Glossary of RX7 Terms
Taken from www.monito.com/wankel
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- Apex
- One of the three tips of the rotor.
-
- Bridge Port
- A radical alteration to the intake ports of
an RCE, extending them, but maintaining a bridge of metal to retain
rotor seals as they pass by.
-
- Eccentric Shaft
- The shaft that the rotors move
around. It has sections that are offset from the center. Supercedes the
piston engine's crankshaft.
-
- Epitrochoid
- The curve that defines the inner surface of
the peripheral housing. Generated by rolling a circle around
another circle, ( demonstrated
in 44 KB of Java ). Perhaps should more correctly called peritrochoid
(see below).
-
- Housing
- Supercedes piston cylinder walls and head.
Two kinds: peripheral and side . The latter has three sub-types:
front, central, and rear (depending on the number of rotors).
-
- Peripheral
Housing
- The metal housing that contains the rotation
of the rotor. The shape is an epitrochoidal curve. It
supercedes the piston engine's cylinders.
-
- Peritrochoid
- Perhaps this is the more correct name for epitrochoid
(see above).
-
- Piston Engine
- Plebeian combustion engine characterized by
masses of metal being jerked backwards and forwards. Superceded by the
Rotary Combustion Engine. Had 100 year headstart over RCE.
-
- Port
- An opening in the peripheral or side
housing to admit the air-fuel mixture or release the combustion
products.
-
- Porting
- Modifying the intake ports by cutting
away metal.
-
- RCE
- Rotary Combustion Engine. Not to be confused
with Restricted Coulomb Energy neural networks. See
how it works with a Java demonstration (104 KB).
-
- Rotor
- The rotor is the part of the engine that
receives the power impulse of the explosion and combustion of the fuel air
mixture. It supercedes the piston of old internal combustion
engines. Sometimes loosely called a "rotary piston".
-
- Rotary
- The adjective describing the Wankel
engine. Sometimes used a noun short form for the phrase "rotary
engine". Spelling: the second vowel is an 'a'. Correct: rotary
; incorrect: rotory. This can be remembered because the second vowel in
the root word "rotate" is also an 'a'. No need to be mistaken for
someone who doesn't know any better. Besides, a common spelling helps when
searching.
-
- RX-7
- The Mazda RX-7
is the world's best selling rotary engined car. Spelling: The name of
the car is spelled with upper case letters and a dash. Correct: RX-7;
incorrect: Rx-7, rx-7, RX7, Rx7, rx7. Use and demand the rightful,
respectful spelling. No need to be mistaken for someone who doesn't know.
Check any Mazda brochures or RX-7 logos on their RX-7. The first generation
RX-7s had what could be called a lower case Rx-7 on their logo, but even
then in all the Mazda documentation it was spelled all capitals. Besides,
the RX-2, RX-3, RX-4, and RX-5 have been spelled all capitals by Mazda.
Anyway, a common spelling helps searching.
-
- Seals
- Metal seals
for the rotor tips and sides supercede piston rings. Rubber seals are
used to mate the peripheral and side housings.
-
- Side Housing
- Fixed plate against which a rotor slides.
Three sub-types: front, central, and side (depending on the number of rotors).
-
- Stationary Gear
- This gear is fixed to the side housing. It
meshes with a gear inside the rotor so that the motion of the rotor
is constrained.
-
- Tribology
- The study of friction. From French from
Greek tribein to rub.
-
- Wankel
- Felix
Wankel, inventor of the RCE.
Sometimes loosely used as a term for an RCE. As a point of
trivia, this is also a Dutch and Afrikaans word meaning "shaky,
unstable, fickle" with senses of "stagger, reel". In that
sense, one could make the observation that the rotor falls around the
stationary gear when being driven by the combustion.