In the Burlat engine, B becomes the axis
of the crankshaft ; BQ the crank; Q the crank-pin; while P'P
materialises into a rigid rod, eye-jointed to the crank-pin Q as
indicated, and produced as shown; each end carries a piston S, sliding
in a cylinder, these cylinders forming one with the large circle, and
rotating with it about the axis O.
Thus the Burlat engine possesses the
singularities of (1) a single connecting-rod rigidly fixed to two
opposed pistons S', S; (2) the cylinders and casing turn about the axis
O in the same direction as the crankshaft turns about its axis B, but
at only one-half the speed; and (3) each piston has a stroke equal to
four times the crank radius BQ, and performs this stroke while the
crankshaft makes one complete revolution.
Actually a two-throw crankshaft was
employed, with the throws at 180°, and a second pair of cylinders was
mounted on the casing with their common axis at right angles to that of
the first pair, as indicated by TQ'T'. The engine was arranged to work
on the four-stroke cycle, so that the crankshaft made four, and the
cylinders two, revolutions per cycle.
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