Motor Engine: Electromagnetic engine by Bill Gates

Recently Bill Gates and his investors in Searete LLC register for a patent for an electromagnetic engine. The new patent technology converts mechanical energy of a piston to and from electrical energy during each piston cycle, in addition to piston-free and opposed-piston variations on the concept.

Below is the description from Searete:

A piston schematic from one of the Searete filings:

"Piston 110 is slidably disposed in cylinder 112, which has two end chambers 114 and 116. In the illustrated embodiment, each end includes an intake valve 118 and an exhaust valve 120, which are configured to admit reactants and to expel reaction product, respectively. Piston 110 includes a magnetic element 122, which may be an electromagnet, a permanent magnet, or a magnetically susceptible material such as an iron core. Piston 110 can be driven in either direction by application of a voltage to converter coils 124, 126, and 128, which together form a converter 130. In addition, the converter 130 is configured to convert mechanical energy of piston 110 to electrical energy. This energy may be stored, for example, in a battery, capacitor, or other energy management system (not shown). The illustrated embodiment includes spark plugs 132, but other ignition sources may be used such as those described elsewhere herein, or the engine may be operated without an ignition source using reactants that spontaneously react in end chambers 114 and 116."

Here is the patent.

Source: TechFlash