Title: Fueling nozzle device
Abstract: A device for use with a fueling nozzle including a handle assembly and a spout, the device includes a connection component for coupling to the fueling nozzle, proximal the spout, and a resilient member extending from the connection component. When in use, the connection component is coupled to the fueling nozzle and the resilient member extends into a fuel inlet of a vehicle along with the nozzle. The resilient member thereby biases the nozzle against a side of the fuel inlet.
Patent Number: 7,017,630 Issued on 03/28/2006 to Dikken
| Inventors:
|
Dikken; Mark P. (Brampton, CA)
|
| Assignee:
|
Kardtech Incorporated (Brampton, CA)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
805318 |
| Filed:
|
March 22, 2004 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| Current U.S. Class: |
141/392; 141/386 |
| Current Intern'l Class: |
B65B 1/04 (20060101) |
| Field of Search: |
141/392,98,383-386,206-226,59
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
| 3946771 | Mar., 1976 | Braun et al.
| |
| 4913201 | Apr., 1990 | Lucero et al.
| |
| 5236023 | Aug., 1993 | Mohr.
| |
| 5385182 | Jan., 1995 | Dyer.
| |
| D403573 | Jan., 1999 | Garvey, III.
| |
| Foreign Patent Documents |
| 0566026 | Oct., 1993 | EP.
| |
Primary Examiner: Douglas; Steven O.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Shoemaker and Mattare
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A device for use with a fueling nozzle comprising a handle assembly and a
spout, the device comprising:
a connection component for coupling to said fueling nozzle, proximal said spout; and
a resilient member extending from said connection component, said resilient member
comprising a beam having a plurality of bends at locations spaced from said connection component,
said connection component for coupling to said fueling nozzle and said resilient
member for extending into a fuel inlet of a vehicle with said nozzle, thereby biasing
said nozzle against a side of said fuel inlet.
2. The device according to claim 1, wherein said resilient member is hingedly
attached to said connection component for moving said resilient member between
a use position and a non-use position.
3. A device for use with a fueling nozzle comprising a handle assembly and a
spout, the device comprising:
a connection component for coupling to said fueling nozzle, proximal said spout; and
a resilient member extending from said connection component,
said connection component for coupling to said fueling nozzle and said resilient
member for extending into a fuel inlet of a vehicle with said nozzle, thereby biasing
said nozzle against a side of said fuel inlet, wherein said beam comprises a plurality
of ribs extending along a surface of said beam, transverse to a length of said beam.
4. The device according to claim 1, wherein said connection component comprises
a mounting plate for mounting to the nozzle.
5. The device according to claim 4, wherein said connection component further,
said mounting plate being fixed to one end thereof.
6. The device according to claim 1, wherein said connection component comprises
a collar disposed on the spout.
7. A fueling nozzle for use with a fuel pump and hose in fueling vehicles, the
fueling nozzle comprising:
a handle assembly comprising a handle portion having a fluid path in fluid communication
with a hose from said pump, and a trigger in communication with said handle portion,
the trigger being atutaable for causing fuel flow through said fluid path when
in use;
a spout extending from said handle portion, said spout in fluid communication
with said handle portion for flow of fuel from said hose through said handle portion
and out said spout; and
a resilient member coupled to a least one of said spout and said handle assembly
and extending therefrom, said resilient member comprising a beam having a plurality
of bends at locations spaced from said handle portion,
whereby when said nozzle is in use, said resilient member extends into said fuel
inlet for abutting said fuel inlet and biasing said spout into contact with said
fuel inlet.
8. The fueling nozzle according to claim 7, wherein said resilient member is
coupled to said spout, proximal said handle assembly.
9. A fueling nozzle for use with a fuel pump and hose in fueling vehicles, the
fueling nozzle comprising:
a handle assembly comprising a handle portion having a fluid path in fluid communication
with a hose from said pump, and a trigger in communication with said handle portion,
the trigger being actutaable for causing fuel flow through said fluid path when
in use;
a spout extending from said handle portion, said spout in fluid communication
with said handle portion for flow of fuel from said hose through said handle portion
and out said spout; and
a resilient member coupled to a portion of said handle assembly and extending therefrom,
said resilient member for extending into said fuel inlet for abutting said fuel
inlet and biasing said spout into contact with said fuel inlet.
10. The fueling nozzle according to claim 7, wherein said resilient member is
hingedly coupled to said spout for moving said resilient member between a use position
and a non-use position.
11. The fueling nozzle according to claim 9, wherein said resilient member is
hingedly coupled to said portion of said handle assembly for moving said resilient
member between a use position and a non-use position.
12. The fueling nozzle according to claim 7, wherein said resilient member is
coupled to said spout via a connection component mounted on said spout, said resilient
member extending from said connection component.
13. The fueling nozzle according to claim 9, wherein said resilient member is
hingedly attached to said connection component for moving said resilient member
between a use position and a non-use position.
14. The fueling nozzle according to claim 9, wherein said resilient member comprises
a beam.
15. The fueling nozzle according to claim 14, wherein said beam comprises a plurality
of ribs extending a long a surface thereof, transverse to a length thereof.
16. The fueling nozzle according to claim 12, wherein said connection component
comprises a mounting plate for mounting to the nozzle.
17. The fueling nozzle according to claim 16, wherein said connection component
further comprises a collar, said mounting plate being fixed to one end thereof.
18. The fueling nozzle according to claim 12, wherein said connection component
comprises a collar disposed on the spout.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates in general to fuel pump nozzles and more particularly
to a device having structure for reducing the occurrence of fuel spills at fuel
pumping stations, caused by nozzles that inadvertently fall from fuel inlets of
vehicles, during fueling.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Fuel spills that occur at automobile fueling stations are hazardous to the safety
of individuals at or near the fueling station and to the environment. Fuel spills
at fuel stations used by trucks in the trucking industry are common and in some
cases, involve a large volume of fuel spilled. Clearly large volume fuel spills
are extremely hazardous and can result in a loss of revenue.
Fuel spills at stations used in the trucking industry are generally the result
of a nozzle being left unattended during pumping. Drivers commonly leave fuel nozzles
unattended during filling due to the time required to fuel a large truck. In many
cases, the fuel pump, the fuel line from the pump and the nozzle at the end of
the fuel line are all in working order and have no defects. Thus, such spills are
caused by other factors. For example, when fueling a truck, it is common for a
driver to walk away from the truck or to attend to other matters around the truck.
When left unattended, the spout portion of the nozzle then dislodges from the fuel
inlet of the truck. This occurs for many reasons including, for example, due to
accidental interference by the driver of the truck by inadvertently knocking or
bumping the fuel line leading to the nozzle, due to wind that moves the fuel line
and thereby moves the nozzle, due to changes in pressure that commonly occur at
multi-fueling point stations or due to back pressure from the tank as the volume
of fuel in the tank increases.
To reduce the occurrence of such spills at truck fueling sites, laws have been
introduced requiring all persons fueling vehicles to be in attendance at the fueling
point during fueling. Such laws however, are difficult to enforce.
To prevent persons from walking away from the pump during filling, hold-open
clips
that were present on the handle portion on 7H style nozzles in the past, are no
longer available at truck fueling stations. These hold-open clips allow the driver
to engage the clip to hold the trigger of the nozzle in the open position, without
having to maintain hand contact with the trigger. The removal of these hold-open
clips has not prevented drivers from leaving fuel pumps unattended during fueling,
however. Foreign objects are commonly jammed into the handle of the nozzle to force
the trigger into the open position and therefore allow the driver to leave the
pump unattended during fueling.
Because, many drivers continue to walk away from the fueling point during
fueling of their trucks, it is desirable to inhibit a nozzle from becoming dislodged
from a fuel inlet of truck in the case that the fueling point is left unattended.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device for use with
a fueling nozzle including a handle assembly and a spout, the device includes a
connection component for coupling to the fueling nozzle, proximal the spout, and
a resilient member extending from the connection component. When in use, the connection
component is coupled to the fueling nozzle and the resilient member extends into
a fuel inlet of a vehicle, along with the nozzle. The resilient member thereby
biases the nozzle against a side of the fuel inlet.
In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a fueling nozzle
for use with a fuel pump and hose in fueling vehicles. The fueling nozzle includes
a handle assembly including a handle portion having a fluid path in fluid communication
with a hose from the pump, and a trigger in communication with the handle portion.
The trigger is actuatable for causing fuel flow through the fluid path when in
use. A spout extends from the handle portion. The spout is in fluid communication
with the handle portion for flow of fuel from the hose through the handle portion
and out the spout. A resilient member is coupled to one of the spout and the handle
assembly and extends therefrom. When the nozzle is in use, the resilient member
extends into the fuel inlet for abutting the fuel inlet and biasing the spout into
contact with the fuel inlet.
Several advantages are realized in aspects of embodiments of the present
invention. For example, the pump nozzle device provides an inexpensive way to aid
in inhibiting nozzles from inadvertently falling from a fuel inlet of a vehicle.
Also, the design permits use of the nozzle device with many different tank styles
or different nozzles. Energy due to movement of the nozzle during filling is absorbed
by the nozzle device. Other advantages also include improved grounding of the vehicle
to the pump and reduced wear of the spout of the nozzle. Also, with the device
in a non-use position, the device protects the plastic head cap at the top of the
nozzle. If damaged, the head cap allows air in to the fuel tank and therefore does
not provide a vacuum state in the tank. The vacuum state is desired in order for
the automatic shut off on the fuel pump to work. Thus, protection of head cap is desirable.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be better understood with reference to the drawings and the
following description, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a device for use with a fueling nozzle, showing
a resilient member in a first position, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a side view of the device of FIG. 1, installed on a nozzle, with the
device in a use position;
FIG. 3 is a side view of the device installed on the nozzle of FIG. 2, with
the device in a non-use position;
FIG. 4 is a side view of the device installed on the nozzle of FIG. 2, with
the device in the use position and the device and nozzle inserted into a fuel inlet,
the fuel inlet shown in section; and
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the device installed on the nozzle of FIG. 4,
with the nozzle device in a use position and the device and nozzle inserted into
a fuel inlet.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Reference is first made to FIG. 1 to describe a device for use with a fueling
nozzle (not shown in FIG. 1), the device being indicated generally by the numeral
20. The device
20 includes a connection component
22 for coupling
to the fueling nozzle, proximal a spout thereof. The device
20 also includes
a resilient member
24 extending from the connection component
22.
When in use, the connection component
22 is coupled to the fueling nozzle
and the resilient member
24 extends into a fuel inlet of a vehicle (not
shown), along with the nozzle. The resilient member
24 thereby biases the
nozzle against a side of the fuel inlet.
The device
20 will now be described in more detail. As shown in FIG. 1,
the device
20 includes the connection component
22 that has a collar
26 and a mounting plate
28. The collar
26 is generally cylindrically
shaped and is sized to fit snugly around a standard spout of a fueling nozzle.
The mounting plate
28 is welded to and extends outwardly from a portion
of one end of the collar
26. The mounting plate
28 includes a pair
of bolt holes
32 that are sized and spaced to match a bolt pattern on a
face of the nozzle that is near the junction between the spout and a handle assembly
of the nozzle. Clearly the bolt holes
30 in the mounting plate
28
are used for mounting the device
20 to the nozzle.
The device
20 also includes the resilient member
24 that extends
from the collar
26. The resilient member
26 is fixed to the collar
26 via first and second chain linkages
32,
34, respectively.
The first chain linkage
32 is welded to the collar
26 and the second
chain linkage
34 welded to the resilient member
26. Clearly the first
and second chain linkages
32,
34, respectively are coupled to each
other and hinge about an axis
36. Thus, the resilient member
24 is
fixed to the collar
26 and is movable between a first position that is best
shown in FIG. 2 and a second position that is best shown in FIG. 3.
Rather than extending straight from the collar
26, the resilient member
24 includes a number of bends therein. In the present embodiment, the resilient
member
24 includes first second and third sections
38,
40,
42, respectively. As best shown in FIG. 1, the first and third sections
38,
42, respectively are generally parallel and a separated by the
second section
40 that extends therebetween. Clearly the second section
40 extends at an obtuse angle to both the first and third sections
38,
42, respectively.
Each of the first and second sections
38,
40, respectively, include
ribs
44 that protrude from the resilient member
24 and extend across
the width thereof. A rounded bump
46 protrudes from the third section
42
of the resilient member, proximal an end thereof. The use and function of the ribs
44 and rounded bump
46 will be more fully explained below.
In the present embodiment, all portions of the device
20 are made of stainless
steel that is TIG welded and the resilient member is tempered. Other suitable materials
and manufacturing methods are possible.
Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, perspective views of the device
20
installed on a nozzle are shown. The nozzle is indicated generally by the numeral
50. As shown, the nozzle
50 includes a handle assembly
52
for connection at one end to a fuel line hose, and a spout
54 connected
to a second end of the handle assembly
52. The handle assembly
52
has a handle portion
56 for grasping during pumping, through which a fluid
path is provided. The fluid path connects the fuel line hose and the spout
54
in fluid communication. A trigger
58 is connected to the handle portion
56 and operates a valve in the fluid path for controlling fuel flow through
the fluid path. As will be appreciated, the trigger
58 is actuated during
fueling to cause fuel flow through the fluid path and out the spout
54.
Referring still to FIGS. 2 and 3, the device
20 is connected to
the nozzle
50 by sliding the spout
54 through the collar
26
and then moving the collar
26 up the spout
54. Next, connecting bolts
(not shown) are located through the bolt holes
30 of the mounting plate
28 and into bolt holes on a face
60 of the nozzle
50 that
is near the junction between the spout
54 and the handle assembly
52.
As previously indicated, the bolt holes
32 through the mounting plate
28
are sized and spaced to match the bolt pattern on the face
60, providing
a convenient attachment for the device
20 on the nozzle
50.
As described above, the resilient member
24 is movable by hinging about
the chain linkages
32,
34, between a first position, also referred
to as a use position (shown in FIG. 2) and a second position, referred to as a
non-use position (shown in FIG. 3). When in the use position, the resilient member
24 extends generally in the direction of the spout
54, although clearly
the resilient member
24 does not follow the exact contour and direction
of the spout
45. When in the non-use position, the resilient member
24
extends away from the spout, such that the resilient member
24 abuts the
handle portion
56, as shown in FIG. 3.
In use during fueling, the resilient member
24 is placed in the use position
and both the spout
54 and the resilient member
24 are urged into
a fuel inlet
70 of a vehicle, as best shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Due to the
limited size of the fuel inlet
70, the resilient member
24 abuts
a sidewall of the fuel inlet
70 and thereby acts to spring bias the spout
54 into contact with the sidewall of the fuel inlet
70. It will be
understood that the bends that are provided in the resilient member
24 aid
in spring biasing the spout
54 against the sidewall of the fuel inlet. Thus,
friction between the spout
54 and the sidewall of the fuel inlet
70
and between the resilient member
24 and the sidewall of the fuel inlet
70
aids in inhibiting the spout
54 from inadvertently falling out of the fuel
inlet
70 during fueling.
As previously explained, the resilient member
24 has ribs
44 that
protrude and extend across the width thereof. These ribs
44 and the rounded
bump
46 further aid in inhibiting the spout
54 from inadvertently
falling out of the fuel inlet
70 as they protrude from the resilient member
42 and provide locations of increased resistance to removal of the spout
54 and the resilient member
24 from the fuel inlet
70. The
third section
42 of the resilient member
24 also has a rounded bump
46 near an end thereof for screened tanks. This rounded bump
46 sits
in the screen orifice when in use. Thus, the resilient member
24 contacts
the fuel inlet and thereby provides electrical contact for grounding.
Once the spout
54 and the resilient member
24 are placed in the
fuel inlet
70 of the vehicle, the vehicle is then refueled. To remove the
spout
54 and the resilient member
24, the handle portion
56
of the nozzle
50 is grasped and pulled outwardly and away from the fuel
inlet
70.
In the event that the fuel inlet
70 is not large enough to accommodate
both the spout
54 and the resilient member
24, or the vehicle design
does not permit both the spout
54 and the resilient member
24 to
be inserted into the fuel inlet
70, the resilient member
24 is moved
to the non-use position and fueling then begins. In the non-use position, the resilient
member
24 does not inhibit the spout
54 from inadvertently falling
out of the fuel inlet
70. In this case, however, the resilient member provides
protection for part of the handle assembly
52.
The many features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from
the above description. Since numerous modifications and changes may occur to those
skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction
and operation illustrated and described herein. Accordingly, such modifications
and changes are believed to be within the scope and sphere of the present invention.
*
