Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Delphi Technologies, Inc.

Charles H Covert

Thomas Charles Meiller

William E Gifford

Kenneth W Turner

Carl H Sherwood

Gordon R Paddock

Karen M Meyer

Richard W Wagner

Joseph Fornuto

Robert Augustine Zaso

Timothy Michael Beadnell

Gregory P Weilnau

Susan S LaBine

Patti S DuBois

Otto Muller-Girard, Jr

Roy A Giacomazzi

Chris Clarence Begley

Jonathan M Oemcke

Susan Scott Labine

William R Robertson

Edwin C Storey

Richard H Simons, Jr

Kenenth W Turner

Otto M Girard, Jr

Samuel Yu

Christopher S Tupps

Craig G Kemler

Gordon Richard Paddock

An evaporative emissions control canister for adsorbing fuel vapors from a fuel tank on a marine vessel. The canister comprises a polymeric extruded housing that may be formed to any desired length or cut from extruded stock. Identical end caps having tubing connectors are bonded to opposite ends of the housing, defining an inlet and an outlet. Marine-grade pelletized activated carbon is disposed within the housing between porous slidable plates that are spring loaded against the end caps to pack the carbon tightly against the housing walls. Mounting brackets at each end are rotatably attached to the end caps so that opposite ends of the assembly may be attached to different surfaces of the vessel's hull, thus relieving stress which might be introduced into the assembly. Preferably, the assembly is wrapped in a fire retardant material.

Evaporative emissions canister suitable for marine use

Disclosed herein an evaporative emission treatment device comprising: a housing; and an adsorption member disposed in the housing, the adsorption member comprising an adsorption component comprising an activated carbon textile made from a novoloid precursor.

Evaporative emission treatment device

A hydrocarbon emissions scrubber for use in an evaporative emissions control system of a motor vehicle includes a scrubber element having an elongate body. The body defines a plurality of passageways for the flow of fluid therethrough. The plurality of passageways are one of coated with or constructed of a sorbent material. The sorbent material is adsorptive of hydrocarbons.

Hydrocarbon bleed emission scrubber with low restriction

A variable purge orifice assembly for an evaporative emission system of a vehicle includes a housing for fluid connection to a vapor canister and a purge solenoid of the evaporative emission system. The housing has a purge orifice therein. The variable purge orifice assembly also includes a regulating device connected to the housing and for connection to an engine of the vehicle. The regulating device is actuated by manifold vacuum from the engine to vary flow of fuel vapor through the purge orifice from the vapor canister to the purge solenoid.

Variable purge orifice assembly

A valve assembly for a vapor canister includes a partition adapted to be disposed in an interior chamber of the vapor canister and having at least one opening extending therethrough. The valve assembly also includes a valve connected to the partition and covering the at least one opening and being movable to provide variable flow of fluid therethrough.

Valve assembly for vapor canister

An auxiliary canister operates with a storage canister of an evaporative emissions control system to reduce the amount of fuel vapor emitted from a vehicle to very low levels. The storage canister contains a first sorbent material and has a vent port in communication therewith. The auxiliary canister comprises an enclosure, first and second passages, a heater and a connector. Inside the enclosure, a second sorbent material is in thermal contact with the heater. Attached at one end to the bottom of the enclosure, the first passage is connectable at its other end to the vent port to allow flow between the storage and auxiliary canisters. Attached at one end to a top of the enclosure, the second passage is connectable at its other end to a vent valve of the control system to allow flow between the auxiliary canister and the vent valve. Incorporated into the enclosure, the connector is used to convey electrical power from the vehicle to the heater. During a regenerative phase of operation for the control system, the heater can be used to heat the second sorbent material and the passing purge air. This enables the second and first adsorbent materials to more readily release the fuel vapor they adsorbed during the previous storage phase of operation so that they can be burned during combustion.

Evaporative emission canister with heated adsorber

A fuel vapor storage canister including a mass of carbon granules in a carbon bed chamber of the canister, a liquid trap having a polygonal internal chamber between a vapor inlet port and the carbon bed chamber, and a purge duct traversing the polygonal chamber. The polygonal chamber includes a plurality of three sides which define the gravitational bottom of the chamber in respective ones of a plurality of three orientations of the vapor storage canister. A pick-up tube in the polygonal internal chamber has an outboard end at the convergence of the aforesaid plurality of three sides and an inboard end surrounding an orifice in the vapor purge duct. The inboard end of the pick-up tube is vertically above the maximum level of liquid fuel in the polygonal internal chamber in each of the aforesaid plurality of three orientations of the vapor storage canister. A pressure gradient between the vapor purge duct and the polygonal internal chamber induces liquid fuel to flow through the pick-up tube and the metering orifice into the vapor purge duct.

Fuel vapor storage canister

An air control valve assembly for the air side of an automotive fuel evaporative emission control system incorporates two passive check valves and an active blocking valve which cooperate to divide the air filtered air inlet path from the air exit path to atmosphere. The possibility of break through vapors flowing back into the air cleaner during canister vapor fill is avoided through the use of oppositely opening check valves. By adding an active blocking valve below the freely movable air inlet check valve, the canister can be rigorously sealed from the atmosphere during a diagnostic evacuation test.

Air control valve assembly for fuel evaporative emission storage canister

A fuel vapor storage canister having a screen assembly between a mass of carbon granules in the storage canister and a purge port of the storage canister. The fuel vapor storage canister includes a cup-shaped plastic body defining a carbon bed chamber and a plenum in the canister body covered by the screen assembly. The screen assembly includes a pair of concentric cylindrical bosses around the plenum, a plastic foam screen over the plenum seated on a circular edge of each of the concentric cylindrical bosses, and a retainer having a plurality of flexible barbs and flexible reinforcements resiliently biased against opposite sides of the outermost one of the cylindrical bosses. Concentric circular segments of the plastic foam screen are compressed tightly between an annular planar side of the retainer and each of the circular edges of the concentric cylindrical bosses to positively prevent migration of carbon granules around the foam screen. The barbs prevent dislodgment of the retainer from the outermost one of the cylindrical bosses. The reinforcements protect the integrity of the retention of the barbs by preventing creep of the outermost one of the cylindrical bosses attributable to the forces exerted thereon by the barbs.

Vapor storage canister with foam screen retainer

A refueling vapor recovery system for a vehicle utilizes recirculation of a portion of the displaced vapor and combines a vapor vent valve and a recirculation control into a single differential pressure valve assembly. A vapor vent conduit provides fuel tank vapor pressure to one side of a diaphragm and, through a restricted orifice, to the other side of the diaphragm, the other side being further connected by a recirculation conduit to the tank filler neck. When a gas cap closes the filler neck from the atmosphere, the orifice allows pressure to equalize across the diaphragm; and a spring biases the diaphragm to close a vapor vent valve. When the gas cap is removed, atmospheric pressure is provided through the recirculation conduit to the other side of the diaphragm, which can then be activated by a relatively small differential pressure to open the vent for relatively unrestricted vapor flow from the tank to a canister during refueling, with a small portion of the vapor recirculated in a controlled flow through the orifice and recirculation conduit to the filler neck for entrainment in incoming liquid fuel.

Fuel fill vapor recovery system with differential pressure control valve

A purge control device for an evaporative control system comprises a single housing having two solenoid actuated valves controlling parallel orifices leading from an inlet chamber to an exit flow path. The two solenoid valves have different sized orifices to provide different flow capacities. Purge flow is controlled by an electronic control module which regulates the duty cycle of the solenoids. Each valve receives its own signal so that the flow through the orifices is individually controlled.

Purge control device

A vapor storage canister incorporates a liquid trap that protects the carbon bed, but which avoids purging liquid directly out of the trap. The trap consists of a cup that forms an interior cavity at the bottom of, and surrounded by, the carbon bed. The purge tube does not enter the trap directly, but instead runs to a plenum that draws from the bottom face of the carbon bed. The trap, in turn, is open to the interior of the carbon bed only through a screen mesh grid. Consequently, vapor can be pulled from the trap at purge, but not liquid.

Vapor storage canister with liquid trap

A tank mounted vapor vent valve is actuated from the filler door by a pair of bellows, a primary bellows operated by the filler door, and a secondary bellows moved by the primary bellows to open and close the valve, joined only by a flexible, easily routed air hose.

Remotely actuated fuel tank vapor vent valve

A tank vapor vent valve assembly mounted to the top of the tank wall has a piston actuated by a source of engine vacuum which maintains a fill vapor exit closed until the gas cap is removed to relieve the vacuum and allow the piston to open.

Growing community of inventors

Manchester, NY, United States of America

Charles H Covert