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.
Claims20
A method of operating a reserve fuel system including a reserve fuel tank retention and control (RTRC) module, the method comprising:
- mounting the RTRC module onto a main fuel tank such that a longitudinal axis of a reserve fuel tank of the RTRC module is parallel to a longitudinal axis of the main fuel tank, the main fuel tank being operatively coupled to an exterior surface of a vehicle such that the longitudinal axis of the main fuel tank is positioned parallel to the ground surface upon which the vehicle is to be operated on;
- fluidly connecting the RTRC module to the engine and to the main fuel tank;
- actuating a valve of the RTRC module to a first position to allow fuel to flow from main fuel tank to the engine;
- and
- upon detecting that the main fuel tank is empty, actuating the valve to a second position allow fuel from the reserve fuel tank to supply the engine.
A reserve fuel system comprising:
- a reserve fuel tank retention and control (RTRC) module mounted onto a main fuel tank, the main fuel tank operatively coupled to a vehicle such that a longitudinal axis of the main fuel tank is positioned parallel to the ground surface upon which the vehicle is to be operated on, wherein the RTRC module comprises:
- a fuel supply hose adapted to fluidly connect the RTRC module and an engine;
- a fuel intake hose adapted to fluidly connect the RTRC module and the main fuel tank;
- a reserve fuel tank having an inlet and an outlet and configured to receive fuel from the main fuel tank, wherein the inlet is coupled to the fuel intake hose and the outlet is coupled to the fuel supply hose;
- a first fluid circuit fluidly connecting the main fuel tank to the engine;
- and
- a second fluid circuit fluidly connecting the main fuel tank to the engine via the reserve fuel tank.
A reserve fuel tank retention and control (RTRC) module for a vehicle, the RTRC module comprising:
- a fuel supply hose adapted to fluidly connect the RTRC module and an engine of the vehicle;
- a fuel intake hose adapted to fluidly connect the RTRC module and a main fuel tank of the vehicle;
- a reserve fuel tank having an inlet and an outlet and configured to receive fuel from the main fuel tank, wherein the inlet is coupled to the fuel intake hose and the outlet is coupled to the fuel supply hose;
- a first fluid circuit fluidly connecting the main fuel tank to the engine directly;
- a second fluid circuit fluidly connecting the main fuel tank to the engine via the reserve fuel tank;
- and
- a valve positioned between the reserve fuel tank and the engine and having the first position and the second position, fuel being supplied from the main fuel tank to the engine when the valve is in the first position via the first fluid circuit, fuel being supplied from the reserve fuel tank to the engine when the valve is in the second position via the second fluid circuit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.