Project Summary

Genesis
 
Description of the RKM Technology
 
Potential Applications
 
Competing Technologies
 
The Inventors
 
Patents
 
Commended by Experts
 
Development of the RKM Technology as Pumps
 
Value of The RKM Project
 
Financial Issues
 
Why RKM?

Genesis

• The steam engine was invented 317 years ago (1690, Denis Papin), the internal combustion engine - 182 years ago (1823-25, Samuel Brown).

• Since the beginning of industrial revolution, many inventors have been struggling to improve such machines and, in response to market demands, find a way of using rotation instead of the back-and-forth movement of the piston.  The RKM solution develops further the ideas of Reuleaux, Carnot, Campbell and other great inventors of the past.

• In 1948, Felix Wankel, a German engineer, built the first model of his rotary engine.  In 1957, the NSU Corporation (future Audi) constructed the first industrial prototype of the Wankel engine.  However, the Wankel engine and similar inventions have several inherent technical problems, and failed to become a viable and widely-used alternative to piston engines and turbines.

• The RKM Technology offers a solution to the centuries-old problem of power generation by efficient, compact and dependable mechanisms.  It is no longer a hypothesis but a working technology on the verge of being developed into a wide variety of new machines.

• The RKM Project’s underlying strategy is to develop the RKM Technology into marketable know-how for specific applications, and to market the know-how and licenses to manufacture the RKM machines to multiple industrial companies serving specific segments of various user markets.

• In order to bring the RKM Technology to the market as quickly as possible, the RKM Project initially focuses on its applications as volume-displacing pumps for middle and high pressure ranges.  Global sales in markets where the RKM Technology could be successfully applied as various types of pumps exceeded US$ 450 billion in 2002.

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Description of the RKM Technology

• By utilizing several entirely new principles of piston motion and power transfer, the RKMs form a new class of machines for generation and transformation of power.

• In comparison with existing technologies, e.g., conventional machines with the pistons moving back-and-forth, the RKMs offer the following advantages:
   
  » 3-5 times smaller size with equal power output
  » greater efficiency
  » 2-3 times lighter weight
  » cleaner exhaust when used as an engine
  » fewer components translating into higher dependability
  » more cost-effective manufacturing

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Potential Applications

Possible areas of applications and potential specific uses for the RKM Technology include the following:

• Pumps:  medium-, high-pressure, and pre-vacuum pumps for use in power machinery, refrigerators, elevators, lifts, cranes, road-building machinery, automobiles, aircraft, and other applications, including those for domestic water and heating systems, and scientific research.

• Compressors:  medium- and high-pressure compressors for a wide range of industrial and consumer applications.

• “Cold” motors:  hydraulic and pneumatic motors for use in automobiles, air-, space- and marine craft, and in a number of other applications in industrial and consumer products.

• Power tools:  a new class of power tools for drilling, cutting and surface treatment of materials in various ranges (from super-large to micron).

• Internal and external combustion engines, including Diesel, for all types of wheeled or tracked motor vehicles (from motorbikes to automobiles and trucks, to Mars explorers), marine craft of all sizes (from pleasure boats to supertankers), helicopters and propeller-driven aircraft (including super-light platforms).

• Electric power generators for agriculture and industry, including oil and gas production, air & space industry, large stationary and vehicular power generators, compact emergency generators, etc.

• Compact sources of electrical power for portable computers and other electronic devices, etc.

The above list of potential areas of use and specific products utilizing the RKM Technology is infinitely longer.  They will be explored in more details in later phases of the RKM Project.

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Competing Technologies

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The Inventors

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Patents

The RKM Technology is covered by six different patents legally protected in approx. 70 percent of global user markets, including all countries of the European Patent Union, the United States, Canada, Japan, and Russia.  Patent authorities of Germany, European Patent Union, the United States, Japan, Russia, China, South Korea, India, Mexico, Israel, and Canada have conducted official searches in connection with those patents and concluded that there are no competing prior patents.

All legal rights to the RKM Technology are the property of RKM GbR Partnership (Beteiligungsgemeinschaft) formed in Germany in 2004.  Weisse & Wolgast, highly-reputable international patent attorneys in Berlin, Germany, conservatively assessed the current value of intellectual property owned by the RKM Partnership at “clearly above 1 billion Euros and most likely also above 2 billion”

Expertise on Value of RKM Intellectual Property (patents)

The six patents protecting the RKM Technology include the following:

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Commended by Experts

See list of expert opinions

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Development of the RKM Technology as Pumps

Modern markets for pumps and compressors are exceptionally strong; significantly more diversified than those for combustion engines, and are easier to penetrate. 

Prospective areas of application for the RKM Technology as pumps include a wide variety of oil, fuel and water pumps.  The RKM pumps may be successfully used for moving non-abrasive fluids when middle or high pressure is required, i.e., in hydraulic mechanisms, e.g., presses and lifts; in fluid and gas transportation systems; in fuel injectors; in irrigation and heating systems; in water-jet, hydro- and pneumatic engines; in medical devices, and in numerous other applications.

Preliminary research of pump markets (products that can be replaced by the RKM Technology) indicates the following annual sales:

Consequently, in order to bring the RKMs to the markets as quickly as possible, we initially focus on the development of the RKM Technology as volume-displacing pumps for middle and high pressure ranges.  Such machines will have a continuous flow capability and will be energy efficient, compact, wear-resistant, scalable from micro to macro sizes, and cost efficient in production.  The R&D process to develop the RKM technology as pumps, compressors and “cold” engines will take less time and entail lower costs than those for combustion engines and other “hot” applications.

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Value of The RKM Project

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Financial Issues

Investments in the development of the RKM Technology are projected to generate the return of more than €2 bln. from the sales of licenses to users and manufacturers in each of the three major venues of potential application (pumps/compressors, “hot” engines, electric power generators).  The RKM Partnership is prepared to discuss with prospective investors any reasonable project capitalization scenario, including but not limited to the following options:

Option 1

€300 mln. full project capitalization, including €100 mln. working budget and €200 mln. in contingency financing, to develop “cold” and "hot" small series prototypes in three basic areas of application for the RKM Technology and market the RKM Technology on a global scale to a broad range of users and manufacturers.  

Option 2

€75 mln. to develop small series prototypes of "cold" versions of the RKM machines, to finance sales of licenses for the technology, and secure capitalization necessary to develop "hot" directions of the technology.

RKM Project
SCHEMATIC CASH FLOW TABLE

COMMENTS:

Col. 1 -	RKM Project's timeline; years of the project cycle.
Col. 2 -	Manufacturers’ gross sales are expected to triple annually during Years 6-9, and increase at 20% per annum thereafter. The assumption is based on estimates of the global markets’ learning curve, which is conservatively projected to peak and normalize in about 25 years
Col. 3 -	Gross (pre-tax) revenue from sales of licenses to manufacture products based on the RKM Technology. The average gross revenue of the RKM Project from sales of licenses (royalties) is assumed at 10% of the manufactures’ gross sales.
Col. 6 -	High operating expenses in Years 11-15 will be dictated by aggressive worldwide marketing and development of new products based on the RKM Technology.
Col. 7 -	Gross income of the RKM Project, subject to distribution of net profits between shareholders after debt service and applicable taxes.

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Why RKM?

• The RKM Technology is based on breakthrough discoveries in mechanics and mathematics.  The inventors have succeeded in solving a centuries-old mathematical problem, and have found an ingenious way to apply the newly-acquired knowledge to fundamental machine building.
• Significant advantages of the RKM Technology over existing power machines and competing technologies are proven beyond reasonable doubt. Several manufacturers are currently planning development of production prototypes of the first RKM machines.
• We are confident that during the next few years the RKM Technology will be enthusiastically embraced by manufacturers, user markets and the society in general, especially considering the current state of development of competing technologies and prospects for their future improvement.
• Sales of licenses to manufacture products based on the RKM Technology and the development of its various applications will be highly lucrative. The RKM GbR is fully confident that it will bring major financial rewards to the project participants.
• The pump markets are the most stable part of industrial economy. Compared to other areas of technological innovation, the pump market are the most lucrative and rewarding over a long term by their security and profitability.

We invite you to share in the RKM success !