Fluid handling – With casing – support – protector or static constructional... – Vehicle
Utility Patent
1998-11-30
2001-01-02
Chambers, A. Michael (Department: 3753)
Fluid handling
With casing, support, protector or static constructional...
Vehicle
C137S587000, C137S589000, C440S08900C
Utility Patent
active
06167911
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND FIELD OF INVENTION
This invention relates to a vent device used on internal fuel tanks installed on pleasure boats and other marine vessels. This device is designed with a self contained automatic means for containing and recycling the expelled fuel that is usually forced out of the air vent with the fumes. This occurs during fueling and other times when pressurized fuel enters the air vent. While preventing spills and pollution this invention also prevents rain water, splash water, most insects and other contaminants from entering the fuel system via the air vent.
BACKGROUND DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
An internal fuel tank on a pleasure boat or other marine vessel must have an air vent to enable air and fumes under pressure, to escape, while fuel is being pumped into the fuel tank, via the fuel fill port. Conversely, as fuel is consumed by the engine, air must be able to move into the tank via the air vent to replace the vacuum created by the consumed fuel.
Prior art allows fumes and air to expel out through the air vent as well as fuel which spills into the waterway and acts as a visual signal for the boat owner or fuel dock attendant to determine when the tank is full. Prior art is only concerned with prevention of rain water, spray water and insects from entering through the air vent and into the fuel system. Prior art does not address the fact that fuel is expelled out onto the waterway through the vent causing environmental pollution.
The air vent is approximately 0.5″ diameter while the fill port is approximately 1.5″ diameter. As the fuel tank is being filled the boat or vessel tends to rock and list causing the liquid fuel to slosh back and forth within the fuel tank in accordance with the elements, such as; wind, tidal currents, wakes from other vessels and the movement from those on board. As the boat lists to the side where the air vent is situated, the liquid fuel rises on that side of the tank, this causes a false fill and causes fuel to expel out of the air vent, this spilling continues periodically during fueling, depending on the frequency and degree of the above mentioned marine elements. Finally, as the fuel tank actually becomes full, one final spill occurs, which combined with the prior spillage, causes pollution of the surrounding waterway.
External spillage collection devices of varying configurations have been designed in prior art, they are not compatible with all boat designs or vent positions, they are cumbersome as they are temporarily mounted to the exterior hull of the boat during fueling and are removed after fueling. The removal is awkward and liable to spill during removal, this prior art device can also spill when manually pouring back the fuel into the fill port.
Studies investigating spillage, as well as observations of the fueling procedure at various busy fuel docks, yielded the following results: the fuel dock attendants report that 80 of 100 boats during fueling will have spills of several ounces expelling out of the vent and into the waterway. For this reason most fuel docks keep cases of a soap product called “Liquid Dawn” available, which when applied on to a waterway affected by fuel spillage helps to camouflage the pollution by dispersing the sheen caused by the fuel spill. The boat owners that were interviewed reported that they spill fuel during fueling, most of the time.
The U.S. Department of Environmental Protection estimates there are approximately 12 million marine engines in our nations waterways. If only 75% are pleasure boats with internal fuel tanks, and we take an average of one fueling per week during a six month boating season and 75% of each fueling spills on average two ounces of either gasoline or diesel fuel, this causes a tremendous pollution problem. The above figures are conservative, the calculations are as follows: 105,468 gallons of gasoline and/or diesel fuel spill per fueling or per week and 2,531,250 gallons spill per six month boating season. This problem grows with every new boat purchased. While there are laws in place to prevent this pollution, they are not being enforced due to the enormity of the problem and a lack of manpower.
My invention corrects this problem by preventing this particular overflow vent spill pollution from taking place, either during fueling or at other times when fuel expansion takes place.
The present method of fueling an internal fuel tank on a pleasure boat or other marine vessel is as follows:
a) Unscrew the port fill cap which exposes the port fill opening that allows fuel to flow through to fill the fuel tank. Insert the fill nozzle that is attached to the fuel fill hose that leads from the main pump at the fuel dock into the fuel fill port opening, squeeze the trigger on the nozzle and fuel begins to flow through the fill port inlet, down the hose into the vessels internal fuel tank.
b) As the fuel enters the fuel tank the air within the fuel tank gets displaced by the incoming fuel, forcing the air to find a way out of least resistance, this being the through hull air vent.
c) A vessel floating on water lists and rocks in all directions in accordance with the elements, such as; wind, wake from other vessels, tidal currents and movement from those on board. This rocking motion causes the fuel to slosh back and forth and side to side within the fuel tank, when the motion causes the boat to tip in a direction allowing the fuel to rise up in the interior side of the tank where the venting is taking place, it causes a false momentary fill and will expel fuel out through the vent due to the rise of the incoming fuel, causing a fuel spill even before the tank is full. This condition can take place several times during fueling, depending on the frequency of motion caused by the elements, and the fuel tank capacity.
d) Rising temperature causes fuel to expand within internal fuel tanks, a spill occurs from fuel expansion caused by rising temperature when the tank is filled to maximum, known as topping off the tank, which is a common practise that minimizes the amount of moisture able to develop within the tank, it both preserves the tank and helps keep the fuel fresh and where diesel fuel is used, it cuts down on bacteria and algae growth. During the summer heat the fuel within the topped off fuel tank will expand expelling fuel out through the vent onto the waterway. Additionally, after boating season during land lay-up of the vessel, as the warm weather approaches and the fuel temperature rises the fuel expands and will expel out of the vent onto the ground, in both instances environmental pollution occurs.
Prior art external spillage collection devices are mounted only during fueling and are not used to catch spills caused by heat expansion of the fuel when the vessel is either water docked or dry docked.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A primary object of this invention is to prevent fuel spills and resulting pollution caused by pleasure boats and other marine vessels with internal fuel tanks. Fuel spills occur during fueling and at other times when tanks are substantially full and atmospheric temperatures rise causing the fuel to expand and expel out through the air vent. My invention prevents spilling from the air vent by having a permanent receptacle attached under and around the air vent that captures the expelled fuel and returns the fuel through a separate conduit of tubes and through a check valve back into the fuel tank. At no time is the expelled fuel vulnerable to spillage. As pressure causes the air, fumes and fuel from within the fuel tank to expel out toward the air vent, said air, fumes and fuel are directed through an upper vent tube toward the vent as they are unable to pass through the check valve of the lower return tube. As the fuel is forced through the vent tube toward the vent, the fuel is captured by an oversized fuel receptacle tube that fits widely and high enough around the vent tube to prevent any fuel from spilling yet allowing the air and fumes to escape into the atmosphere. The fuel then flows down into the return tube and through t
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