Fluent material handling – with receiver or receiver coacting mea – Multiple passage filling means for diverse materials or flows – With baffle – spreader – displacer – drip ring – filter or screen
Patent
1986-07-16
1988-04-26
Bell, Jr., Houston S.
Fluent material handling, with receiver or receiver coacting mea
Multiple passage filling means for diverse materials or flows
With baffle, spreader, displacer, drip ring, filter or screen
141309, 141302, 141326, 220 86R, 251320, B67C 302
Patent
active
047398086
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to a device for limiting filling and for air admission to and discharge from tanks, in particular fuel tanks for motor vehicles, part of the tank volume being used as a pressure equalising chamber with regard to temperature fluctuations, with an air inlet and outlet device which opens out into ventilatable filler neck and which comprises filling evacuation means which determines the maximum liquid level still regarded as permissible, and operating evacuation means with a closure device, which takes over air admission to and discharge from the pressure equalising chamber, such that when the tank cap is removed, the operating evacuation means is closed by spring action, and when the tank cap is on, it is opened by the cap itself against spring force. The tank cap is preferably constructed in accordance with those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,168,011 Lomer and 3,703,245 Brewer. A cap, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,142,648 Johnson et al. may be incorporated if a threaded filler neck is used on the fuel tank.
The invention thus works from the assumption that it is structurally possible to put the operating evacuation means out of action during refuelling. The maximum permissible fuel level in the fuel tank is determined exclusively by the filling evacuation means during refuelling. In this way, overfilling of the fuel tank is avoided; on the contrary, a well-defined space is kept free in the fuel tank, which can take up the extra volume during subsequent expansion of the fuel. Escape of fuel through the air outlet pipe at high ambient temperatures with corresponding heating and increase in volume of the fuel can thus be prevented effectively.
With regard to the state of the art described above, reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 37 28 846 and German Pat. No. 27 52 645.
It is the object of the invention to achieve still more effective and reliable limiting of the filling during refuelling, by simple means.
According to the invention, the problem is solved by the fact that there is used to control the operating evacuation means, a valve which is incorporated in the air inlet and outlet pipes and whose valve body can be operated by a piston stem against spring resistance, and the valve is disposed in the filler neck in such a way that the piston stem comes to lie parallel or essentially parallel to the wall of the filler neck within same and protrudes out of the filler neck by its free end when the tank cap is raised.
The invention has the advantage that overfilling of the tank is reliably prevented. As it is possible to make all components--apart from the piston stem itself--out of plastic, the device according to the invention can be manufactured easily and with cost savings. Another advantage of the invention lies in that calibration of the overflow pipe can be dispensed with. The localised constriction of the overflow pipe of approx. 1-1.5 mm, which is normal in the state of the art known at present, has the disadvantage that for one thing, air escapes from the tank too quickly, with the consequence of a risk of overfilling. Secondly, the constricted point can easily become clogged, which results in corrosion of the tank. Finally, in case of extreme heating the gas in the tank cannot escape quickly enough. This leads to disadvantageous permanent deformation of the fuel tank.
All these disadvantages, which arise in known devices of the kind in question, are effectively avoided by the present invention.
In an advantageous development of the basic concept of the invention, it is proposed to dispose the valve in a valve housing which is attached to the side of the filler neck comprising a corresponding recess, at the upper end thereof, in such a way that the valve with its piston stem comes to lie within the filler neck as close as possible to the inner wall thereof. In this way, the valve does not form an obstruction to the petrol pump nozzle, which is introduced into the filler neck during refuelling.
According to one embodiment which is highly advantageous in the above sense, the
REFERENCES:
patent: 4625777 (1986-12-01), Schmidt
Bell, Jr. Houston S.
General Motors Corporation
Scherer Donald F.
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