Patent ID: 8550129

Claim:
A vapor-recovery-activated auto-shutoff dispenser for delivering liquid from a liquid source external to the dispenser to a liquid destination external to the dispenser, said vapor-recovery-activated auto-shutoff dispenser comprising: a liquid delivery conduit having a liquid-receiving inlet and a liquid-dispensing outlet; a vapor recovery conduit for recovering vapor from the liquid destination to the liquid source, the vapor recovery conduit having a vapor-receiving inlet and a vapor-conveying outlet; an openable and closable valve selectively movable between a valve-closed configuration whereat liquid is precluded from being dispensed from said liquid-dispensing outlet of said liquid delivery conduit and a valve-open configuration whereat liquid is permitted to be dispensed from said liquid-dispensing outlet of said liquid delivery conduit; a biasing member for biasing said valve to said valve-closed configuration; an actuator movable between a rest position and at least one in-use position, for permitting selective operation of said valve between said valve-closed configuration and said valve-open configuration; at least one linkage member operatively connecting said actuator and said valve; wherein said at least one linkage is re-configurable between: an enabled configuration whereat said valve is controllable via said actuator, such that said rest position of said actuator corresponds to said valve-closed configuration of said valve and said in-use position of said actuator corresponds to said valve-open configuration of said valve, and a disabled configuration whereat said actuator is precluded from controlling said valve, and said valve is therefore biased to said valve-closed configuration; and, a deactivation mechanism for re-configuring said at least one linkage member from said enabled configuration to said disabled configuration, in response to a condition of the fluid in said vapor recovery conduit, thereby precluding said openable and closable valve from being controlled by said actuator to its valve-open configuration, until said at least one linkage member is reset to its enabled configuration.