Nozzle for filling a fuel tank, comprising a liquid-vapour separator having two positions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10654355-B2
Application number	US-201415108983-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 26, 2014
Priority date	Dec 30, 2013
Publication date	May 19, 2020
Grant date	May 19, 2020

Abstract

A filling nozzle of a fuel tank including a receiving pipe and a liquid-vapor separator, includes a hollow body communicating with an intake pipe for a stream of vapors from the fuel tank, an emptying pipe flowing into the receiving pipe, and a vapor outlet pipe. The hollow body includes a separation mechanism extracting droplets and including at least one wall movable between first and second configurations. In the first configuration the movable wall forms, together with walls of the hollow body, a maze in which stream of vapors passing from the intake pipe towards the outlet pipe is forced to circulate. In the second configuration the movable wall allows the stream of vapors to pass from the intake pipe to the outlet pipe following a path that avoids all or part of the path travelled by the vapors when the movable walls are in the first configuration.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A filler neck of a fuel tank comprising:
a receiving pipe to receive a filling nozzle; and
a liquid-vapor separator, comprising a hollow body into which a single vapor flow inlet pipe from the fuel tank, a drainage pipe flowing into the receiving pipe, and a vapor outlet pipe open, the hollow body including separating means allowing extraction of droplets present in the vapor flow such that they flow into the drainage pipe;
wherein the separating means comprises at least one wall movable between a first and a second configuration such that:
in the first configuration, the movable wall is disposed substantially vertically and together with walls of the hollow body forms a path in which the vapor flow passing from the inlet pipe to the outlet pipe is forced to circulate along said movable wall so that fuel droplets contained in the vapor are deposited on the movable wall and flow by gravity to the receiving pipe; and
in the second configuration, the movable wall is arranged to define a passage in which the vapor flow circulates from the inlet pipe to the outlet pipe along a path avoiding all or part of the path taken by the vapors when the movable wall is in the first configuration, a cross-section of the passage being arranged such that load loss suffered by the vapor flow circulating in the hollow body between the inlet pipe and the outlet pipe is strictly smaller than that suffered by a same vapor flow when the movable wall is in the first configuration.

2. The filler neck as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the separating means of the liquid-vapor separator comprises at least one wall movable in rotation about a vertical axis.

3. The filler neck as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the hollow body of the liquid-vapor separator has a general form of a cylinder with a same axis as the axis of rotation of the movable wall, and a circular cross-section, an inner diameter of which is substantially equal to a width of the movable wall.

4. The filler neck as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the separating means of the liquid-vapor separator comprises two movable walls, arranged such that when placed in the second configuration, sections of an intersection of the inlet pipe and the outlet pipe with the hollow body are contained in a space located between the two movable walls.

5. The filler neck as claimed in claim 4 , further comprising an isolating partition connecting together the two movable walls and arranged such that when the movable walls are placed in the second configuration, the inlet pipe and the outlet pipe communicate via a passage isolated from the drainage pipe and contained between the two movable walls and situated between an upper plate and the isolating partition.

6. The filler neck as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a valve movable between an open position opening the passage between the drainage pipe and the receiving pipe when the separating means is in the first configuration, and a closed position closing the communication between the drainage pipe and the receiving pipe when the separating means is in the second configuration.

7. The filler neck as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the separating means of the liquid-vapor separator comprises at least one wall movable in rotation about a horizontal axis.

8. The filler neck as claimed in claim 7 , wherein:
in the first configuration, the movable wall of the liquid-vapor separator is arranged substantially perpendicular to the vapor flow entering the hollow body via the inlet pipe,
in the second configuration, the movable wall of the liquid-vapor separator is arranged such that the inlet pipe and the outlet pipe are isolated from the drainage pipe.

9. The filler neck as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the hollow body of the liquid-vapor separator has a substantially cylindrical or hemispherical form, and wherein the movable wall pivots about an axis situated in an equatorial plane of the hollow body and has a form similar to an inner equatorial cross-section of the hollow body.

10. The filler neck as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the separating means of the liquid-vapor separator is movable in translation along a vertically oriented axis in a direction.

11. The filler neck as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the hollow body has a substantially cylindrical form, and wherein the separating means comprises a piston movable in translation inside the hollow body and comprises a head, cross-section of which corresponds to an inner cross-section of the hollow body, and a wall extending below the head substantially perpendicular to the vapor flow entering the hollow body via the inlet pipe, such that:
in the first configuration, sections of intersection of the inlet pipe and outlet pipe with the hollow body are arranged below the head of the movable piston, such that the wall of the movable piston together with the walls of the hollow body forms a path in which the vapor flow passing from the inlet pipe to the outlet pipe is forced to circulate along said wall so that fuel droplets contained in the vapor are deposited on the movable wall and flow by gravity to the receiving pipe,
in the second configuration, the sections of intersection of the inlet pipe and outlet pipe with the hollow body are arranged above the head of the movable piston to isolate the inlet pipe and the outlet pipe from the drainage pipe.

12. The filler neck as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the separating means comprises at least one fixed wall extending from the upper part of the hollow body in a direction substantially perpendicular to the vapor flow entering the hollow body via the inlet pipe, along which fixed wall a movable wall slides parallel to the fixed wall, such that:
in the first configuration, the movable wall is arranged in an extension of the fixed wall such that the fixed wall extended by the height of the movable wall together with the walls of the hollow forms a path which the vapor flow circulates from the inlet pipe to the outlet pipe along said fixed wall and movable wall so that fuel droplets contained in the vapor are deposited on the fixed wall and the movable wall and flow by gravity to the receiving pipe,
in the second configuration, the movable wall is superposed over the fixed wall such that the fixed wall and a part of the movable wall together with the walls of the hollow body forms a path shorter than in the first configuration in which the vapor flow circulates from the inlet pipe towards the outlet pipe.

13. The filler neck as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the movable wall is connected via a connecting foot to a shutter such that when the movable wall is arranged in the first configuration, the shutter opens a passage between the drainage pipe and the receiving pipe, and when the movable wall is arranged in the second configuration, the shutter closes a passage between the drainage pipe and the receiving pipe.

14. The filler neck as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising means for activating passage of the liquid-vapor separator from the first configuration to the second configuration when the nozzle is introduced into the receiving pipe of the filler neck.

15. The filler neck as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the liquid-vapor separator comprises elastic means for causing the liquid-vapor separator to pass from the second configuration to the first configuration when the nozzle is withdrawn from the receiving pipe of the filler neck.

16. A filler neck of a fuel tank comprising:
a receiving pipe to receive a filling nozzle; and
a liquid-vapor separator, comprising a hollow body into which a single vapor flow inlet pipe from th

Assignees

• Plastic Omnium Advanced Innovation & Res

Inventors

• Le Mat Yvan
• Oszwald Pierre

Classifications

• B60K2015/03538

  the venting tube being connected with the filler tube · CPC title

• B60K15/04

  Tank inlets (B60K15/077 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B01D45/10

  which are wetted · CPC title

• B60K2015/03576

  Venting during filling the reservoir · CPC title

• B60K2015/03514

  with vapor recovery means · CPC title