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Elbow Engine
An elbow engine is a piston-based steam engine typically fed by steam or compressed air to drive a flywheel and/or mechanical load. It is based on a mechanism known as a Hobson's joint. Although not commonly used today for practical purposes, it is still built by hobbyists for its rarity and unconventionality. Principle of operation Elbow engines have two rotating, circular, cylinder blocks. Each block contains a ring of parallel cylinders and can itself rotate on a central axis, similar to a revolver cylinder. The two blocks are placed at 90° to each other. Each piston is L-shaped, and circular in cross section with one end fitted into each cylinder block. The two cylinder blocks rotate together, coupled only by the pistons. Engine output is taken from the rotation of one cylinder block. Pressure is supplied to each cylinder by means of a fixed plate forming a plain thrust bearing with the back of the cylinder block. This has two openings in it which supply and exhaust steam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piston
A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors, hydraulic cylinders and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tight by piston rings. In an engine, its purpose is to transfer force from expanding gas in the cylinder to the crankshaft via a piston rod and/or connecting rod. In a pump, the function is reversed and force is transferred from the crankshaft to the piston for the purpose of compressing or ejecting the fluid in the cylinder. In some engines, the piston also acts as a valve by covering and uncovering ports in the cylinder. __TOC__ Piston engines Internal combustion engines An internal combustion engine is acted upon by the pressure of the expanding combustion gases in the combustion chamber space at the top of the cylinder. This force then acts downwards through the connecting rod and onto the crankshaft. The connecting rod is att ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steam Engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be transformed, by a connecting rod and crank, into rotational force for work. The term "steam engine" is generally applied only to reciprocating engines as just described, not to the steam turbine. Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separated from the combustion products. The ideal thermodynamic cycle used to analyze this process is called the Rankine cycle. In general usage, the term ''steam engine'' can refer to either complete steam plants (including boilers etc.), such as railway steam locomotives and portable engines, or may refer to the piston or turbine machinery alone, as in the beam engine and stationary steam engine. Although steam-driven devices were known as early as the aeolipile in the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steam
Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Steam that is saturated or superheated is invisible; however, "steam" often refers to wet steam, the visible mist or aerosol of water droplets formed as water vapor condenses. Water increases in volume by 1,700 times at standard temperature and pressure; this change in volume can be converted into mechanical work by steam engines such as reciprocating piston type engines and steam turbines, which are a sub-group of steam engines. Piston type steam engines played a central role in the Industrial Revolution and modern steam turbines are used to generate more than 80% of the world's electricity. If liquid water comes in contact with a very hot surface or depressurizes quickly below its vapor pressure, it can create a steam explosion. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Compressed Air
Compressed air is air kept under a pressure that is greater than atmospheric pressure. Compressed air is an important medium for transfer of energy in industrial processes, and is used for power tools such as air hammers, drills, wrenches, and others, as well as to atomize paint, to operate air cylinders for automation, and can also be used to propel vehicles. Brakes applied by compressed air made large railway trains safer and more efficient to operate. Compressed air brakes are also found on large highway vehicles. Compressed air is used as a breathing gas by underwater divers. It may be carried by the diver in a high pressure diving cylinder, or supplied from the surface at lower pressure through an air line or diver's umbilical. Similar arrangements are used in breathing apparatus used by firefighters, mine rescue workers and industrial workers in hazardous atmospheres. In Europe, 10 percent of all industrial electricity consumption is to produce compressed air—amountin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hobson's Joint
A Hobson's joint or Hobson's coupling is a type of right-angle constant-velocity joint; rods bent 90° are able to transmit torque around a corner because they are all free to turn in their mounting holes in both legs of the coupling. Hobson's joints are used to make elbow engines, a novelty device, but also for practical purposes in tools and shaft-driven bicycle A shaft-driven bicycle is a bicycle that uses a drive shaft instead of a chain to transmit power from the pedals to the wheel. Shaft drives were introduced over a century ago, but were mostly supplanted by chain-driven bicycles due to the gear r ... gearing. External links * * * References Gears Rotating shaft couplings {{mech-engineering-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cylinder (firearms)
In firearms, the cylinder is the cylindrical, rotating part of a revolver containing multiple chamber (firearms), chambers, each of which is capable of holding a single cartridge (firearms), cartridge. The cylinder rotates (revolves) around a central axis in the revolver's action (firearms), action to sequentially align each individual chamber with the gun barrel#Bore, barrel bore for repeated firing. Each time the gun is cocked, the cylinder indexing (motion), indexes by one chamber (for five-shooters, by 72Degree (angle), °, for six-shooters, by 60Degree (angle), °, for seven-shooters, by 51.43Degree (angle), °, for eight-shooters, by 45Degree (angle), °, for nine-shooters, by 40Degree (angle), °, and for ten-shooters, by 36Degree (angle), °). Serving the same function as a rotary magazine, the cylinder stores ammunitions within the revolver and allows it to repeating firearm, fire multiple times before needing to reload. Typically revolver cylinders are designed to gene ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thrust Bearing
A thrust bearing is a particular type of rotary bearing. Like other bearings they permanently rotate between parts, but they are designed to support a predominantly axial load. Thrust bearings come in several varieties. *''Thrust ball bearings'', composed of bearing balls supported in a ring, can be used in low thrust applications where there is little axial load. *''Cylindrical thrust roller bearing''s consist of small cylindrical rollers arranged flat with their axes pointing to the axis of the bearing. They give very good carrying capacity and are cheap, but tend to wear due to the differences in radial speed and friction which is higher than with ball bearings. *'' Tapered roller thrust bearings'' consist of small tapered rollers arranged so that their axes all converge at a point on the axis of the bearing. The length of the roller and the diameter of the wide and the narrow ends and the angle of rollers need to be carefully calculated to provide the correct taper so that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oscillating Cylinder
An oscillating cylinder steam engine (also known as a wobbler in the US) is a simple steam-engine design (proposed by William Murdoch at the end of 18th century) that requires no valve gear. Instead the cylinder rocks, or oscillates, as the crank moves the piston, pivoting in the mounting trunnion so that ports in the cylinder line up with ports in a fixed port face alternately to direct steam into or out of the cylinder. Oscillating cylinder steam engines are now mainly used in toys and models but, in the past, have been used in full-size working engines, mainly on ships and small stationary engines. They have the advantage of simplicity and, therefore, low manufacturing costs. They also tend to be more compact than other types of cylinder of the same capacity, which makes them advantageous for use in ships. Operation alt=oscillating cylinder diagram, Operation of a simple oscillating cylinder steam engine The steam needs to be fed into the end of the cylinder at just the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
