Capless filler neck closure system

A filler neck for use in delivering fuel to a vehicle fuel tank, the filler neck comprising

• a conduit including an outer end formed to include a mouth, an inner end formed to include a conduit outlet adapted to be coupled to a fuel tank inlet, and a neck passageway extending between the mouth and the conduit outlet,
• a partition unit positioned in the conduit to divide the neck passageway into an outer chamber communicating with the mouth and an inner chamber communicating with the conduit outlet, the partition unit being formed to include a partition channel extending therethrough and interconnecting the outer and inner chambers,
• a filler neck shuttle positioned for movement in the neck passageway and the partition channel between a channel-opening position and a channel-closing position, the filler neck shuttle being a nozzle formed to include a nozzle-receiving inlet positioned to face toward the mouth of the conduit, a fuel-discharging outlet positioned to communicate with the inner chamber upon movement of the filler neck shuttle to the channel-opening position, a tube including an annular top edge and a fill passageway extending between the nozzle-receiving inlet and the fuel-discharging outlet, and a plurality of upstanding nozzle fingers each including an inner end cantilevered to the annular top edge and a free end, and the upstanding nozzle fingers being arranged to lie in circumferentially spaced-apart relation along the annular top edge of the tube to project toward the mouth of the conduit and to define the nozzle-receiving inlet,
• a spring yieldably urging the filler neck shuttle in the neck passageway toward the mouth of the conduit and into engagement with the partition unit to place the filler neck shuttle in the channel-closing position to block flow of liquid fuel and fuel vapor extant in the fill passageway formed in the filler neck shuttle into the inner chamber formed in the conduit.

A filler neck for use in delivering fuel to a vehicle fuel tank, the filler neck comprising

• a conduit including an outer end formed to include a mouth, an inner end formed to include a conduit outlet adapted to be coupled to a fuel tank inlet, and a neck passageway extending between the mouth and the conduit outlet,
• a partition unit positioned in the conduit to divide the neck passageway into an outer chamber communicating with the mouth and an inner chamber communicating with the conduit outlet, the partition unit being formed to include a partition channel extending therethrough and interconnecting the outer and inner chambers,
• a filler neck shuttle positioned for movement in the neck passageway and the partition channel between a channel-opening position and a channel-closing position, the filler neck shuttle being formed to include a nozzle-receiving inlet positioned to face toward the mouth of the conduit, a fuel-discharging outlet positioned to communicate with the inner chamber upon movement of the filler neck shuttle to the channel-opening position, a tube including a fill passageway extending between the nozzle-receiving inlet and the fuel-discharging outlet, a plurality of upstanding nozzle fingers appended to one end of the tube and arranged to define the nozzle-receiving inlet, at least one of the upstanding nozzle fingers including a blade having an inner end cantilevered to the tube and a free end positioned to lie in spaced-apart relation to the tube and in confronting relation to the mouth of the conduit and a drive lug appended to the free end of the blade and arranged to engage a fuel-dispensing nozzle inserted into the mouth of the conduit during movement of the filler neck shuttle from its channel-opening position to its channel-closing position, and
• a spring yieldably urging the filler neck shuttle in the neck passageway toward the mouth of the conduit and into engagement with the partition unit to place the filler neck shuttle in the channel-closing position to block flow of liquid fuel and fuel vapor extant in the fill passageway formed in the filler neck shuttle into the inner chamber formed in the conduit.

A filler neck for use in delivering fuel to a vehicle fuel tank, the filler neck comprising

• a conduit including an outer end formed to include a mouth, an inner end formed to include a conduit outlet adapted to be coupled to a fuel tank inlet, a neck passageway extending between the mouth and the conduit outlet, a shuttle guide positioned to lie in the neck passageway and a seal ring abutting the shuttle guide, the shuttle guide being formed to include a guide channel,
• a partition unit positioned in the conduit to divide the neck passageway into an outer chamber communicating with the mouth and an inner chamber communicating with the conduit outlet, the partition unit being formed to include a partition channel extending therethrough and interconnecting the outer and inner chambers,
• a filler neck shuttle positioned for movement in the neck passageway and the partition channel between a channel-opening position and a channel-closing position, the filler neck shuttle being formed to include a nozzle-receiving inlet positioned to face toward the mouth of the conduit, a fuel-discharging outlet positioned to communicate with the inner chamber upon movement of the filler neck shuttle to the channel-opening position, a tube formed to include a fill passageway extending between the nozzle-receiving inlet and the fuel-discharging outlet, a plurality of upstanding nozzle fingers appended to one end of the tube and arranged to define the nozzle-receiving inlet, and a closure cup formed to include an interior region, a top opening, a bottom opening, and an annular flange positioned to confront the seal ring, the tube is appended to the closure cup at the bottom opening to position the upstanding nozzle fingers in the interior region of the closure cup, and the conduit, shuttle guide, filler neck shuttle, and partition unit cooperate to define a vent region in the conduit, and
• a spring yieldably urging the filler neck shuttle in the neck passageway toward the mouth of the conduit and into engagement with the partition unit to place the filler neck shuttle in the channel-closing position to block flow of liquid fuel and fuel vapor extant in the fill passageway formed in the filler neck shuttle into the inner chamber formed in the conduit, the spring engages the annular flange of the closure cup to yieldably urge the filler neck shuttle to the channel-closing position and to urge the annular flange toward the shuttle guide to trap the seal ring therebetween upon movement of the filler neck shuttle to the channel-closing position to block flow of fuel vapor from the vent region formed in the conduit to the mouth of the conduit through the guide channel formed in the shuttle guide, and
• wherein the shuttle guide further includes an annular wall engaging the seal ring, a tube appended to the annular wall and arranged to project toward the partition unit, the tube is formed to include an inner wall defining the guide channel receiving the upstanding nozzle fingers therein, and a plurality of longitudinally extending deflection blocker ribs appended to the inner wall and arranged to engage the upstanding nozzle fingers until the filler neck shuttle is moved in the conduit to reach the channel-opening position.

A filler neck for use in delivering fuel to a vehicle fuel tank, the filler neck comprising

• a conduit including an outer end formed to include a mouth, an inner end formed to include a conduit outlet adapted to be coupled to a fuel tank inlet, and a neck passageway extending between the mouth and the conduit outlet,
• a partition unit positioned in the conduit to divide the neck passageway into an outer chamber communicating with the mouth and an inner chamber communicating with the conduit outlet, the partition unit being formed to include a partition channel extending therethrough and interconnecting the outer and inner chambers and a frame formed to include the partition channel and a first seal ring mounted on the frame,
• a filler neck shuttle positioned for movement in the neck passageway and the partition channel between a channel-opening position and a channel-closing position, the filler neck shuttle being formed to include a nozzle-receiving inlet positioned to face toward the mouth of the conduit, a fuel-discharging outlet positioned to communicate with the inner chamber upon movement of the filler neck shuttle to the channel-opening position, and a fill passageway extending between the nozzle-receiving inlet and the fuel-discharging outlet,
• a spring yieldably urging the filler neck shuttle in the neck passageway toward the mouth of the conduit and into engagement with the partition unit to place the filler neck shuttle in the channel-closing position to block flow of liquid fuel and fuel vapor extant in the fill passageway formed in the filler neck shuttle into the inner chamber formed in the conduit, and
• wherein the first seal ring is formed to engage the filler neck shuttle in the channel-closing position to block liquid and vapor flow between the fill passageway formed in the filler neck shuttle and the inner chamber formed in the conduit.

A filler neck for use in delivering fuel to a vehicle fuel tank, the filler neck comprising

• a conduit including an outer end formed to include a mouth, an inner end formed to include a conduit outlet adapted to be coupled to a fuel tank inlet, and a neck passageway extending between the mouth and the conduit outlet,
• a partition unit positioned in the conduit to divide the neck passageway into an outer chamber communicating with the mouth and an inner chamber communicating with the conduit outlet, the partition unit being formed to include a partition channel extending therethrough and interconnecting the outer and inner chambers,
• a filler neck shuttle positioned for movement in the neck passageway and the partition channel between a channel-opening position and a channel-closing position, the filler neck shuttle being formed to include a nozzle-receiving inlet positioned to face toward the mouth of the conduit, a fuel-discharging outlet positioned to communicate with the inner chamber upon movement of the filler neck shuttle to the channel-opening position, a fill tube formed to include a fill passageway extending between the nozzle-receiving inlet and the fuel-discharging outlet, a vent valve assembly appended to the fill tube to move therewith relative to the partition unit, and a side wall defining the fill passageway and a bottom wall appended to the side wall and arranged to lie in spaced-apart relation to the nozzle-receiving inlet, the vent valve assembly being appended to the bottom wall and arranged to underlie the fill tube, and
• a spring yieldably urging the filler neck shuttle in the neck passageway toward the mouth of the conduit and into engagement with the partition unit to place the filler neck shuttle in the channel-closing position to block flow of liquid fuel and fuel vapor extant in the fill passageway formed in the filler neck shuttle into the inner chamber formed in the conduit.

A filler neck for use in delivering fuel to a vehicle fuel tank, the filler neck comprising

• a conduit including an outer end formed to include a mouth, an inner end formed to include a conduit outlet adapted to be coupled to a fuel tank inlet, and a neck passageway extending between the mouth and the conduit outlet,
• a partition unit positioned in the conduit to divide the neck passageway into an outer chamber communicating with the mouth and an inner chamber communicating with the conduit outlet, the partition unit being formed to include a partition channel extending therethrough and interconnecting the outer and inner chambers,
• a filler neck shuttle positioned for movement in the neck passageway and the partition channel between a channel-opening position and a channel-closing position, the filler neck shuttle being formed to include a nozzle-receiving inlet positioned to face toward the mouth of the conduit, a fuel-discharging outlet positioned to communicate with the inner chamber upon movement of the filler neck shuttle to the channel-opening position, and a fill passageway extending between the nozzle-receiving inlet and the fuel-discharging outlet, and
• a vent valve assembly appended to the filler neck shuttle to move therewith, the vent valve assembly including means for controlling air and fuel flow between the fill passageway formed in the filler neck shuttle and the inner chamber formed in the conduit upon movement of the filler neck shuttle to the channel-closing position.

A filler neck for use in delivering fuel to a vehicle fuel tank, the filler neck comprising

• a conduit including an outer end formed to include a mouth, an inner end formed to include a conduit outlet adapted to be coupled to a fuel tank inlet, and a neck passageway extending between the mouth and the conduit outlet,
• a partition unit positioned in the conduit to divide the neck passageway into an outer chamber communicating with the mouth and an inner chamber communicating with the conduit outlet, the partition unit including a frame formed to include a partition channel extending therethrough and interconnecting the outer and inner chambers, a first seal ring mounted on the frame to lie in the partition channel, and a second seal ring mounted on the frame to lie in the partition channel in axially spaced-apart relation to the first seal ring, and
• a filler neck shuttle positioned for movement in the neck passageway and the partition channel between a channel-opening position and a channel-closing position, the filler neck shuttle engaging the first and second seal rings upon movement of the filler neck shuttle to the channel-closing position, the filler neck shuttle being formed to include a nozzle-receiving inlet positioned to face toward the mouth of the conduit, a fuel-discharging outlet positioned to lie in a space in the partition channel between the first and second seal rings upon movement of the filler neck shuttle to the channel-closing position and to communicate with the inner chamber upon movement of the filler neck shuttle to the channel-opening position, and a fill passageway extending between the nozzle-receiving inlet and the fuel-discharging outlet.

A filler neck for use in delivering fuel to a vehicle fuel tank, the filler neck comprising

• a conduit including an outer end formed to include a mouth, an inner end formed to include a conduit outlet adapted to be coupled to a fuel tank inlet, and a neck passageway extending between the mouth and the conduit outlet,
• a partition unit positioned in the conduit to divide the neck passageway into an outer chamber communicating with the mouth and an inner chamber communicating with the conduit outlet, the partition unit being formed to include a partition channel extending therethrough and interconnecting the outer and inner chambers,
• a filler neck shuttle positioned for movement in the neck passageway and the partition channel between a channel-opening position and a channel-closing position, the filler neck shuttle being formed to include a nozzle-receiving inlet positioned to face toward the mouth of the conduit, a fuel-discharging outlet configured for extension through the partition channel and into the inner chamber to deliver fuel thereto upon movement of the filler neck shuttle to the channel-opening position, and a fill passageway extending between the nozzle-receiving inlet and the fuel-discharging outlet, and
• a spring yieldably urging the filler neck shuttle in the neck passageway toward the mouth of the conduit and into engagement with the partition unit to place the filler neck shuttle in the channel-closing position to block flow of liquid fuel and fuel vapor extant in the fill passageway formed in the filler neck shuttle into the inner chamber formed in the conduit.