Fuel tank vent system with orifice
US6109310A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 29, 1998 |
| Grant date | Aug 29, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 29, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB60K2015/03523
- WIPO fieldTransport
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A fuel tank has a void air space when the tank is filled through a filler tube that upstands from a reservoir. The reservoir has a baffle that depends from a top wall of the reservoir. Fuel entering the reservoir from the filler tube fills the reservoir up to the level of the lowermost edge of the baffle. Further filling of the tank causes the fuel level to rise in the filler tube. However, a void space is created because air and fuel vapor are trapped in the reservoir on the opposite side of the baffle as the filler tube, which prevents overfilling by an operator. A vent system connects the void space with the top end of the filler tube. Hydrostatic pressure exerted by the fuel on the air and fuel vapor in the void space expels the air and fuel vapor through the vent system to the filler tube, causing the fuel level to rise in the void space and simultaneously to lower in the filler tube. Eventually all the air and fuel vapor are expelled, and the fuel level in the filler tube is then at a minimum level. The invention is capable of venting a fuel tank that is tilted in operation such that a void space is present in the reservoir.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.