Knight engine

A 4-cylinder Knight car engine, sectioned through the cylinders to show the Knight sleeve valves.
Knight sleeve valve engine
Emblem on Stearns car powered by Knight engine

The Knight engine is an internal combustion engine, designed by American Charles Yale Knight (1868-1940), that uses sleeve valves instead of the more common poppet valve construction.

While eventually these engines were manufactured in the largest quantities in USA, Knight's design was made a commercial success by development in England. The French gave the Knight engine more intensive development than any other nation. Ultimately Knight patents were issued in at least eight countries and were actually built by about thirty firms.[1]

  1. ^ Maurice D Hendry, The Unholy Saga of the Silent Knight, Automobile Quarterly:Vol-10 #4