Motors: spring – weight – or animal powered – Composite – Weight only
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-05
2002-02-12
Bucci, David A. (Department: 3682)
Motors: spring, weight, or animal powered
Composite
Weight only
C185S016000, C141S065000, C141S114000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06345692
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to motor vehicle fluid exchange systems, specifically to a readily portable system and method for the safe, orderly, and efficient recovery of fluid drained from a motor vehicle, including drained fluid that is hot, such as the hot gear lube drained from the quick-change rear end of a race vehicle prior to ratio gear exchange, and the prompt, safe and efficient return of the recovered fluid to the source from which it was drained, when it is still serviceable, to prevent waste and unnecessary environmental burden. The present invention system is made from solid heavy-duty construction, however, it is compact in size and configuration to permit easy one-handed transport. It has an elevated collection pan with a large surface area for spill-free fluid collection, which can also be used to temporarily store hot messy gear-lube-covered gears removed from a quick-change rear end. Through use of the present invention, the same quantity of hot gear lube present in the quick-change rear end of a race vehicle can be safely, orderly, and repeatedly collected during a series of trackside ratio gear exchanges performed in a track testing, pre-race practice, or qualifying session, and then, when still serviceable, can be promptly, orderly, efficiently, and safely returned to the quick-change rear end for reuse. Thus, the present invention provides race crews with a safe and convenient alternative to the former wasteful and environmentally adverse practice of discarding still serviceable gear lube and replacing it with new gear lube each time the ratio gears in the quick-change rear end of a race vehicle were exchanged. The preferred embodiment of the present invention has a low profile dual-chambered reservoir with large easily gripped handles attached thereto, one of the chambers being a smaller pre-charged air chamber and the other being a larger fluid chamber separated from the air chamber by a flexible baffle. The fluid chamber provides temporary fluid containment during which the recovered fluid is protected from airborne contaminants and fire hazard, features important for trackside use. The fluid chamber has a female threaded discharge opening in a position remote from the baffle, to which the male threaded end of a flexible flame-resistant discharge hose is connected during fluid recovery use. The fluid collection pan is connected to the reservoir through the upper surface of the fluid chamber, and a valve is positioned between the upper collection pan and the fluid chamber to selectively allow fluid communication therebetween. As a result, fluid drained into the collection pan can be gravity-fed into the fluid chamber for storage and subsequent dispensing through the discharge hose. The present invention further comprises a securely-fitting but easily installed and removed collection pan cover for use in keeping inside surfaces of the collection pan protected from airborne debris when the collection pan is used to store gears and during periods of non-use. In the preferred embodiment the collection pan is separable from the reservoir for compact storage of the system between uses. Although primarily contemplated for racing applications to assist gear exchange in the quick-change rear end of a race vehicle, the present invention system can also be employed for the neat and orderly recovery, and safe temporary storage, of other flammable and non-flammable fluid prior to its reuse or discard, particularly fluid that would have an adverse environmental impact if spilled or improperly discarded.
2. Description of Prior Art
The gears in a motor vehicle transmission adapt available engine power to meet the changing conditions of the road and provide optimum torque for a given engine speed. Smaller gears provide more torque at lower speeds and allow a vehicle to start moving or drive uphill. Larger gears provide less torque at higher speeds and allow the vehicle to run more efficiently at high speeds on level ground. Typically, personal vehicles use a standard set of gears throughout the life of the vehicle for all driving conditions, and gear lube is exchanged only when it is no longer considered serviceable. In contrast, race crews may change-out gears in a race vehicle multiple times before a race in response to track testing and qualifying sessions conducted to determine peak vehicle performance. Further, to increase the dependability of the transmission and enhance the opportunity for a win, race crews often will install new gears prior to a race. In order to perform rapid gear exchanges, some race vehicles will use a quick-change rear end, since a quick-change rear end can remain in place within the race vehicle while gear change-out occurs. Thus, multiple gear exchanges can take place over a short period of time in testing, practice, and qualifying sessions, and often, although the gear lube drained prior to each exchange may still be usable, it is discarded and replaced by new gear lube for the safety and convenience of the race crew. Also, when gears are exchanged in the quick-change rear end of a race vehicle, the gear lube remains hot, contrary to the usual practice in transmission gear exchange where the transmission is allowed to cool and where the entire transmission must be removed from a vehicle and dismantled to change out a gear. Trackside safety hazards, including fire, are always a concern in the storage of any new or used fluid, and another consideration is the liberal amount of loose and potentially airborne debris typically found at race tracks, to include a significant amount of debris created by the soft compound racing tires used for improved vehicle traction at speed. In addition, reintroducing hot used gear lube back into a quick-change rear end of a race vehicle is not practical unless it can be accomplished in a safe maimer and without a mess, since at some tracks race teams are subject to fines for dropped fluids.
The present invention addresses all of the above concerns by permitting the orderly and safe collection of used gear lube, its safe and contamination-free storage until gear exchange is complete, and the prompt, efficient, and safe return of still serviceable drain lube back into the quick-change rear end of a race vehicle without a mess through use of a flexible flame-resistant discharge hose, so that the unnecessary waste and environmental burden relating to the premature discard of still serviceable gear lube can be substantially reduced. Motor vehicle racing is a sport that is growing in popularity on both professional and amateur levels. More people are competing, they are competing more often, and many competitors currently maintain multiple race vehicles in order to participate in a variety of racing events and stay competitive. As the sport continues to grow, and with the ever-increasing financial rewards of a win motivating race crews to maximize every competitive advantage, the premature discard of still serviceable fluids, including still usable drain lube from quick-change rear ends, will continue to increase and pose a significant source of waste and unnecessary environmental burden unless a convenient and safe means is found for their recovery and reuse. It is not heretofore known to have a readily portable system or device with a low profile reservoir incorporating a small air chamber separated from a larger fluid chamber by a flexible baffle, and also having a large surface area collection pan and a flexible flame-resistant discharge hose connected to the fluid chamber, that facilitates and expedites the recovery of hot used gear lube in a manner that is safe and convenient for race crew use, and promotes reuse of recovered gear lube when it is still serviceable.
Various devices exist to collect transmission fluid drained from motor vehicles during their maintenance and repair. There are also inventions that simultaneously replenish the transmission with fresh fluid as the old fluid is withdrawn. The inventions thought to be most closely related to the present invention are th
Bucci David A.
Kim Chong H.
Morse Dorothy S.
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