IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
|
국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
|
출원번호 |
US-0895593
(2004-07-21)
|
§371/§102 date |
20021016
(20021016)
|
발명자
/ 주소 |
- McClung, Chad A.
- Griffin, Jeffery
- Bell, Lowell R.
|
출원인 / 주소 |
|
대리인 / 주소 |
|
인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
25 인용 특허 :
31 |
초록
A filler neck closure assembly includes a housing formed to include a vent chamber arranged to receive a fuel-dispensing pump nozzle therein during fuel tank refueling. A flow control valve assembly is provided to regulate flow of ambient air and/or fuel vapor through the vent chamber.
대표청구항
▼
1. A filler neck closure assembly for a vehicle fuel tank filler neck, the assembly comprisinga housing adapted to be coupled to a fuel tank filler neck to receive a fuel-dispensing pump nozzle during fuel tank refueling, the housing including a top wall formed to include an outer nozzle-receiving a
1. A filler neck closure assembly for a vehicle fuel tank filler neck, the assembly comprisinga housing adapted to be coupled to a fuel tank filler neck to receive a fuel-dispensing pump nozzle during fuel tank refueling, the housing including a top wall formed to include an outer nozzle-receiving aperture, a bottom wall formed to include an inner nozzle-receiving aperture adapted to open into the fuel tank filler neck when the housing is coupled to the fuel tank filler neck, and a side wall arranged to extend between the top and bottom walls to define an interior region of the housing, the housing including an outer closure mounted for movement relative to the top wall to open and close the outer nozzle-receiving aperture and a flapper door mounted for movement relative to the bottom wall to open and close the inner nozzle-receiving aperture, the housing further including a vent passage having an outer end opening into the interior region and an inner end adapted to open into the fuel tank filler neck when the housing is coupled to the fuel tank filler neck, a partition arranged to divide the interior region of the housing into an outer and inner vent chamber, the outer vent chamber communicating with the outer and inner nozzle-receiving apertures and defining a pump nozzle-receiving passageway adapted to receive the pump nozzle therein during movement of a pump nozzle through the outer and inner nozzle-receiving apertures to move the outer closure and flapper door to opened positions during fuel tank refueling, the inner vent chamber communicating with the vent passage, the partition is formed to include a vent channel to place the outer and inner vent chambers in fluid communication, the housing being formed to include a vent port to admit ambient air outside of the housing into the outer vent chamber when the outer closure and flapper door have been moved to closed positions, and a flow control valve assembly yieldably biased normally to close the vent passage to regulate flow of a gas through the vent passage. 2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the partition includes a funnel formed to include an outlet aperture in alignment with the inner nozzle-receiving aperture formed in the bottom wall of the housing, an upper surface defining a lower boundary of the outer vent chamber, and a lower surface defining an upper boundary of the inner vent chamber.3. The assembly of claim 2, wherein the partition farther includes a funnel support coupled to an upper portion of the funnel and arranged to engage a portion of the side and bottom walls in the housing to support the funnel in the interior region of the housing.4. The assembly of claim 3, wherein at least one of the funnel and funnel support is formed to include the vent channel.5. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the housing includes a base including the bottom wall and a lower portion of the side wall and an outer body including an upper portion of the side wall and the vent port is formed in the upper portion of the side wall.6. The assembly of claim 5, further comprising a flow control valve assembly configured normally to close the vent port to regulate pressure of air and fuel vapor in the outer vent chamber.7. The assembly of claim 6, wherein the flow control valve assembly includes a vacuum-relief valve having a stem coupled to the upper portion of the side wall and a valve member located in the interior region of the housing and movable from a normally closed position closing the vent port to an opened position opening the vent port upon development of a negative pressure in the interior region that is below a selected pressure threshold level.8. The assembly of claim 7, wherein the upper side wall is formed to include a mounting hole alongside the vent port, the stem is arranged to extend through the mounting hole and is formed to include a pressure-relief passageway having an opening formed in the valve member, and a pressure-relief valve is coupled to the stem and configured normally to close the pressure-relief passageway to block discharge of fuel vapor from the outer vent chamber through the pressure-relief passageway until pressure of the fuel vapor extant in the outer vent chamber exceeds a selected threshold level.9. The assembly of claim 6, wherein the flow control valve assembly includes a vacuum-relief valve and a pressure-relief valve.10. The assembly of claim 5, wherein the partition is mounted in a cavity formed in the base.11. The assembly of claim 5, wherein the partition includes a funnel formed to include an outlet aperture in alignment with the inner nozzle-receiving aperture formed in the bottom wall of the housing and a funnel support coupled to the funnel and to the base to cause the outer vent chamber to lie above the funnel and the inner vent chamber to lie below the funnel.12. The assembly of claim 11, wherein the lower side wall of the base and at least one of the funnel and funnel support cooperate to define the vent channel therebetween.13. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the housing includes a base including the bottom wall and a lower portion of the side wall and an outer body including an upper portion of the side wall and the vent port is formed at a junction between the base and the outer body.14. The assembly of claim 13, wherein the lower portion of the side wall included in the base is formed to include a fastener receiver opening, the outer body further includes a fastener extending downwardly away from the upper portion of the side wall included in the outer body, and the fastener extends into the fastener receiver opening to retain the outer body in a fixed position on the base without occluding the fastener receiver opening to cause an unoccluded portion of the fastener receiving opening to define the vent port.15. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the housing includes a base including the bottom wall and a lower portion of the side wall and an outer body including an upper portion of the side wall, and wherein the partition is mounted in a cavity formed in the base before the lower portion of the side wall included in the base is welded to the upper portion of the side wall included in the outer body to define the interior region formed in the housing and containing the partition.16. The assembly of claim 15, wherein the partition is selected from a group comprising a first partition including a funnel formed to include a narrow-diameter outlet aperture associated with an unleaded fuel-dispensing pump nozzle and a second partition including a funnel formed to include a relatively larger large-diameter outlet aperture associated with a diesel fuel-dispensing pump nozzle.17. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the outer closure includes an appearance door coupled to the side wall for pivotable movement about a pivot axis between opened and closed positions and an outer seal coupled to the appearance door, the appearance door including an interior surface, an exterior surface, and a plurality of holes extending between the interior and exterior surfaces, the outer seal is made of an elastomeric material and includes a base on the interior surface, an annular door seal on the exterior surface, and tethers extending through the holes to interconnect the base and the annular door seal and retain the annular door seal in place on the exterior surface to mate with the top wall upon movement of the appearance door to the closed position to establish a sealed connection between the appearance door and the top wall.18. The assembly of claim 17, wherein the top wall is formed to include an annular lip extending in an axially inward direction toward the bottom wall, the annular door seal includes an annular foundation and concentric inner and outer annular rims extending in an axially outward direction from the annular foundation to define an annular channel therebetween, and the annular lip extends into the annular channel to mate with the annular foundation and the concentric inner and outer annular rims to define a portion of the sealed connection between the appearance door and the top wall.19. The assembly of claim 18, wherein the appearance door includes a top wall, an annular upright wall depending from a perimeter edge of the top wall and engaging a radially inwardly facing surface of the inner annular rim, and an annular lateral wall extending radially outwardly from a perimeter edge of the annular upright wall and engaging an underside of the annular foundation.20. The assembly of claim 17, wherein the appearance door includes a top wall, an annular upright wall arranged to depend from a perimeter edge of the top wall and formed to include the plurality of holes receiving the tethers, and an annular lateral wall extending radially outwardly from a perimeter edge of the annular upright wall and engaging an underside of the annular door seal.21. The assembly of claim 1, further comprising an annular seal including concentric first and second seal rings arranged to contact the flapper door upon movement of the flapper door to the closed position to establish an annular seal between the housing and the flapper door and a seal retainer coupled to the housing and arranged to retain the annular seal in sealing engagement with the bottom wall of the housing in a position surrounding the inner nozzle-receiving aperture.22. The assembly of claim 21, wherein the flapper door includes a pivot arm mounted to pivot on a pivot shaft associated with the base, a raised dome including a top wall facing toward the bottom wall of the base and an annular side wall extending in a direction away from the bottom wall of the base, and a dome support interposed between the pivot arm and the raised dome, and wherein the first seal ring is arranged to contact the top wall of the raised dome and the second seal ring is arranged to contact the annular side wall of the raised dome when the flapper door is moved to assume the closed position.23. A filler neck closure assembly for a vehicle fuel tank filler neck, the assembly comprisinga housing formed to include an interior region, an outer nozzle-receiving aperture opening into the interior region, an inner nozzle-receiving aperture aligned with the outer nozzle-receiving aperture and opening into the interior region, a vent port arranged to allow gas flow into and out of the interior region, and a vent passage having an outer end opening into the interior region and an inner end adapted to open into the fuel tank filler neck when the housing is coupled to the fuel tank filler neck, the housing including an outer closure mounted for movement to open and close the outer nozzle-receiving aperture and a flapper door mounted for movement to open and close the inner nozzle-receiving aperture, and a partition configured to include funnel means for guiding a moving fuel-dispensing pump nozzle admitted into the interior region through the outer nozzle-receiving aperture into the inner nozzle-receiving opening to move the flapper door to open the inner nozzle-receiving aperture, the partition being arranged to divide the interior region into an inner vent chamber communicating with the vent passage and an outer vent chamber communicating with the outer and inner nozzle-receiving apertures and the vent port, the partition also being formed to include a vent channel to place the outer and inner vent chambers in fluid communication. 24. The assembly of claim 23, further comprising a flow control valve assembly yieldably biased normally to close the vent passage to regulate flow of a gas through the vent passage.25. The assembly of claim 24, wherein the flow control valve assembly includes a vacuum-relief valve located in the vent passage and a spring arranged to move the vacuum-relief valve normally to block flow of gas from the inner vent chamber into the vent passage.26. The assembly of claim 25, further comprising a pressure/vacuum relief valve assembly yieldably biased normally to close the vent port to regulate flow of a gas through the vent port to regulate pressure of air and fuel vapor in the outer vent chamber.27. The assembly of claim 24, wherein the flow control valve assembly includes pressure-relief means for normally blocking flow of pressurized fuel vapor from the vent passage into the inner vent chamber until the pressure of the pressurized fuel vapor in the vent passage exceeds a selected threshold level so that once the selected threshold level is exceeded pressurized fuel vapor flows from vent passage through inner vent chamber, channel, outer vent chamber, and vapor port to exit the interior region of the housing.28. The assembly of claim 23, wherein the partition further includes a sleeve arranged to engage an inner wall of the housing to orient the funnel means to cause an outlet aperture defined by the funnel means to be aligned with the inner nozzle-receiving opening.29. The assembly of claim 28, wherein a portion of the sleeve is formed to include a portion of the channel.30. The assembly of claim 29, wherein a portion of the funnel means is formed to include another portion of the channel.31. The assembly of claim 23, wherein the channel is defined by a plurality of circumferentially spaced-apart notches formed in an axially outer portion of the partition at a junction between the inner and outer vent chambers.
※ AI-Helper는 부적절한 답변을 할 수 있습니다.