Ferrari Submitted a Patent for an Engine Featuring Pill-Shaped Pistons.

      Ferrari has filed a patent for an innovative engine design that employs oval (more pill-shaped) pistons instead of the traditional circular pistons commonly found in internal combustion engines today. These oval pistons not only make the engine more compact in length but also open up various possibilities for gasoline engine design, as claimed by Ferrari’s engineers.

      The credit for discovering this development goes to AutoGuide, which located the application within the European Patent Office's database. The application mentions that the standard cylindrical piston shape has "some drawbacks" that are unresolvable under conventional design constraints, leading to the need for a more unconventional approach—in this case, pistons fashioned like PSPs.

      Essentially, Ferrari has taken a typical engine and elongated it, similar to flattening a beer can. By shortening the image of this 5.0-liter V8 engine block, we end up with tall, narrow pistons. Ferrari’s approach is more advanced since it employs properly radiused pistons rather than a strict "oval" configuration, but the fundamental concept remains the same.

      However, for Ferrari, shortening the engine block is not as straightforward as simply altering an image in Photoshop.

      It's easy to understand Ferrari's motivation for creating more compact combustion engines. Such designs would facilitate fitting them into tighter spaces (since Ferrari is known for its mid-engine supercars), and they would also enable engineers to position the engine’s mass closer to the vehicle’s center of rotation, enhancing the car’s responsiveness to turns. Additionally, a smaller engine provides more space for integrating hybrid components alongside the transmission.

      As highlighted by AutoGuide, while the oval piston design might appear groundbreaking, it is not entirely novel. Honda experimented with a similar concept in its motorcycles during the late 1970s; however, the similarities end with the piston shape. Honda's design aimed to compete in the two-stroke performance bike market, and its dual-connecting-rod approach was vastly different from the linked, articulated rods found in Ferrari’s design. The effectiveness of Ferrari's concept remains to be seen, especially considering the well-known balance of V12 engines. We will have to wait to find out if this development comes to pass, as many automotive patents do not become reality.

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