At the age of 15, George Westinghouse Jr. began his technological development with the rotary steam engine. On October 31, 1865 at the age of 19 years old, he obtained his first patent for his first invention, the rotary steam engine. Even though the rotary steam engine may be complex, the concept is simple. It is a standard otto cylce engine where the crankshaft remains stationary and the entire cylinder block rotates around it. The otto cycle engine is a a four stroke cycle that refers to the intake, compression, combustion, and exhaust. The cylinder block is a machined casting containing cylindrically bored holes for the pistons to go through to create internal combustion.The crankshaft is part of an engine translates reciprocatng linear piston motion into rotation.


References
http://www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu/LitMap/bios/Westinghouse__George.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Westinghouse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_engine