Patent Grant
12287068
Propane gas can be used to power various devices such as heaters, grills, generators, smokers, and the like. To power such devices, propane is often stored in, sold in, and dispensed from propane tanks of various sizes. For example, common sizes of commercial-grade propane tanks are one pound, five pound, twenty pound, and forty pound. One pound propane tanks are typically single use tanks that are thrown away or recycled after their use. Because one pound tanks are smaller and more light-weight than most other propane tank sizes, they are popular for traveling, camping, hiking, and other outdoor recreational activities.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key factors or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.
One or more techniques and systems are provided herein for the refilling and reuse of pressurized fluid tanks, such as small one-pound propane tanks. In one implementation, a system for refilling a fluid tanks includes a source fluid tank that hold the source of the fluid, such as propane, a target refillable fluid tank, such as a one-pound cylinder, and a fill valve. The source tank can be fluidly connected to the refillable tank via the fill valve such that fluid from the source tank is transferred from the source tank to the refillable tank through the fill valve.
In another implementation, a tank refilling system comprises a support foot, the support foot configured to attach to a collar of a source tank, a refillable tank comprising a valve assembly and an overpressure valve, wherein the valve assembly further comprises a fill valve and an overfill valve, and a connection system comprising a length of tubing, first connector attached to a first end of the tubing, a second connector affixed to a second end of the tubing, and a manual valve, the first connector is fluidly connected to the valve assembly of the refillable tank and the second connector is fluidly connected to the source tank, and the manual valve in fluid connection with the tubing, and wherein the first connector comprises a first prong and a second prong, the first prong and the second prong configured such that when the first connector is affixed to the valve assembly, the first prong engages with and actuates the overfill valve and the second prong engages with and actuates the fill valve.
In another implementation, the tank refilling system further comprises an overfill valve assembly, the overfill valve assembly comprising a body comprising an output, the output in fluid communication with a cavity of the refillable tank, a push button, a cam assembly, a pin configured to actuate between an opened and a closed position, the opened position configured to open the output to the cavity of the refillable tank, the closed position configured to closed the output to the cavity of the refillable tank, a spring configured to bias the pin in the closed position, wherein the push button and the cam assembly are configured to selectably translate the pin between the opened and the closed position when the push button is pressed.
To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the following description and annexed drawings set forth certain illustrative aspects and implementations. These are indicative of but a few of the various ways in which one or more aspects may be employed. Other aspects, advantages and novel features of the disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the annexed drawings.
What is disclosed herein may take physical form in certain parts and arrangement of parts, and will be described in detail in this specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and wherein:
The claimed subject matter is now described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are generally used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the claimed subject matter. It may be evident, however, that the claimed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate describing the claimed subject matter.
One pound propane tanks are commonly used for outdoor recreation such as camping, hiking, fishing, or the like. The one pound tanks are popular for such uses because they are smaller, lighter, and more compact than typical twenty pound propane tanks. One pound propane tanks, however, are often single use tanks that are thrown away or recycled after every use. This may create excess waste, may be harmful to the environment, may be expensive to manufacture, and may be expensive to purchase from a consumer standpoint. A refillable propane tank system may mitigate cost, reduce tank manufacturing, reduce waste, and may reduce negative environmental effects by allowing consumers to refill their tanks rather than throwing them away. One will readily appreciate the benefits of such a system compared to the single use tanks that are commercially available.
Provided herein is a system and method for refilling a refillable propane tank with a source propane tank. By way of example, the system may be provided to refill a one pound propane tank with propane from a twenty pound propane tank.
Throughout the present application the refillable tank 102 may also be referred to as the refillable tank 102, the one pound tank 102, or simply the tank 102. It should be appreciated that the refillable tank 102 may any suitable size, such as but not limited to a one pound tank, five pound tank, ten pound tank, twenty pound tank, forty pound tank, sixty pound tank, eighty pound tank, one hundred pound tank, or any other tank size. Similarly, the source tank 150 may be referred to as a refillable twenty pound propane tank 150, or simply the tank 150. It should be appreciated that the source tank 150 may any suitable size, such as but not limited to a one pound tank, five pound tank, ten pound tank, twenty pound tank, forty pound tank, sixty pound tank, eighty pound tank, one hundred pound tank, or any other tank size. It should also be appreciated that the source tank 150 may be replaced with any other suitable propane source such.
Turning to
The refillable tank 102 may further comprise two openings in the top section 202: a first opening 210 and a second opening 212. The first opening 210 may be configured to accept the valve assembly 104, and the second opening 212 may be configured to accept the overpressure valve 110. Each of the first and second openings 210 and 212 may be configured with a first fitting 230 and a second fitting 232, respectively. Each of the first and the second fitting 230 and 232 may comprise threading 214 and 216 extending along an interior surface of the first and second fittings 230 and 232. The threading 214 of the first opening 210 may be configured to engage complementary threading 218 of the valve assembly 104 so that the valve assembly 104 can be removably, threadedly attached to the refillable tank 102 at the first opening 210. The threading 216 of the second opening 212 may be configured to engage complementary threading 220 of the overpressure valve 110 so that the overpressure valve 110 can be remove ably, threadedly attached to the refillable tank 102 at the second opening 212. It should be appreciated that each of the first and second openings 210 and 212 may provide fluid access to an inner chamber of the refillable tank 102.
Turning to
The valve assembly 104 may further comprise an overfill valve assembly 314. As illustrated in
The valve assembly 104 may also comprise a fill valve 402 located within a throughpassage 404. The throughpassage 404 may extend through the body 306 of the valve assembly 104 from the first opening 310 to the second opening 312. By way of example, and not limitation, the fill valve 402 may be a Schrader Valve, or similar type. It should be appreciated, however, that the fill valve 402 may be any suitable type of valve according to sound engineering judgement. The fill valve 402, when in an opened configuration, can fluidly couple the first opening 310 with the second opening 312, through the throughpassage 404. For example, this may allow propane to be transferred through the throughpassage 404 from the first opening 310 to the second opening 312 such that propane may be transferred into the inner chamber 180 of the refillable tank 102. The operation of the valve assembly 104 will be described below in detail with respect to
Turning to
The second prong 514 may further comprise an opening 516 at the end of the second prong 514. The opening 516 may be in fluid communication with an opening 518 at the first end 502 such that propane may travel through the throughpassage 520 from the first end 502 to the second end 504. In this manner, propane may be transferred out of the opening 516 and into the throughpassage 404 of the valve assembly 104. Thus, when the fill valve 402 is in an opened configuration, the connector 106, valve assembly 104, and chamber 180 can be fluidly coupled, such that propane may travel through the connector 106, through the valve assembly 104, and into the chamber 180 of the refillable tank 102. The interaction between the connector 106 and the valve assembly 104 is described in greater detail with respect to
In an exemplary implementation, when the first prong 512 depresses the overfill valve 326 against the overfill valve spring 328, the overfill valve 326 may transition from a closed configuration to an opened configuration. When the overfill valve 326 is in an opened configuration, fluid communication between the chamber 602 and the chamber 604 may be possible. Similarly, when the second prong 514 depresses the fill valve 402 against the fill valve spring 406, the fill valve 402 may transition from a closed configuration to an opened configuration. When the fill valve 402 is in an opened configuration, fluid communication between the chamber 606 and the chamber 608 may be possible. It should be appreciated that when the connector 106 is affixed to the valve assembly 104, that both the overfill valve 326 and the fill valve 402 may be transitioned to opened positions to allow the refillable tank 102 to be filled.
Returning back
An overfill outlet 730 is disposed in the threaded overfill cavity 728. When the threaded post 726 is disposed in the closed position (
That is, with reference to
In operation, the ring actuator 824 can be rotated merely in one direction (e.g., clockwise) resulting in the straight portion 852 riding up the ramp from the inner position 852 to the outer position 854. This results in the valve post 826 to be drawn out of the overfill cavity 828, as shown in
An alternate implementation of a collar 860 for the actuator 824 is illustrated in
An overfill outlet 830 is disposed in the overfill cavity 828. When the post 826 is disposed in the closed position (
In this implementation, the first connector 906 is disposed at substantially a ninety degree angle from the tubing 902. For example, a second piece of tubing 916 can be coupled to an elbow 918 distally from the manually operated valve assembly 910, between the manually activated valve 910 and the second connector 908 and the first connector 906,
Further, as illustrated, the manually operated valve assembly 910 is configured to be manually operated to open a fluid path between the second connector 908 and the first connector 906, for example, to provide for refilling the refillable tank (e.g., 102, 700, 800). The manually operated valve assembly 910 comprises a refilling valve 920 that is normally biased in a closed position by a biasing spring. Depressing an actuator handle 924 compresses the refilling valve 920 into an open position to fluidly connect the proximal end of the manually operated valve assembly 910 with the distal end of the manually operated valve assembly 910 to allow fluid to flow from the second connector 908 to the first connector 906, for example. As such, fluid can flow from a source tank such as 150 into a refillable tank, such as 102.
In an exemplary implementation, the valve assembly 104 may comprise at least two components: the fill valve 402 that may be normally closed and an overfill valve 326 (e.g., part of the overfill valve assembly 314) that may also be normally closed. When the connector 106 is attached to the valve housing, the first and second prongs 512 and 514 may activate both the fill valve 402 and the overfill valve 326. The fill valve 402 may be a Schrader Valve (e.g., or similar type valve). When the second prong 514 is inserted through an O-ring seal, the refillable tank 102 is fluidly coupled with the fill valve 402 and the hole in the second prong 514. That is, for example, upon insertion of the second prong 514 into the O-ring seal, fluid may flow through the hole in the second prong 514, through the fill valve 402, and into the refillable tank 102.
As an illustrative example, in some implementations, the overfill valve assembly (e.g., 314, 720, 820) may operate in a two-step process. As an example, this may promote propane filling and operating technique to mitigate leakage outside of the tanks. Further, the two-step process may also provide two different sealing methods, for example, if one of the components of the overfill valve assembly (e.g., 314, 720, 820) malfunctions. In this implementation, when the first prong (e.g., 512, 912) of the connector (e.g., 106, 906) is inserted through the O-ring seal, it can engage and depress the overfill valve (e.g., 326, 736, 836). When the overfill valve is depressed against the overfill valve spring (e.g., 328738, 838), fluid in the tank (e.g., propane) may flow from the overfill dip-tube (e.g., 324, 732, 832) through the overfill valve. In this implementation, the overfill dip-tube (e.g., 732, 832) comprises a hollow body with a first opening (e.g., 760) disposed outside of the refillable tank (e.g., 150) in fluid communication with the overfill valve (e.g., 736, 836), and a second opening (e.g., 762) disposed inside the refillable tank, wherein a position of the second opening is disposed at a predetermined fluid level height.
The fluid (e.g., propane vapor) may then flow into the overfill cavity (e.g., 604, 728, 828), but is mitigated from release into the environment through the output (e.g., 316, 730, 830) at least until the actuator (e.g., 318, 724, 824) of the overfill valve assembly is actuated (e.g., in the appropriate order). Therefore, for fluid (e.g., propane vapor) to be released through the output, the overfill valve may be opened and the actuator may be actuated. If the overfill valve is not opened or if the actuator is not actuated, the fluid (e.g., propane vapor may be mitigated from being released through the output.
In this implementation, when the overfill valve assembly is in an opened position, the overfill cavity may be opened to the surrounding environment. For example, when fluid from inside the tank is released into the surrounding environment, it may serve as a visual indicator to an operator that the fluid being introduced into the refillable tank (e.g., 102, 700, 800) has reached a desired fill level (e.g., reached the level of the overfill dip-tube (e.g., 324, 732, 832)). As an example, propane vapor may flow out of the output when the tank is filled to the desired level. That is, in this example, when the liquid propane level has reached the dip-tube (e.g., which may be set to a desired depth to reach a certain fill level) a small amount of liquid propane may be released from the output. In this example, propane releasing from the output may serve as the visual indicator to an operator indicating that the tank is full (e.g., fluid is at a pre-determined level in the tank). The operator may then know to stop the re-filling process and to close the overfill valve via the actuator.
In an exemplary implementation, a process for operating the system 100 may comprise: attaching the second connector (e.g., 114, 908) and connection assembly (e.g., 112, 900) to the source tank 150; and may attach support feet 116 onto the top ring of the source tank 150; inverting the source tank 150 to rest the source tank 150 on the support feet 116; attaching the second connector to the refillable tank (e.g., 102, 700, 800) via fill valve assembly (e.g., 104, 722, 822); opening a valve on the source tank 150; activating the actuator (e.g., 318, 724, 824) of the overfill valve 314 to open the overfill valve assembly (e.g., 314, 720, 820); activating the manual shut off valve 108 to transfer propane from the source tank 150 to the refillable tank; when fluid is released from the output (e.g., 316, 730, 830) of the overfill valve assembly, releasing the manual shut off valve (e.g., 108, 910); activating the actuator to close the overfill valve assembly; closing the valve of the source tank 150; removing the first connector from the refillable tank; returning the source tank 150 to an upright position; and removing the connection assembly from the source tank 150.
It should be appreciated that although the systems and methods are described herein as pertaining to propane gas, that the systems and methods could be used for other suitable gases such as, but not limited to: natural gas, carbon dioxide, butane, ethane, pentane, and the like.
The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as an example, instance or illustration. Any aspect or design described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as advantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, use of the word exemplary is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion. As used in this application, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or.” That is, unless specified otherwise, or clear from context, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoing instances. Further, at least one of A and B and/or the like generally means A or B or both A and B. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appended claims may generally be construed to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form.
Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims. Of course, those skilled in the art will recognize many modifications may be made to this configuration without departing from the scope or spirit of the claimed subject matter.
Also, although the disclosure has been shown and described with respect to one or more implementations, equivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art based upon a reading and understanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. The disclosure includes all such modifications and alterations and is limited only by the scope of the following claims. In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described components (e.g., elements, resources, etc.), the terms used to describe such components are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any component which performs the specified function of the described component (e.g., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs the function in the herein illustrated exemplary implementations of the disclosure.
In addition, while a particular feature of the disclosure may have been disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other implementations as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “includes,” “having,” “has,” “with,” or variants thereof are used in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising.”
The implementations have been described, hereinabove. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the above methods and apparatuses may incorporate changes and modifications without departing from the general scope of this invention. It is intended to include all such modifications and alterations in so far as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.
This application claims priority to provisional application having U.S. Ser. No. 63/348,113, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REFILLING PROPANE TANK, filed Jun. 2, 2022, which is incorporated herein by reference.
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| PCT/US2023/067850 | 6/2/2023 | WO |
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| WO2023/235853 | 12/7/2023 | WO | A |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 63348113 | Jun 2022 | US |
