Circular Piston Engine---new engine design from taiwan

[Scania]

structure
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP-jIYD_DME
principle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQkhDY01Qjg&NR=1

[mep]

I don't think this design is new.
Pneumatic motors and pumps with a very similar piston arrangement already exist.
The wankel principle is also similar just with less movable parts.
I am sure there are some good reasons why they don't build combustion engines like this.

[Caito]

I don't see how the explosion keeps rotating the "thing", care explain?


Thank you!


bye bye!

[Giblet]

This is called a Swing Piston Engine I think.

Another concept I saw in the 80s was basically a regular engine, but bent into a circle so both ends were touching each other. Since a cam shaft no longer works when it is bent, the reciprocating action of the cylinders was achieved by a drum that had a profile of a sine wave around its circumference. This gave the up/down motion that the camshaft normally provided. the valves worked in the same way.

I used to be quite excited by this concept, but the lack of interest and no working prototype of note yet makes me wonder.

[flynfrog]

I would think that getting that thing to seal would be next to impossible

[Giblet]

I took a look at their site and apparently they just went though a peer review and have 30 days to address some things, one of them seals, then they are going to start building their diesel prototype.

[Scania]

I would think that getting that thing to seal would be next to impossible

you talking for which engine?

[autodiagly]

Interesting concept but yeah, Giblet’s right, it’s not new. Swing piston / rotary reciprocating designs have popped up every decade or so since the 60s. The problem isn’t the idea… it’s the real-world execution.
Even in conventional engines, pistons are way more than just “up-down plugs.” They handle insane pressure spikes, thermal expansion, side loading, and ring seal dynamics — all while staying within thousandths of an inch clearance. Get one thing wrong (like ring gap or skirt clearance) and you get slap, seizure, or catastrophic failure.