US2501621A

US2501621A - Vented tank cap

Info

Publication number: US2501621A
Application number: US783506A
Authority: US
Inventors: Lowell J Smith
Original assignee: Stant USA Corp
Current assignee: Stant USA Corp
Priority date: 1947-11-01
Filing date: 1947-11-01
Publication date: 1950-03-21
Anticipated expiration: 1967-03-21

Description

L. J. sMlTl-Iv 2,501,621

vENTED TANK CAP March 21, 1950 Filed Nov. 1, 1947 INVEN TOR.

:Lan/ELL d. SMITH,

e Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view thereof; and

Patented Mar. 21, 1950 UN I .SLi- S Si PAT E i.; 'i0 j v` 2,501,621 y' l v r vEiSI'lSLEDfirANnCMMi H y Lwt1-l-.ii-T smiths, cqpnersviue, .11101.as5ign0n to,

The present inventionerela-tesatofafyentedfclo;- surescap for automobile igasolinel-ft-nks.;:.Or,libel likep'and:the'primaryiobect'fofzthe invention i, to provide;l an lfimprovedra-capastructure-whioh g while providing for desired venting of the co tainer; :with which the i cap associated;` climi nates 14any1.manufacimring-eapenseffin the pro visionofzsuchiventing. y-So far asfLam advised previously known structures intended to provide suitable 'ventinglnealn'sbin closure caps have invariably required special manufacturing operations, such as drilling, punching, spinning, or the like. According tothe present invention, the n venting means is provided in the samestamping operations whichwform the `elementswhich are to be assembled to produce a rfinishedclosure cap, otherwise ofk substantially standard construction-A Further .objects of, the inventiQn will appearias' 'f the descriptionv;proceeds.. f' 20 Tov the accomplishment@ thefiabove anatra-p: lated' .obiectsrzmy invention may-.bgembodied, in` the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specic construction illustrated and described, so long as the scope of the appended claims is not violated.

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a cap constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section taken substantially in the planes indicated by the

section line

3, 3 of Figure 1, and showing the cap associated with a fragment of a ller neck of standard construction, the cap being not quite seated on said neck.

In one Well known form of closure cap, a body element l0, formed of sheet metal or the like, is provided with a central depressed region Il centrally perforated at I2; and a securing ele-` ment I3, likewise formed of sheet metal or the like, centrally provided with a dome il! centrally perforated as at l5, is secured to the body member by means of a rivet i6 passing through the registering openings I2 and i5 and headed over at vboth ends as at l1 and I8. The securing member I3 is formed to provide an'annular region I9 disposed in spaced facing relation to the central portion H of the body IU, and immediately surrounding the peripheral wall 2G of the dome I4. The member I3 has a depending annular skirt 2l formed, at two or more peripherally spaced points, with radial projections 22 adapted to pass through notches formed in a nller neck 24 and then to co-operate with cam surfaces 23 on said neck to draw a washer 25 into cooperamouth of, the fillernecls.. yIn s0.me.f0rms.0i.cap. assemblies, the Washes@ may snuglycengase, the dome wally 20 while;v in otherfornis tl'ieremay@l be a substantial clearance therebetweer'i.y

Suche construction is, satisfactory for' useiny connectionfwith certain containers which donQtl M requireto be vented'or with'containers which are 'providedwith independent A venting means,- But'most automobile gasoline'tanks', which mus t ifige ventedvfor safetya-n'd to permit'the'entrancej Q of air into `the ifuelltankv innorder to' replacetheJ fuel as itfis`v used-'from' the"-tank, "arewithout independent venting means and must be vented through the ller neck closure cap. One well known diiiculty encountered with vented caps when used on automobiles or tractors or other vehicles causing violent agitation of the fuel within the tank is loss of fuel out through the vent during surging of the fuel. While numerous expedients for thus venting gasoline tanks through ller caps have been known heretofore, I have devised a novel means to provide for the necessary venting, while guarding against loss of fuel through the venting passages.

As is clearly illustrated in the drawings, the metal of the securing member is displaced or distorted to provide an offset, substantially radial passage 28 extending from a point radially outside the region of engagement between the washer 25 and the annular area is to intersect with an axial passage 29 formed by displacing or oisetting the metal of the dome wall 20, and leading into the region above the washer 25. Preferably, the metal of the securing member i3 is thus oiTset at two or more peripherally spaced points, and I have shown venting passages 28 and 29 at two diametrically opposed points.

Likewise, the metal of the body member I0 is similarly offset or distorted to provide a passage 30 leading radially from the region inside the washer 21 to the region outside said washer. Again, I have shown two such passages at diametrically spaced points. Preferably, but not necessarily, the passages 30 will be peripherally spaced from the passages 28 and 29; and I have shown them ninety degrees removed. Such peripheral spacing restricts the discharge of hot steam or spray from the container, when that container is an automobile radiator or the like, and substantially guards against the loss of fuel when fuel is surging violently when the cap is associated with the gasoline tank. Thus by varying the number of passages, the peripheral spacing thereof, and the depth or size thereof, I am able accurately to control the venting action of the closure to adapt it to specific requirements.

It will be clear that the provision of the simple offset passages in the elements l and I3 may be easily accomplished by the same stamping dies which form those elements from sheet metal, and at no manufacturing cost, once the dies have been produced.

I claim as my invention:

1. A closure cap comprising a body member, an elem'ent centrally secured to said body member and axially spaced therefrom near its periphery, and annular washer means positioned between said body member and the axially-spaced portion of said element, and bearing against facing annular areas of said body member and said element, each of said areas being provided with an oifset region displaced from the general plane of such area out of engagement with said washer means and extending from a point radially inward from' said washer means to a point radially outward :from said washer means to provide venting passages between said Washer means and said element and between said washer means and said body member.

2. A closure cap comprising a disc-like body member having a down-turned peripheral flange, a securing elem'ent having a central dome centrally secured to the under surface of said body member, said dome being surrounded, near its base, by an annular region spaced from said body member, and said securing element being provided with means for securing engagement with a container mouth, and washer means cooperatively surrounding the periphery of said dome and bearing against the annular region of said securing element and against the region of said body member facing said annular region, the material of said securing element being offset in said annular region and in the periphery of said dome to provide a vent passage past said washer means, and the material of said body member being offset in said facing region to provide a Vent passage past said washer means.

3. The cap of claim 2 in whichthe material of said securing element is oiset at two peripherallyspaced locations and the material of said body member is oifset at two peripherally-spaced locations to provide such vent passages.

4. The cap of claim 3 in which said offset locations of said securing element are diametrically opposed and the offset locations of said body member are diametrically opposed.

5. The cap of claim 3 in which the offset locations of said body member are peripherally spaced from' the offset locations of said securing element.

6. The cap of claim 4 in which the offset locations of said securing element are removed from the offset locations of said body member.

LOWELL J. SMITH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,833,928 Bell Dec. 1, 1931 1,990,621 Stant Feb. 12, 1935 `'2,191,614 Frantz Feb. 27, 1940 2,314,330 Eshbaugh et al Mar. 23, 1943