Scotch yoke
The Scotch yoke is a mechanism for converting the linear motion of a slider into rotational motion or vice-versa. The piston or other reciprocating part is directly coupled to a sliding yoke with a slot that engages a pin on the rotating part. The shape of the motion of the piston is a pure sine wave over time given a constant rotational speed.
Applications
This setup is most commonly used in control valve actuators in high pressure oil and gas pipelines.
Although not a common metalworking machine nowadays, crude shapers can uses a Scotch yoke. Almost all those use a Whitworth linkage, which gives a slow speed forward cutting stroke and a faster return.
It has been used in various internal combustion engines, such as the Bourke engine, SyTech engine,[1] and many hot air engines and steam engines.
Internal combustion engine uses
Under ideal engineering conditions, force is applied directly in the line of travel of the assembly. The sinusoidal motion, cosinusoidal velocity, and sinusoidal acceleration (assuming constant angular velocity) results in smoother operation. The higher percentage of time spent at top dead center (dwell) improves theoretical engine efficiency of constant volume combustion cycles.[2] It allows the elimination of joints typically served by a wrist pin, and near elimination of piston skirts and cylinder scuffing, as side loading of piston due to sine of connecting rod angle is mitigated. The longer the distance between the piston and the yoke, the less wear that occurs, but greater the inertia, making such increases in the piston rod length realistically only suitable for lower RPM (but higher torque) applications.[3][4]
The Scotch Yoke is not used in most internal combustion engines because of the rapid wear of the slot in the yoke caused by sliding friction and high contact pressures[citation needed]. This is mitigated by a sliding block between the crank and the slot in the piston rod. Also, increased heat loss during combustion due to extended dwell at top dead center offsets any constant volume combustion improvements in real engines.[2] In an engine application, less percent of the time is spent at bottom dead center when compared to a conventional piston and crankshaft mechanism, which reduces blowdown time for two stroke engines. Experiments have shown that extended dwell time does not work well with constant volume combustion Otto Cycle Engines.[2] Gains might be more apparent in Otto Cycle Engines using a stratified direct injection (diesel or similar) cycle to reduce heat losses.[5]
Modifications
An improved Scotch yoke, with a means of absorbing sideways thrust, was patented in 1978 by William L. Carlson, Jr., US Patent 4075898.[6]
References
- ^ "The SyTech Scotch Yoke Engine". AutoSpeed. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
- ^ a b c "Science Links Japan | Effect of Piston Speed around Top Dead Center on Thermal Efficiency". Sciencelinks.jp. 2009-03-18. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
- ^ Bourke Engine Documentary, Published 1968, p50, "Appraising Engine Efficiency" para2
- ^ Bourke Engine Documentary, Published 1968, p51, "Important Factors in Engine Design"
- ^ "Effect of the Ratio Between Connecting-rod Length and Crank Radius on Thermal Efficiency". Science Links Japan. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
- ^ "Patent US4075898 - Scotch yoke - Google Patents". Google.com. Retrieved 2013-01-21.
External links
- Brock Institute for Advanced Studies: Scotch Yoke
- "Comparing Simple Crank/Slider and Scotch Yoke Mechanisms" by Fred Klingener, The Wolfram Demonstrations Project; Active demo.
- Another demo [1] with Tcl scripting language
- hydrodynamic lubrication of scotch yoke mechanism [2]
- Animation showing working of scotch yoke mechanism used in valve actuators [3] by Vivek Thakar