Bill Gates has always been fond of his cars, but new patent applications suggest Microsoft's founding geek is becoming even more of a gearhead. Gates is listed among 10 inventors on a series of filings seeking patents on various aspects of electromagnetic engines -- including a method of retrofitting traditional engines by removing the crankshaft and installing an electromagnetic converter.

The patent applications, made public today, were filed by Searete LLC, which is part of Intellectual Ventures, the Bellevue-based invention house and patent company. Nathan Myhrvold, Microsoft’s former chief technology officer, runs Intellectual Ventures and is also named among the inventors on the electromagnetic-engine patent applications.

That suggests the filings resulted from one of Intellectual Ventures' brainstorming sessions, in which Gates has been known to participate. The applications seek patents on an electromagnetic engine that "converts mechanical energy of a piston to and from electrical energy during each piston cycle," in addition to free-piston and opposed-piston variations on the concept.

Will we all someday be using engines dreamed up by Bill Gates? Bigger auto experts than me will need to weigh in on that. Patent watcher "theodp," who tipped us off to the filings, jokes via email, "Forget about the Wankel, a Gates Engine is where it's at!"

A piston schematic from one of the Searete filings:

"Piston 110 is slidably disposed in cylinder 112, which has two end chambers 114 and 116. In the illustrated embodiment, each end includes an intake valve 118 and an exhaust valve 120, which are configured to admit reactants and to expel reaction product, respectively. Piston 110 includes a magnetic element 122, which may be an electromagnet, a permanent magnet, or a magnetically susceptible material such as an iron core. Piston 110 can be driven in either direction by application of a voltage to converter coils 124, 126, and 128, which together form a converter 130. In addition, the converter 130 is configured to convert mechanical energy of piston 110 to electrical energy. This energy may be stored, for example, in a battery, capacitor, or other energy management system (not shown). The illustrated embodiment includes spark plugs 132, but other ignition sources may be used such as those described elsewhere herein, or the engine may be operated without an ignition source using reactants that spontaneously react in end chambers 114 and 116."

Previously: Bill Gates, top Microsoft executives do some of their inventing on the side