An engine including a stationary housing; a cylinder bank rotatably
mounted to the housing about a central longitudinal axis, the cylinder
bank having a plurality of cylinders therein radially distanced from and
parallel to the central longitudinal axis, each cylinder having a
cylinder wall, an intake port, an exhaust port, a valve assembly
governing the opening and closing of the intake port and the exhaust
port, a piston moveable within the cylinder between an up position and a
down position, and a connecting member having an inner end connected to
the piston and an outer end; a torque plate operatively connected to the
outer ends of the connecting members, the torque plate being rotatably
mounted in a torque plane defined by the outer ends of the connecting
members and which makes an oblique angle to a plane perpendicular to the
central longitudinal axis, so that as the cylinder bank rotates the
torque plate sequentially guides each piston from the up position to the
down position during a first portion of a rotation of the cylinder bank
and then sequentially guides each piston from the down position to the up
position during a second portion of the rotation of the cylinder bank;
and a synchronizing member operatively connected to the cylinder bank and
the torque plate so that the cylinder bank and torque plate rotate at the
same speed.