Patent 7854395 was granted and assigned to XCOR Aerospace on December, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The present invention relates to rocket engine combustion chambers, and more particularly to an improved rocket engine combustion chamber having a jacket. In some embodiments, a combustion system for a rocket engine includes an injector, a cylindrical combustion chamber, and a jacket coupled to the combustion chamber and to the injector. The combustion chamber can expand axially and/or radially with respect to the jacket. The outer surface of the combustion chamber includes a plurality of flow channels. One or more piston seals and/or bellows can be included to allow axial expansion of the combustion chamber with respect to the jacket. A gap formed between the inner surface of the jacket and the outer surface of the combustion chamber allows for radial expansion of the combustion chamber with respect to the jacket.