Close View - Inlet & Exhaust Epicyclic Gears

The action of the main Crankshaft, slave rods and pistons appears complex at first sight, but is much more easily to understand when reversing the motion of the engine e.g. having the crankshaft rotating instead of the engine for visibility purposes.

The inlet and exhaust timing is based on an inner inlet- and exhaust gears (both 16 teeth) rotating within the outer gears (18 teeth), around excentric cams which are fixed to the crankshaft. The gear ratio of 18/16 makes the inner gears rotate 1 1/8 times during every engine revolution (in this case one crankshaft revolution).