Chinese to build NZ-designed engine
From: NEW ZEALAND HERALD 17mar97 page B5


The pamphlet for manufacturers ... Photo1 & Photo2 from the TV programme




WELLINGTON -- A Chinese company is to manufacture an engine whose New Zealand inventors say outperforms
conventional rivals by virtually every measure. "This engine scores on every single aspect you measure engines on -- it's lighter in weight, it's easy and very cheap to make, it's incredibly powerful, it's very low on emissions and it's extremely fuel-efficient," the engine's co-inventor Graeme Jenkins said. World patents and licensing rights are owned by a tiny New Zealand company, Continuous Cycle Engine Development. In what Mr Jenkins described as a multi-million dollar deal, CCED has signed a memorandum of understanding with China's Sichuan Donghua Machinery Works.
The Chinese firm has bought the technology and the deal includes a licensing arrangement where CCED gets royalties based on the cubic capacity of each unit produced. A private Malaysian company, Pacific Base, acted as a go-between for CCED and Donghua and will form a joint venture to manufacture and market the engines in China. Mr Jenkins is scarcely able to contain his enthusiasm for the new engine, known as the Smitkin: "It will change the world, provided somebody runs with it. Once one country runs with it, everyone else can't afford not to have it because of its advantages."
"Until someone runs with it it is not going to change anything. Now that China has taken it up, everyone else is going to have to fall in line."
A Pacific Base representative, David Lau, said licensing on a global basis would probably be looked at.Representatives of the provincial and central Chinese Governments recently attended a demonstration of the Smitkin in China and Donghua and CCED agreed to set up a joint research and development company. However, there has been little objective analysis of the engine and all testing to date has been in the laboratory on computers rather than actual tests in vehicles. Two years ago Ford New Zealand assessed the engine and was interested enough to send details to Ford in the United States. The Ford NZ production planning engineer, Peter Ludwig, said initial inspection showed the engine "had some
merit."
"We were quite taken by the demonstration but it was in the early stage of development. They needed more
performance information to sell the idea to Ford," he said. "It's intriguing, it does show promise. it warranted
further investigation." Mr Jenkins says among others, it is compact, vibration-free, surpasses all emission standards and can run on a variety of fuels.
He says fuel consumption is about 60 per cent better than conventional engines, it is air cooled and thus requires no radiator, and torque is such that vehicles would require fewer gears. A prototype Smitkin made of aluminium weighs around 24kg, against a similar two litre combustion engine of 140kg, and is about the size of a car wheel without the tyre. The Smitkin diesel Version has only 30 parts compared with around 2000 in current four cylinder diesels.

Mr Jenkins expects the Chinese to begin manufacturing within two years. Possible applications are diverse, ranging from marine and aircraft engines to power generation. Mr Jenkin's co-inventor, Roger Smith, came up with the idea over three years ago largely from ideas in his own head and the partners have been working on prototypes since.


The pamphlet for manufacturers ... Photo1 & Photo2 from the TV programme

The Smitkin Engine
(from an email by Stuart Read)

The First Smitkin. The origional prototype 400cc 4 cyl 2 cycle petrol/oil motor is still operational . Its air fuel/oil mixture is forced into the front of the engine via a 12v fan and a carburetor. The exhaust exits into a basic exhaust ring. I assume you are aware that the ENTIRE engine spins? This was the first motor built to prove and demonstrate the Smitkin technology. It looks much like an old-style radial motor but internally is most different and contains the Smitkin principle (Patent app). There is no crankshaft, no cams, no chains, no valves, no cogs, no bolts ETC inside the engine. It is spark-fired via an CDI ignition system triggered by a hall-effect . The ignition system does not spin with the engine.The spark jumps directly to the spark plug as it passes a wiper at the desired point for the ignition to occur. The fueling system does not spin with the motor, it enters the front of the engine through a stationary shaft inside the front support bearing . Some 'off the shelf' lawn-mower components were incorporated in this engine. It is solid mounted into a metal frame and clamped front and back. A startermotor engages a ringgear that is attached to the engine for starting. A bellhousing attaches to the frame, a dynometer can bolt straight to the bellhousing for testing purposes. Even with its basic exhaust system it is conciderably quieter than conventional motors. After it has been running and is upto temperature the barrels are not too hot to touch, and the sparkplugs can be removed and are not too hot to handle comfortably.

General Information The Smitkin Engine can idle at an extremely low RPM (150 rpm or less), but can rev happily upto the same as a conventional OTTO engine. It appears that optimum Torque is achieved at low rpm (say 1000-1200 rpm), but does not drop-off as the engine RPM increase. They are extremely lightweight (nearly all aluminium), extremely fuel efficient, virtually no ballancing required (normal machining tollerences are OK), air cooled, very few parts, extremely clean burning (the 2Cycle oil is not burnt off!). A major advantage is that the Smitkin engine produces a huge degree of rotation in the engine during the combustion stroke of each piston. (A conventional engine produces a rather small degree of crankshaft rotation). There are no reciprocating parts in the engine - everything travels in circular patterns. The engine is easy and cheap to manufacture. CCED has now moved the manufacture of some prototype components inhouse to speed-up testing timetables and allow flexability in component design. CAD-CAM equipment is being extensively used. Outwork is being done by high quality contractors. Design and development advances are continually being made. CCED is a highly motovated team dedicated to developing the highest quality product that will change the way the world looks at combustion engines.

Move to 3 Cyl's Design alterations have been made so 3 Cyl motors will be made for moderate CC rated engines as they have advantages over the 4 Cyl design. A Piston Ported 3 Cyl Diesel was built and run with some degree of success. It had a pair of detroit-style injectors belt-driven from the engine. (Diesel Smitkin Motors will be continued at a later date) . This engine was reformatted into a Spark-Fired Petrol/Oil 2Cycle for demonstration in China and Asia. Once again its combustion mixture was fan-forced via a 12v fan and a carburetor. It was fitted with an aftermarket opticle ignition system to enable more adjustment of ignition timing. Some minor damage occured during fuel testing and dynometer tests (a few minor ignition faults have also occured). Damage was corrected easily and the engine rerun sucessfully in its "less than perfect" condition and still achieving excellent results. (To present we have never had a mechanical failure in a smitkin engine). This Engine was then dismantled and is presently being reformatted to larger CC. A Smitkin Blower is to be fitted (see below). A better ignition system is being designed. A fuel management system is designed. The case diameter has been reduced so the overall size and weight has been further reduced.

2 Cyls Presently being made is a 2 Cyl 90cc motor. Once again it is a piston ported 2Cycle petrol/oil motor. It will contain its own fuel and air management system. This is a test-motor to try a new format.

Smitkin Blower ...... (Patent app.) Necessity has seen the design of a "positive displacement pump" to supply the required amount of air (or measured amount of air) into the engine. This will remove the need to use a fan to provide the airflow needed for the engine. The "Smitkin Blower" is a totaly new design pump. It is virtually seal-free and can be formatted to use as a vacuum pump, presure pump, and move large volumes of air/liquid/solids. The Smitkin Blower is as exciting as the Smitkin engine. Its application potential is huge. Once again it only has a few parts, and is easy to manufacture.



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