Patent ID: 6056005
Filing Date: 2000-05-02
Classification: F16K,Y10T

Abstract:
A vent valve assembly comprising in combination:a. a vent neck with opposed first and second end portions, said first end portion having a seating surface and said second end portion including means for mounting said vent neck;b. a wall defining in combination with said neck a sealing liquid reservoir extending circumferentially around said neck, said reservoir having an open end radially adjacent said first end portion;c. a diaphragm normally releasably seated against said first end portion;d. a pallet plate sealingly supporting said diaphragm, and normally extending across and closing said first end portion, said pallet including a downturned circumferentially extending apron located in radially adjacent relationship to both said vent neck and said wall, wherein a radial distance between said apron and said neck is not greater than a radial distance between said apron and said wall, said apron extending through said open end and into said reservoir, and said apron having a lower end; ande. means for applying a weighting force exteriorly against said pallet for achieving unseating of said diaphragm at a predetermined pressure in said neck;whereby, when said reservoir is partially filled with a sealing liquid to a liquid level at least sufficient to immerse said lower end, a liquid sealed chamber is produced therein between said apron and said vent neck, andwhereby, when vapor emissions pass between said one end portion and said diaphragm, said vapor emissions enter and are retained in said chamber until the pressure of said vapor emissions is sufficient to displace in said reservoir said sealing liquid from said sealed chamber and expose said lower end, thereby releasing said vapor emissions from said sealed chamber upwardly through said open end.