US2366529A - Filling device - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 2, 1945.

J. G. HOFF FILLING DEVICE Filed April 23, 1942 '4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. JOHN G. HOFF I f mw a m AT TORNEYS.

Jan, 2, 1945. J. G. HOFF 2,366,529

FILLING DEVICE Filed April 23, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet. 2

v a v ocog gL w, \a

ATTORNEYS.

NTOR- Jan. 2, 1945. J HOFF 2,366,529

FILLING DEVICE Filed April '23, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet a:

I I l l I I l l I l I I I I I l l I I I I I I I I I l l I I I I l I I I I I I l l INVENTOR. JOHN G. HOFF BY 07 ZMMZMMMM ATTORNEYS.

Jan. 2, 1945. J. G. HOFF 2,366,529

FILLING DEVICE Filed April 23, 1942 4 Shets-Sheat 4 F/ 6 INVENTOR.

JOHN G. HOFF aw /wwww ATTORNEYS end walls of the trough with the 1 uprights i 5.-

.form at the same timethe legs of the trough and Patented Jan. 2, 1945 v FILLING DEVICE s John G. Hoff; Mansfield, Ohio, assignor to The Tappan Stove Compan poration of Ohio y, Mansfield, Ohio, a cor- ApplicationApril 2s, massin 440,149

The" present invention relates to a filling deplanes. As generally known, the gasoline tanks vice designed primarily for use in fuelingairin airplanes are located within the wings and the filling opening for each tank is usually located in an inaccessible position-which makes the use of a funnel difiicult. Another defect of the filling equipment hithertoin use is its slow operation. This drawback may become very serious when planes. with empty tanks are exposed to enemy action-on the ground where utmost speed in refueling may prove to be a vital question for i the survival of the plane and the crew.

5 0laims 101. 225-31) n i t p i As illustrated in Fig. 4, the uprights are made of hollow members shaped as a U Wlllh...

extended flangeswhich slidingly' receive slotted bars l8, being about half the lengths of. the uprights l5. The extendedflanges of uprights l5 lie adjacent and are spot weldedto a TGiHjOI'O". Ying plate l9 which is in turnspot welded to wall v One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a combined filling trough and can which will enable the refueling of an airplane tank in the shortest time possible. My filling device preferably comprises a trough shaped receiver having adjustable legs, which make it possible toplace the trough horizontallyon a, sloping airplane wing. The top of the trough is so shapedthat it will accommodate a certainnum ber of specially designed cans in a position ready for draining their contents. The removal of empty cans at one end of the trough and simultaneous substitution of full cans at the'other end make the filling operation continuous and as speedy aspossible.

Other novel features or my combined filling trough and can will; become apparent from the annexed drawings and thedetailed description of the same. it i i Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the trough with cans in filling position; A

Fig. 2' is a vertical section along line 2--2 of Fig. 1 with cans removed, showing one of the i valve leading to the connecting hose;

Fig. Bis a sectionalongline cans removed;

to the invention; and s Fig. 6 is a sideelevation thereof.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1, l0 designates an elongated trough shaped member enclosed by longitudinal side walls I2 and two end walls, one of which, II; is seen in this figure. The upper edge of the sidewalls i2 is provided with flared flanges l3, reinforced by ribs l4 and The uprights l5, four in number,

are made adjustableas more fully described bea -s of Fig. 2 with i Fig. 4 is an enlarged fsection onilines 4-4 of Fig.5 is a toprplan view of the can according 11:0 the seat 3|.

Thebotto-m ends of bars l8 are semicircular in cross section (see Fig. 2) and adjustably mounted m by means of pins 2| in slotted; squares zflthat are rigidly secured to foot members or base plates 22. The'uprights [5 are fastened on topto flanges l3 by bolts I6 and nuts l1.

and bars together in any desired position. Pins .26 are fastenedby means of chains 21 to their. respective uprights so that they will not become whentemporarily removed from i the holes.

lost or misplaced The trough is providedwith the usual safety ground chain 28 having one end electrically connected to the trough, and the opposite end provided with a connecting, clip to guard against static. As shown in Fig. l, the connecting clip is. electrically connected to'a metal .part of the plane sothat the trough is thereby grounded to prevent sparking due to static-charges. i i

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the end wall II has fitted thereto" the valve 30 for connection with the tank in the'airplane. Valve 30 comprises an annular seat 3| having a threaded portion 32 i which engages with a thread in a nut 39. The

valve is provided with a cover 35 tightly fitting The cover carries a lug 31 to which a chain or cable 38 is attached that serves for pulling up and fastening the coverin the open position. s

Into the cone shaped part 40 of the valve a funnel shapedsie've 4| isinserted which serves to filter the gasoline. i i

i The trough is preferably made of;zinc coated steel of light weight which makes it easy to be moved about according to requirement. For this purpose it is, moreover, provided with folding handles 44 attached to each of the end walls. As .a protective means against marring the surface 10f. the airplane wings the legs havefelt or rubber i pads secured to their bottoms, which also pres.

Each of the uprights l5 and, the bars I8 is provided with a set of holes which are of equal size capable to register anduof which the holes s "25 of the uprights I5 only appear in the drawings; these holes are adapted to receivea pin .or bolt 26, which after being passed through two registering holes is adapted to hold the uprights cap and sealed in the usual manner.

' sults it is necessary to use the trough in combination with a set of cans particularly designed for that purpose. Such a can has a substantially square-shaped body one side wall 50 of which is seen in Fig. 6, while Fig. 5 ShOWs the top 5|. The edges of the can body are rounded as are also the corners of the top 5| All parts are die formed with ribs 52 evenly distributed around the circumference to provide maximum strength. The bottom, not shown in the drawings, is likewise embossed with stiffening ribs;

The top 5| has a depressionli l which is spanned by a flat handle 55 flush with the can top. The depression makes it possible to grip the handle without making it project over the edge of the can. Owing to this arrangement a number of cans may be vertically stacked upon each other. This is facilitated by making the can tops slightly smaller than the bottoms.

The cap 57, which for that same reason is counter-sunk, engages threadingly as at 59 with an opening 60. The cap is provided with two or more gripping members on tabs 6| which are pierced at 62 and the can is provided with holes 62*, registering with the holes 62. After the cap has been screwed in, wire may be threaded through the holes 62 on the can and 62 on the To guard the cap against misplacement when unscrewed, I provide a chain 63 and anchor 64, the prongs of which are pressed together for insertion into the can. It is very convenient to tuck the cap under the handle 55 during the filling operation.

A vent tube 65 is provided in the can body,

which extends from the top near the opening for inite relationship to the available space in the trough so'that the openings of the vent tubes will be closed by the rising level of liquid inv the trough at a time, when continuation of flow would cause flooding of the trough.

As already mentioned the can is very strong owing to the reinforcing ribs embossed on the side walls and the bottom. In order to make the exposed parts of the can still more resistant the top and the bottom are wrapped over the sides of the body making the total thickness of the wall at these points three times the metal thickness. The flange extending over the can body on top of the can is comparatively deep and forms an ideal pouring lip in case a single can is used and the liquid poured out over the corner.

For operating the filling device according to my invention the funnel is placed on the plane wing and adjusted so that it will be substan- ,tially horizontal; the outlet hose being at the same time connected to the tank opening.

' The operator then opens, the valve and checks the strainer to remove any impurities if necessary. As soon asthe funnel is ready the cans will be opened and the caps tucked under the handles. The cans are then placed on the trough one by one with their openings down and averted from the service man. One can after the other is pushed toward the outlet end of the trough until allthe cans, four in the embodiment shown in the drawings, are in position. As shown in Fig. l, the cans have at least one transverse dimension which is greater than the width of. the trough so that the cans maybe disposed on the flanges l3 with the top edge of the, can having the filling and discharge orifices disposed within the trough and below the upper edges thereof. As soon as the first can is empty it will be removed and the three other cans advanced accordingly and a full can placed in the vacant space on the opposite end of the trough.

. This procedure will be continued until the tank is filled.

Having thus described my invention what] claim is:

l. A filling device for airplane tanks comprising an elongated trough, members on the upper I edges of said trough extending outwardly thereof for supporting fuel containers in emptying position, adjustable legs mounted on said trough adapted to hold the same in horizontal position i on a sloping airplane wing, one end wall of the trough being provided with a discharge opening and conduit means connected to the discharge opening for connecting the interior of said trough edges of said trough extending outwardly thereof for supporting fuel containers in emptying position, adjustable legs 'mounted on said trough adapted to hold the same in horizontal position on a sloping airplane wing, one end wall of the trough being provided with a discharge opening, conduit means connected to the discharge opening for connecting the interior of said trough with the filling opening of a tank in said wing, a flap valve pivotally mounted within the trough and arranged to close the discharge opening under the influence of gravity and the static pressure of fuel in the trough, said trough having its bottom inclined towards the said end wall in which said valved discharged opening is located whereby the maximum pressure of gasoline at this end of the trough is obtained to insure proper seating of the valve, and means accessible from the exterior of the trough for opening said flap va ve.

3. A filling trough for fueling the wing tanks of an airplane comprising an elongated opentopped trough having a bottom wall sloping downwardly from one end of the trough to the other, a pair of upright supporting members secured to thetrough at either end thereof and depending below the sloping bottom wall thererights whereby to position the trough in a gem erally horizontal position regardless of the inclination of the wing surface onwhich it is supported.

4. A filling device for airplane tanks comprising an elongated trough, outwardly flared flanges secured to and extending substantially the full length of the upper edges of said trough for sup porting a set of fuel containers in emptying position, adjustable legs mounted on said trough adapted to hold the same in horizontal position on a sloping airplane wing, one of the walls of said trough being provided with a discharge opening, a flap valve mounted in that same wall of said trough for controlling the discharge of fuel from the trough through said opening, and conduit means for connecting the discharge opening of said trough with the filling opening of a tank of said wing.

spective pairs of uprights and positionable to hold 5. A filling device for airplane tanks comprising an elongated trough, flange members on the upper edges of said trough extending outwardly thereof for supporting a set of fuelcontainers in emptying position, pairs of uprights mounted on said trough at opposite ends of the trough, adjustable foot members carried jointly by the rethe trough in horizontal position on a sloping airplane wing, the upper ends of the uprights being secured .to the flanges to reinforce the same, one

end wall of the trough being provided with a discharge opening, a flap valve mounted in that same wall of said trough for controlling said discharge opening, and conduit means connecting the discharge opening of said trough with the filling opening of a tank of saidwing.

JOHN G. HOFF'.

Images