US2574836A

US2574836A - Filler cap and other closures

Info

Publication number: US2574836A
Application number: US112894A
Authority: US
Inventors: Marcell Reginald Claude
Original assignee: D Napier and Son Ltd
Current assignee: Napier Turbochargers Ltd
Priority date: 1948-09-03
Filing date: 1949-08-29
Publication date: 1951-11-13
Anticipated expiration: 1968-11-13

Description

Nov. 13, 1951 R. c. MARCELL ,5

FILLER CAP AND OTHER CLOSURES Filed Aug. 29, 1949 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 I nvenlor Re gins/J Marce 87: Au mifi Nov. 13, 1951 R. c. MARCELL 2,574,836

FILLER CAP AND OTHER CLOSURES Filed Aug. 29, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 (Y) Inventor RegLpa/J C. Na-reell B n I 1* V- CXWLLM/ 9 $1 ttorney Patented Nov. 13, i951 2.7:

FI L R" oAP'ANn o'rrmn CLOSURES Reginald Claude Marcell, Thames Ditton, England, assignor to D. Napier & Son Limited, London, England, a British company Application August 29, 1949, Serial No. 112,894

In Great Britain September 3, 1948 8. Claims. to]. 22o 29) This invention relates to closures, and is primarily but not exclusively applicable to filler caps for the-fuel tanks of aircraft and the like.

-An object of the invention is to provide an improved form of filler cap or other closure which can be securely fastened and yet rapidly opened, which has no detachable parts, and which when closed gives a smooth and uninterrupted surface which may be fiush with a surrounding surface such as the skin of an aircraft.

According to thepresent invention a filler cap or other closure device comprises a seating sur rounding the opening to be closed, a closure-fitting in or over the opening, a primary lever extending across and carrying the closure and carried by a fixed pivot at one end, a secondary floating lever pivoted to the free end of the primary lever and having an extension at one end projecting beyond such pivot to engage under a fixed abutment, and locking means for retaining the other end of the floating lever in a position close to the primary lever. The locking means may comprise a hook engaging afixed pin. In one arrangement the floating lever is in the form of a flat cover having in it an aperture or recess occupied by a subsidiary fiat cover, the subsidiary fiat cover being capable of movement to operate the locking means for the secondary lever. The subsidiary cover conveniently is secured .to or formed as part of a locking hook and pivoted about an axis intermediate in its length so that one end of it can be pressed inwardly to release the hook after which the other end can be pulled to swing the secondary lever clear of its abutment and then swing the primarylever about its pivot to open the closure.

The primary lever may be in the form'of a leaf spring serving to hold the closure resiliently on its seating when in the closed position.

The invention may be carried into'practice in various ways, but one specific embodiment will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly sectioned, of a filler cap in the closed position,

Figure 2 is a plan of the filler cap of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a side elevation, partly sectioned, of the filler cap of Figure 1 in the open position.

In this particular embodiment the invention is applied to a filler cap for the fuel tank of an aircraft. Secured around the filling opening of the tank l with the aid of a packing block 2 and washers 3 by rivets or screws passing through holes 4' is a casting'in the form of a seating 4 for a closurel. The seating ,4 is formed with an annu ar groove 6 to receive a sealing washer I surrounding the filling opening and pairs of lugs 8 and 9 on each side of the filling opening proe jecting upwards at diametrically opposite points.

The seating 4 is surrounded by an outer skin or funnel I 0 connecting its lower portion to'the skin-l I of the aircraft in which it is fitted so that ifany fuel is upset it will not flow into the space between the tank and the skin.

= The closure proper consists of a cast disc 5 having an annular rib l2 on its under side to fit within the sealing washer I and a pair of shallow-lugs l3 on its upper side to accommodate a pivot-pin l4. This pivot pin I4, situated diametricallyacross the top of the closure 5, fits over a. primary lever IS in the form of a leaf spring formed of spring steel strip having both ends sloping slightly upwards and curled round at their extremities to form eyes l6 and IT. The end having the eye It is slotted down the middle at l-8.- The other end is pivoted by means of the eye I! to the pair of fixed lugs 9 of the seating '4 by means of a pivot pin [9 passing through them. Accordingly the primary lever I5 and the closure 5 can be swung clear of the filling opening about this pivot to the positions shown in Figure 3."

A secondary lever is pivoted to the-free end of the primary lever by a pin 20 passing through the eye Hi. This secondary lever is in the form of a main cover 22 of sheet metal having a central web 23 and two outer parallel webs 24 projecting from its under side. The latter are formed from two further pieces of sheet metal bent 'to uneoual' channel section and riveted to the cover M25. The central web 23 has a hole near one end by which it is pivoted by the pin 20 to the primary lever; this web extending into the central slot [8. The web 23 is continued beyond the pivot 20 downwardly and outwardly and terminates in ahook 26 arranged to engage beneath a fixed pin 21 extending between the pair of lugs 8 of the seating 4. Accordingly the sec-- ondary lever serves to force the free end of the primary lever down towards the seating and due to its leverage enables a substantial force to be readily exerted on it. At its end opposite to the pivot 20 the main cover 22 of the secondary lever has a substantial piece cut out of it so as to leave a recess 30 extending nearly half the length of the cover. This recess is occupied by a subsidiary cover 3| to which is secured a locking hook. The latter constituted by a further piece of metal of generally channel section riveted at 32 to the subsidiary cover 3l and affording two webs in the shape of hooks 33 pro ecting downwardly from it, Near the middle of thelength of the subsidiaifyfcover these webs are formed with holes to receive a pivot pin 34 passing through the corresponding webs 24 of the secondary lever so as to pivot the locking hook to the free end of the secondary lever. The adjacent lugs 9 of the seating 4 are provided with a further pin 35 situated so that it can be engaged by these hooks 33 to lock the secondary lever in position. The parts are so dimensioned that when in their locked position the subsidiary cover 3! of the locking hook and the main cover 22 of the secondary lever are fiush with one another and with the surrounding skin H of the aircraft. A torsion spring 36 surrounding the pivot pin 34 bears against the subsidiary cover 31 and against a stop pin 31 carried by the webs 24 of the secondary lever, and serves to bias the locking hook, in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 1, to the flush position in which the protruding ends 38 of the webs which form the hooks 33 engage the inner surface of the main cover 22 to prevent further relative rotation of the locking hook.

It will be appreciated that to open the filler cap it is only necessary to presson the'inner end of the subsidiary cover 3| of the locking hook so as to rock the hooks 33 to the position 33 shown in chain lines in Figure 1. The other end of the subsidiary cover 3| ofthe locking hook'will then project above the level of the surrounding skin II and can be pulled so as to raise the secondary lever until its hook 26 clears the correspondingpin 21 whereafter' further pulling swings the main cover 22, primary'lever l5 and closure 5 clear of the filler opening to the positions shown in Figure 3. Thus the filling opening. is exposed inwhat: really amounts to a single movement. The converse movement closes it.

Thus the arrangement according'to the invention provides a form of closure that can be socurely fastened and yet rapidly opened, that has no loose parts, and that gives. a smooth uninterrupted surface whenclosed.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A closure-device for closing anopening, comprising in combination a fixed' seating surrounding the opening, a closure member which can be hold the closure resiliently on the seating when in the closed position.

4. A closure device for closing a, filling opening of a tank; comprising incombination a fixed seating surrounding the opening and secured to the tank, a cap which can be detachably fitted against the seating to close the opening, a primary lever pivoted at one end to a fixed pivot adjacent the seating at one side of the opening and extending across and carrying the cap, the primary lever being movable about the fixed pivot to a closed position in which it extends across the opening and holds the cap against the seating to close the opening, a floating secondary lever which incorporates a substantially fiat main cover having an aperture therein and is pivoted to the end of the primary lever remote from the fixed pivot, and which carries a rigid extension projecting beyond the common pivotal axis of the primary and secondary levers, an abutment provided by a fixed part adjacent the seating on the side of the opening opposite the fixed pivot, detachably engaging said extension when said primary lever is moved to closed position and constituting a fulcrum for the secondary lever about which it may be moved to a closed position in which the main cover overlies the cap, a fixed locking member secured to the tank, and a subsidiary cover in the aperture in the main cover, pivoted to the secondary lever adjacent its free end and carrying a locking member which cooperates with said fixed locking member to lock the free end of the secondary lever in closed position when said subsidiary cover is rotated to lie flush with said main cover.

5. A device as claimed in claim 4 in which the subsidiary cover is pivoted about an axis interv the subsidiary cover and moving therewith out removably fitted against the seating to close the opening, a primary lever pivoted at one end to a fixed pivot adjacent the seating at one side of the opening and extending across and carrying fixed part adjacent the seating on the side of the opening opposite the fixed pivot, a floating secondary lever pivoted to the end of the primary lever remote from the fixed pivot and carrying. an extension which projects beyondthe common pivotal axis of the primary and secondary levers..- the extension being so positioned. on the secondarylever as to be detachably engaged under the abutment when said primary lever is in closed position and serve as a fulcrum for the secondary lever, and locking means for retaining the free. end of the secondary lever in. a position across the-opening close to the primary lever in which position it will retain the primary lever in its said positionholding the. closure. member on. to. the seating v v 2. A device as. claimed in. claim' 1. inwhich the locking means comprises a hookengaging a-pin ',3. ,A device asclaime'din claim 1 inwhichthe primary lever comprises a leaf spring. servingv to of engagement with said pin when one end of said subsidiary cover is pressed inwardly from the locked position, thus permitting its other end to be pulled upwardly to swing the secondary lever clear of the abutment and then to swing 1 the primary lever about the fixed pivot to lift the cap off the opening.

6. A device-as claimed in claim 5 in which the primary lever comprises a leaf spring serving to hold the cap resiliently against the seating when 1 in the closed position.

7. A device as claimedin claim 6 in which the seating is provided by a casting secured to the tank having projecting lugs which support the fixed pivot for the primary lever and the fixed abutment and the fixed pin.

8. A device as claimed in claim 7 including a sealing washer carried in a groove in the seating, against whichv the cap is pressed when in the closed position. to seal the opening.

REGINALD CLAUDE MARCELL.

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

UNITED STATES. PATENTS Number