Tamper resistant fuel receptacles
Fuel receptacles and related systems are described that are tamper resistant. A fuel receptacle can include a housing having an opening through which fuel contained therein may be delivered to a fuel consuming device along a fuel path and a biased element. The biased element can be contained with the housing having an orifice and a notch and it can sealing the opening when biased into a first position. The fuel consuming device can contain a protruding member to contact the notch and cause the biased element to move along a plane perpendicular to the fuel path into a second position when the fuel receptacle is coupled to the fuel consuming device. The second position can cause the orifice to be aligned with the opening thereby permitting fuel to be delivered to the fuel consuming device along the fuel path.
This application claims the benefit under U.S. Pat. App. Ser. No. 60/797,114, entitled “Tamper Resistant Fuel Cartridges,” filed May 2, 2006, the contents of which are hereby fully incorporated.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe subject matter described herein relates to tamper resistant (also referred to as childproof) fuel receptacles such as fuel cartridges.
BACKGROUNDPortable devices are increasingly utilizing fuel consuming devices, such as fuel cells or combustion products, in order to generate heat or electricity, or to facilitate combustion. Fuel receptacles (such as fuel cartridges) can be detachably coupled to such fuel consuming devices to provide a source of fuel. Such fuel may comprise gases, liquids, or solids which are selectively released from the receptacles. In order to ensure the integrity of the fuel contained with the fuel receptacles and to prevent unwanted access to the fuel (i.e., to childproof the receptacles), such fuel receptacles need to be tamper resistant.
SUMMARYIn one aspect, a fuel receptacle to deliver fuel to a fuel consuming device comprises a housing and a biased element. The housing has an opening through which fuel contained therein may be delivered to the fuel consuming device along a fuel path. The biased element is contained with the housing and includes an orifice and a notch. When biased in a first position, the biased element seals the opening. The fuel consuming device contains a protruding member to contact the notch and cause the biased element to move along a plane perpendicular to the fuel path into a second position when the fuel receptacle is coupled to the fuel consuming device. When in the second position, the orifice is aligned with the opening thereby permitting fuel to be delivered to the fuel consuming device along the fuel path. The biased element can retract from the second position into the first position when the fuel consuming device is decoupled from the fuel receptacle.
Numerous variations may be implemented. The housing can comprise a top portion and a bottom portion that both contain a guiding track into which the biased element slides from the first position to the second position. The biasing element can be any mechanism to cause the biased element to be biased into the first position such as a spring. The biasing element can be rectangular shaped so that it slides from the first position to a second position or it can be circular so that it rotates around a central axis from the first position to a second position. The protruding member can be wedge shaped and/or the housing can include a shield positioned between the fuel and the biased element to impede access to the fuel within the housing. The housing can contain a slot aligned with the notch when the biased element is in the first position so that the protruding member extends through to contact the notch when the fuel receptacle is coupled to the fuel consuming device.
The fuel consuming device can be a fuel cell, which for example, may be incorporated into a mobile computing device (e.g., notebook computer, mobile phone, etc.). The fuel can be liquid, solid, or gas. In some variations, the fuel cell is a liquid feed direct methanol fuel cell and fuel is liquid methanol.
The details of one or more variations of the subject matter described herein are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features and advantages of the subject matter described herein will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The subject matter described herein can be used to minimize the likelihood that materials contained within a receptacle (such as a fuel cartridge) are unintentionally released from such receptacle whether during use or transportation, or by individuals such as children. While the current description is predominantly focused on fuel cell cartridges, the techniques described herein can be applied to a wide variety of receptacles containing materials which are only selectively released such as (methanol cartridges for catalytic heaters, ink cartridges, and the like).
With regard to fuel cell cartridges, the techniques described herein can be used to ensure the safety and integrity of contained fuel. Just as batteries require re-charging, fuel cells require a fuel supply to them to be replenished periodically. The primary method for fuel replenishment is replacement of a fuel cell cartridge containing the fuel. These cartridges contain volatile and often dangerous substances under pressure and their accidental release or compromise of the container can pose a danger to the user. Child resistance is of particular concern, since children are curious and may pick them up, play with them and make attempts to see what's inside.
Several related techniques for ensuring safe fuel cartridge handling and, more specifically, to prevent accidental, unsafe tampering or unsafe entry by children are provided herein. Each of the following systems describes how the tamper resistant design would be integrated into a fuel cell cartridge for illustrative purposes only.
In this variation of the tamper resistant feature, both top housing 22 and bottom housing 23 may be designed to not only they hold the sliding door 24 in place, but also to allow the door 24 to open and close when it is required. In this variation, the features added to the top and bottom housings may be identical, due to the symmetry of this variation of a tamper resistant fuel cartridge 20. There may be a difference for the bottom housing 23 due to the fact that this component holds the variation of the spring 25 and an added feature may be added, as shown in
The door housing DH, as shown in
The spring holder SH, as shown in
The wedge slot WS and the wedge shield WSH complete this set of features that make this tamper resistant mechanism work properly. The particular design of this variation of wedge may respond to the fact that a wedge may transmit a movement with two perpendicular directions. In this case, when the cartridge 20 is inserted into the docking station DS of the portable computing device, as shown in
This variation of the bottom housing 23 may be manufactured out of plastic materials, such as polycarbonate, for example, which may provide robustness and resistance to impact under certain situations, such as, but not limited to, added compression force (i.e., a person stepping onto the cartridge) or a drop or fall from a considerable height. The manufacturing process used may be plastic injection molding. The overall external dimensions for this variation of bottom housing 23 may be: 75 mm long (10 mm for the tamper resistant feature, added to 65 mm long for a variation of a non-tamper resistant cartridge, for example), 75 mm wide, and 10 mm high. It can be inferred that the only dimension that may be affected by this variation of tamper resistant feature is the length of the cartridge or the dimension in the same directions of the insertions of the cartridge into the docking station DS of the computing device 10. This consideration may also apply to this variation of top housing 22, with identical form factor as the bottom housing 23. The only features that are not contemplated on the top housing 22 are the spring holder SH and the spring post SP, which are only featured in this variation of bottom housing 23.
The variation of sliding door 24, as shown in
The assembly of this variation of tamper resistant mechanism described herein may be presented as follows: first, all additional materials, components and sub-components of the cartridge 20 need to be already assemble in place; second, the spring 25 is attached to the door and housing by inserting the to end hooks of the spring 25 into the spring posts SP and SDSP, of the spring holder SH and the sliding door 24, respectively; thirdly, the door is let sit onto the door housing DH chamber; lastly, top housing 22 and bottom housing 23 may be secured and joint together by using ultrasonic welded process. Ultimately, the complete manufacturing operation for this variation of the fuel cartridge 20 may be finished when fuel cartridge 20 is filled with fuel with the specified volume for the cartridge 20.
Once the top housing 22 and bottom housing 23 are modified with all the mechanical features needed to operate this tamper resistant mechanism, only two parts may be required: sliding door 24 and a spring 25. This spring 25 can be purchased from standard stock and this variation of sliding door 24 may be made out of plastic materials, which can be manufactured by regular and inexpensive plastic injection molding process. Such as design is robust, easily scaled, and is difficult to bypass without tools. The design does generate some friction, and will require some force to fully insert properly. Also, the receiving side can be configured with a lock to hold the cartridge in place. Such an arrangement allows for the delivery of fuel from cartridge 20 in any orientation.
An alternative variation to this tamper resistant solution presented is shown in
Another alternative variation to this tamper resistant solution presented is shown in
Although a few variations have been described in detail above, other modifications or additions are possible. In particular, further features and/or variations may be provided in addition to those set forth herein. For example, the implementations described above may be directed to various combinations and subcombinations of the disclosed features and/or combinations and subcombinations of several further features disclosed above. Other embodiments may be within the scope of the following claims.
Claims
1. A fuel receptacle to deliver fuel to a fuel consuming device, the receptacle comprising:
- a housing having an opening through which fuel contained therein may be delivered to the fuel consuming device along a fuel path; and
- a biased element contained with the housing having an orifice and a notch, the biased element sealing the opening when biased into a first position, the fuel consuming device containing a protruding member to contact the notch and cause the biased element to move along a plane perpendicular to the fuel path into a second position when the fuel receptacle is coupled to the fuel consuming device, the second position causing the orifice to be aligned with the opening thereby permitting fuel to be delivered to the fuel consuming device along the fuel path.
2. A fuel receptacle as in claim 1, wherein the housing comprises a top portion and a bottom portion.
3. A fuel receptacle as in claim 2, wherein each of the top portion and the bottom portion contain a guiding track into which the biased element slides from the first position to the second position.
4. A fuel receptacle as in claim 1 further comprising a spring biasing the biasing element into the first position.
5. A fuel receptacle as in claim 1, wherein the biased element retracts from the second position into the first position when the fuel consuming device is decoupled from the fuel receptacle.
6. A fuel receptacle as in claim 1, wherein the protruding member is wedge shaped.
7. A fuel receptacle as in claim 1, wherein the housing contains a slot aligned with the notch when the biased element is in the first position, wherein the protruding member extends through to contact the notch when the fuel receptacle is coupled to the fuel consuming device.
8. A fuel receptacle as in claim 1 further comprising a wedge shield positioned between the fuel and the biased element to impede access to the fuel within the housing.
9. A fuel receptacle as in claim 1, wherein the fuel receptacle is a fuel cartridge and the fuel consuming device is a fuel cell.
10. A fuel receptacle as in claim 9, wherein the fuel is methanol.
11. A fuel receptacle as in claim 10, wherein the fuel cell is a liquid feed direct methanol fuel cell.
12. A fuel receptacle as in claim 1, wherein the biasing element is substantially circular and rotatable along a central axis from the first position to the second position.
13. A fuel receptacle as in claim 1, wherein the biasing element is substantially rectangular and slidable from the first position to the second position.
14. A fuel receptacle as in claim 1, wherein the fuel is liquid, gas, or solid.
15. A system comprising:
- a fuel receptacle comprising: a housing having an opening through which fuel contained therein may be delivered to the fuel consuming device along a fuel path; and a biased element contained with the housing having an orifice and a notch, the biasing element sealing the opening when biased into a first position, the fuel consuming device containing a protruding member to contact the notch and cause the biased element to move along a plane perpendicular to the fuel path into a second position when the fuel receptacle is coupled to the fuel consuming device, the second position causing the orifice to be aligned with the opening thereby permitting fuel to be delivered to the fuel consuming device along the fuel path; and
- a fuel consuming device.
16. A system as in claim 15, wherein the fuel consuming device is a fuel cell.
17. A system as in claim 16, further comprising a portable computing device powered by the fuel cell.
18. A system as in claim 17, wherein the fuel is methanol.
19. A system as in claim 18, wherein the fuel cell is a liquid feed direct methanol fuel cell.
20. A liquid receptacle to deliver liquid to a liquid consuming device, the receptacle comprising:
- a housing having an opening through which liquid contained therein may be delivered to the liquid consuming device along a flow path; and
- sealing means contained with the housing having an orifice and a notch, the sealing means sealing the opening when biased into a first position, the liquid consuming device containing a protruding member to contact the notch and cause the sealing means to move along a plane perpendicular to the flow path into a second position when the liquid receptacle is coupled to the fuel consuming device, the second position causing the orifice to be aligned with the opening thereby permitting fuel to be delivered to the liquid consuming device along the flow path.
Type: Application
Filed: May 2, 2007
Publication Date: Mar 6, 2008
Inventors: Manuel del Rosal (Glendale, CA), Gerhard Beckmann (Altamont, NY), Michael Bigelow (Wenatchee, WA), Clive Dym (Claremont, CA), Laurel Fullerton (Claremont, CA), Kenneth Maples (Los Angeles, CA), Michael Saldana (Claremont, CA), Yosuke Sato (Fujieda-city), Wayne Tanaka (Kaneohe, HI), David Velarde (Azusa, CA)
Application Number: 11/800,061
International Classification: B65D 43/20 (20060101);