The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 20, 2001
Filed:
Nov. 30, 2000
Applicant:
Inventors:
Robert Wayne Burrahm, San Antonio, TX (US);
John Craig Hedrick, Boerne, TX (US);
Assignee:
Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
F02B 2/508 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
F02B 2/508 ;
Abstract
Two pistons are reciprocatively disposed in each cylinder of an engine thereby forming combustion chambers at each end of the cylinder that operate in a four-stroke cycle, and a third combustion chamber formed between the pistons that selectively operates in a two-stroke mode. The combustion chambers at the ends of the cylinders have heads in which intake and exhaust valves are disposed, and the third chamber between the pair of pistons is ported to provide scavenged flow. The third chamber is not fueled and remains inactive except when maximum power is needed.