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Toroidal Engine Ready for Production

Posted by timothy on from the will-it-fit-in-my-segway dept.

FarceMajeur writes "Business 2.0 has a column on a recently prototyped "round engine," properly named a toroidal engine, by VGT Technologies, Inc. Nice Flash animations of the concept are here. I've always admired the Wankel engine, but it seemed more like a time bomb than a going concern. This engine is billed as the 'world's first practical Concentric Positive Displacement Engine,' meaning no eccentric rotation to generate vibration, meaning fewer catostophic failures, one would hope."

2 of 57 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Ok, I'm confused... by mstorer3772 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Actually, I think the little gear-thingy is being rotated by gears, not the impact of the ramps... it's just timed to maintain a decent (though not perfect) seal.

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    Fooz Meister
  2. Re:I'm taking the don'ts by JUSTONEMORELATTE · · Score: 3, Insightful

    IAAE, and while I have no basis from which to say "this is likely to be a scam" I can certainly say that the site does NOT give me any kind of confidence that the concept works.
    They have a prototype, but only one picture of it.
    They have a video of the prototype in some sort of testing facility, but the sound is intermittent, the video cuts from scene to scene for no apparent reason, and there isn't ever a shot OF THE ENGINE actually running. Think "alien autopsy" but not as credible.

    Tell you what, guys. If you've got a WORKING PROTOTYPE of a revolutionary (no pun intended) internal combustion engine, and if you've already applied for the patents, then why not spend an hour producing a decent video of your invention in action?
    As they say, extra-ordinary claims require extra-ordinary proof.

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