Abstract:
The present invention is directed to fuel dispensing nozzles and more particularity to a spout of a fuel dispensing nozzle that reduces the amount of harmful emissions created during a fueling cycle. The spout of the nozzle has an inside surface that is in direct contact with a flow of fuel. After the flow of fuel is stopped, the residual amount of fuel adhered to the inside spout surface is encouraged to collect and drip from at least one fuel collection channel. The at least one fuel channel results in less fuel dripping on the ground and less residual fuel, both of which harmfully evaporate into the air.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATE APPLICATION 
   This application claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/547,693 filed on Feb. 23, 2004. 

   STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED R&amp;D 
   Not related to this application. 
   TECHNICAL FIELD 
   This invention relates to fuel nozzles and more particularly to a fuel dispensing spout that reduces the amount of pollution caused after the flow of fuel is stopped. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Fuel dispensing nozzles are widely used and understood in the field. Early fuel nozzles are mainly comprised of a manual actuated valve and a metallic spout for directing fuel into a desired container. Many improvements have been made to fuel nozzles, including U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,578, which provide the means of automatically stopping fuel flow when the fuel reaches a desired level. 
   In addition, many design improvements have been made regarding nozzle spouts. U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,609 describes a method for manufacturing an aluminum spout that removably attaches to a nozzle body. Removable spouts enable them be replaced in shorter intervals than the more expensive nozzle body. Replacing a spout may be desirable when a nozzle is left in a motor vehicle after drive-away, upon considerable wear, or as improved spouts become available. 
   Recently, significant attention has been directed to the adverse environmental effects caused by fuel dispensing nozzles. One such effect is caused by fuel vapors displaced from a container as heavier liquid fuel is dispensed into the container. The displaced vapors contain volatile organics that chemically react with nitrogen oxides to form ground level ozone, often called “smog”. Ground level ozone can potentially cause irritation to the nose, throat, lungs and bring on asthma attacks. In addition, gasoline vapors are suspected to contain other harmful toxic chemicals, such as benzene. 
   In an effort to reduce the amount of harmful vapors that reach the atmosphere, a vapor recovery nozzle has been developed; one version of the spout is best described by U.S. Pat. No. 4,351,375. This version of a vapor recovery nozzle is comprised of a coaxial tube that both dispense fuel through a main tube and vacuum vapors through a secondary channel. A large percentage of the captured vapors are treated and safely released in the atmosphere. Vapor recovery systems are required by the laws of many states, especially at high volume stations or stations located in densely populated areas. 
   Although vapor recovery has significantly reduced the amount of volatile organics that reach the atmosphere during fueling, there are several other sources of fuel vapors that contribute to the problem of “smog”. One such source is fuel dripped from a nozzle spout after fueling. Typically, when a nozzle is deactivated there is a delay before the user removes the nozzle spout from the container to be filled. If the delay is sufficient, drops from the spout will fall into the container. If the delay is insufficient, drops fall onto the ground or the local filling equipment. Spilt fuel evaporates into the atmosphere and contaminates the ground. Even waiting a significant amount of time before removing the nozzle will not ensure that dripping will not occur. Some users try to supplement waiting by tapping the nozzle spout on the fill tube of the container prior to removing it. 
   In an effort to further reduce sources of “smog” many new nozzle requirements and laws have been implemented. One such requirement is for fuel nozzles to be dripless. The goal is to have zero drops fall from a nozzle spout after the flow has stopped and a reasonable amount of time has elapsed. Many new nozzle designs are directed towards the goal of dripless, such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,520,222, U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,364, U.S. Pat. No. 4,213,488, U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,116, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,032. Although the aforementioned patents may potentially serve in the direction of their intended purposes, most are unlikely to reliably provide true dripless performance. Many proposed dripless nozzles continue to drip fuel long after the period of time it takes for a user to remove a spout from a tank. 
   In these respects, the fuel spout with a collection channel, according to the present invention, substantially departs from conventional concepts of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily designed for the purpose of reducing the amount of pollution created during a fueling cycle. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention is directed to fuel dispensing nozzles and more particularity to a spout of a fuel dispensing nozzle that reduces the amount of harmful emissions created during a fueling cycle. The spout of the nozzle has an inside surface that is in direct contact with a flow of fuel. After the flow of fuel is stopped, the residual amount of fuel adhered to the inside spout surface is encouraged to collect from an least one fuel collection channel. The collected fuel has fluid properties that are more optimal for drip management and pollution reduction. The at least one fuel channel results in less fuel dripping on the ground and less residual fuel, both of which harmfully evaporate into the air. A single channel may be used but depending upon particular applications and uses, more than one may be preferable. The one or more collection channels may be any common shape and may be used with vapor recovery and dripless style nozzles. 
   These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Preferred embodiments of the invention are described below with the reference to the following accompanying drawings: 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of fuel dispensing nozzle and according to the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the fuel dispensing spout of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  is an end view of the fuel dispensing spout of  FIG. 2  while fuel is flowing through the nozzle; 
       FIG. 4  is an end view of the fuel dispensing spout of  FIG. 3  soon after the flow of fuel through the nozzle is stopped; 
       FIG. 5  is a an end view of the fuel dispensing spout of  FIG. 4  a period of time after  FIG. 4 ; 
       FIG. 6  is an end view of an alternative triangle fuel collection channel; 
       FIG. 7  is an end view of an alternative rectangular fuel collection channel; 
       FIG. 8  is an end view of a fuel collection channel working in concert with a dripless spout nozzle plunger; and 
       FIG. 9  is an alternative vapor recovery spout embodiment and according to the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Many of the fastening, connection, manufacturing and other means and components utilized in this invention are widely known and used in the field of the invention are described, and their exact nature or type is not necessary for a person of ordinary skill in the art or science to understand the invention; therefore they will not be discussed in detail. 
     FIG. 1  shows a fuel dispensing nozzle assembly  10 , comprised of a prior art nozzle assembly  20 , and a spout assembly  30  according to the present invention. Prior art nozzle assembly  20  is used for dispensing fuel into a container to be filled (not shown) according to well known fuel dispensing apparatuses and practices. Fuel nozzle assembly  20  may be, but is not limited to, a standard nozzle as shown in  FIGS. 1–8 , or a vapor recovery nozzle as shown in  FIG. 9 . Generally, fuel is supplied to nozzle assembly  20  by connecting a hose assembly (not shown) to an inlet  22 . The pressurized fuel supply travels to a valve assembly  26 , which in combination with a lever  24  regulates its flow. The fuel that flows through valve  24  may travel through a shutoff valve  27 . Fuel nozzle  20  shown, is a version that stops the flow of fuel when it reaches a full condition within the container to be filled. The operation of such a nozzle is commonly understood and described by many U.S. Patents including U.S. Pat. No. 4,351,375, herein incorporated by this reference, and because they are commonly understood by one skilled in the art they will not be discussed in further detail. It should be appreciated, however, that the present invention is not limited to any particular version of nozzle assembly. 
   Connected to nozzle assembly  20  by a screw hole  28  is spout assembly  30 . Spout  30  has a fuel inlet end  33  that receives fuel from nozzle assembly  20 . End  33  may include o-rings (not shown) for creating a fuel tight seal. End  33  may also include passage holes for communicating with shutoff valve  27 , and a check valve. Regardless of the specific configuration, spout  30  is used for directing the flow of fuel into the container to be filled while dispensing the fuel out a dispensing end  34 . Spout  30  has an inside surface  36  in direct contact with the fuel and an outside surface  35 . A coil  32  located on outside surface  35  keeps spout  30  from being over inserted into the container to be filled. Coil  32  is optional. 
   Unlike the prior art and according to the present invention, inside surface  36  includes a one or more fuel collection channels  31 . Fuel collection channel  31  is used to collect fuel on inside surface  36 . This collection process is shown by  FIGS. 3 ,  4 , and  5 . In  FIG. 3 , a flow of fuel  50  is shown completely filling the inside of spout  30  and completely covering inside surface  36 .  FIG. 3  describes a situation when valve  26  is open. 
     FIG. 4  shows a condition soon after valve  26  going from its open to closed position. A large percentage of fuel  50  has flown into the container to be filled, but due to attraction between the fuel and the material of spout  30 , the remaining percentage of fuel  50  creates a thin-film  52 . The flow of thin-film  52  is complicated and may create a random dripping of fuel into the container to be filled. When the mass of a fuel drop is sufficient to overcome the attractive forces acting upon it, it drips from dispensing end  34 . The conditions of  FIG. 4  are likely to result in one or more drops. It is highly desirable to have the drops fall into the container to be filled rather than have it left on the spout after fueling. Residual fuel turns to vapor and creates negative environmental effects. Because many spouts are constructed from aluminum, with a surface energy significantly higher than the fuel, prior art nozzles encourage the remaining fuel to wick up the sides of inside surface  36  further creating attractive forces and further reducing dripping. Fuel collection channel  31  according to the present invention encourages thin-film  52  to collect to a central location. At the location of collection channel  31 , the mass versus adhesive relationship is more favorable to dripping than the prior art. Collection channel  31  preferably starts at dispensing end  34  and travels inward towards end  33 . Optimal dimensions of channel  31  may be a function of fuel properties and spout geometry. A potential drop  54  is shown in  FIG. 5 . This encouragement of dripping causes more drops to fall into the container to be filled prior to the user removing nozzle  10  from the container. This present invention may translate into less fuel drops landing on the ground and less residual fuel left on the nozzle after fueling; both resulting in less harmful vapors being emitted into the atmosphere. 
   As shown in  FIG. 5 , and after the condition shown in  FIG. 4 , fuel is encouraged to collect within collection channel  31 . This state allows for more drips to occur, but also provides a favorable condition for the use with a one or more dripless features  61 , as shown in  FIG. 8 . Dripless features  61 , may be a plunger such as described U.S. Pat. No. 6,520,220, herein incorporated by this reference. The task of achieving true “dripless” performance is difficult and often results in occasional drops. Focusing residual fuel to a particular location may allow dripless features to achieve more dripless performance. The thin-film fuel flow becomes more predictable. 
   As shown by  FIGS. 3 ,  4 , and  5 , collection channel  31  is preferably located in the two nozzle orientations typically used during fueling (nozzle up and down) and hence it is preferable to have more than one collection channel  31 . Although two of collection channel  31  is shown, there is no limit to the quantity that may be employed. It may also be desirable to have a plurality of intersecting or non-parallel channels (branches) that direct the fuel in desired locations. It may also be desirable to coat inside surface  36  with a low surface energy coating such as described by commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,491 entitled “Low Surface Energy Fuel Dispensing Spout” which is herein incorporated by this reference. The combination of a low fuel surface energy surface and collection channel  31  may provide even further environmental savings. It may also be desirable to put low surface energy bands in combination with bare aluminum (higher energy) bands within surface  36  and thus take advantage of differences in surface energy to control film thickness in desired locations. 
   In addition, the performance of collection channel  31  may also be improved through the use of a curved endface, between surfaces  35  and  36 , such as described by pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/733,920, entitled “Fuel Dispensing Spout with a Continuous Endface”, filed on Dec. 11, 2003. The combination of inventions may result in even further environmental improvements. 
   Other embodiments of the present invention are possible.  FIG. 6  shows a triangular shape.  FIG. 7  shows a rectangular shape. The present invention is not limited to any one particular shape, and may be made from complex shapes. The goal of any shape is to balance manufacturing ease with favorable drop conditions. By collecting fuel to a localized area, drops are encouraged to fall into the container to be filled. 
   Yet another embodiment of the present invention is shown in  FIG. 9 . A coaxial vapor recovery version is shown. A vapor recovery nozzle is described by U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,723 and is hereby incorporated by this reference. In this embodiment, a inner fuel supply tube is shown with an inside surface  76  and an exterior surface  75 . A vapor recovery fuel channel  31 ′ is shown and used according to the already disclosed methods of the present invention. Because vapor travels between surface  36  and  75  it may be desirable to continue the use of channel  31  in this embodiment, in combination with channel  31 ′. 
   While the fuel spout with a fuel collection channel herein described constitute preferred embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these precise form of assemblies, and that changes may be made therein with out departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.