US2612216A

US2612216A - Continuous flow multiple tank fuel system

Info

Publication number: US2612216A
Authority: US
Inventors: Samiran David
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1945-08-01
Filing date: 1949-12-23
Publication date: 1952-09-30
Anticipated expiration: 1969-09-30

Description

Sept. 30, 1952 D. SAMIRAN 2,612,216

CONTINUOUS FLOW MULTIPLE TANK FUEL SYSTEM Original Filed Aug. 1, 1945 2 SHEETS-SHEET l Sept. 30, 1952 D. SAMIRAN 2,612,216

CONTINUOUSYFLOW MULTIPLE TANK FUEL SYSTEM Original Filed Aug. 1. 1945 v 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Jim; E.

IN V EN TOR. 0/? W0 JflN/E IV Patented Sept. 30, 1952 "PCONTINUOUSFFLOW MULTIPLE TANK FUEL ":[SYSTEM 7 [David S amiran', Fort Wayne, Ind.

-r'iginal"applicatio'n August 1,1945, Serial No. ;608,348,1now Patent No. 2,516,150, ,dated July v 425; 1950.. Divided and'this application-December 23, 1949, Serial No. 134,794

3 Claims; (C1.158-"-36.)I

, )(Granted. under1the act 'of March 3,1883,-;-as

'- I amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) I The invention describedherein may be vinan- 'ufactured -and used by ornfori the United States 7 Government for governmental purposes without payment to me of any royalty. thereon.

Referringinow toFig. 1 of .thedrawings an aircraft engine IIl'. carries the .usual engine: pump I2 which, is operatively,,-.connected:ftogthez-enginc toibedriven thereby and adapted. to supplyjuel under? pressure; to the carburetor- I4 or toL-ailike "Ihisv invention relates to an'aircraftfuel sys- 5 fuel metering-device; A =mainc:t=ank I6 and two tem and is a division of my copending applica' auxiliary tanks" I8 and 20 are;- provided andxare tionvSerialNo. 608,348,?filedAugust::1, 1945; and normally so xc'onnectedx'thati the :iuel; in fall. of 'now matured.int-o'xPatent No. 2,516,150 of July the tanks flows through the-main tank" Iii-to the 25-, 1950. suction side of the engine. pump I0.

' 'In modern aircraft, 1 particularly in :warcraft l0 {All electric motor: driven pumD ZZ; is' arranged it is current practice to carry the fuel in a series I to .pump from theib-ottomi-of the main; tank; I6, of separate tanks distributed as uniformly I as through a, pipezzd; selector 26 and pipe 28- to the "practicable throughout the available space: in engine pump? I2. The selector 2B is shown in a .the craft, this practice Joeing conducive to unijposition whichconnects the pipe 24: tovthe-pipe f rm W i h dis ri iomas' Well as having'the 28, but is rotatable to a positioniwhich connects I advantage that if one tank is punctured 'and. 'the'pipeiZtl-to" the"pi-pe':'48;-: iWhen the pointer "loses its fuel; the loss Will be proportionallyiless ,knob 25-p0ints to theindi-cium M as shown in asIthe nlllilrtr bler 2f tlanlfrs ils greiater. I ,h t f Fig. 1, the tankt I6 is connected, dlirectly,v te 1the n m p an 8 S31 em's'as ere o ore suction'sidel-of: heiengine pump 2,:and'w en constructed and arranged, a selector c-ock has the p0inter1lkn0bi isturned. ninety degrees usuallyfbeen provided with a position -f-or:.each anticlockwise-to the cindi-cium A, the auxiliary tankiwhe'reby the pilot p g-thatione tanks: I 8:: and 29 "will be connected-to the suctank is empty switches the selector to another. ti id ofthe engine pum-p. 1

' T s rran m however, has he isa v The: pressure 'inlets-saend-icc at the tops of tage that an emergency pump is required-which 25 the pressurizedtanks I8 and 20, respectively, are will D p f l from so e as source Wh connected to 'a pressure source 30- bygpipes 32, the change-over from one tank to another is c4 and 36.

' being efiected, together with a pressure drop The

fuel dischargepopenmgs

42 and 44" are sensitive instrument-which will start and stop connected'by piping dfiw and 48 to the'top of the emergency pump as-the pressure situatio I the main :tank' I 6 and. to the selector 26' respec- 're%ilires.b t f th t t t ,givelythA' tspriliiglsloaded Xalvfeill' att tlinlll'b e o J o e'presen inven ion is o pro- 20f e an consis s o a sea I an a vide a'multiple ta fuel Sys e pr a valve head' 54 adapted'tobe pressed upon the main tank having an electric pump -by :which seat by a spring 56,-whereby, with the same presgf'uel y Pe'p p tly-to the-suction side suretap-plied"atthe-pressure inlet 38 as at the 1of i'ilie 61351118 pump .ardid asi1esfoflp1essuizd pres'isulre inleti3 Marthe; fuelfnlhthe-tankgmkwil an s w1 means o irec e: ue orce y .be 'e i'vered 0- e opo e main an pressure from the pressurizedtanks into the 'before the fuel in the tank I8.

main tank, with automatically selective means A ky a e 53 in the ipe 46 is biased to t pty 1 f r ik l 0f g tgp g tanks into prevent return flowto the auxiliary tanks. A e'mam a 111 a D Sequencefloat valve 60 hinged' at 62 Within'the tank I6 I I -Other objects, advantages, and meritorious revents the pressure source 30 from forcing F W F g i g i i fuel from the auxiliary tanks I8 and 20 into the 15 fur e f W1 reference he r 5 main tank I6 faster than itis being pumped ut i i g' chemafi'v 1a out of the ed by the electric pump 22; Float valves 64 in the 5 .fuel g r f f is i g of v g 4. bottoms of the, tanks I8 .and ZD 'arearranged to close thefuel outlets and 44 Where their Fig. 2 is 'a schematic layout of a fuelsystem respectwe i k empty :similar touFig. 1 but including a pair of auxil- The {marathon P the F w-9 f i iary tanks equipped with." spring loadedsoutlet i CY H nf ig my omoperates sub- Like reference characters refer; tozlike: parts Withlallitanksffull as shown in F g. 1, the se- -.:.throughoutthe'severalviews. 5 lector mayb ttu'rnedtuthepfls ion shown iwith v the pointer knob Z 5 pointing 'to M and. the

3 engine I and the electric motor driven pump 22 started. As fuel is pumped out of the tank I6 by the electric motor drivenpump 22, the float.60 drops and allows the pressure source 30 to forcefuel from the tank 20, through pipes 4'6 into the main tank IE to replace that used. No fuel will flow from the tank I8 because of the spring loaded valve 50 until all fuel has been forced out of the tank 20 whereupon the float valve 64 in the tank 20 will close to prevent air under pressure flowing from the'tank 20 to the top of the main tank I6.

As soon, however, as the float valve 64 closes the outlet 44 of the tank 20, the valve'50 will open and fuel will be forced from the tank I8 into the main tank I6 until the tank I0 is empty and its float valve 64 closes the fuel outlet. Fuel will now be supplied to the carburetor IA -by the main tank I6 until that is empty.

The operation just described assumes that there has been no combat damage tothe system. However, should the main tank I6 be damaged or the pressurizing unit 30 fails to function, or

if for any otherreason it became desirable to use the fuel in the auxiliary tanks first, the se lect-or may be turned to the position A and the fuel may be drawn by the engine pump I2 directly from the auxiliary tanks I8 and 20;

In Fig. 1 there is shown a fuel system havin only two auxiliary fuel tanks. vious that one or more auxiliary fuel tanks may be added and the fuel may be fed from them in any desired sequence by providing all but the first auxiliary tank with spring loaded'outlet valves of graduated loading so that transfer of fuel therefrom into the main tank I0 will take place in inverse order of the strength ofthe spring loading of the check valves associated with the respective auxiliary fuel tanks. Such a fuel system is shown schematically in Fig. 2, the system being like that of Fig. 1. except for the addition of another auxiliary fuel tank IIB. In Fig. 2 the system includes a main fuel tank II6 connected to the auxiliary fuel tanks H8, H8 and I20 by pipes I46. The auxiliary fuel tanks are connected to a pressurizing source I30 by pipes I32, I32, I34 and I35. The outlets I42 and I42 of the auxiliary tanks H8 and H8 are provided with spring loaded valves I50 and I50" having a construction like that of valve 50 in Fig. 1. However one valve, such as I50, has a stronger spring loading than the other valve, such as I50. Therefore after fuel is forced from auxiliary tank I20 by way of outlet I M and after this tank is emptied, then fuelis fed automatically from auxiliary tank I I8 by way of outlet I 42 and spring loaded valve I50. After tank H8 is emptied, then fuel is fed from auxiliary tank II8 by way of outlet I42 and spring loaded valve I50. Thus it will be seen that pressure applied on the fuel in the auxiliary tanks causes transfer of fuel from the auxiliary tank I20 to .the main tank H6 before subsequent transfer of fuel from the other auxiliary tanks H8 and H8 to the main tank, with the subsequent fuel transfer taking place from these other auxiliary tanks in inverse order of the strength of the spring loading of the spring loaded valves I50 and I50 associated with the respective auxiliary tanks H8 and I I8.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In an aircraft fuel system, a main fuel tank, two auxiliary fuel tanks, an outflow pipe for each auxiliary fuel tank extending from thebottoms of said auxiliary fuel tanks to the outside of said However it is ob'-' auxiliary fuel tanks, conduit means flow-connecting the outer ends of said outflow pipes to thetop of said main fuel tank,,a float valve near the top of saidmain fuel tank operable to close and prevent "fuel inflow" through" said conduit means into the main fuel tank when the fuel in'the main fuel tank rises above a predeter- 'mined level and "operable to open and permit fuel inflow through said conduit means into the main fuel tank when the fuel in the main fuel tank falls below said predetermined level, a float "of fuel from the other auxiliary fuel tank to the CJI main fuel tank before the subsequent transfer of fuel from said one auxiliary fuel tank'to the main fuel tank.

2.- In an aircraft fuel system, a main fuel tank. a plurality of auxiliary fuel tanks, an outflow pipe extending from a point near the bottom of each of the auxiliary fuel tanks upwardly to the outside of said auxiliary fuel tanks, conduit means flow-connecting the outer ends of said outflow pipes to the top of said main fuel tank. valve means for controlling fuel inflow through said conduit means into said main fuel tank and operable to close when the fuel in the main fuel tankrises above a predetermined level and operable to open when the fuel in the main fuel tank falls below said predetermined level, valve means in each auxiliary fuel tank operable to close and prevent outflow of air through the respective outflow pipes when the auxiliary fuel tanks are empty of fuel, means for applying equal air pressure to the top surfaces of the fuel in the several auxiliary fuel tanks for transfer ring fuel from the auxiliary fuel tanks into the main fuel tank by way of the outflow pipes and the conduit means, and a check valve in the outflow pipe extending from all but one ofthe auxiliary fuel tanks, whereby said air pressure causes transfer of fuel from said one auxiliary fuel tank to the main fuel tank before the subsequent transfer of fuel from the other auxiliary fuel tanks to the main fuel tank.

3. In an aircraft fuel system, a main fuel tank, a plurality of auxiliary fuel tanks, an outflow pipe extending from a point near the bottom of each of the auxiliary fuel tanks upwardly to the outside of said auxiliary fuel tanks, conduit means flow-connecting the outer ends of said outflow pipes to the top of said main fuel tank, valve means for controlling fuel inflow through said conduit means into said main fuel tank and operable to close when the fuel in the main fuel tank rises above a predetermined level and operable to open when the fuel in the main fuel tank falls below said predetermined level, valve means in each auxiliary fuel tank operable to close and prevent outflow of air through the respective outflow pipes when the auxiliary fuel tanks are empty of fuel, means for applying equal air pressure to the top surfaces of-the'fuel in the several auxiliary fuel tanks for transferring fuel from the auxiliary fuel tanks into the main fuel tank by way of the outflow pipes and 5 6 the conduit means, and spring-loaded check REFERENCES CITED Valves in the 9 Plpes extendmg from P The following references are of record in the but one of the auxiliary fuel tanks and havin fil f this patent; progressively increasing spring loading throughout the several check valves, whereby said air 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS pressure causes transfer of fuel from said one Number Name Date auxiliary fuel tank to the main fuel tank before 1,367,460 Caudron Feb. 1, 1921 the subsequent transfer of fuel from the other 1,407,374 Buckend-ale Feb. 21, 1922 auxiliary fuel tanks to the main fuel tank with 2,389,667 Hudson Nov. 27, 1945 said subsequent transfer taking place from the 10 2,394,506 Woods Feb. 5, 1946 other auxiliary fuel tanks in inverse order of the ,409,245 Black Oct. 15, 1946 strength of the spring loading of the check valves FOREIGN PATENTS associated with the respective auxiliary fuel tanks. Number Country Date DAVID SAMIRAN 15 146,446 Great Britain July 3,1920