Reserve fuel system
AssigneeS & J 17, LLC
InventorsSamuel S. Conte, Jeffrey Britton
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A reserve fuel tank retention and control (RTRC) module and a method of operating a vehicle including an engine and a main fuel tank containing a fuel, the method including mounting the RTRC module onto the vehicle; fluidly connecting the RTRC module to the engine and to the main fuel tank; actuating a valve of the RTRC module for a predetermined time to purge moisture in a fuel supply hose into the engine; and upon the main fuel tank becoming empty, actuating the valve to allow fuel from the reserve fuel tank to supply the engine.
Claims17
A reserve fuel tank retention and control (RTRC) module for a vehicle including an engine and a main fuel tank containing a fuel, the RTRC module comprising:
- a fuel supply hose adapted to fluidly connect the RTRC module and the engine;
- a fuel intake hose adapted to fluidly connect the RTRC module and the main fuel tank;
- a reserve fuel tank;
- a first fluid circuit fluidly connecting the fuel supply hose and the fuel intake hose with a first check-valve therebetween, the first check-valve allowing flow of the fuel from the fuel intake hose to the fuel supply hose;
- a second fluid circuit fluidly connecting the fuel supply hose and the fuel intake hose, the second fluid circuit including a second check-valve between the fuel intake hose and the reserve fuel tank and a valve between the reserve fuel tank and the fuel supply hose;
- an actuator operable to open the valve to allow fuel to flow from the reserve fuel tank to the engine;
- a housing including a base and a lid secured to the base, wherein the reserve fuel tank, the first check-valve, the second check-valve, and the valve are positioned within the housing;
- and
- a sliding plate adapted to be secured to the base with at least one strap of the vehicle between the sliding plate and the base to secure the RTRC module to the vehicle when the sliding plate is secured to the base.
A method of operating a vehicle including an engine and a main fuel tank containing a fuel, the method comprising:
- mounting a reserve fuel tank retention and control (RTRC) module onto the vehicle;
- fluidly connecting the RTRC module to the engine and to the main fuel tank;
- actuating a valve of the RTRC module for a predetermined time to purge moisture in a fuel supply hose into the engine;
- and
- upon the main fuel tank becoming empty, actuating the valve to allow fuel from the reserve fuel tank to supply the engine,
- wherein actuating the valve to allow fuel from the reserve fuel tank to supply the engine comprises actuating the valve for the predetermined time.
A method of operating a vehicle including an engine and a main fuel tank containing a fuel, the method comprising:
- mounting a reserve fuel tank retention and control (RTRC) module onto the vehicle;
- fluidly connecting the RTRC module to the engine and to the main fuel tank;
- actuating a valve of the RTRC module for a predetermined time to purge moisture in a fuel supply hose into the engine;
- and
- upon the main fuel tank becoming empty, actuating the valve to allow fuel from the reserve fuel tank to supply the engine,
- wherein the predetermined time is a first predetermined time, and wherein actuating the valve to allow fuel from the reserve fuel tank to supply the engine comprises actuating the valve for a second predetermined time different than the first predetermined time.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.