Reciprocating-piston internal combustion engine with device for increasing the torque thereof

An internal combustion engine of reciprocating-piston type of construction is described which has a cylinder (2) with a cylinder head (1) and with an inlet valve (3) arranged in the cylinder head. An inlet line (4) is connected to the inlet valve (3), via which inlet line combustion air (5) can be fed to the cylinder (2). Furthermore, a compressed-air accumulator (6) is provided which is connected to the inlet line (4) by means of a controllable valve (7), wherein the inlet line (4) can be closed, with regard to its throughflow cross section, by means of a shut-off element (8). The valve (7) is controllable such that, on the basis of a control signal, compressed air (9) is fed from the compressed-air accumulator (6) into a region of the inlet line directly upstream of the inlet valve (3), wherein the shut-off element (8) is arranged sealingly on the cylinder head (1) and closes the cross section of the inlet line (4). The inlet valve (3) is briefly re-opened by means of an actuation element (24) during the compression stroke, and during said brief re-opening, compressed air (9) is fed from the compressed-air accumulator (6) into the cylinder (2), with the shut-off element (8) being held in its closed position. According to a second aspect, the compressed-air accumulator (6) can also be used to feed all of the combustion air to the cylinder (2) via an inlet reservoir (25) directly upstream of the inlet valve (3).