| abstract | - A flat engine is an internal combustion engine with multiple pistons that move in a horizontal plane. Typically, the layout has cylinders arranged in two banks on either side of a single crankshaft and is sometimes known as the boxer, or horizontally-opposed engine. The concept was patented in 1896 by engineer Karl Benz. It should not to be confused with the opposed-piston engine, in which each cylinder has a piston at both ends and no cylinder head. Another widely used form of flat engine consists of a straight engine with two, three, four or more cylinders canted 90 degrees into the horizontal plane, however this is not generally considered significantly different from other straight engines.
|
