Gasoline spill prevention system and apparatuses

Claim 1

A fluid fuel dispensing system comprising, in operative combination: a. a container for fuel; b. a pump with an inlet operatively connected to said container and a pump outlet; c. an elongated flexible conduit having a proximal end connected to said pump outlet and another distal end; d. a nozzle assembly comprising a proximal inlet and a distal outlet; and, e. an automatic sealing unit one, proximal, end of which is connected to said distal end of said conduit and another, distal, end of which is connected to the proximal end of said nozzle assembly and wherein the automatic sealing unit comprises, in operative combination, a proximal sealable conduit unit and a distal seal actuating unit and connector, the proximal sealable unit comprising a proximal conduit attachment attached to the distal end of the conduit and a sealing chamber, the distal seal actuating unit and connector comprising a rigid cylindrical inlet tube firmly attached at its distal end to the nozzle assembly and a seal closing means actuated by distal movement of the nozzle assembly from the conduit, and wherein the nozzle assembly includes between the inlet and outlet thereof a cut-off valve, and wherein said proximal sealable unit is firmly attached to the distal end of said flexible conduit, and the proximal end of an intermediate connector tube comprising a firm imperforate sleeve is attached with a gasoline-tight fit firmly to one end of the proximal sealable unit and the distal end of said connector tube is releasably attached to the proximal end of the distal seal actuating unit with a gasoline-tight fit and releasably yet firmly connects the distal unit to the proximal sealable unit, and the proximal sealable unit comprises a rigid cylindrical shoulder and a rigid hollow cylindrical wall firmly joined together and a sealing chamber is located between said wall and shoulder and said wall is firmly yet releasably attached to the flexible conduit in a gasoline-tight manner, said sealing chamber having a distal narrow portion and a proximal enlarged portion of greater diameter than said distal portion, and, a rigid seal spacer arm of transverse cross-section diameter that is a minor portion of the diameter of the transverse cross section of said inlet tube of said distal seal actuating unit is firmly connected at its distal end to the interior surface of a proximal portion of said inlet tube and the proximal end of the rigid seal spacer arm is firmly yet releasably connected to a moveable seal having a maximum transverse diameter greater than the maximum transverse diameter of said distal sealing chamber portion and supports such seal at a position located within but spaced away from the interior surface of the walls of the enlarged portion of said sealing chamber, said seal being wider at its proximal end than its distal end and a resiliently deformable surface joins said ends thereof, and the intermediate connector tube extends distally of the proximal end of said inlet tube for the distal seal actuating unit for a distance greater than the distance at which said seal is held by said seal spacer arm to a position of said seal whereat the narrow distal chamber portion of said sealing chamber is engaged thereby, whereby the length of the seal spacer arm provides for movement of said seal into a locking relation with a portion of the wall of said sealing chamber prior to movement of the proximal edge of said inlet tube past the distal end of the intermediate connector.