GB2395190A - Collapsible bag for liquid fuel - Google Patents

Abstract

A collapsible bag 1 suitable for holding by hand and suitable for accommodating fuel such as petrol has an inlet/outlet 2 and one or more walls of flexible material forming an elongate expandable compartment. The bag may be able when empty to fold in a compacted zig-zag configuration, pleated at 6, in which it may be retained by securing means 4 which may also fix it to another structure, eg in a vehicle. Carrying means of the bag may comprise a handle in the form of a hand hole 3 adjacent to the inlet 2. The bag is non-self supporting when empty and may be constructed of a sleeve of fuel-resistant nylon woven PVC heat welded at its ends 5.

Description

COLLAPSIBLE FUEL BAG

The present invention relates to a collapsible bag for holding and transporting fuel. More particularly, the present invention relates to such a bag that may be hand held. Typically, the bag can be stored in a vehicle in a fully collapsed state using a minimum of space and expanded when necessary for use.

Many car drivers would like to furnish their vehicles with equipment which would be helpful in the event of an emergency or a mechanical breakdown.

Items such as petrol containers would usually be carried in vehicles if it were not for the relatively large storage space which they require. Many passenger vehicles, especially small economy size cars, simply lack adequate storage space for such items and this is also true for other vehicles such as boats, motorcycles, tractors and other such relatively small vehicles. Conventional petrol containers typically are bulky metal cans, which are heavy and occupy large volumes of space; they are also prone to dents and rust. More modern fuel containers are made of lightweight plastic materials, but still occupy large storage space dictated by practical volume capacity.

Using smaller containers reduces storage space requirements, but having a fuel container which has insufficient capacity is naturally of little value.

US Patent No. 6378736 and International Patent Application No. WO 94/29180 disclose collapsible fuel containers or 'cane' for holding fuel in which a certain percentage of the wall of the container is composed of pleated folds in a concertina arrangement, thus allowing the containers to be expanded or collapsed as necessary. However, these 'cans' are a relatively complex design and are therefore relatively difficult to manufacture. They are still somewhat bulky even in a collapsed state due to the remainder of the non-collapsible container wall sections being relatively rigid.

In addition, large scale fuel bags for containing fuel are known that are non-

hand holdable and which simply inflate as they are filled with fuel and conversely deflate when empty of fuel. Such large scale bags are not intended for easy storage within compartments of vehicles.

It is therefore an aim of the present invention to overcome the various disadvantages of the prior art by providing a hand holdable collapsible fuel

bag that can be easily, and therefore cost effectively manufactured whilst being simple to use. It is a further aim that such a fuel bag be storable using a minimum of space whilst being able to contain adequate supplies of fuel during use.

Thus, in a first aspect the present invention provides a hand-holdable collapsible fuel bag comprising an inlet through which fuel may be received or emptied; and - an elongate expandable compartment for containing fuel in use and having one or more supporting walls composed of a flexible, fuel-resistant material.

The bag of the present invention, as with bags in general, has a substantially greater percentage of its wall length provided by flexible material as compared to the known plastic containers mentioned above.

Thus, the bag of the present invention, as with bags in general, can be folded about itself into a more compact storage state than can collapsible cans'. In use, the present bag may be filled by passing fluid through the inlet, so that it expands the elongate compartment for containing the fuel, having first unfolded the compact stored bag into its unfold state. Once full of fuel, the inlet can be closed and the fuel may be transported to a desired

location, where the inlet can be opened and the bag emptied by tipping its contents out through the inlet into a vehicle fuel inlet means. Typically, when cars are being filled, the bag will require the addition of a nozzle to be screwed onto the inlet of the bag, whereas for filling motorcycle tanks, no such nozzle is generally needed.

Preferably, when the bag is not in use, the bag is compactable about itself by way of one or more pleats of double-folded wall material. The greater relative flexibility offered by a bag means that it can be virtually fully compacted about its own length by way of appropriate folding of the walls.

By contrast, even collapsible 'can' containers are not so fully compactable as the bag of the present invention.

Typically, the bag is non-self supporting, for example when empty of fuel.

Thus, when unfolded from its compacted state into its opened state the bag is relatively floppy. It is only relatively rigid when fully expanded with fuel.

By contrast known collapsible 'can' containers are still self supporting to an extent, due to a certain resilience in wall structure, which means that such cane' cannot be compacted as much as a bag.

Preferably, the bag additionally comprises a carrying means.

In general the carrying means comprises a handle. In a preferred embodiment the handle is located proximally to the inlet. Such an arrangement ensures that less spillage occurs on filling or emptying the bag, since a full bag will have sufficient weight of fuel to pull the inlet away from the handle and thus the bag will become less manageable in operation. Preferably, the one or more supporting walls are made of a unitary piece of said material. This preferred arrangement maximises ease, and thus cost-

effectiveness, of manufacture whilst maintaining the level of compactibility that is attainable.

Typically, the unitary piece of material forms said compartment as a sleeve that is heat welded at both sleeve ends. Again, such heat welding is easy to effect in a cost-effective manner.

The bag of the present invention is designed to be stored in small vehicle compartments, for example under the seat of a motorcycle. Further, it can also be stored on shop shelves such that a greater number of products to be sold can be displayed since it requires less space.

In a second aspect, the present invention provides a kit of a fuel bag as described above and one or more securing means for securing the fuel bag when in its empty, folded and compacted state either to maintain said compacted state or to fix the fuel bag to another structure, for example a vehicle compartment.

Thus the securing means may be ties that can be used to fix the folded bag in its compacted state to ensure that it remains compacted.

Moreover, when known fuel cans are put into the boot of a car, they can slide around the boot compartment, but advantageously, the kit of the present invention allow the bag to be fixed in site, for example, under a spare wheel, therefore being able to be securely kept in the vehicle at all times with little loss of space.

The present invention will now be described by way of the following non-

limiting examples with respect to the accompanying illustrative drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a very schematic representation of a fuel bag according to one embodiment of the invention, the bag being in a noncompacted state; Figure 2 shows the bag of Figure 1 in a semi-compacted state; and

Figure 3 illustrates the bag of Figures 1 and 2 in a fully compacted state.

A bag for carrying fuel is shown according to one embodiment in Figure 1 in its unfolded state in an unexpanded fashion, that is without holding fuel.

Although any type of carrying means may be used, in this embodiment, a handle 3 is depicted for holding the unfolded bag prior to filling with fuel.

The bag is constructed of a sleeve of flexible, fuel-resistant material and whilst any such material may be used, in particular nylon woven PVC is preferred, such as "lay flat fuel delivery line" material. The latter type of material is generally used in the fuel delivery industry for unloading and loading fuel containers as delivered to garage forecourts and the like.

The sleeve of material forms supporting walls 1 and is typically heat welded at ends 5 to produce an enclosed compartment (when the inlet is plugged).

Typically inlet 2 is plugged with a screw threaded cap which when opened allows fuel to be pumped into the bag so that the bag then expands to its full, relatively rigid state. The cap is then screwed back on inlet 2 ready for the bag to be transported by the operator holding handle 3 and carrying the fuel bag to the desired location. Emptying the bag is a simple procedure involving the reverse sequence of steps, that is, unscrewing the cap on inlet 2, and whilst holding handle 3, tipping the bottom of the bag up such that fuel exits the inlet into the vehicle fuel inlet means.

When the bag has been emptied of fuel, and the cap re-screwed on inlet 2 it may be folded along its length as shown in Figure 2 so that one or more pleats 6 of double folded wall material are formed.

Once in its fully compacted form (see Figure 3) securing straps 4 may be tied to the bag to keep it in the compacted state. Whilst any form of ties can be used, particularly useful for this purpose are Velcro straps.

Thus, the collapsible fuel bag of the present invention provides a smaller compact design compared to prior known containers for fuel that may be more easily stored and manufactured with greater ease and cost efficiency.

Claims (10)

CLAIMS:

1. A hand-holdable collapsible fuel bag comprising an inlet through which fuel may be received or emptied; and an elongate expandable compartment for containing fuel in use and having one or more supporting walls composed of a flexible, fuel-resistant material.

2. A fuel bag as claimed in claim 1 wherein, when the bag is not in use, the bag is compactable about itself by way of one or more pleats of double-folded wall material.

3. A fuel bag as claimed in either claim or claim 2, wherein the bag is non-self supporting, for example when empty of fuel.

4. A fuel bag as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the bag additionally comprises a carrying means.

5. A fuel bag as claimed in claim 4, wherein the carrying means comprises a handle.

6. A fuel bag as claimed in claim 5, wherein the handle is located proximally to the inlet.

7. A fuel bag as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the one or more supporting walls are made of a unitary piece of said material.

8. A fuel bag as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the unitary piece of material forms said compartment as a sleeve that is heat welded at both sleeve ends.

9. A kit comprising a fuel bag as claimed in any preceding claim and one or more securing means for securing the fuel bag when in its empty, folded and compacted state either for maintaining said compacted state or for fixing the fuel bag to another structure, for example in a vehicle compartment.

10. A fuel bag or kit substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and/or as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.