US 11,867,101 B1
Assemblies and methods for controlling lubrication for rotary engine apex seals
Jean-Philippe Simoneau, Saint-Constant (CA); Vincent Savaria, Laval (CA); and David Gagnon-Martin, Longueuil (CA)
Assigned to PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP., Longueuil (CA)
Filed by Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp., Longueuil (CA)
Filed on Sep. 23, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/951,843.
Int. Cl. F01M 11/06 (2006.01); F02B 53/02 (2006.01); F02B 55/02 (2006.01); F02B 53/00 (2006.01)
CPC F01M 11/061 (2013.01) [F02B 53/02 (2013.01); F02B 55/02 (2013.01); F02B 2053/005 (2013.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An assembly for controlling lubrication of a plurality of apex seals for a rotary engine, the assembly comprising:
a rotor housing forming a plurality of rotor cavities, the plurality of rotor cavities including a first rotor cavity;
a plurality of rotors including a first rotor, each rotor of the plurality of rotors disposed within a respective rotor cavity of the plurality of rotor cavities with the first rotor disposed within the first rotor cavity, the first rotor configured for rotation within the first rotor cavity, the first rotor including the plurality of apex seals, each apex seal of the plurality of apex seals configured to form a seal between the first rotor and the rotor housing as the first rotor rotates within the first rotor cavity;
a lubrication system in fluid communication with each rotor cavity of the plurality of rotor cavities, the lubrication system configured to supply a lubrication flow to the first rotor cavity for lubrication of the plurality of apex seals;
a first vibration sensor on the rotor housing, the first vibration sensor configured to generate a vibration measurement signal; and
an engine control system in communication with the lubrication system and the first vibration sensor, the engine control system including a processor in communication with a non-transitory memory storing instructions, which instructions when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
identify that the vibration measurement signal exceeds a first vibration threshold; and
control the lubrication system to increase a flow rate of the lubrication flow to the first rotor cavity, relative to the other rotor cavities of the plurality of rotor cavities, based on an identification of the vibration measurement signal exceeding the first vibration threshold.