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The rotor within a rotary engine consists of three basic parts. One
is the rotor itself which has cavities in it that serve as
compression chambers. The second part consists of seals; these are
strips of metal mounted at each point of the rotor. The third
principal component of the rotor is the ring gear. The ring gear
engages the fixed gear that is mounted to the side of the engine
block. Since the fixed gear and the ring gear are engaged as the
rotor rotates, a flip-flopping motion of the rotor (much like a
hula-hoop) is caused as it goes around the fixed gear.
Within the rotor is the eccentric shaft that turns independently of
both the rotor and the fixed gear. This serves basically the same
purpose as the crankshaft of an engine, and it works in much the same
way. As the rotor is flipped around the fixed gear, it turns the
eccentric shaft at half the rotor's rotating speed. Due to the
imperfect nature of the seals on the rotor as compared to the rings
on a piston engine, rotary engines tend to pollute more than piston
engines. However, with the development of new seal technology,
improvements are being made in this area.
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