Project Overview
Genesis
The first volume displacing machine was born about 3000 years ago, when the ancient Chinese invented the reciprocating piston: a wooden stick with greased fibers wrapped around was moved back-and-forth inside a bamboo pipe to pump air into the furnaces of the bronze-age smithies.
Reciprocating pistons with a similar geometry were used in a steam engine invented in 1690 by Denis Papin, in the internal combustion engine invented in 1823 by Samuel Brown, and in numerous other volume displacing machines (pumps, compressors, etc.).
Since the dawn of the Industrial Era, many inventors have been struggling with finding a way to use the rotation instead of the back-and-forth movement of the piston.
In 1875, German mathematician Franz Reuleaux published his "Kinematics of Machinery", a collection of papers on the theory of machine building. The work described the so-called "curves of constant width" (the most famous is known as the Reuleaux Triangle). This discovery was a break through in the development of rotational volume-displacing machines possible.
In 1948, German engineer Felix Wankel built the first model of his rotary engine. In 1957, the NSU Corporation (future Audi) constructed the first industrial prototype of the Wankel engine. In spite of their advantages, such as compactness and high power density, the Wankels and other machines of similar geometry have several inherent technical problems. As a result, they failed to become a viable and widely-used alternative to the engines with reciprocating pistons and the turbines.
The RKMs were invented in late 1990's - early 2000 by developing further the ideas of Reuleaux, Nicolas Carnot, Wankel and other inventors of the past. The RKMs are based on new scientific discoveries: the generalized curves of constant width and the ways to use singular trajectories in machine design.
The RKMs have an entirely new geometry and power-transfer mechanisms, and represent a rare example of a new fundamental technology in mechanics. The RKMs offer a solution to the age-old problem of power generation by efficient, compact and dependable rotating mechanisms.
The RKMs are no longer a hypothesis but a working technology ready to be developed into a wide variety of new machines.
Description of the RKM Technology
The RKMs form a new class of machines for generation and transformation of power. They utilize a new geometry of the working chamber and of the piston and entirely new principles of piston motion and power transfer. The RKMs can transform stored chemical (through combustion) or physical (through pressure) energy into rotation as in engines and drives, or vice versa, of rotation into pressure as in pumps and compressors.
The RKM family of machines includes:
RKM-1 with the RKM toothed power transfer gear, jumping instantaneous axis of the piston's rotation, and a single power transfer shaft;
RKM-2 with the RKM toothed power transfer gear, jumping instantaneous axis of the piston's rotation, and two power transfer shafts;
RKM-3 with a Wankel-type transfer gear with a continuously moving instantaneous axis of the piston's rotation and a single power transfer shaft.
RKM-1 and RKM-2 are projected to be developed for applications requiring high efficiency but relatively low rotational speeds (up to 3000 RPM). RKM-3, capable of achieving rotational speeds of 20000 RPM or more, is projected to be developed for high-speed applications requiring high power output.
The RKM Technology also includes the combustion pre-chamber and the device for forced afterburning of fuel, the stand-alone inventions for applications in combustion engines.
In comparison with existing power-generating technologies, e.g., conventional machines with the reciprocating piston, the RKMs of equal power output offer the following advantages:
- 3-5 times smaller size
- 2-3 times lighter weight
- greater efficiency
- cleaner exhaust when used as an engine
- fewer components and thus more cost-effective manufacturing, higher dependability and less maintenance
As a new fundamental technology in mechanics, the RKM Technology is can be utilized in thousands of different ways and applications in pumps, compressors, drives, motors and other devices used in all areas of human endeavor.
Other emerging high technologies require fundamental research, new materials and/or production techniques, substantial R&D time, new infrastructures, and huge funding. Unlike many of those, the RKM Technology is low tech and can be developed utilizing existing materials, production methods, and infrastructures. Thus, the RKMs can be introduced to user markets within a few years and at a relatively low cost.
Potential Applications
The RKM Technology may effectively replace virtually all types of volume displacing machines. Possible areas of applications and potential specific uses include but are not limited to the following:
Pumps: medium-, high-pressure, and pre-vacuum pumps for power generating systems, refrigerators, lifts, cranes, presses, road-building machinery, ground vehicles, air- and marine craft, industrial and domestic water and heating systems, medical devices, scientific research, and numerous other applications.
Compressors, detanders, expanders: medium- and high-pressure compressors, for a wide range of industrial and consumer applications.
"Cold" motors: hydraulic and pneumatic motors for use in automobiles, air-, space- and marine craft, and in a number of other applications in industrial and consumer products.
Power tools: a new class of power tools for drilling, cutting and surface treatment of materials in various ranges (from super-large to millimiter range).
Internal and external combustion engines, including Diesel: for all types of wheeled or tracked motor vehicles (from motorbikes to automobiles and trucks to space explorers), marine craft of all sizes (from pleasure boats to supertankers), helicopters and propeller-driven aircraft (including super-light platforms and drones).
Electric power generators (large and compact, stationary and vehicular) for agriculture and industry, including for oil and gas exploration and production, air & space industry, emergency power supply, etc.
Compact sources of electrical power for portable computers and other electronic devices, etc.
The above list of potential areas of use and specific products utilizing the RKM Technology is infinitely longer and includes those which were difficult or impossible to imagine before its invention. Prospective applications of the RKM Technology will be explored in detail in later phases of the RKM Project.
Competing Technologies
| Pumps, compressors & "cold" motors: | Radial piston pumps & compressors
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| Engines and motors: | Conventional piston engines
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| Power tools: | Conventional power tools and multi-coordinate |
Patents
The RKM Technology includes nine different patents legally protected in key industrial countries of the European Patent Union, the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, and Russia. Official patent searches have established that there are no competing prior patents.
All intellectual property rights (IPRs) to patents ## 2-6 are legally owned by RKM GbR (Beteiligungsgemeinschaft), a partnership formed in Germany in 2004. IPRs to patents ## 7-9 belong to the inventors.
The 2002-03 patents (## 2-6) legally protect the RKM Technology applicable to pumps in major industrial countries constituting over 35% of those markets. The new 2009 patents (## 7-9) protect the latest inventions (RKM-3 and others) in all member countries of the World Patent Union.
The value of intellectual property in patents ## 2-6 after the RKM Technology's entry into markets has been assessed at "clearly above €1 billion and most likely also above €2 billion".
Expertise on Value of RKM Intellectual Property
(patents)
This assessment took into account utilization of the technology only in engines for various types of vehicles, pumps and compressors, but disregarded the value of its utilization for generation of electricity, power tools and other potential applications.
Obviously, the new patents ## 7-9 not only expand the range of potential applications for the RKM Technology but also increase the value of the associated IPRs. A formal assessment of the IPRs in patents ## 7-9 is in progress. It is reasonable to assume that their value is compatible to the value of patents ## 2-6.
The RKM Technology is covered by the patents listed below. For a full list of patents in various countries please see information issued by the German Patent agency on November 06, 2008.
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Patent 1 (1999) |
"Rotationskolbenmaschine" (Rotary Piston Machine): an early version of the RKM machine with one power transfer shaft (RKM-1). Granted patent, no longer supported. Inventor: B. Schapiro. |
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Patent 2 (2002) |
"Gearing Assembly": the fundamental kinematic principles of power transfer from the rotating piston to the shaft. Granted patents. Inventors: B. Schapiro, N. Kruk. |
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Patent 3 (2002) |
"Rotary Piston Machine": three upgraded versions and an infinite variety of RKM machines with one power transfer shaft (RKM-1). Granted patents in some countries, in procedure in others. Inventors: B. Schapiro, L. Levitin. |
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Patent 4 (2002) |
Patent applications to use the RKM Technology in a compact source of electrical power was submitted in Germany and for world-wide patent rights in August 2003. The patent is not currently supported, as the RKM Technology to be utilized is sufficiently covered by the subsequent patents. Inventor: B. Schapiro. |
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Patent 5 (2003) |
"Rotary Piston Machine with an Oval Rotary Piston Guided in an Oval Chamber": an infinite variety of RKM machines with two power transfer shafts (RKM-2). Granted patent in some countries, in procedure in others. Inventors: B. Schapiro, L. Levitin. |
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Patent 6 (2003) |
"Pre-chamber Principle": the pre-combustion chamber and the device for forced afterburning of fuel in internal combustion engines. The inventions are covered in most countries by Patent #5. However, some countries required to cover them by a separate patent as they can be utilized not only in the RKM machines but also in internal combustion engines of other types. Status: patent application, published in some countries. Inventor: B. Schapiro. |
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Patent 7 (2009) |
Patent application for high-speed RKM machine (RKM-3). Inventor: B. Schapiro. |
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Patent 8 (2009) |
Patent application for a new type of sealant technology to be used in the low- and high-speed RKMs. Inventor: B. Schapiro. |
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Patent 9 (2009) |
Patent application for an RKM machine with a very high compression ratio (RKM-4). Inventor: I. Pyatov, B. Schapiro. |
The Inventors
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Dr. Boris
SCHAPIRO |
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Prof. Lev
B. LEVITIN |
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Naum KRUK |
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Ivan PYATOV |
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Praised by Experts
Business Objectives
The RKM GbR's business objective is to bring the RKM Technology to user markets and reach commercial success within a minimal time period.
RKM GbR's underlying business strategy to reach this objective is (a) to develop the RKM Technology and the know-how for specific applications, and (b) to market licenses to manufacture the RKMs and the know-how to multiple industrial companies serving various segments of mass markets.
The RKM Technology can work effectively and efficiently in engines,
drives, pumps, compressors, machine tools and many other devices. However,
in order to enter the markets as quickly as possible, RKM GbR has developed
the RKM Projects focused on developing the technology for the following
applications:
(a) volume-displacing pumps (the RKM Pump
Project),
(b) a vehicle running on overheated steam (the SDV Project).
The RKM Pump Project
Modern markets for pumps are exceptionally strong, significantly more diversified than those for combustion engines, and are easier to penetrate.
Prospective areas of application for the RKM Technology as pumps, motors, compressors and detanders/expanders include, inter alia, an array of devices for moving non-abrasive fluids such as water, oil, petroleum products, aggressive liquids, and others. The RKM pumps may be successfully used in systems requiring middle or high pressure, including but not limited to hydraulic machines, e.g., presses and lifts, in fluid and gas transportation systems, fuel injectors, irrigation and heating systems, water-jet, hydro- and pneumatic engines, medical devices, and in numerous other applications.
The 2008 global sales in markets where various types of pumps can be successfully replaced by the RKMs are estimated at more than €50 billion. The 2002-03 patents (## 2-6) legally protect the RKM Technology applicable to pumps in major industrial countries constituting over 35% of those markets. The new 2009 patents (## 7-9) protect the latest inventions (RKM-3 and others) in all member countries of the World Patent Union.
Consequently, in order to bring the RKMs to user markets as quickly as possible, we initially focus on the development of the RKM Technology as volume-displacing pumps for middle and high pressure ranges. Such machines will have a virtually non-pulsing flow, and will be energy efficient, compact, wear-resistant, scalable from micro to macro sizes, and cost efficient in production. The R&D process to develop the RKM Technology as pumps, compressors and "cold" engines will take less time and entail lower costs than those for combustion engines and other "hot" applications.
In the later stages of the R&D process, the RKM Pump Project will begin marketing the emerging know-how and licenses to manufacture the RKMs to multiple industrial companies serving various segments of mass markets.
RKM GbR has completed a business plan to develop the RKM Technology to the level of small series as pumps for water, oil, and petroleum products, and to enter the markets in Year 5-6 of the project. The plan calls for capitalization of €90 million over a 6-year period. In Years 6-10 of the cycle, the project is expected to earn over €400 million in profits (before taxes). The project will subsequently continue for unlimited time. The annual profits are expected to grow as the RKM pumps penetrate wider markets during the next 15-25 years.
The RKM Pump Project's business plan may be obtained by contacting RKM GbR.
The SDV Project
Another RKM GbR's front-running project is to utilize the RKM Technology for the development of a brand-new concept for environment-friendly transportation: a Steam Driven Vehicle (SDV) running on overheated steam.
The SDV concept envisions a vehicle with a hybrid power system consisting of the RKM steam engine and an insulated tank holding pressurized overheated steam, the system's "fuel". The system will also include an auxiliary heater which will be used occasionally to maintain the temperature of the steam in the tank, e.g., on long runs between the "filling stations".
In other words, you drive your SDV into a "filling station", plug the vehicle into an electrical outlet, and add fresh water and a couple of liters of fuel for the heater. Ten minutes later you are ready to go...
The SDV's power system is forecast to have efficiency compatible with carburetor engines but will burn – between the "filling stations" – ess than 5 percent of fuel to generate the same power output. The system will have no noticeable harmful exhausts. Projections indicate that a vehicle outfitted with such a system will be able to travel without "refueling" more than twice the distance of a vehicle powered by state-of-the-art electric batteries of the same weight.
In addition to water, other liquids with relatively low boiling point and high heat capacity will also be explored during the R&D process as optional working media to run the SDV.
The SDV Project's work plan is to develop a scientific prototype SDV and offer the technology for acquisition. RKM GbR estimates that the project will require capitalization of approx. €26 mln. and four years to complete. A detailed description and business plan for the project are currently in progress.
Value of the RKM Projects
The patents covering the RKM Technology have high value as all marketing forecasts and financial projections clearly indicate that over the years its application will bring profits in billions to the manufacturers and in hundreds of millions to the owners of the IPRs.
Weisse & Wolgast, highly-reputable international patent attorneys in Berlin, Germany, conservatively assessed the value of intellectual property in patents ## 2-6 after the RKM Technology's entry into markets at "clearly above €1 billion and most likely also above €2 billion".
Expertise on Value of RKM Intellectual Property (patents
##2-6)
This assessment took into account utilization of patents ## 2-6 only in engines for various types of vehicles, pumps and compressors, but disregarded the value of its utilization for generation of electricity, power tools, air- and marine craft, and other potential applications. Utilization of the RKM Technology in those markets will also be highly profitable, further increasing the value of the IPRs.
The value of the new 2009 patents ## 7-9 is currently being assessed. It is reasonable to assume that their value is compatible to the value of patents ## 2-6.
Why the RKMs?
The RKM Technology is a rare example of fundamental technology based on breakthrough discoveries in mechanics. The inventors have succeeded in solving a centuries-old problem, and found an ingenious way to apply the newly-acquired knowledge to modern machine building.
Significant advantages of the RKM Technology over existing power machines and competing technologies have been proven beyond any doubt.
We are confident that during the next years the RKM Technology will be enthusiastically embraced by manufacturers, user markets and the society in general, especially considering the current state of development of competing technologies and prospects for their future improvement.
The RKMs will have better performance and be less expensive in production than comparable existing machines. This opens an excellent opportunity for lowering the unit price and, at the same time, increasing the manufacturer's profit margin.
Other emerging high technologies require fundamental research, new materials and/or production techniques, substantial R&D time, new infrastructures, and huge funding. Unlike many of those, the RKM Technology is low tech and can be developed utilizing existing materials, production methods, and infrastructures. Thus, the RKMs can be introduced to user markets within a few years and at a relatively low cost.
Sales of licenses to manufacture the RKM-based devices and the development of the technology's various applications will be highly lucrative. RKM GbR is fully confident that it will bring major financial rewards to the participants of the RKM Projects.
The markets form pumps and engines are among the industry's most stable segments. Compared to other areas of technological innovation, these markets are highly lucrative and rewarding over a long term by their security and profitability.
Investing into the RKM Technology
In 1772, Matthew Boulton, a wealthy British engineer, acquired the two-thirds share in the James Watt's patent to the steam engine and devoted all the capital he had or could borrow to the enterprise. It was mainly through Bolton's vision and energy that the steam engine was made a commercial success. Within 15 years there were more than five hundred Boulton & Watt steam engines working in British factories and mines. The Industrial Revolution, the period in human history that largely defined the world we live in today, took hold. Along the way, Boulton became the first entrepreneur in history with a net worth exceeding one billion pounds sterling.
The RKM Projects require significant capitalization to develop the technology and enter the markets: €90 million over a 6-year period for the RKM Pump Project and €26 million over a 4-year period for the SDV Project.
Importantly, some of the inventions comprising the RKM Technology are in more advanced stages of development than others, and will be able to enter the markets in shorter periods of time, i.e. in 2-4 years.
The RKM projects are expected to bring significant profits to the investors. There are several options available to the potential investors: from a relative modest investment of €3 million to the acquisition of a majority equity position in the ownership of the intellectual property rights to the RKM Technology.
RKM GbR welcomes inquiries from institutional and private investors and is prepared to discuss any reasonable project capitalization scenario. Please contact RKM GbR for details.