Apparatus for dispensing gasoline having an inverted U-shaped conduit

Claim 1

A fuel filling apparatus comprising a fuel reservoir, a stationary conduit having one end leading from said reservoir, a dispensing nozzle, a flexible conduit, a pumping means for transferring the fuel from said reservoir and dispensing the fuel through said flexible conduit to said dispensing nozzle, and elastic means disposed along at least part of said flexible conduit to resiliently support said flexible conduit in a normally substantially inverted U-shaped configuration, an elongated vertical housing in which said inverted U-shaped conduit is disposed, said vertical housing being divided at a fixed elevation into a lower portion and an upper portion, said stationary conduit being disposed in said lower portion, said upper portion of said housing having at least three vertical side walls having a horizontal cross section which is generally U-shaped with one vertical side portion which is open, said U-shaped conduit having an upwardly extending and substantially vertically disposed flexible conduit portion and a downwardly extending flexible conduit portion joined together by a cross-over flexible conduit portion, said upwardly extending flexible conduit portion having one end thereof connected by first connecting means to said stationary conduit at said fixed elevation, said downwardly extending portion having its downstream end thereof connected to said dispensing nozzle by second connecting means, a receiver means on said housing adjacent said fixed elevation for holding said nozzle when the latter is not dispensing fuel, said elastic means being constructed and arranged on said flexible conduit such that upon manual displacement of said dispensing nozzle in a generally lateral direction, said flexible conduit will be resiliently flexed and displaced as the flexible conduit is moved out of said housing through said open vertical side portion such that said cross-over flexible conduit portion is lowered to thereby increase the area for fueling vehicles with said dispensing nozzle, said flexible conduit in its unflexed condition having its inverted U-shaped configuration extending from said first connecting means to said second connecting means such that the flexible conduit in its inverted U-shaped unflexed condition supports a substantial portion of the weight of said nozzle in a position adjacent to said receiver means and said flexible conduit in its inverted U-shaped unflexed condition is accommodated in said housing.