Split-Cycle Four Stroke Engine

摘要

An engine, comprising:
a crankshaft rotatable about a crankshaft axis;
an expansion piston slidably received within an expansion cylinder and operatively connected to the crankshaft such that the expansion piston is operable to reciprocate through an expansion stroke and an exhaust stroke of a four stroke cycle during a single rotation of the crankshaft;
a compression piston slidably received within a compression cylinder and operatively connected to the crankshaft such that the compression piston is operable to reciprocate through an intake stroke and a compression stroke of said four stroke cycle during a single rotation of the crankshaft;
a crossover passage interconnecting the compression cylinder and the expansion cylinder, wherein the crossover passage includes a crossover valve;
wherein the ratio of volume in the expansion cylinder when the expansion piston is at the expansion piston's bottom dead center (BDC) position to the volume in the expansion cylinder when the expansion piston is at the expansion piston's top dead center (TDC) position is 20 to 1 or greater.