of the engine.

Jet-propelled boat

A control valve is disposed in a communication passage for communication between a combustion chamber and a chamber portion adjacent to the combustion chamber, and through the communication passage at least one of a fuel and an air-fuel mixture, and a highly compressed gas, are supplied or charged into the combustion chamber and the chamber portion adjacent thereto, respectively. The control valve includes a first control valve disposed in the first communication passage and a second control valve disposed in the second communication passage, the first control valve causes the first communication passage to open at a timing near closing of an exhaust port and causes it to close halfway in a compression stroke. The second control valve causes the second communication passage to open at a timing near closing of the scavenging ports and causes it to close prior to closing of the first communication passage.

A two-cycle internal combustion engine includes a control valve disposed within a communicating passage between the combustion chamber and a chamber portion adjacent to the combustion chamber. The control valve is for controlling the opening and closing of the communicating passage. Blowby of an air-fuel mixture supplied to the combustion chamber can be prevented to reduce fuel consumption and increase the exhaust gas purifying performance. A communicating passage portion between the control valve and the fuel supply opening is configured to spray fuel from the control valve to a part or all of a wall surface of the communicating passage portion and the wall surface of the communicating passage portion is shaped to guide the fuel into the combustion chamber.

Growing community of inventors

Saitama, Japan

Masahiro Asai