Rootes(Commer) TS3 and similar engines
Not wanting to continue hijacking MorphDaCivic's Achates thread, I have started this one to discuss single-crankshaft, rocker-arm, opposed-piston engines. The best known of this type was the TS3 built by Rootes(Commer).
I will attempt to move relevant posts, or content thereof, from that thread as cleanly as possible.
In the meantime, a quick internet search using the tags revealed two Achates patents on the subject, US9359896 and US20110186017, both dated 2010.
Quoting the abstract from US9359896, "An opposed-piston engine with a single crankshaft has a rocker-type linkage coupling the crankshaft to the pistons that utilizes a rotatable pivot rocker arm with full-contact plain bearings. A rocker-type linkage utilizes a rotatable pivot bearing with an eccentric aspect to vary translation of piston linkage along the axial direction of a cylinder, which shifts the top dead center (TDC) and bottom dead center (BDC) locations of a piston so as to change the volume of charge air compressed during the power stroke."
There are other related Achates patents.
They also cited in their prior art a patent by George Henry Enderby, GB183501 (A), dated 1922-08-01. This is the oldest patent on the subject that I have located thus far, though I seem to remember a drawing going back as far as about 1900.
Last edited by acparker; 04-10-2018 at 07:19 PM..
Reason: brain cramp
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