Abstract:
A two cycle, spark ignition, internal combustion engine of the class having a combustion chamber divided into a relatively small ignition region and a larger combustion engine in which the piston reciprocates. Substantially the same stoichiometric fuel-air mixtures are independently supplied to the ignition region in substantially fixed quantities and to the combustion region in variable quantities. These mixtures are compressed simultaneously so that they remain completely separated prior to ignition. The mixtures are stratified with respect to excess air supplied to both regions and to exhaust gases in the engine cylinder, and combustion initiated in the ignition region ignites the variable-sized mixture in the larger region. Burning proceeds from stoichiometric mixtures to lean mixtures as the stratified excess air is mixed into the burning gases. When no fuel is supplied to the combustion region, the ignition region functions independently and burns its fuel efficiently. The exhaust gas recycled in the cylinder acts to stabilize the combustion by retaining heat from cycle to cycle at light load and absorbing heat at heavy load. Stratification is obtained partially by providing separate chambers for the ignition region and the combustion region, but principally the stratification is maintained by means of stable dynamic flow patterns established in said regions.