Crankless Internal Rotating Cylinder Engine - CIRCE

[Ken I]

Crankless Internal Rotating Cylinder Engine (CIRCE)

I have seen a few engines based on the following design :-

Uncredited / Unknown Source Photo

And decided to design my own version by eliminating the crank by placing the cylinder within the flywheel – hence CIRCE – Greek goddess of magic.

Attached is the resulting design – the primary flywheel (or “Crankwheel”) has to run in a cradle of ball bearings and be held into that cradle by a further pair of bearings running against the inclined inner surface at 45°.
The cylinder is 16mm bore x 30mm stroke.

Assembly without the rotary cylinder – the Crankwheel can be removed after adjustment of the inclined bearings by removing one of the inclined bearings (after adjustment - which is easier before assembling the cylinder in place).
The G.A. Drawing.

The drawing and these build notes are available at the HMEM website :-

And a video of it running on YouTube:-



Cross Section:

The dimensional data in the AutoCad drawing is correct – in the case of the Chassis Plates can be used for laser cutting.

Airflow Diagram:

This is how the inlet / exhaust is commutated by the collector ring and distributor axle :-

The annulus grooves in the distributor axle

The “blind” zones (there is another on the opposite side) between grooves transits past the inlet/exhaust ports when the cylinder is vertical – commutating the inlet to exhaust and vice versa at the transition.

Note: In the main cross section drawing the axles is shown out of position by 90° to illustrate the porting rather than physical orientation – FYI to avoid confusion.

Attached the AutoCad *.dwg files and a *.pdf of the build notes.
The *.zip file contains the *.dxf & *.docx versions

Files updated to correct error pointed out by Johnmcc69 - pitch between axles should be 98.2

Regards, Ken

 

[minh-thanh]

A great engine .
Thank you for sharing the plan !

 

[valentin]

 

[Ken I]

Valentin thanks for the response - below the changes made to improve its appearance. That modern stainless bracket just looked horrible,

Regards, Ken

 

[Ken I]

For some strange reason, I never posted this 3D animation of the motor by Johnmcc69 - much appreciated.



It's short so immediately press pause, right click to open the menu and select "loop" so it runs over and over - then hit the forward icon to resume playing the loop.

and the 3D

Regards, Ken

 

[mikehinz]

Valentin thanks for the response - below the changes made to improve its appearance. That modern stainless bracket just looked horrible,
View attachment 131484
Regards, Ken

Ken, is there any chance that you could post the drawings for your new side plate design? I and many others would surely appreciate it!

Thanks!

Mike

 

[Ken I]

Mike, No problem - see attached - even has the wooden base.

The build notes are too large to post here (as PDF or DOCX) - if you would like a copy send me your e-mail address via a PM.

Regards, Ken

 

[mikehinz]

Mike, No problem - see attached - even has the wooden base.

The build notes are too large to post here (as PDF or DOCX) - if you would like a copy send me your e-mail address via a PM.

Regards, Ken

Ken, thanks very much! I'll PM you with my email for your notes.

This is most appreciated!

Mike

 

[Brusta]

Wow Ken
That is a beautiful engine. I think I found my next project!!
I'll PM you with my email address. would be great to have the building notes.
Thank you for sharing.
Regards
Bruce Smith.