Developing Wankel Engines

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31017, 24 March 1966, Page 18

Developing Wankel Engines

A United States firm. Outboard Marine Corporation, has obtained licences under patents to develop, manufacture and market Wankel-type rotating-piston engines. This has been announced by the president of the corporation, Mr W. C. Scott, and the chairman and president of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation, Mr T. R. Berner.

Curtiss-Wright holds exclusive rights to the basic patents of the Wankel engine for Canada, the United States, and Mexico, and has done so since 1958. Sub-licensing rights are also held by the corporation. The Outboard Marine Corporation is the world’s largest manufacturer of outboard motors, and is a leading producer of stern-drive marine engines and fibreglass boats. The licence agreement will involve the payment to Curtiss- Wright of fees and guaranteed royalties of more than one million dollars.

Agreements with NSU Motorenwerks A.G., of Germany, and Wankel GMBH, Lindau, Germany, grant the Outboard Marine Corporation non-exclusive licences to make and sell rotating-piston engines as power plants in its marine products throughout the world, and for certain non-marine purposes in North America. The corporation also has options for world-wide licences for a limited number of non-marine applications. As well as marine engines, the corporation makes golf carts and industrial vehicles, power lawnmowers, chainsaws and snowmobiles. For several years, in cooperation with CurtissWright, the corporation has extensively tested models of the Wankel engine. Various models ranging from three

horsepower to 1000 horsepower have been built by Curtiss-Wright. The rotating combustion principle offers several advantages over conventional reciprocating piston engines. They include mechanical simplicity, compactness, light weight, and greatly reduced vibration. Mr Scott said it could not be predicted when the rotating piston engines would ap-

pear in boats or to what extent they would displace conventional engines. It would take several years to solve practical problems of designing. tooling and production on a commercial basis. Other major firms developing the engines under licence from N.S.U.-Wankel include Daimler-Benz of Germany, Rolls-Royce of Britain. Toyo Kogyo of Japan, and Alfa Romeo of Italy.