Fuel tank protection valve

Claim 1

A protection valve for a vehicle fuel system of the type that prevents liquid fuel from entering a fuel tank vent line opening in the event of excessive tilting of the vehicle tank from the horizontal or excessive fuel fill, while allowing fuel vapors to exit said tank through said vent line, said valve comprising, a fuel receiving chamber located within said tank below said vent line opening, a spherical bearing socket on said chamber spaced from said vent line opening and defining a pivot point, a float ball located within said chamber beneath said vent line opening, a generally cylindrical and hollow sleeve the exterior of which seats closely within said bearing socket and the interior of which is filled with a weight material having a center of gravity located below said pivot point, said sleeve further including a generally circular and flared upper edge located above said weight material so as to provide a supporting seat for said float ball beneath said vent line opening with a predetermined horizontal offset from said pivot point, said float ball normally being seated on said hollow sleeve upper edge and spaced from said vent line opening a sufficient distance to allow said fuel vapors to exit the tank through said vent line opening, but floating upwardly away from said upper edge and into sealing engagement with said vent line opening in the event that fuel rises sufficiently to fill said receiving chamber, said float ball also being pushed upwardly into engagement with said vent line opening by said sleeve upper edge when said vehicle tilts sufficiently from the horizontal and said weight filled sleeve pivots within said spherical bearing socket, said valve providing improved design flexibility by allowing the diameter of said upper edge, and therefor its horizontal offset from said pivot point, to be easily changed, thereby changing the degree of vehicle tilting necessary to close off said vent opening.