Heart Combustion Engine is a new internal combustion engine architecture designed to improve efficiency, specific power, and fuel flexibility while remaining compatible with conventional piston engine manufacturing.

The invention is based on a patented kinematic mechanism that allows a complete four-stroke cycle to be performed in one crankshaft revolution instead of the conventional two revolutions. In a standard four-stroke engine, intake, compression, expansion, and exhaust require 720 degrees of crankshaft rotation. In the Heart Combustion Engine architecture, the same four phases are completed in 360 degrees. This means that each cylinder produces one power stroke per revolution, potentially doubling the firing frequency at the same engine speed.

The system uses two synchronized crankshafts and a dedicated linkage that generates four piston dead centers during one revolution. This kinematic path allows the piston to perform intake, compression, expansion, and exhaust in a single 360-degree cycle. More importantly, the architecture allows the angular duration of each phase to be defined independently. This gives engine designers a new degree of freedom: the expansion stroke can be made longer than the intake stroke, creating an Atkinson-like cycle without sacrificing the power density usually associated with conventional engines.

This is the core innovation. Traditional engines force designers to compromise between efficiency and power. Atkinson and Miller cycle engines improve efficiency by increasing effective expansion, but they usually reduce specific power and often need hybrid support or boosting. The Heart Combustion Engine aims to combine extended expansion with high power density by using a 360-degree cycle. The result is a compact, mechanically configurable engine platform that can target lower fuel consumption, lower exhaust temperature, and improved thermal efficiency.

The architecture is also fuel-flexible. It can be applied to gasoline, hydrogen, e-fuels, biogas, ammonia-derived fuels, and other combustion strategies. This makes it relevant both for the current energy transition and for future low-carbon fuels. The engine can serve as a range extender for hybrid vehicles, a compact generator for distributed power, a marine propulsion unit, an auxiliary power unit, or a high-efficiency engine for industrial applications.

Manufacturability was a key design constraint from the beginning. The invention does not require a new combustion head concept, exotic materials, or an entirely new production ecosystem. It keeps the familiar piston-cylinder architecture and uses components that are conceptually close to existing engine technology, while adding a patented crankshaft-linkage system. This makes the path to industrialization shorter than for radical engine concepts that require a complete redesign of manufacturing and service infrastructure.

A working single-cylinder prototype has already demonstrated the basic kinematics and operation of the concept. The next development steps include full dynamometer testing, brake-specific fuel consumption mapping, emissions measurement, durability testing, NVH optimization, and multi-fuel validation, including hydrogen operation.

Heart Combustion Engine addresses a clear market need: cleaner, more efficient, fuel-flexible power where batteries alone are not yet sufficient. It offers a practical bridge between today’s combustion infrastructure and tomorrow’s low-carbon fuels, with applications across mobility, energy generation, and propulsion.