Patent ID: 7318424

Claim:
A fuel system comprising: a fuel tank having an opening for receipt of a liquid fuel; a cap removably coupled to the fuel tank and operable for sealingly closing the opening to prevent ingress and egress of a gaseous fluid through the opening; an overfill chamber in communication with the fuel tank for receipt of excess liquid fuel from the fuel tank; a hydrocarbon collection chamber in communication with the overfill chamber for receipt of the gaseous fluid; and a valve disposed between the hydrocarbon collection chamber and the overfill chamber, the valve having a reference axis; wherein the valve includes a housing disposed adjacent to the hydrocarbon collection chamber; at least one stop; at least one plunger operable to contact the at least one stop and positioned relative to the amount of force applied by said at least one stop on the at least one plunger; and at least one sloped surface responsive to the at least one stop to control the amount of force applied to the at least one plunger by the at least one ball stop, wherein the amount of force is dependent upon an angle defined between a vertical axis and the reference axis that is dependent upon the relative positioning of the at least one stop on the at least one sloped surface; wherein the valve is configured to prevent liquid communication between the overfill chamber and the hydrocarbon collection chamber when the angle between a the vertical axis and the reference axis is greater than about thirty-five degrees and wherein the valve is configured to allow liquid communication between the overfill chamber and the hydrocarbon collection chamber when the angle between the vertical axis and the reference axis is less than or equal to about thirty-five degrees.