Comparable torque situation

RoundEngine is to Reciprocating Engines what Playground Merry-Go-Rounds are to Bicycles

A comparable torque situation to reciprocating engines is the bicycle. Using the bike pictures below, look at the angles of force and the angle of the bike pedal.

Consider diagram i above when a bike pedal is at the very top or 12 o’clock position. In this position, the angle of the force on the pedal arm and the angle of the pedal arm (the foot) are both straight up and down. Because the two angles are the same, any force applied to the pedal will not result in any movement of the pedals. In other words, there is zero torque.

If the pedal was moved to the 3 o’clock position as per diagram ii, there is now a difference between the angle of force and the angle of the pedal arm. Application of force on the pedal will result in movement. The result is torque.

Does this all seem pretty familiar to reciprocating piston engines?

Now consider a playground merry-go-round.

As the merry-go-round is pushed, the angle of force changes as the person pushing runs in a circular path. This person may start out facing east, but is quickly heading north, then west, then south before facing east once again. The direction of the push arm also changes as the merry-go-round moves. However, relative to each other, the two angles remain at a 90 o angle. As a result, the effective torque arm of the person pushing and the merry-go-round is always the same – just as it is with the RoundEngine. The person pushing the merry-go-round is, in effect, equivalent to the pistons in the RoundEngine.