Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Lee
If a piston is going up and down in a cylinder it is reciprocating.
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Did you look at the animation Frank? (the one linked to matt keveney's site)
Two different axes of rotation, one at the big ends of the connecting rods. The other different axis is the center of rotation of the engine block and cylinders. That is the essence of the aircraft rotary engine of WW1.
In a conventional IC engine the con rod big ends never revolve around the crank journal unless the engine is coming apart.
Is a rotary vane pump a reciprocating engine? The vanes move back an forth in their respective slots.
Since the cylinders are rotating around one axis and the pistons and rods are rotating around another axis, there is no "reciprocation" in the sense as I understand it, hence the definition of a rotary engine.
In a conventional engine combustion pressure forces the piston to move away from the cylinder head and rotates the crankshaft through the con rod. In the WW1 rotary the combustion pressure forces the cylinder head away from the piston and transfers that force into rotation of the block and cylinders. Its the opposite reaction. The crankshaft was bolted to the airplane, and the propeller was bolted to the front of the engine block assembly.
The original engines produced ungodly amounts of torque.
After WW1 a German company actually built a front wheel drive motorcycle with a rotary engine in the front wheel hub.
Megola - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
here is a link to the Megola motorcycle.
America on the Move | Balzer automobile patents
Here is another link to Stephen Marius Balzar, who built a car with a rotary engine in the late 1890s. he donated it to the Smithsonian Institute in 1899.
Balzar designed the engine used by Samuel Langley in his aerodrome attempt, which failed because it lacked the sufficient structural integrity and control functions. Langley was subsidized by the Federal govt to the tune of $75,000 but was beaten by the Wright brothers.
regards
Mech