초록

A fuel cap includes a filler-neck closure including a pressure-relief valve and a vacuum-relief valve and a handle arranged to overlie the filler-neck closure. The fuel cap also includes a torque-transmission ring arranged to lie between the handle and the filler-neck closure.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A fuel cap engageable with a fuel tank filler neck, the fuel cap comprising a filler-neck closure including a closure base adapted to mate with a fuel tank filler neck to close a mouth opening into a fuel-conducting passageway formed in the fuel tank filler neck, a pressure-relief valve mounted i

1. A fuel cap engageable with a fuel tank filler neck, the fuel cap comprising a filler-neck closure including a closure base adapted to mate with a fuel tank filler neck to close a mouth opening into a fuel-conducting passageway formed in the fuel tank filler neck, a pressure-relief valve mounted in a first vent passageway formed in the closure base for movement relative to the closure base from a normal closed position blocking flow of fuel vapor extant in the fuel tank filler neck through the first vent passageway to atmosphere outside of the fuel cap to an opened position allowing flow of pressurized fuel vapor extant in the fuel tank filler neck through the first vent passageway to the atmosphere in response to exposure of the pressure-relief valve to pressurized fuel vapor extant in the fuel tank filler neck and characterized by a positive pressure in excess of a predetermined positive pressure, and a vacuum-relief valve mounted in a second vent passageway formed in the closure base non-concentrically with the first vent passageway for independent movement relative to the closure base from a normally closed position blocking flow of air from the atmosphere through the second vent passageway into the fuel tank filler neck and an opened position allowing flow of air from the atmosphere through the second vent passageway into the fuel tank filler neck in response to exposure of the vacuum-relief valve to fuel vapor extant in the fuel tank filler neck and characterized by negative pressure in excess of a predetermined negative pressure,a handle arranged to overlie the filler-neck closure to form a space therebetween and supported for rotation about an axis of rotation relative to the filler-neck closure, anda valve mover located in the space provided between the handle and the filler-neck closure and configured to mate with the handle to provide means for moving the vacuum-relief valve from the closed position to the opened position in response to rotation of the handle about the axis of rotation in a cap-removal direction to vent any pressurized fuel vapor extant in the fuel tank filler neck through the second vent passageway past the vacuum-relief valve to the atmosphere while the pressure-relief valve remains in the closed position without disrupting movement of the vacuum-relief valve to the opened position in response to exposure of the vacuum-relief valve to fuel vapor extant in the fuel tank filler-neck and characterized by negative pressure in excess of the predetermined negative pressure. 2. The fuel cap of claim 1, further comprising a closure mover coupled to the handle and to the filler-neck closure and configured to rotate the filler-neck closure about the axis of rotation relative to the fuel tank filler neck in response to rotation of the handle about the axis of rotation in the cap-removal direction to separate the filler-neck closure from the fuel tank filler neck and wherein the closure mover is configured to provide means for delaying application of a rotation-inducing force to the filler-neck closure during rotation of the handle about the axis of rotation in the cap-removal direction until after the valve mover has been moved by the handle to cause the vacuum-relief valve to move from the closed position to the opened position. 3. The fuel cap of claim 2, wherein the closure mover includes a torque-transmission ring configured to mate with the handle during rotation of the handle about the axis of rotation in the cap-removal direction and supported for rotation about the axis of rotation in the space provided between the handle and the filler neck closure. 4. The fuel cap of claim 3, wherein the torque-transmission ring is formed to include a central aperture and the valve mover is arranged to extend through the central aperture and the valve mover is arranged to lie in a generally stationary position in the space provided between the handle and the filler-neck closure during an initial stage of rotation of the handle about the axis of rotation to cause the torque-transmission ring to rotate about the axis of rotation relative to the valve mover. 5. The fuel cap of claim 3, wherein the torque-transmission ring is arranged to lie between the pressure-relief and vacuum-relief valves and the valve mover is arranged to extend through a central aperture formed in the torque-transmission ring to communicate with the vacuum-relief valve during movement of the valve mover relative to the filler-neck closure. 6. The fuel cap of claim 2, further comprising a filler-neck seal coupled to the filler-neck closure to move therewith and to mate with the fuel tank filler neck to establish a liquid fuel and fuel vapor seal therebetween upon movement to the filler-neck closure to an installed position closing the mouth formed in the fuel tank filler neck and the vacuum-relief valve is configured to be moved relative to the filler-neck closure by the valve mover to the opened position before the filler neck seal is moved relative to the fuel tank filler neck in response to rotation of the filler-neck closure to break the liquid fuel and fuel vapor seal established between the filler-neck closure and the fuel tank filler neck. 7. The fuel cap of claim 1, wherein the valve mover includes a plunger arranged to overlie and communicate with the vacuum-relief valve and configured to apply a downward force to the vacuum-relief valve to move the vacuum-relief valve from the normally closed position to the opened position to vent pressurized fuel vapor from the fuel tank filler neck through a passageway formed in the fuel cap to the atmosphere in response to movement of the handle relative to the filler neck during removal of the fuel cap from the filler neck. 8. The fuel cap of claim 7, wherein the valve mover further includes a plunger pusher supported for rotation about the axis of rotation relative to the plunger and for united up-and-down axial movement with the plunger along the axis of rotation and the plunger pusher is configured to mate with the handle to provide means for converting rotational movement of the handle about the axis of rotation in the cap-removal direction into downward axial movement of the plunger to move the plunger to apply the downward force to the vacuum-relief valve to the opened position before any substantial movement of the filler-neck closure relative to the fuel tank filler neck. 9. The fuel cap of claim 8, wherein the plunger pusher includes an inclined ramp, the handle includes an outer shell and a plunger lug coupled to the outer shell and arranged to extend downwardly from the outer shell to mate with the inclined ramp during rotation of the handle about the axis of rotation in the cap-removal direction and the inclined ramp has a positive slope to cause the plunger lug to apply a downward force to the inclined ramp during rotation of the handle about the axis of rotation to cause the plunger pusher and plunger to move as a unit downwardly along the axis of rotation to cause the plunger to move the vacuum-relief valve to the opened position. 10. The fuel cap of claim 8, wherein the valve mover further includes a motion controller coupled to the plunger pusher and configured to mate with the filler-neck closure and provide rotation-control means for blocking rotation of the plunger pusher about the axis of rotation without substantially inhibiting movement of the plunger pusher and the plunger along the axis of rotation in a downward direction to allow the plunger to move the vacuum-relief valve from the normally closed position to the opened position in response to rotation of the handle in the cap-removal direction. 11. The fuel cap of claim 8, wherein the valve mover further includes a motion controller coupled to the plunger pusher and configured to mate with the filler-neck closure to provide return means for yieldably moving the plunger pusher, plunger, and handle along the axis of rotation in an opposite upward direction in response to rotation of the handle about the axis of rotation in a cap-installation direction that is opposite to the cap-removal direction to allow the vacuum-relief valve to move upwardly from the opened position to the normally closed position. 12. The fuel cap of claim 8, wherein the valve mover further includes a motion-control arm coupled to a lower portion of the plunger pusher, the motion-control arm includes an arm mount coupled to the lower portion of the plunger pusher, a return head, and a return-head support arranged to interconnect the arm mount and the return head, the return head is configured to engage a flat stop face of an upright rotation-blocking tooth included in a series of rotation-blocking teeth included in the closure base when the handle is rotated in a cap-removal direction to prevent rotation of the plunger pusher relative to the closure base about the axis of rotation, and the return head is configured further to permit rotation of the plunger pusher about the axis of rotation relative to the fuel tank filler neck when the handle is rotated about the axis of rotation in an opposite cap-installation direction owing to periodic camming engagement of an inclined surface of the rotation-blocking teeth and an inclined surface on the return head. 13. A fuel cap engageable with a fuel tank filler neck, the fuel cap comprising a filler-neck closure adapted to move relative to a fuel tank filler neck and close a mouth opening into a fuel-conducting passageway formed in the fuel tank filler neck, the filler-neck closure including a closure base, a pressure-relief valve coupled to the closure base and configured to vent excessive pressurized fuel vapor from the fuel tank filler neck to atmosphere, and a vacuum-relief valve coupled to the closure base separately from the pressure-relief valve and configured normally to dissipate vacuum in the fuel tank filler neck by admitting atmosphere into the tank,a handle adapted to be gripped by a user and rotated about a vertical axis of rotation relative to the filler tank fuel neck,a closure mover coupled to the handle and the filler-neck closure and configured to transmit torque applied to the handle to the filler-neck closure, and a valve mover coupled to the handle to provide means for opening the vacuum-relief valve in response to rotation of the handle in a counterclockwise cap-removal direction by a user during an initial stage of removal of the fuel cap from the fuel tank filler neck so that pressurized fuel vapor in the fuel tank filler neck is vented to the atmosphere through the opened vacuum-relief valve prior to breaking a sealed connection between the filler-neck closure and the fuel tank filler neck. 14. The fuel cap of claim 13, wherein the vacuum-relief valve is positioned in the closure base to lie laterally alongside the pressure-relief valve and in spaced-part relation to the vertical axis of rotation and the valve mover is configured to convert rotary movement of the handle into downward movement of the vacuum-relief valve relative to the closure base, to cause the vacuum-relief valve to move from a normally closed position to an opened position and act as a pressure-relief valve to vent pressurized fuel vapor from the fuel tank to the atmosphere during removal of the fuel cap from the filler neck but before separation of the filler-neck closure from the filler neck. 15. The fuel cap of claim 13, wherein the closure mover is configured to provide means for rotating the filler-neck closure about the axis of rotation relative to the filler neck after the vacuum-relief valve has been moved to the opened position by the valve mover during a final stage of removal of the fuel cap from the fuel tank filler neck. 16. The fuel cap of claim 13, wherein the vacuum-relief valve is located in a right-side upstanding sleeve included in the closure base, the pressure-relief valve is included in a left-side upstanding sleeve included in the closure base, the valve mover including a central plunger, a plunger pusher surrounding the central plunger, and a motion-control arm coupled to a lower portion of the plunger pusher, a torque-transmission ring included in the closure mover, and a handle including a drive lug providing means for engaging and turning the torque-transmission ring and a plunger lug providing means for engaging and turning the plunger pusher relative to the plunger to cause the plunger pusher and plunger to move downwardly as a unit so that the plunger engages and moves the vacuum-relief valve to the opened position, and the torque-transmission ring is configured to provide means for rotating the filler-neck closure about the axis of rotation relative to the fuel tank filler neck after the vacuum-relief valve has been moved by the plunger to the opened position. 17. The fuel cap of claim 16, wherein the drive lug of the handle is mounted for movement in a lost-motion slot formed in the torque-transmission ring and rotation of the handle in the counterclockwise cap-removal direction will cause the drive lug to move through the lost-motion slot formed in the torque-transmission ring transferring rotational motion to the torque-transmission ring until after the valve mover has moved the plunger to cause the vacuum-relief valve to move to the opened position.