# Spherical Bearing Engine



## vederstein (Mar 10, 2019)

I wanted to create a steam engine that, as far as I know, has no real world analogue or has been done before.

It's still a work in progress, but I submit my first concept.  At this stage, I haven't even looked at the valving....


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## Anatol (Mar 22, 2019)

Interesting idea.! 
I too have  been working on designs for horizontally opposed engines without crankshaft. Trying avoid the pitfalls of the scotch yoke, which is a great idea in terms of reducing moving parts but has serious mechanical impediments. 

The first issue I see with your drawing/video is that the bearing on the flywheel is cylindrical.  Is this where the spherical bearing comes in, but your 3D package didn't have one? 
You could  make a pivot for the box the bearing is sliding in. 
OR !put the bearing on the end of the bar and cut a conic section track in the flywheel! This would also allow you to support the flywheel with bearings on both sides. 

I see you've introduce a transverse slot in the piston rod to account for the arc of the driven pin. A vertical  pin in the piston rod running in a slot in the oscillating bar might be more efficient?  

Regarding valving, I think might be able to utilize the oscilating bar to come up with some interesting rod actuated piston valving, 

I look forward to future installments, good luck!


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## vederstein (Mar 24, 2019)

Anatol said:


> Regarding valving, I think might be able to utilize the oscilating bar to come up with some interesting rod actuated piston valving


 
I spent much time trying to make an oscillating bar work but I finally realized it's mechanically impossible without additional cams.  So that's way I somewhat did as shown in the following video.

As for the spherical bearing, It's hard to see in the video, but the spherical bearing does swivel in the cad model.  In the end, I don't know if this design has a chance in hell to run, but it's been a fun design/CAD modelling exercise.

I realize that the flywheel is highly unbalanced.  I need to look at resolving that.

Being that this engine is almost entirely cam driven,  I think I'm going to rename it from "Spherical Bearing Engine" to "Camgine!" (For some reason, I think it requires the explanation point)

As with my previous designs, I'll post all design information (drawings, cad models, etc) after the thing is done and issues resolved.

...Ved.


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## john_reese (Mar 24, 2019)

Pillow block bearings have a spherical OD.  That should work fine in your application.   SKF bearings with the barrel shaped rollers could also work but are probably not made in small enough sizes for model work.


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## johnmcc69 (Mar 25, 2019)

Hey Ved, very nice work on the CAD animation, it's a bear just doing the design & you well know how hard it is to pull it off.

 Very nice work.

 John


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## TonyM (Mar 25, 2019)

Spherical roller bearings are designed to allow for axial misalignment and would work but self aligning pillow blocks are designed for small misalignment between the shaft axis and the plane of the bearing mount. The spherical element is not designed for continuous movement / wear.


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## vederstein (Mar 25, 2019)

I already have the spherical bearing.  It was am EBay item and therefore I designed the engine around it.  The bearing is a 1204 for those that care.

I have four of them, so I have no idea what to do with the other three.

...Ved.


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## davidyat (Mar 25, 2019)

Ved,

   Not fair. I’m not done with your 2 Cylinder, double action engine yet. Stop making me more interested in this one. Kidding aside, this looks like my next one from you.

Grasshopper


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## vederstein (Mar 25, 2019)

David,

Don't get too excited yet. Give me 5 or 6 months to build this damn thing and see if it even works.

This is a risky design.

...Ved


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## davidyat (Mar 25, 2019)

Probably take me about 4 to 5 months to finish the 2 cylinder.
Grasshopper


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## vederstein (Jun 30, 2019)

After a few months, I have a running engine.  It's not really done yet though.  I need to clean up the base plate and give anodizing a try....

It does run though!!! As shown in the video, it's about 10 psi.  It's also a cacophony of clatters as the cams actuate.

I'll post the drawings and models when I'm totally completed with the engine.

...Ved.


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## johnmcc69 (Jun 30, 2019)

Pretty slick design Ved! I really like the motion & the clatters at that speed.
Nice job!
 John


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## Shopgeezer (Jul 1, 2019)

Omigosh that is one cool engine.  Would you call the crank a Scotch Yoke?  Look forward to the plans.


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## Jennifer Edwards (Jul 2, 2019)

Really unique design, and fun too! I would love to know where I could pick up a set of drawings for it.


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## canalpete (Jul 2, 2019)

It takes the Female mind to think of something as fiendish as this, will watch with interest, good luck.


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## Jennifer Edwards (Jul 3, 2019)

FIENDISH? I represent that statement!


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## vederstein (Jul 3, 2019)

I guess it would be called a type of Scotch Yoke.  A standard scotch yoke all works in the same plane.  This design uses a spherical bearing to allow the planes to be 90 degrees to each other.

It's some kind of combination of of both a grasshopper engine and a scotch yoke engine but using valve tappets instead of an eccentric.  That's was the whole point of this design:  to create something that's never existed before no matter how impractical.

Now being the designer and not female I'm not really sure how to take the previous statement...  I am a degreed mechanical engineer with over 25 years experience in industrial machine design.

Give me a few more weeks and I'll post all design files.  Now that I'm close to done, other than the cam plate (which was a royal pain in the ass), it really wasn't that difficult of an engine to make.

...Ved.


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