Patent ID: 7487796

Claim:
A breakaway coupling adapted for use with a flexible fuel supply hose having a fuel supply passage, said coupling comprising a first body member and a second body member coupled together and defining a fuel supply passage having an axis, a valve member within each of said body members and movable axially within said passage between an open position and a closed position for said passage, a coupling system releasably connecting said body members and providing for movement of said body members from a coupled position to an uncoupled position in response to a substantial axial tension force on said valve bodies, said coupling system including an annular first magnetic coupling member mounted on said first body member concentrically with said axially movable valve members, an annular second magnetic coupling member mounted on said second body member concentrically with said axially movable valve members, said first magnetic coupling member including circumferentially spaced separate permanent magnets each having an axial length greater than its radial thickness relative to said axis, said magnets arranged around one of said axially movable valve members and supported by an annular ferrous member having a radial thickness greater than said radial thickness of each of said magnets, said magnets and said annular ferrous member having generally co-planar radial end surfaces adjacent said second magnetic coupling member to complete a magnetic circuit when said body members are in said coupled position, and said first and second coupling members attracting each other in said coupled position with an axial force sufficient to require an axial tension force of at least one hundred pounds to separate said body members to said uncoupled position.