Abstract: A regenerative gas-to-gas heat exchanger having a plurality of superposed spaced, parallel beds of confined metal flakes adapted for gas flow therethrough; four gas plenums surrounding the beds, each plenum communicating with one side only of all the beds; means for supplying a relatively hot gas to one plenum, means for supplying a relatively cold gas to an opposite plenum, each of the remaining plenums communicating with a separate outlet; and sliding gate valve means in each plenum adjacent one side of the beds, means for moving the gate valve means to a first position and to a second position for controlling the directions of gas flow and alternately extracting and releasing heat therefrom.

Abstract: The invention comprises a mulch sheet to be placed on the soil around the stalk of a plant. The mulch comprises aluminum flakes bonded to a woven mesh which aluminum flakes will reflect rays of the sun upward to the underside of the leaves and the mat will hold moisture in the ground which has seeped into the ground through the porous mat. The aluminum flakes are applied to the upper tacky surface of a thermoplastic woven mat and are pressed into the tacky surface to hold them in position after the thermoplastic, fibrous mat cools to freeze the flake in place. In additional embodiments, it is sometimes appropriate to make a pod containing a seed which will be secured to the underside of the matting in the open hole. A layer on the underside of the mat could include a layer of fertilizer.

Abstract: A rotary engine includes a housing having a cylindrical internal surface on which seals are supported to prevent the flow of gases from spaces between two rotating pistons on separate but concentrically-arranged shafts. Three sets of gearing control relative rotation of the pistons which move toward and away from each other to compress gases between the pistons. A drive shaft is connected by the first gear set to a first of the concentrically-arranged shafts. The drive shaft is also connected by a second gear set to the other of the concentrically-arranged shafts. The third gear set, comprised of non-circular gears, connects the drive shaft to an output shaft.

Abstract: A rotary engine includes a housing having a cylindrical internal surface on which seals are supported to prevent the flow of gases from spaces between two rotating pistons on separate but concentrically-arranged shafts. Three sets of gearing control relative rotation of the pistons which move toward and away from each other to compress gases between the pistons. A drive shaft is connected by the first gear set to a first of the concentrically-arranged shafts. The drive shaft is also connected by a second gear set to the other of the concentrically-arranged shafts. The third gear set, comprised of non-circular gears, connects the drive shaft to an output shaft.

Abstract: A compound internal combustion engine having an efficiency materially higher than that of an engine operating on the conventional Otto or Diesel cycle. This is accomplished by using the heat of the exhaust gases to compress air, with or without the addition of fuel, which is then injected into the cylinder or cylinders of the engine just prior to ignition. In this manner, less heat is rejected from the overall cycle with improved efficiency. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a portion of the unused heat energy in the exhaust gases is used in a unidirectional energy converter to compress air or an air/fuel mixture which is then injected into the cylinders of the engine. The engine, whether it should operate on the Otto or Diesel cycle, does not compress gas on the upstroke of the piston until the compressed gas from the unidirectional energy converter is injected into the cylinder.

Abstract: A compound internal combustion engine having an efficiency materially higher than that of an engine operating on the conventional Otto or Diesel cycle. This is accomplished by using the heat of the exhaust gases to compress air, with or without the addition of fuel, which is then injected into the cylinder or cylinders of the engine just prior to ignition. In this manner, less heat is rejected from the overall cycle with improved efficiency. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a portion of the unused heat energy in the exhaust gases is used in a unidirectional energy converter to compress air or an air/fuel mixture which is then injected into the cylinders of the engine. The exhaust gases and air or the air/fuel mixture are exhausted and introduced in an expansion space in the converter through substantially immediately adjacent ports.

Abstract: A turbocharger for internal combustion engines comprising a unidirectional energy converter having a closed, continuous loop passageway containing a plurality of freely-movable, unrestrained bodies which travel around the passageway in one direction only. In one region of the passageway, successive bodies are propelled in one direction around the passageway by exhaust gases from an internal combustion engine. In another region of the passageway, the kinetic energy of the propelled bodies is used to compress a gas, which can be mixed with fuel. This compressed gas is then forced into the cylinders of the internal combustion engine; whereupon the bodies are again propelled around the passageway to repeat the cycle.

Abstract: A turbocharger for internal combustion engines comprising a unidirectional energy converter having a closed, continuous loop passageway containing a plurality of freely-movable, unrestrained bodies which travel around the passageway in one direction only. In one region of the passageway, successive bodies are propelled in one direction around the passageway by exhaust gases from an internal combustion engine. In another region of the passageway, the kinetic energy of the propelled bodies is used to compress a gas, which can be mixed with fuel. This compressed gas is then forced into the cylinders of the internal combustion engine; whereupon the bodies are again propelled around the passageway to repeat the cycle. The exhaust gases and air or an air/fuel mixture are exhausted and introduced in an expansion space in the converter through substantially immediately adjacent ports.

Abstract: Method for converting one form of energy into another form of energy by isobarically heating a gas, adiabatically expanding the gas while converting the heat energy of the gas into the kinetic energy of a moving body, converting the kinetic energy of the moving body into another form of energy, and approximately isothermally compressing the gas to a higher pressure. Improved efficiency is achieved by virtue of the fact that this system employs approximately isothermal compression, which is preferably achieved by injecting liquid into an adiabatically-expanded gas, thereby effecting a thermodynamic cycle which more closely approximates the efficiency of a Carnot cycle.

Abstract: Thermal energy is converted into rotational energy by using the expansion of a fluid medium to propel a plurality of pistons within at least one continuous, closed-loop passageway mounted on a rotatable platform. In at least one region of the passageway, the pistons must move inwardly against centrifugal force as the platform rotates. In at least one other region of the passageway, the pistons are moved outwardly under the influence of centrifugal force. Means are provided for imparting force to successive ones of the pistons to propel them against centrifugal force in said one region; while means are provided for converting the energy of pistons moving outwardly under the influence of centrifugal force in said other region into rotational energy. This rotational energy is used to drive gears mounted on the platform which mesh with a stationary gear carried beneath the platform to cause rotation of the platform about its rotational axis.

Abstract: Heat pump apparatus employing a continuous loop passageway containing a plurality of freely-movable, unrestrained bodies. The bodies are accelerated around the passageway in one direction by adiabatic expansion of a fluid between the bodies in an expander region of the passageway. The expanded, cooler fluid is discharged from the passageway via one or more vent-intake ports in the passageway beyond the expander region. Warmer fluid enters the passageway via said ports and is compressed between the propelled bodies in a compression region of the passageway, thereby raising its temperature from a first temperature (e.g., the temperature of the outdoor atmosphere or an industrial waste heat stream) to a second temperature higher than the first. The compressed, warmer fluid is thereafter passed through a heat exchanger to extract heat.

Abstract: Heat pump apparatus employing a continuous loop passageway containing a plurality of freely movable, unrestrained bodies. The bodies are accelerated around the passageway in one direction by isentropic expansion of a fluid between the bodies in an expander region of the passageway. The expanded, cooler fluid is discharged from the passageway via one or more vent-intake ports in the passageway beyond the expander region. Warmer fluid enters the passageway via said ports and is compressed between the propelled bodies in a compression region of the passageway, thereby raising its temperature from a first temperature (e.g., the temperature of the outdoor atmosphere or an industrial waste heat stream) to a second temperature higher than the first. The compressed, warmer fluid is thereafter passed through a heat exchanger to extract heat.

Abstract: Improvements in apparatus for converting one form of energy into another form with the use of an essentially closed, continuous loop passageway containing a plurality of freely movable, unrestrained bodies. Force generated by expansion of a gas is applied to successive bodies in one region of the passageway to propel them around the passageway in one direction. At another point in the passageway, at least a portion of the kinetic energy of the propelled bodies is converted into another form of energy. Each body, before being propelled around the passageway, enters a compressor section where it compresses the gas in the passageway, the compressed gas being bled off through a check valve where energy is added to it before it is used to propel a body around the passageway in the expander section which immediately follows the thrustor section.