This new invention creates in an unconventional way the joint between a piston and its connecting rod, this new solution brings, fantastic improvements not only to the piston and connecting rod assembly, but to the entire engine. The performance of the internal combustion engine is improved by less weight per horse power, increase in RPM and fuel economy, by reducing the overall dimensions and mass of the piston and connecting rod assembly. And also increases the durability of the piston and connecting rod joint with the use of forced lubrication and cooling and by compensating for the wear and deviations from concentricity.
The present invention also accomplishes the decrease of the specific material used and energy consumption by manufacturing all the parts through other mechanical processes than machining.
The following are some of the advantages of this new piston & connecting rod design compared with a standard piston assembly that will normally be used in a given situation:
1. Reduces the distance between the oscillating point and piston's head with nearly 50%, with the following benefits:
- permits the increasing of the piston's stroke or the decrease in the height of the engine block, with that dimensional difference between the classical piston and our design;
- reduces the total height of a piston by approximately 30%;
- reduces piston slap by moving the oscillation point closer to the top of the piston;
2. Our design causes the connecting rod to receive the thrust directly from the piston's head, not from the piston's wall through the wrist pin bosses, which reduces the thickness of the piston's wall, resulting in a lighter, circular(not oval) and well balanced piston, which can also be manufactured from other materials than aluminum.
3. The connecting rod is lighter and can be mass produced very inexpensively.
4. Reduces the total mass of the piston by approximately 40%, when made from the same material (as a result of the changes described in claim 1 & 2) reducing the inertial forces in the engine.
5. Presents uniform dilatation on all directions, so a closer fit between the piston and bore can be done improving also the manufacturing process, with the possibility to use a diversity of material types.
6. It has forced cooling of the piston's head and combustion chamber, permitting an increase in the thermic load of the engine.
7. It has forced lubrication of the piston and connecting rod joint with an increased supporting surface (compared with the wrist pin) of approximately 25% more, to take the efforts, increasing the life of such piston assembly.
8. The piston and connecting rod joint is designed to continuously compensate for wear and deviations from concentricity prolonging the life of the assembly.
9. Can be mass produced through metal stamping or hydroforming processes using sheet metal or tubular metal, without the use of forging, turning and milling, known for high energy and material consumption or from ceramic materials or a combination of the two.