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US 11,377,342 B2Granted
Fuel dispenser with leak detection
AssigneeWayne Fueling Systems LLC
InventorsHenry Fieglein, Thomas Cerovski
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Devices, methods, and systems are provided for detection of various leaks within fuel dispensers, such as through visualization within a fuel dispenser. An exemplary fuel dispenser can include a housing having fuel dispensing components disposed therein, a control system in the housing for controlling the dispensing of fuel, and a leak detection assembly for detecting a fluid leak within the housing, and for visually confirming the presence of a leak using an imaging device.
Claims19
A fuel dispenser, comprising:
- a base cabinet having fuel dispensing components that include at least one motor and at least one pump therein, the at least one pump being configured to receive fuel from a storage tank and the at least one motor being configured to drive the at least one pump to deliver the fuel to at least one hose on the fuel dispenser for dispensing the fuel, the base cabinet having a bottom pan configured to receive any fluid leaking within the base cabinet;
- an electronics housing isolated from the base cabinet and containing a control system configured to control the fuel dispensing components;
- and
- a leak detection assembly comprising:
- at least one sensor disposed within the base cabinet and configured to detect the presence of fluid within the bottom pan, the at least one sensor configured to measure an amount of detected fluid within the bottom pan and compare the amount of detected fluid to a first threshold,
- an imaging apparatus disposed within the base cabinet and operatively coupled to the sensor such that the imaging apparatus is activated by the sensor when the amount of detected fluid is greater than the first threshold, the imaging apparatus obtaining at least one image of the bottom pan when the imaging apparatus is activated by the sensor, and the leak detection assembly being configured to determine the amount of the detected fluid contained within the bottom pan based upon the at least one image, and
- a transmission apparatus configured to transmit the at least one image to a remote device upon activation of the imaging apparatus for verifying the presence of detected fluid within the bottom pan, configured to transmit a notification signal to the remote device when the amount of detected fluid is less than a second threshold, and configured to transmit a shutdown notification signal to the remote device when the amount of detected fluid exceeds the second threshold,
- wherein the notification signal characterizes the amount of detected fluid being less than the second threshold as indicating a false alarm event.
5 more elements
A fuel dispenser, comprising:
- a control system;
- a sensor configured to detect the presence of fluid in a bottom pan of a base cabinet of a fuel dispenser, and to output a detection signal containing data representing detection of the presence of fluid when the amount of detected fluid exceeds a first fluid threshold;
- an imaging device positioned within the base cabinet and configured to acquire at least one image of the bottom pan in response to receipt of the detection signal and output an imaging signal to the control system containing data representing the at least one image in response to the detection signal;
- and
- a notifier configured to generate and transmit at least one notification;
- wherein the control system is configured to determine an amount of the detected fluid contained within the bottom pan based upon the at least one image;
- and
- wherein the control system is configured to transmit a signal to the notifier when the amount of detected fluid is less than a second fluid threshold, the notifier transmitting a notification to a user, the notification characterizing the amount of the detected fluid being less than the second fluid threshold as indicating a false alarm event, and the control system is configured to transmit a shutdown notification signal to the notifier when the amount of detected fluid exceeds the second fluid threshold.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.