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 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.
Read more about Flat Engine: Configuration, Notable Flat Engines
Famous quotes containing the words flat and/or engine:
“Man is a wingless animal with two feet and flat nails.”
—Plato (c. 427–347 B.C.)
“Industrial man—a sentient reciprocating engine having a fluctuating output, coupled to an iron wheel revolving with uniform velocity. And then we wonder why this should be the golden age of revolution and mental derangement.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)