US1432714A - Attachment for fuel tanks - Google Patents

Description

J. J. METHENY.

ATTACHMENT FOR FUEL TANKS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 21. 1921.

1,4282J7M. Patented Oct. 17, 1922.

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Patented on. 17, ieaa' UNHTEE) STATES ll, earn Parent .rnss n :r. nnrnnnr, or sTuaaT,

IGWA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO JESSE L. BURNS, 0F STUART, IOWA.

eTTacnt-rnn'r re n FUEL TANKS.

Application filed October 21, 1921. Serial Ito. 509,446.

or gasoline tank designed to supply fuel by gravity feed system to a carburetor and thence to the cylinders of the engine. Such tanks are ordinarily provided with a vent to admit air, into the tank, as the fuel is taken out for engine consumption.

It is primarily my object to provide an attachment for use with such tanks, including a valve structure and an air passage arranged to be connected with a suitable pump or the like, the-valve structure being so arranged that ordinarily it will providea vent passage, serving the purpose of an ordinary vent.

Furthermore in such structure, the valve.

is designed to be closed in case a pump is used to force air into the'tank on which the structure is used, so that the tank may at least temporarily operate on the same principle for feeding fuel to the carburetor as is employed in the so-called pressure feed systems.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, an rangement and combination of the various parts of my device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinai or more fully set forth, pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure It shows a perspective view of a portion of a motor vehicle having a tank equipped with an attachment embodying my inyention.

Figure 2 shows a vertical, sectional view through a portionof a top of the tank equipped with my invention; and

Figure 3 shows a vertical, sectional view through an attachment embodying a modilied form of my invention.

in the accompanying drawings, 1 have used the reference numeral 10 to indicate a portion of the body of a motor vehicle supporting. the fuel tank 11, having the top member 12. The fuel tank 11 has a fuel opening, which is ordinarily closed by a plug or cap.

For the-ordinary plug or cap used in such tanks, 1 have substituted a cap or plug 13 having the downwardly extending annular externally screw-threaded flange 14, ar-

ranged to be screwed into the top of the fuel tank and provided at its upper portion with a part 13*, projecting beyond the flange 14:, as shown in Figure 2.

At the central portion ofthe cap 13 is an upwardly extending tubular or hollow cylindrical member 15 forming a valve casin having therein a valve seat 16 adapted to coact with a ball valve or the like 1'? ar ranged below the valve seat and limited in its downward movement by a holding member 18. p

At its upper end, the valve casing 16 is externally screw-threaded, as at 15 to receive a suitable cap 20, which is provided at its side with a vent opening 21.

In Figure 3 is shown a modified form of my invention, in which is employed a tubular valve casing 22 having a valve seat 23 and a ball valve 2 1- to coact therewith. A plug 24? having a pamage 25 through it is screwed into the lower end of the casing 22 and supports the valve. A passage 26 leads from the inner face of the cap 13 to a point just above the plug 2& communicating with i the valve seat 23. I

It is well-known that tanks used on cars, which are not of the vacuum feed type, and in which the fuel is fed by vacuum, are usually provided with caps having vent openings therein. It will be noted that my cap,

which is designed "for use with the kind of tanks now under consideration, furnishes a plug for closing the opening into the gas tank and also has'the valve casing 16 so arranged that normally air may leave the tank 12 freely,

In the valve casing is the valve, which normally is inoperative.

It will thus be seen that where my equipment is provided, the ordinary operation of the automobile is not in anyway effected one we or the other by my attachment.

Owever, if the driver should be at the bottom of a long hill with his gas sli htly low or should be elsewhere where it wou d be desirable to insure all of the gasoline in the ssh I tank reaching the carburetor, it will be seen that a hand pump 19 or the like may be con-' nected with the casing 15, after the removal of the cap 20 for forcing air into the tank 11. Thus air under pressure may be forced into the tank 11 and when the pressure.

reaches a certain point, it will be seen that the valve 17 will be forced shut, thereby the pump 19 is removed. The gasoline or other fuel in the tank will then remain under pressure, which pressure will tend to force the Even with a car which has the vacuum fuel feed system, it is known that'at times when the car stands idle for a considerable period, the carburetor may leak enough so that the fuel leaks from the vacuum tank.

Thereafter the engine can not be started tillthe vacuum tank is primed by supplying fuel to it. lVhere my device is on the fuel tank, it is obvious that the pumpmay be used for putting air under pressure into the fuel tank and thereby forcing fuel to the vacuum tank. Of course, as soon as the engine starts, the vacuum system 'will take care of itself.

The advantages of such a structure as that herein shown are simply illustrated by the foregoing and will readily appear to the reader. Y

The cap 13 may screw onto a cylindrical extension and may be made in various forms, as may the other parts of the device, such as the valve and valve casing, and the valve casing and operative parts might be installed elsewhere than on the cap 13.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my improved device without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claim, any modified forms of structure, or use of mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably included within its scope.

I claim as my invention:

. In a device of the class described, a cap designed to-be mounted on a fuel tank by means of a tight joint, and having joining means,'said cap having a central outwardly projecting extension forming a valve casing, a passage extend-111g through sald casing having a contracted portion, the extension having a valve seat below said contracted portion, a valve arranged to coact with said seat and to normally stand below the seat, a cap for said valve casing extension having a screw-threaded connection therewith and being provided with a vent opening, said valve comprising a ball, a plug screwed into the lower end of said passage for supporting said ball, said plug being provided with a passage through it and a by-pass extending from the inner surface of said cap to the passage in said extension adjacent to said valve seat.

Des Moines, Iowa, October 13, 1921.

JESSE J. METHEN Y.

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