Fluent material handling – with receiver or receiver coacting mea – Automatic control of flow cutoff or diversion – Level or overflow responsive
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-29
2001-11-06
Maust, Timothy L. (Department: 3751)
Fluent material handling, with receiver or receiver coacting mea
Automatic control of flow cutoff or diversion
Level or overflow responsive
C141S004000, C141S008000, C141S287000, C141S291000, C141S301000, C141S351000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06311741
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to fuel vapor emission control for internal combustion engines. More particularly, the present invention relates to fuel tank fuel vapor emission control for internal combustion engines.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern transportation vehicles which employ a liquid fuel conventionally also employ for storage of the liquid fuel a fuel tank. Similarly, since most liquid fuels are highly volatile, such a fuel tank typically contains in addition to the liquid fuel a fuel vapor. A concentration of fuel in the fuel vapor within the fuel tank is generally related to the temperature of the liquid fuel within the fuel tank, the amount of air in ullage volume, and the temperature of the fuel vapor within the fuel tank.
While a fuel vapor within a fuel tank does not typically impair operation of a transportation vehicle which is powered by an engine which employs a liquid fuel extracted from the fuel tank, upon refueling of the fuel tank with additional liquid fuel, in a first instance, the fuel vapor present in the fuel tank must of necessity be displaced. Similarly, in a second instance, when refueling the fuel tank with additional liquid fuel there is typically also newly generated additional fuel vapor incident to splashing of the additional liquid fuel which is introduced into the fuel tank. For environmental protection purposes and for economic reasons, it is desirable for such displaced fuel vapor and newly generated fuel vapor not to be released into the atmosphere.
Various apparatus, systems and methods have been disclosed within the art of fuel system design for attenuating, upon refueling of a fuel tank, release of a fuel vapor into the atmosphere. Typical in that regard are apparatus, systems and methods which employ either or both: (1) valving schemes to redirect displaced fuel vapors and newly generated fuel vapors in a fashion such as to avoid release into the environment; and (2) sealing means to attenuate, in a first instance, generation of fuel vapors. Representative examples of such apparatus, systems and methods are disclosed within U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,835, U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,395, U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,779, U.S. Pat. No. 4,977,936, U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,570, U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,906 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,100, all of which are incorporated herein fully by reference.
While any of the foregoing apparatus, systems and methods provides upon refueling of a fuel tank with a liquid fuel an attenuated displaced fuel vapor release into the atmosphere and/or an attenuated newly generated fuel vapor release into the atmosphere, such desirable result is often achieved only with particularly complicated piping and valving schemes, or with an otherwise incomplete attenuation of fuel vapor release into the atmosphere.
There thus exists within the art of fuel system design a continuing need for comparatively simple apparatus, systems and methods for more completely attenuating upon refueling of a fuel tank release of a fuel vapor into the atmosphere.
It is towards that object that the present invention is directed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to realize the object towards which the present invention is directed, the present invention provides, in a first instance, a fuel tank filler pipe neck assembly comprising: (1) a chamber having formed therein a liquid fuel dispensing nozzle entry port and a liquid fuel exit port; (2) a liquid fuel dispensing nozzle seat disposed within the chamber, where the liquid fuel dispensing nozzle seat is sized to accept and seal a rim of a liquid fuel dispensing nozzle introduced into the liquid fuel dispensing nozzle entry port while allowing flow of a liquid fuel dispensed from the liquid fuel dispensing nozzle through the liquid fuel dispensing nozzle seat; and (3) a means for resiliently and flexibly biasing the liquid fuel dispensing nozzle seat against the rim of the liquid fuel dispensing nozzle while resiliently and flexibly sealing the liquid fuel dispensing nozzle seat to the liquid fuel exit port.
By: (1) employing within the present invention the chamber having disposed therein the liquid fuel dispensing nozzle seat and the means for resiliently and flexibly biasing the liquid fuel dispensing nozzle seat against a rim of a liquid fuel dispensing nozzle introduced into the chamber; and (2) when properly seating the rim of the liquid fuel dispensing nozzle upon the liquid fuel dispensing nozzle seat in the process of introducing liquid fuel into a fuel tank to which is connected the fuel tank filler pipe neck assembly of the present invention, there is avoided within the context of the present invention entrainment into the liquid fuel which is introduced into the fuel tank air which would otherwise provide for formation of fuel vapor within the fuel tank.
Similarly, since within the present invention the seating of a rim of a liquid fuel dispensing nozzle against the liquid fuel dispensing nozzle seat in part seals a flow of a liquid fuel from the liquid fuel dispensing nozzle with respect to a liquid fuel exit port within the fuel tank filler pipe neck assembly of the present invention, and since the present invention thus eliminates a splashing of the liquid fuel in the vicinity of a vacuum sensing port incorporated into the liquid fuel dispensing nozzle, the preferred embodiments of the present invention also provide an alternative means for shutting down the liquid fuel dispensing nozzle by means of inducing vacuum with respect to the vacuum sensing port of the liquid fuel dispensing nozzle.
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Harrigan, Sr. Michael Joseph
Thompson Robert H.
Drouillard Jerome
Ford Global Technologies, Inc
Maust Timothy L.
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