Maintaining an operational temperature range

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9586807-B2
Application number	US-86310207-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 27, 2007
Priority date	Sep 27, 2007
Publication date	Mar 7, 2017
Grant date	Mar 7, 2017

Abstract

Maintaining an operational temperature range of a fuel dispenser component may be accomplished by a variety of systems, devices, and techniques. In one aspect, a fuel dispenser temperature maintenance system includes a centrifugal fan and an airflow separator. The centrifugal fan is detachably mounted to a fuel dispenser and adapted to circulate an airflow from an exterior to an interior of the fuel dispenser; separate the airflow into a conditioning airflow and an ejected airflow; and direct the conditioning airflow directly to a fuel dispenser component. The ejected airflow includes a plurality of particulates. The airflow separator includes a separator inlet adapted to receive the ejected airflow. The airflow separator is adapted to guide the ejected airflow from the separator inlet directly to an exterior of the fuel dispenser through an outlet channel, where the outlet channel is disposed between the airflow separator and the exterior of the fuel dispenser.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method to maintain an operating temperature range of a fuel dispenser component comprising:
circulating an airflow from an exterior of a fuel dispenser to an interior of the fuel dispenser through an airflow inlet;
drawing the airflow across a first plurality of protrusions that are in a first horizontal row and then across a second plurality of protrusions that are in a second horizontal row, the second plurality of protrusions being downstream of the first plurality of protrusions;
separating the airflow through a fan disposed downstream of the first and second pluralities of protrusions into a conditioning airflow and an ejected airflow;
directing the conditioning airflow through a first portion of an outlet of the fan to the fuel dispenser component; and
directing the ejected airflow through a second portion of the outlet of the fan substantially distinct from the first portion to the exterior of the fuel dispenser through an airflow outlet channel bypassing the fuel dispenser component.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising at least one of:
pre-filtering the airflow through a first filter media of a plurality of particulates prior to separating the airflow through the fan into the conditioning airflow and the ejected airflow; and
post-filtering the conditioning airflow through a second filter media of a plurality of particulates after separating the airflow through the fan into the conditioning airflow and the ejected airflow.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein directing the conditioning airflow through the first portion of the outlet of the fan to the fuel dispenser component comprises directing the conditioning airflow through the first portion of the outlet of the fan and then through a substantially enclosed pathway to the fuel dispenser component.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein directing the conditioning airflow through the first portion of the outlet of the fan to the fuel dispenser component comprises directing the conditioning airflow to at least one of:
an electronics head of the fuel dispenser;
a currency acceptor;
a payment module;
a printer; and
a fuel dispenser display.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein circulating the airflow from the exterior of the fuel dispenser comprises circulating the airflow from an airflow port at the exterior of the fuel dispenser through an airflow snorkel tube.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising mechanically filtering the airflow via the airflow port.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
measuring at least one of a temperature of the fuel dispenser component and an air temperature of the interior of the fuel dispenser; and
adjusting at least one of a fan speed and a heater output based on at least one of the temperature of the fuel dispenser component and the air temperature of the interior of the fuel dispenser.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ejected airflow comprises between approximately 1% and approximately 3% of the airflow and comprises less than approximately 60% of a plurality of particulates in the airflow when the second portion of the outlet of the fan comprises approximately 5% of the total area of the outlet of the fan.

9. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first filter media is disposed adjacent an inlet of the fan.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising further separating the ejected airflow from the conditioning airflow through a conduit in airflow communication with the exterior of the fuel dispenser.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising positioning an inlet of the conduit directly adjacent the second portion of the outlet of the fan.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein substantially all of the ejected airflow enters the conduit through the inlet and substantially none of the conditioning airflow enters the conduit.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ejected airflow comprises between approximately 1% and approximately 10% of the airflow and comprises between approximately 60% and approximately 70% of a plurality of particulates in the airflow without pre-filtering of the airflow prior to the fan and without post-filtering of the ejected airflow after the fan when the second portion of the outlet of the fan comprises between approximately 6% and approximately 10% of the total area of the outlet of the fan.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ejected airflow comprises between approximately 5% and approximately 10% of the airflow and comprises approximately 70% of a plurality of particulates in the airflow when the second portion of the outlet of the fan comprises approximately 10% of the total area of the outlet of the fan.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ejected airflow comprises between approximately 1% and approximately 10% of the airflow and comprises between approximately 60% and approximately 70% of a plurality of particulates in the airflow without pre-filtering of the airflow prior to the fan and without post-filtering of the ejected airflow after the fan.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein drawing the airflow across the first and second pluralities of protrusions comprises drawing the airflow in a vertical direction that is opposite to a gravity direction.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second pluralities of protrusions extend inward from an access panel of the fuel dispenser component.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the protrusions in the first plurality of protrusions are substantially aligned in the vertical direction with a respective one of the protrusions in the second plurality of protrusions.

19. A method to maintain an operating temperature range of a fuel dispenser component comprising:
circulating an airflow from an exterior of a fuel dispenser to an interior of the fuel dispenser through an airflow inlet;
drawing the airflow across a first plurality of protrusions, that are in a first horizontal row, each angled at a first angle and then across a second plurality of protrusions, that are in a second horizontal row, each angled at a second angle, the first angle being different front the second angle, the first plurality of protrusions and the second plurality of protrusions being configured to decrease the momentum of the airflow such that particles entrained in the airflow fall out of the airflow due to gravitational effect;
separating the airflow through a fan disposed downstream of the first plurality of protrusions and the second plurality of protrusions into a conditioning airflow and an ejected airflow;
directing the conditioning airflow through a first portion of an outlet of the fan to the fuel dispenser component; and
directing the ejected airflow through a second portion of the outlet of the fan substantially distinct from the first portion to the exterior of the fuel dispenser through an airflow outlet channel bypassing the fuel dispenser component.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the fuel dispenser includes a nozzle, and the airflow inlet is at a location above the nozzle in a vertical direction.

Assignees

• Zuzek Patrick
• Johnson Mark Justin
• Wayne Fueling Systems Llc

Inventors

• Zuzek Patrick
• Johnson Mark Justin

Classifications

• B67D7/06

  Details or accessories · CPC title

• B67D7/84 Primary

  Casings, cabinets or frameworks; Trolleys or like movable supports · CPC title