Abstract: A compound bow or crossbow employs bowstring cams with bowstring cam grooves and power cord cam grooves. Preferably a pair of generally identical power cord cam grooves are positioned axially above and below the bowstring cam groove. The power cords are anchored to a fixed anchor point, e.g., a pylon, on the near end of the riser or on the near side of the crossbow bar or stock. The power cords do not cross over to the other limb. The reduction in the number of cam wheels and pulleys and in the number of strings or cords results in greater efficiency and higher transfer of energy from the bow to the arrow or bolt. There is no drop-off in pull weight at full draw. The bolt or arrow accelerates throughout the travel of the bowstring, resulting in significantly higher velocity.

Abstract: A compound bow or crossbow employs bowstring cams with bowstring cam grooves and power cord cam grooves. Preferably a pair of generally identical power cord cam grooves are positioned axially above and below the bowstring cam groove. The power cords are anchored to a fixed anchor point, e.g., a pylon, on the near end of the riser or on the near side of the crossbow bar or stock. The power cords do not cross over to the other limb. The reduction in the number of cam wheels and pulleys and in the number of strings or cords results in greater efficiency and higher transfer of energy from the bow to the arrow or bolt. There is no drop-off in pull weight at full draw. The bolt or arrow accelerates throughout the travel of the bowstring, resulting in significantly higher velocity.

Abstract: A compound bow or crossbow employs bowstring cams with bowstring cam grooves and power cord cam grooves. Preferably a pair of generally identical power cord cam grooves are positioned axially above and below the bowstring cam groove. The power cords are anchored to a fixed anchor point, e.g., a pylon, on the near end of the riser or on the near side of the crossbow bar or stock. The power cords do not cross over to the other limb. The reduction in the number of cam wheels and pulleys and in the number of strings or cords results in greater efficiency and higher transfer of energy from the bow to the arrow or bolt. There is no drop-off in pull weight at full draw. The bolt or arrow accelerates throughout the travel of the bowstring, resulting in significantly higher velocity.

Abstract: A crossbow employs bowstring redirecting wheels, over which the bowstring travels, to keep the bowstring aligned with the main force vectors where the bowstring meets the tips of the crossbow power limbs or spring limbs. The bowstring is anchored to a fixed anchor points, which can be on the pylons on which the redirecting wheels are mounted, or may be at the tips of the spring limbs. In one embodiment the bowstring passes over a pulley wheel at the tip of the spring limb. This crossbow arrangement achieves superior acceleration, and can be constructed of smaller transverse dimension than conventional or compound crossbows.

Abstract: A heat engine employs an auxiliary cylinder to receiving exhaust gases from a main cylinder during its exhaust phase to extract mechanical energy from the heat in the exhaust gases. The auxiliary cylinder has an auxiliary piston that reciprocates with an asymmetric pattern in respect to the main crank a counter-rotating auxiliary cranks such that the downward stroke of the auxiliary piston and the upward stroke of the auxiliary piston correspond to crank angles above and below 180 degrees. In one favorable embodiment, fresh air can be drawn in and combined with the exhaust gases.

Abstract: A heat engine employs an auxiliary cylinder to receiving exhaust gases from a main cylinder during its exhaust phase to extract mechanical energy from the heat in the exhaust gases. The auxiliary cylinder has an auxiliary piston that reciprocates with an asymmetric pattern in respect to the main crank a counter-rotating auxiliary cranks such that the downward stroke of the auxiliary piston and the upward stroke of the auxiliary piston correspond to crank angles above and below 180 degrees. In one favorable embodiment, fresh air can be drawn in and combined with the exhaust gases.

Abstract: A compound bow or crossbow employs bowstring cams with bowstring cam grooves and power cord cam grooves. Preferably a pair of generally identical power cord cam grooves are positioned axially above and below the bowstring cam groove. The power cords are anchored to a fixed anchor point, e.g., a pylon, on the near end of the riser or on the near side of the crossbow bar or stock. The power cords do not cross over to the other limb. The reduction in the number of cam wheels and pulleys and in the number of strings or cords results in greater efficiency and higher transfer of energy from the bow to the arrow or bolt. There is no drop-off in pull weight at full draw. The bolt or arrow accelerates throughout the travel of the bowstring, resulting in significantly higher velocity.

Abstract: A bowstring cam assembly for compound archery bow has a bowstring cam member that is journaled at an end of the bow power limb. First and second power cams are affixed onto the bowstring cam member to rotate with it, and first and second flexible inextensible cam cables extend over the periphery of the associated power cams. The cam cables and the power cams cooperate to determine draw characteristics for the bow. The bowstring cam member is provided with an acircular cam profile. The second power cam is situated to one side of the axis of the bowstring cam, such that at an end of travel, i.e., at full release, both the first and second power cables are pulling in a common direction.

Abstract: A compound archery bow has a riser with upper and lower power or spring limbs, and a synchronizing pulley system for ensuring equal flexing of the limbs. There are bowstring cam members rotationally supported at the outboard ends of the power limbs. An inboard power cam is mounted on a pylon on the riser, and an outer power cam is coaxially mounted with the bowstring cam member. Cam cables extend over the inboard and outboard power cams. The bowstring cam members are configured so as to increase in effective radius as the bow returns from a full draw position to brace height. The power cams can be configured as a quad cam system.

Abstract: A pedaled propulsion system has left and right foot pedals that travel up and down on roller slides on track members mounted on the bicycle frame. An endless drive web passes between the pedals and loops around a driven wheel at one end of the track assembly, and around an idler at the other end of the track assembly. The driven wheel is mounted on the input shaft of a unidirectional transfer arrangement. The transfer arrangement has an aluminum block case or housing, and an input shaft which has a bevel pinion gear on it that meshes with left and right driven bevel gears. These bevel gears each are mounted to an output shaft by means of unidirectional clutch bearings inside the bevel gears. Each bevel gear drives in one direction and idles in the other direction. As the input shaft oscillates back and forth, the output shaft continues to rotate in the same direction. A sprocket wheel can be mounted on the output shaft to power a chain drive or a shaft drive.

Abstract: An compound archery bow has a riser with upper and lower limbs, a bowstring connecting outboard ends of the limbs, and synchronizing pulleys for ensuring equal flexing of the limbs. The upper and lower limbs each have an inner spring limb or power limb affixed to the riser; and an outer rigid limb or recurve limb. A hinge member pivotally joins the outboard end of the spring limb in line with the inboard end of the rigid recurve limb. A pair of cam plates are affixed to the recurve limb at its inboard end, and there are left and right cam members on the riser and coupled to rotate with the synchronizing pulley. Left and right cam cables extend over the left and right cam members, respectively, and then over the associated left and right cam plates. The cam cables cooperate with the cam members and cam plates to establish the draw characteristics of the bow. The recurve limb can have a recurve of e.g.

Abstract: A compound archery bow has limbs on upper and lower ends of a medial riser and a bowstring extends between outer ends of the limbs. A resilient power limb portion is cantilevered in the end of the riser. A rigid outer limb portion is affixed into a cam pulley that pivots on the free end of the power limb. Synchronizing pulleys disposed at ends of the riser are connected by a synchronizing cable. A cam cable extends from the respective end of the riser and rides in a cam groove on the cam pulley, with the cam cable being reeved in the pulley. A link member is coupled from a fixed point with respect to the cam pulley to the associated synchronizing wheel. The link member can be a rigid connecting rod or can be a reflex cable.

Abstract: A drive mechanism for a pedalled vehicle employs foot levers mounted on the vehicle frame, a rotary drive mechanism, and one way rotary members. A chain or toothed rack can engage the rotary members to provide reciprocal oscillatory motion, which is then converted to one-way rotary motion. A synchronizing mechanism ensures that motion of each lever produces corresponding motion in the opposite direction by the other lever.

Abstract: A reciprocating engine has a plurality of cylinders, each with a piston that travels between top dead center and bottom dead center. A pair of parallel counter-rotating cranks are joined by respective connecting rods to piston rod that passes through the plane defined by the axes of the cranks. This construction permits the rotary motion of the cranks to exceed 180.degree. during either the compression or the power stroke of the piston and to be correspondingly less than 180.degree. for the other. To avoid having bending or buckling forces applied to the connecting rods, the piston rod is sufficiently long that the couplings of the piston rod and the connecting rods remain disposed to the side of the plane of the cranks that is remote from the piston for all travel of the piston between top dead center and bottom dead center positions.

Abstract: A reciprocating engine has a cylinder with a piston that travels between top dead center and bottom dead center, and a pair of parallel counter-rotating cranks that are joined by respective connecting rods to a piston rod that passes through the plane defined by the axes of the cranks. This construction permits the rotary motion of the cranks to exceed 180.degree. during either the compression or the power stroke of the piston and to be correspondingly less than 180.degree. for the other. To avoid having bending or buckling forces applied to the connecting rods, the piston rod is sufficiently long that the couplings of the piston rod and the connecting rods remain disposed to the side of the plane of the cranks that is remote from the piston for all travel of the piston between top dead center and bottom dead center positions. The mechanical advantage as between power and compression strokes can exceed 2:1, yielding a favorable mechanical advantage for the expanding combustion gas in the cylinder chamber.

Abstract: An archery bow having a riser capable of being gripped by an archer from which is centilevered upper and lower spring members. Bow limbs are pivotably suspended from the free end of each spring member at the midsection thereof so that each limb hangs on the archer's side of the bow. A bow string is attached to upwardly extended tips of the limbs. Cams, which are rotatably supported from the top and bottom sections of the riser, are connected to the lower portion of each limb by means of a control cable that is reeved to the working profile of the cam. One end of the control cable is secured to the base of the associated limb while the opposite end is secured to the limb's midsection to hold the control cable taut against the working surface of the associated cam. Accordingly, as the bow is drawn, the pull weight delivered to the bow string is controlled by the cam system to provide maximum pull weight at an intermediate draw position.

Abstract: An archery bow having a riser that is adapted to be grasped by an archer and which has a face and upper and lower, opposite end portions. The inboard ends of a pair of elongate spring members are mounted in cantilevered fashion from the face of the riser, one in association with each opposite end portion thereof. The medial portion of a limb member, in the fashion of a second degree lever, is pivotally mounted on the outboard end of each elongate spring member. A bow string extends between the outboard ends of the two limb members, and a cam follower is presented from the inboard end of each limb member to engage a corresponding cam secured to the face of the riser and which serves as a fulcrum against which the limb member acts to cock the spring member in response to the application of a drawing force to the bow string. The configuration of the cam determines the functional interrelation of the draw weight in response to the draw displacement of the bow string.