FRUGAL 5 CYCLE ENGINE

The Frugal 5 Cycle engine design solves the 120 plus year old goal of combustion at constant volume, which is the most efficient way to combust the air/fuel mixture in a piston driven internal combustion engine.

With true constant volume combustion, the piston reaches top dead center at the end of the compression stroke and then is allowed to dwell at that position until the air/fuel mixture is completely burned.

The piston dwell is accomplished by having a constant radius section on both of the cams allowing the piston to dwell while the cam-stack continues to rotate. A typical dwell period is about 30 rotational degrees of the cam-stack. (Cam-stack and rocker arm replace the crankshaft.) By combusting the air/fuel at true constant volume, a higher combustion chamber pressure is realized along with lower un-burnt fuel residues.

In the new design, the shape of the cams controls the exact piston motion, allowing for optimized upstroke, downstroke and dwell of the piston based on the requirements of the particular cycle. These requirements can include piston position, velocity and acceleration all along the stroke. Research shows that the most desirable piston motion on the power stroke (down) is opposite in nature to the piston motion of the compression stroke (up). Additionally, in a cam-style engine, neither the downstroke nor the upstroke has to be 180° long; the sum of all the events has to be equal to 360° - for example - a power stroke 170 rotational degrees long, a compression stroke 160 degrees long with a piston dwell at TDC of 30 degrees.

The net result of the Frugal 5 Cycle, cam style engine is a significant increase in operating efficiency via increased combustion chamber pressure, increased downforce on the power stroke and a reduction in parasitic losses on the compression stroke. Additional benefits to creating the most fuel efficient engine known to date include the reduction of natural resources consumption, offering alternative energy solutions and providing a positive environmental impact.

This design has worldwide applications which can incorporate current day engine technology on any piston driven internal combustion engine regardless of size or usage. Spark and compression ignition engines utilizing fossil or biofuels work equally well.

Implementation costs are expected to be moderate and limited to the re-tooling of a few critical components. Production manufacturing of engines utilizing this technology fits well with standard manufacturing techniques and facilities.

The Frugal 5 Cycle engine - intake, compression, combustion, power and exhaust - it's not rocket science, it's just good sense.