In 1807, de Rivaz tested an early engine that operated a free piston on a chain.

[1] The modern freepiston engine was proposed by R.P. Pescara [2] and the original application was a single piston air compressor. The engine concept was a topic of much interest in the period 1930-1960, and a number of commercially available units were developed. These first generation free-piston engines were without exception opposed piston engines, in which the two pistons were mechanically linked to ensure symmetric motion. The free-piston engines provided some advantages over conventional technology, including compactness and a vibration-free design. Air compressors