Fuel storage system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9731593-B2
Application number	US-18775108-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 7, 2008
Priority date	Aug 7, 2008
Publication date	Aug 15, 2017
Grant date	Aug 15, 2017

Abstract

A fuel storage vessel includes a valve operatively associated with the storage vessel, a conduit disposed within the vessel and in fluid communication with the valve for delivering a stream of pressurized fuel to the storage vessel and a detector adjacent the conduit for detecting a state of the pressurized fuel in the storage vessel. The detector is positioned outside of the stream of pressurized fuel.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A system comprising:
a vessel;
a valve assembly operatively associated with the vessel;
a conduit disposed within a fuel storage chamber defined by the vessel, in fluid communication with the valve assembly, extending from and away an exposed end face of the valve assembly disposed within the chamber, and terminating at an end portion; and
a pressure sensor disposed alongside the conduit and between the exposed end face and end portion.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor is spaced away from the conduit.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor is attached with the conduit.

4. A vehicle storage system for hydrogen fuel, comprising:
a vessel;
a valve assembly attached with the vessel for selectively accessing fuel in a fuel storage chamber defined by the vessel;
a conduit disposed within the chamber and in fluid communication with the valve assembly for delivering the fuel to the chamber, the conduit extending from and away an exposed end face of the valve assembly disposed within the chamber and terminating at an end portion; and
a sensor disposed within the chamber and between the exposed end face and end portion for sensing a state of the fuel in the chamber.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the sensor is attached with the conduit.

6. The system of claim 4 wherein the sensor comprises a temperature sensor.

7. The system of claim 4 wherein the sensor comprises a pressure sensor.

8. The system of claim 4 wherein the sensor is spaced away from the conduit.

9. The system of claim 4 wherein the conduit comprises a tube.

10. The system of claim 4 wherein the valve assembly includes a seal to isolate the fuel within the chamber and wherein the sensor is electrically connected with a wire that passes through the seal.

11. A hydrogen fuel storage system for an automotive vehicle, comprising:
a hydrogen storage tank;
a valve assembly attached with the storage tank;
a tube disposed within a fuel storage chamber defined by the storage tank and in fluid communication with the valve assembly for at least one of delivering hydrogen to and removing hydrogen from the storage tank, the tube extending from and away an exposed end face of the valve assembly disposed within the chamber and terminating at an end through which the hydrogen at least one of exits and enters the tube; and
a sensor disposed adjacent the tube, disposed within the chamber, and between the exposed end face and end for sensing a state of the hydrogen in the storage tank.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the sensor is attached with the tube.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein the valve assembly includes a solenoid and wherein the sensor is attached with the solenoid.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein the sensor comprises a temperature sensor.

15. The system of claim 11 wherein the sensor comprises a pressure sensor.

16. The system of claim 11 wherein the sensor is spaced away from the tube.

17. The system of claim 11 wherein the valve assembly includes a seal to isolate the hydrogen within the chamber and wherein the sensor includes a wire passing through the seal.

Assignees

• Veenstra Michael Jon
• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Veenstra Michael Jon

Classifications

• Y02E60/321

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• B60K15/013 Primary

  of gas conduits · CPC title

• Y02E60/32

  Hydrogen storage · CPC title