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US 4,747,388 AGranted
In-tank fuel reservoir and filter diaphragm
AssigneeWalbro Corporation
InventorCharles H. Tuckey
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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AssigneeWalbro Corporation
InventorCharles H. Tuckey
Estimating the term…
A fuel system for automotive vehicles including a main liquid fuel tank which has a vertical fuel canister within the tank containing an electrically powered fuel pump. The canister has an open bottom positioned at the bottom of the fuel tank. The pump delivers liquid fuel from an inlet at the bottom of the canister to the engine and a pressure regulator in the line diverts fuel above the required volume back to the top of the canister which has an overflow to the main tank. The canister, which serves as a fuel reservoir, has a bottom septum closed by a movable valve. A filter material extends over the bottom of the canister to filter fuel entering the pump inlet. The filter is mechanically associated centrally with a spring biased lever connected to the movable valve. Under conditions where the bottom of the canister is starved of liquid fuel, the filter acts as a diaphragm to shift the lever against the resilient bias and open the valve to admit reservoir fuel from the canister to the pump inlet.
In a fuel system for an automotive vehicle having a liquid fuel tank, a powered fuel pump, and a pressure regulator to limit the pressure and volume of fuel delivered to an engine of the vehicle, the improvement which comprises a reservoir canister having a base at the bottom of the fuel tank to receive return fuel from the pressure regulator, a pump associated with in said canister with an inlet adjacent to the bottom of the canister and the bottom of the fuel tank, means to contain return fuel in said canister, a valve to open said return-fuel-containing means to admit fuel to the inlet of said pump, and means to open said valve in response to the absence of liquid fuel at the base of said canister.
A liquid fuel supply for automotive vehicles comprising a canister having a lower end with an opening and an interior wall spaced from said lower end to form a fuel reservoir above said wall and a separate chamber below said wall, a fuel pump positioned within said reservoir and having an inlet coupled through said interior wall to said separate chamber, diaphragm means extending across said opening and being characterized by permitting free passage of liquid fuel therethrough while being closed by surface tension of liquid fuel to restrict passage of air therethrough, a valve carried by said wall for selectively coupling said reservoir to said separate chamber, and means responsive to absence of fuel at said opening for selectively opening said valve and thereby permitting flow of fuel from said reservoir to said chamber.
A fuel supply system comprising a container formed by a cover and a housing, which container is constructed to be mounted from above through a fuel tank opening to extend down to the tank bottom and containing an electrical fuel pump whose connecting pipe projects into an intermediate space formed by a fixed bottom and a subjacent filter, a pressure line connected to the fuel pump and leading out of the container, and a return line opening into a container chamber provided above the intermediate space, the chamber communicating with the intermediate space via drain means in the bottom, the drain means being constructed such that the amount of fuel draining therethrough is smaller than that supplied through the return line, and the filter having a mesh size characterized in that low pressure produced in the intermediate space by the fuel pump is smaller than the surface tension of the fuel in the filter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.