Rotary vane device for compressor, motor or engine

Claim 2

A vane device for use as an engine, a compressor, or a motor, comprising a rotating central hub having a series of vane pivot points spaced therearound at equal radii from the center of the hub, at least three vanes, each pinned at its center of gravity to said hub at a said pivot point, a generally cylindrical drum with its axis parallel to and displaced radially from that of said hub, said drum having a separate slot for each vane through which the vane extends, for guiding the radial position of each said vane, synchronizing means mechanically linking said hub and said drum so that they rotate in the same direction and at the same rotating speed, so that said vanes reciprocate and oscillate in said guide slots as the hub and drum rotate, a housing enclosing said vanes and cooperating with said vanes and said drum to provide a series of working spaces, one for each said vane to compress or expand a fluid, and intake and exhaust port means for leading fluid into and from said working spaces.

Claim 3

The device of claim 1 as applied to a vane compressor, wherein said intake port means is substantially diametrically opposite said exhaust port means, said intake port means leading into a working space and being closed by a said vane just after the working space for said vane is at its largest volume, low pressure gas being compressed as the working space is made smaller, the compressed gas being discharged through said exhaust port means after it has been compressed to a desired pressure level; said exhaust port means being passed by said vane just before the working space of that said vane is at its smallest volume, the compressed gas which is trapped in said smallest volume working spaces being expanded to do work on the vanes until its pressure is substantially equal to the intake gas pressure as said vanes move to open said intake port means.

Claim 4

The device of claim 1 operated as a vane motor wherein said intake port means is substantially opposite said exhaust port means and each said vane opens a said working space to said intake port means just after said working space passes its smallest volume, said intake port means remaining open until the space between said vanes is at a prescribed value, then the next said vane moving to close said working space off from said intake port means and to trap compressed gas in said working space, said working space increasing in volume and said compressed gas expanding to do work on the vanes and hub until said working space is near its largest volume, then said working space being opened by a said vane to the exhaust port means, so that said expanded gases are exhausted; said working space remaining open to said exhaust port means until said working space has been reduced to where the low pressure exhaust gases may be compressed to the high pressure intake pressure just when the space between the vanes is the smallest.

Claim 5

The device of claim 3 having an adjustable cutoff port means for varying the amount of compressed gas that is expanded in the motor, by adjusting the prescribed intake working space.

Claim 6

The device of claim 1 operated as an engine, said intake and exhaust port means being a single port, said device having said port being opened to said said working space approximately where said space attains its largest volume, a fuel injector and a spark ignition system, a fan for scavenging said port and forcing a fresh charge of air into said port, each said vane moving trap a fresh charge in each said working space, means for injecting fuel into said trapped air, so that said air and fuel are compressed as said motor moves to reduce the working space between adjacent said vanes, said spark ignition system acting just after each said working space attains its smallest volume to explode fuel in that said space to heat it by a constant volume combustion process, thus increasing its pressure, said hot compressed gases acting on the associated vane to turn the hub, so that said working space increases and said gases expand and do work on said hub until just before said working space attains its largest volume, when said vanes open it to the port and the centrifugal force of the hot gases forces them to flow out radially while the fan forces them to flow axially.

Claim 7

A rotary vane device comprising a circular drum, a central hub shaft, a series of radially directed vanes each pinned at its respective center of gravity to equally spaced axial hinges on said central hub, which thereby supports their full centrifugal pull, synchronizing means, a housing having intake and exhaust port means, said drum having equally spaced axial slots, one for each vane, and having axial beam segments, one between each adjacent pair of said slots, said drum also having disc sections at each end to support said beams and to carry bearings for said drum, said vanes fitting tightly in said slots for reciprocation and oscillation therein; said central hub and said drum being mechanically joined by said synchronizing means so that they rotate in the same direction and at the same rotating speed, the center of rotation of said central hub shaft being displaced radially by an amount ''''c'''' from the center of rotation of said drum so that said vanes reciprocate and oscillate in said slots as said drum rotates, said vane tips circumscribing a cylindrical surface; said radial displacement ''''c'''' being such that said vane tips lie near said slots at their most radially inward positions and when the vanes are rotated 180* from their inward position they are at their maximum radially outward position, said housing enclosing said vanes with a very small working clearance between the vane tips and a cylindrical surface of said housing, the space between adjacent vanes and the housing and drum surfaces between said vanes constituting the working spaces of said device, the working space for any two adjacent vanes being the largest when a radial inward center line between those said adjacent vanes first goes through said hub center line then through said drum center line, said working space between any two said vanes being the smallest when a radial inward center line between its said vanes first goes through said drum center line then through said hub center line.

Claim 8

A rotary vane device comprising a circular drum, a central hub shaft, a series of radially directed vanes each pinned at its respective center of gravity to equally spaced axial hinges on said central hub, which thereby supports their full centrifugal pull, synchronizing means, a housing having intake and exhaust port means, said drum having equally spaced axial slots, one for each vane, and having axial beam segments, one between each adjacent pair of said slots, said drum also having disc sections at each end to support said beams and to carry bearings for said drum, said vanes fitting tightly in said slots for reciprocation and oscillation therein; said central hub and said drum being mechanically joined by said synchronizing means so that they rotate in the same direction and at the same rotating speed, the center of rotation of said central hub shaft being displaced radially by an amount ''''c'''' from the center of rotation of said drum so that said vanes reciprocate and oscillate in said slots as said drum rotates, said vane tips circumscribing a cylindrical surface; said radial displacement ''''c'''' being such that said vane tips lie near said slots at their most radially inward positions and when the vanes are rotated 180* from their inward position they are at their maximum radially outward position, said housing enclosing said vanes with a very small working clearance between the vane tips and a cylindrical surface of said housing, the space between adjacent vanes and the housing and drum surfaces between said vanes constituting the working spaces of said device, the working space for any two adjacent vanes being the largest when a radial inward center line between those said adjacent vanes first goes through said hub center line then through said drum center line, said working space between any two said vanes being the smallest when a radial inward center line between its said vanes first goes through said drum center line then through said hub center line.

Claim 9

The device of claim 6 wherein the thickness of each said vane varies over its length, fitting snugly in its said drum slot as it reciprocates and oscillates in said slot.

Claim 10

A vane device for use as an engine, a compressor, or a motor, comprising a central hub, at least three vanes pinned to said hub, a generally cylindrical drum with its axis parallel to and displaced radially from that of said hub, said drum having a slot for each vane through which the vane extends, for guiding the radial position of each said vane, synchronizing means comprising a gear train with pitch diameters such that said hub shaft and drum rotate in the same direction and at the same rotating speed, so that said vanes reciprocate and oscillate in said guide slots as the hub and drum rotate, a housing enclosing said vanes and cooperating with said vanes and said drum to provide a series of working spaces, one for each said vane to compress or expand a fluid, and intake and exhaust port means for leading fluid into and from said working spaces.

Claim 11

A vane device for use as an engine, a compressor, or a motor, comprising a central hub, at least three vanes pinned to said hub, a generally cylindrical drum with its axis parallel to and displaced radially from that of said hub, said drum having a slot for each vane through which the vane extends, for guiding the radial position of each said vane, synchronizing means comprising a gear train with pitch diameters such that said hub shaft and drum rotate in the same direction and at the same rotating speed, so that said vanes reciprocate and oscillate in said guide slots as the hub and drum rotate, a housing enclosing said vanes and cooperating with said vanes and said drum to provide a series of working spaces, one for each said vane to compress or expand a fluid, and intake and exhaust port means for leading fluid into and from said working spaces.

Claim 12

A rotary vane mechanism, comprising a drum of radius R, having at least one slot, a hub inside said drum, with its centerline displaced a displace c from the centerline of said drum, at least one pivot point located on said hub at radius r from the centerline of said hub, a vane of length l pinned at each said pivot point, each said vane passing through and bearing snugly on a said slot in said drum at said radius R from the centerline of said drum, synchronizing means for causing said drum and said hub to rotate at the same speed and in the same direction, the tip of said vane circumscribing a curved surface, the radius Po of said curved surface in reference to the hub centerline being, in terms of the angle theta which the radial line r makes as the mechanism rotates, and in terms of polar coordinates with the origin at the hub centerline:

Claim 13

A rotary vane mechanism, comprising a drum of radius R, having at least one slot, a hub inside said drum, with its centerline displaced a displace c from the centerline of said drum, at least one pivot point located on said hub at radius r from the centerline of said hub, a vane of length l pinned at each said pivot point, each said vane passing through and bearing snugly on a said slot in said drum at said radius R from the centerline of said drum, synchronizing means for causing said drum and said hub to rotate at the same speed and in the same direction, the tip of said vane circumscribing a curved surface, the radius Po of said curved surface in reference to the hub centerline being, in terms of the angle theta which the radial line r makes as the mechanism rotates, and in terms of polar coordinates with the origin at the hub centerline:

Claim 14

The mechanism of claim 9 wherein the distance e from said pivot point to said bearing point in said slot is e Square Root (R-r)2 - 2(R-r) c cos theta + c2

Claim 15

The mechanism of claim 9 wherein each said slot has a constant thickness h and its vane has a variable thickness t over its length, so that it fits snugly in said slot as it reciprocates and oscillates in said slot.

Claim 16

The mechanism of claim 11 wherein t h cos ( sin 1(c sin theta / Square Root (R-r)2-2C(R-r) cos theta +c2))