Patents by Inventor William B. McHargue

William B. McHargue has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8807112
    Abstract: A piston rolling thrust bearing construction is constituted of a pair of bearing plates with opposing faces disposed in a spaced alignment with a rolling ball assembly positioned between the opposing faces to support relative movement between the bearing plates. The piston rolling thrust bearing is mounted to the open end of the skirt of a piston disposed in a cylinder to compensate for non-axial motion relative to the cylinder axis due to the articulating motions of connecting elements or any structural misalignments within an engine drive train assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: Achates Power, Inc.
    Inventors: James U. Lemke, Patrick R. Lee, William B. McHargue, Bryant A. Wagner
  • Patent number: 8286596
    Abstract: In a two-cycle, opposed-piston internal combustion engine, opposed pistons disposed in a cylinder are coupled to a pair of side-mounted crankshafts by connecting rods that are subject to substantially tensile forces acting between the pistons and the crankshafts. This geometry reduces or eliminates side forces between the pistons and the bore of the cylinder. The cylinder and the pistons are independently cooled to reduce cylindrical deformation caused by thermal expansion during engine operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2012
    Assignee: Achates Power, Inc.
    Inventors: James U. Lemke, William B. McHargue, Michael H. Wahl, Patrick R. Lee
  • Patent number: 8281755
    Abstract: An internal combustion engine including a cylinder with bore and a piston disposed to reciprocate in the bore is operated by moving the piston in the bore between top and bottom dead center positions and applying lubricant to a portion of the piston that protrudes from the bore. Lubricant is wiped from the piston as the piston travels into the bore toward its top dead center position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2012
    Assignee: Achates Power, Inc.
    Inventors: James U. Lemke, William B. McHargue
  • Publication number: 20120152185
    Abstract: In a two-cycle, opposed-piston internal combustion engine, opposed pistons disposed in a cylinder are coupled to a pair of side-mounted crankshafts by connecting rods that are subject to substantially tensile forces acting between the pistons and the crankshafts. This geometry reduces or eliminates side forces between the pistons and the bore of the cylinder. The cylinder and the pistons are independently cooled to reduce cylindrical deformation caused by thermal expansion during engine operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 8, 2011
    Publication date: June 21, 2012
    Applicant: Achates Power, Inc.
    Inventors: James U. Lemke, William B. McHargue, Michael H. Wahl, Patrick R. Lee
  • Patent number: 8087389
    Abstract: In a two-cycle, opposed-piston internal combustion engine, opposed pistons disposed in a cylinder are coupled to a pair of side-mounted crankshafts by connecting rods that are subject to substantially tensile forces acting between the pistons and the crankshafts. This geometry reduces or eliminates side forces between the pistons and the bore of the cylinder. The cylinder and the pistons are independently cooled to reduce cylindrical deformation caused by thermal expansion during engine operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2012
    Assignee: Achates Power, Inc.
    Inventors: James U. Lemke, William B. McHargue, Michael H. Wahl, Patrick R. Lee
  • Publication number: 20110186005
    Abstract: A piston rolling thrust bearing construction is constituted of a pair of bearing plates with opposing faces disposed in a spaced alignment with a rolling ball assembly positioned between the opposing faces to support relative movement between the bearing plates. The piston rolling thrust bearing is mounted to the open end of the skirt of a piston disposed in a cylinder to compensate for non-axial motion relative to the cylinder axis due to the articulating motions of connecting elements or any structural misalignments within an engine drive train assembly.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 2, 2011
    Publication date: August 4, 2011
    Applicant: Achates Power, Inc.
    Inventors: James U. Lemke, Patrick R. Lee, William B. McHargue, Bryant A. Wagner
  • Publication number: 20110186017
    Abstract: Ported engines with opposed pistons are coupled to a single crankshaft through rocker arm linkages. Each pair of opposed pistons is coupled to a single crankpin of the crankshaft. Each piston is coupled to a respective rocker arm linkage by a rolling thrust bearing which prevents linkage movement that is transverse to the axis of the piston from being transferred to the piston. Each piston of a pair of opposed pistons is coupled to the same crankpin by respective rocker arm linkages in which connecting rods run between the crankpin and respective rocker arms. One connecting rod is connected to first rocker arm below the rocker arm's pivot point and another connecting rod is connected to a second rocker arm above the rocker arm's pivot point.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 2, 2011
    Publication date: August 4, 2011
    Applicant: Achates Power, Inc.
    Inventors: James U. Lemke, Patrick R. Lee, William B. McHargue, Bryant A. Wagner
  • Patent number: 7931005
    Abstract: An electrical generator includes an opposed piston, internal-combustion engine with a piston and a hypocycloidal drive connected by a rod to the piston. The construction of the hypocycloidal drive imposes a sinusoidal period on the linear motion of the piston and connecting rod. As generator associated with the piston produces a sinusoidal voltage in response to the liner motion of the piston and connecting rod.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2011
    Assignee: Achates Power, Inc.
    Inventors: James U. Lemke, William B. McHargue
  • Patent number: 7784436
    Abstract: In a two-stroke, opposed-piston internal combustion engine with optimized cooling and no engine block, opposed pistons protrude from the bore during at least a portion of an operating cycle of the engine and are cooled by application of a liquid coolant to their interiors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2010
    Assignee: Achates Power, Inc.
    Inventors: James U. Lemke, William B. McHargue
  • Publication number: 20100186723
    Abstract: In a two-stroke, opposed-piston internal combustion engine with optimized cooling and no engine block, opposed pistons protrude from the bore during at least a portion of an operating cycle of the engine and are cooled by application of a liquid coolant to their interiors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2006
    Publication date: July 29, 2010
    Applicant: Achates Power, LLC
    Inventors: James U. Lemke, William B. McHargue
  • Publication number: 20100109343
    Abstract: An electrical generator includes an opposed piston, internal-combustion engine with a piston and a hypocycloidal drive connected by a rod to the piston. The construction of the hypocycloidal drive imposes a sinusoidal period on the linear motion of the piston and connecting rod. As generator associated with the piston produces a sinusoidal voltage in response to the liner motion of the piston and connecting rod.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 31, 2009
    Publication date: May 6, 2010
    Applicant: Achates Power, Inc.
    Inventors: James U. Lemke, William B. McHargue
  • Patent number: 7640910
    Abstract: An opposed piston, internal-combustion engine including a cylinder with a bore and opposed pistons disposed within the bore is provided with one or more hypocycloidal drives that convert the linear motion of a piston to rotary output motion. An electrical generator includes an opposed piston, internal-combustion engine with a coil mounted to the skirt of a piston and a hypocycloidal drive connected by a rod to the piston. The construction of the hypocycloidal drive imposes a sinusoidal period on the linear motion of the piston. As the piston transports the coil though a magnetic field, a sinusoidal voltage is induced in the windings of the coil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 5, 2010
    Assignee: Achates Power, Inc
    Inventors: James U. Lemke, William B. McHargue
  • Publication number: 20090293820
    Abstract: In a two-cycle, opposed-piston internal combustion engine, opposed pistons disposed in a cylinder are coupled to a pair of side-mounted crankshafts by connecting rods that are subject to substantially tensile forces acting between the pistons and the crankshafts. This geometry reduces or eliminates side forces between the pistons and the bore of the cylinder. The cylinder and the pistons are independently cooled to reduce cylindrical deformation caused by thermal expansion during engine operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 22, 2009
    Publication date: December 3, 2009
    Applicant: Achates Power, Inc.
    Inventors: James U. Lemke, William B. McHargue, Michael H. Wahl, Patrick R. Lee
  • Patent number: 7549401
    Abstract: In a two-cycle, opposed-piston internal combustion engine, opposed pistons disposed in a cylinder are coupled to a pair of side-mounted crankshafts by connecting rods that are subject to substantially tensile forces acting between the pistons and the crankshafts. This geometry reduces or eliminates side forces between the pistons and the bore of the cylinder. The cylinder and the pistons are independently cooled to reduce cylindrical deformation caused by thermal expansion during engine operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2009
    Assignee: Achates Power, Inc.
    Inventors: James U. Lemke, William B. McHargue, Michael H. Wahl, Patrick R. Lee
  • Patent number: 7546819
    Abstract: In a two-stroke, opposed-piston internal combustion engine with optimized cooling and no engine block, the opposed pistons are coupled to a pair of crankshafts by connecting rods that are subject to substantially tensile forces acting between the pistons and the crankshafts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2009
    Assignee: Achates Power.
    Inventors: James U. Lemke, William B. McHargue
  • Publication number: 20080314688
    Abstract: An internal combustion engine including a cylinder with bore and a piston disposed to reciprocate in the bore is operated by moving the piston in the bore between top and bottom dead center positions and applying lubricant to a portion of the piston that protrudes from the bore. Lubricant is wiped from the piston as the piston travels into the bore toward its top dead center position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 12, 2008
    Publication date: December 25, 2008
    Applicant: Achates Power, Inc.
    Inventors: James U. Lemke, William B. McHargue
  • Publication number: 20070215093
    Abstract: An opposed piston, internal-combustion engine including a cylinder with a bore and opposed pistons disposed within the bore is provided with one or more hypocycloidal drives that convert the linear motion of a piston to rotary output motion. An electrical generator includes an opposed piston, internal-combustion engine with a coil mounted to the skirt of a piston and a hypocycloidal drive connected by a rod to the piston. The construction of the hypocycloidal drive imposes a sinusoidal period on the linear motion of the piston. As the piston transports the coil though a magnetic field, a sinusoidal voltage is induced in the windings of the coil.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 16, 2007
    Publication date: September 20, 2007
    Applicant: Achates Power, LLC
    Inventors: James U. Lemke, William B. McHargue
  • Patent number: 7156056
    Abstract: In a two-cycle, opposed-piston internal combustion engine with optimized cooling and no engine block, the opposed pistons are coupled to a pair of crankshafts by connecting rods that are subject to substantially tensile forces acting between the pistons and the crankshafts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2007
    Assignee: Achates Power, LLC
    Inventors: James U. Lemke, William B. McHargue
  • Patent number: 5317463
    Abstract: An information storage apparatus is disclosed for reading and/or writing information on a rigid storage medium which includes a liquid bearing interface between the transducer and medium instead of a conventional air bearing. The liquid is a fluorocarbon which has stable, self-lubricating, viscous and high-density properties. In an exemplary embodiment of a cockpit voice recorder/flight data recorder, low-density metallic components or composite parts of the rigid magnetic disk drive assembly with essentially the same density as the liquid achieve a near zero buoyancy configuration that obviates the effects of vibration and acceleration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 1993
    Date of Patent: May 31, 1994
    Assignee: Conner Peripherals, Inc.
    Inventors: James U. Lemke, William W. French, William B. McHargue
  • Patent number: 5193046
    Abstract: An information storage apparatus is disclosed for reading and/or writing information on a rigid storage medium which includes a liquid bearing interface between the transducer and medium instead of a conventional air bearing. The liquid is a fluorocarbon which has stable, self-lubricating, viscous and high-density properties. In an exemplary embodiment of a cockpit voice recorder/flight data recorder, low-density metallic components or composite parts of the rigid magnetic disk drive assembly with essentially the same density as the liquid achieve a near zero buoyancy configuration that obviates the effects of vibration and acceleration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 1990
    Date of Patent: March 9, 1993
    Assignee: Conner Peripherals, nc.
    Inventors: James U. Lemke, William W. French, William B. McHargue