1 BACKGROUND QF THE INVENTION 2 3 The present invention relates to a locking fuel 4 pump fuel dispenser nozzle apparatus and especially to 5 a locking fuel pump . fuel dispenser nozzle having a 6 locking mechanism for automatically locking the fuel 7 nozzle spout in the vehicle filler tube whenever fuel 8 is being pumped into the vehicle filler tube and fuel 9 tank. 10- The refueling of vehicles usually employs a 11 supply hose having a nozzle with a manually operated 12. valve nozzle having a spout insertable into the 13 vehicle fuel tank inlet or filler tube. The nozzle 14 valve is manually operated by' a- handle and a tube 15 within the spout senses the rising fuel within the 16 inlet neck and automatically closes the nozzle valve 17 upon sensing the presence of the fuel level to thereby 18 prevent overflow and spillage. One problem has been 19 for self-service stations in which patrons provide 20 fuel for their vehicle and then leave without paying 21 for the fuel. The present invention is directed 22 towards locking of the nozzle spout into the vehicle 23 .filler tube until released by the station operator 24 remotely upon payment being made for the supplied 25 fuel. 26 The prior art U.S. patents relating to the 27 fueling of vehicles include the Kulikowski et al. 28 Patent No. 4,907,630 for an automatic shut-off and 29 self-locking refueling nozzle. This refueling nozzle has means for attaching the nozzle to the vehicle tank inlet neck and inlet port and provides for automatic shut-off of the refueling nozzle. In one embodiment, a secondary control valve prevents fluid flow until the nozzle has been fully connected to the inlet tank. The Phillips Patent No. 4,109,686 is a tax adjusting vehicle gasoline filler apparatus which suggests a locking system for the fuel nozzle which is released only by proper engagement with a receiver and connects the fuel nozzle to the filler neck with a bayonet type connection. The customer twists the nozzle after insertion into the filler neck of the gasoline tank passing the lugs against the stop provided in grooves. The Keller Patent No. -4,367,827 is for an anti-theft mechanism for a gasoline pump and is designed to prevent drive-off by having a patron place his ignition ' key into a switch mechanism which automatically clamps and maintains the key until the key is released by operation of a remote switch. The Walkey et al. Patent No. 4,469,149 is for a monitored delivery system which provides on the fuel nozzle an optical bar code reader for reading a bar code for determining whether a given vehicle is authorized to receive fuel. The Hall Patent No. 5,156,198 is for a pump lock fuel system which provides a communication link between a vehicle and a fuel distribution system prior to pumping fuel to the vehicle. The Foster, Jr. Patent No. 5,720,327 is for a vehicle safety fueling system for preventing accidental drive-off of the vehicle from a fuel pump without first removing a fuel dispensing nozzle. The .Nusbaumer et al. Patent No. 5,727,608 is for an automated fuel management system. A fuel dispenser station has a fuel dispensing nozzle adapted for mating with and being secured to a fuel receiving tank. ■ The Sample Patent No. 5,729,002 is for an electronic bar coded gasoline scanner. A bar code is. imprinted within a top portion of a gasoline tank fill pipe and a laser scanner is secured to the gasoline dispensing nozzle. The Kelerich et al . Patent No. 5,857,501 is a fueling system identification system • having an inductive communication loop arranged to surround a fuel intake pathway of a vehicle for reading and transmitting the vehicle identification number, credit information and the like. The Osborne Patent No. 5,918,766 is a locking forecourt fuel pump for locking a delivery nozzle in the pump. The Terranova Patent No. 6,157,871 is for a fuel dispensing system for preventing customer drive-off and provides a control system for detecting where the drive-off has taken place and using this signal to cause a remote communication to take measure to prevent future transactions involving that customer. The Rababy et al. Patent No. 6,334,474 is a breakaway separation detection and alert system for preventing and minimizing damage caused by breakaway separation in the fuel lines supplying the fuel nozzle. T h e present invention in contrast is a locking fuel pump fuel dispenser nozzle which locks the spout of the fuel pump nozzle into the vehicle filler tube automatically when a patron starts to deliver fuel to the vehicle. The nozzle spout remains locked to the vehicle filler tube until released remotely by a station operator and therefore is directed towards preventing fuel theft by preventing drive-off of the patron filling the tank at a self-service station.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION . A locking fuel pump dispenser nozzle has a valved nozzle connected- to a pressurized fuel supply and has an elongated spout for insertion into a vehicle filler tube of the type having an annular raised surface therein. The nozzle has a manually actuating valve for controlling the flow of fuel from the pressurized fuel supply through the nozzle into the vehicle filler tube and vehicle fuel tank. The improvement includes a locking mechanism for locking the nozzle spout in the filler tube when filling a vehicle fuel tank. The locking mechanism has a pair of radially extending locking wedges adapted to extend from, an unlocked position to an extended locked position upon the presence of fuel pressure in the nozzle valve and associated diaphragm. A locking wedge activating diaphragm is mounted in the nozzle and coupled to the locking wedge to move the locking wedge from an unlocked to a locked position upon fluid pressure being applied to the diaphragm. Means are provided for holding the wedge in a locked position until released whenever the fuel is being pumped into the vehicle fuel tank filler tube. The locking mechanism includes a racheting mechanism activated by the diaphragm for rotating a locking member locking slide between slots of different depths for holding a pair of arms above the locking wedges in a locked extended position or in an unlocked retracted position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the written description and the drawings in which: Figure 1 is- a section view of a fuel nozzle having the locking mechanism of the present invention; Figure 2 is a sectional view of a vehicle filler tube having a locking nozzle attached thereto; and Figure 3 is an exploded view of a locking fuel pump fuel dispenser nozzle in accordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention is for a locking fuel pump fuel dispenser nozzle having a locking mechanism for automatically locking the fuel nozzle spout in the vehicle filler tube whenever fuel is pumped into the vehicle filler tube and fuel tank to thereby prevent removal of the nozzle spout from the filler tube until released remotely by a station attendant. In Figures 1-3 of the drawings, a gas station fuel pump 9 has the fuel pump fuel dispenser hose and nozzle 10 having a standard nozzle valve 11 actuated by a handle 12 having a filling handle lock 13. The nozzle valve has a protruding spout 14 which is inserted into a fuel tank filler tube for a vehicle. In accordance with the present invention, when the spout 14 is inserted into a filler tube 15, as shown in Figure 3, and passes through the restricted inlet opening 16, a pair of locking wedges 17 are automatically extended from the end of the spout when fuel pressure is present in the nozzle valve upon actuating the valve for dispensing fuel. The locking wedges 17 will extend to lock the spout 14 into the filler tube 15 even after fuel dispensing ceases and until the locking wedges 17 are released. Locking wedges 17 can be released remotely as hereinafter described. The locking wedges 17 are attached to a pair of locking wedge springs 18 which in turn are attached to a pair of connecting arms 20. Moving the connecting arms 20 back and forth within the nozzle 10 spout 14, extends or retracts the locking wedges 17. The arms 20 are attached to a ring 29 which rides against the rotating locking member 21 which is also the bottom racheting member. The arms 20 are attached through tensioning springs 22, as seen in Figure 2, but the rotating lock 21 is spring biased by a spring 23 in a rearward direction so as to bias the arms 20 to hold the locking wedge members 17 in their retracted and unlocked position in a normal state. The rotating lock 21 has at least one locking slide 24 thereon. The racheting' locking mechanism for the present invention is made up of a racheting member 25, the rotating lock 21 and the locking sleeve 26 which, in Figure 2, fits over the racheting member 25 and locking member 21. The locking sleeve has alternate long slots 27 alternating with short slots 28. Each slot may have an angled edge 30 for assisting the rotating lock slide 24 into the long or short slots 27 or 28. The racheting member 25 has a continuous annular set of pointed teeth 31. The entire locking mechanism can be seen in Figure 1 which fits entirely within the standard nozzle valve spout and has a diaphragm 32 connected to a socket 33 which in turn is connected to a ball 34 which is attached to the upper racheting member 31 with a plurality of arms 35. In operation, when the fuel pump is turned on, a fluid pressure is applied to the diaphragm 32 which in turn drives the socket 33 and ball 34 to push the ratchet member 31 forward with the teeth 31 engaging the locking slides 24 and pushing the rotating lock 21 and arms 20 forward against the coil spring pressure of coil 23 and thereby pushing the locking wedges springs 18 to move the locking wedges into a locking position where they will stay as long as the fuel pressure remains on the diaphragm 32. However, when the teeth 31 push against the locking slots 24,. because of their angled surfaces, they will force the locking slide to rotate. The locking slides 24 is normally in rest position in the unlocked position of slot 27. That is, the locking slide 24 is in a long slot 27 with the locking wedges in an unlocked position. The sleeve' 26 extends over the racheting member 25 and the rotating lock 21 but with the locking slide members 24 extending above and into slots 27. or 28. The rotating lock 21 cannot rotate as long as the slides 24 are in either the slot 27 or 28 until the ratchet member 25 drives the rotating lock 21 forward when fuel pressure is applied to the diaphragm 32. This then forces the slide 24 to rotate since it is riding against the angle of one of the teeth 31 which rotates it slightly and along with the angled surfaces 30 adjacent the slots 27 and 28, the locking slide 24 will rotate to the next adjacent slot such as rotating from a long slot to a short slot and then back to a long slot. ■ Thus, when the fuel pressure is released from the diaphragm 32, the racheting member 25 withdraws and allows the rotating locking member 21 to slide backward. The locking slide 24 has been rotated from a long slot 27 to a short slot 28 which prevents the rotating lock 21 and attached arms to retract far enough to retract the locking wedges 17 to an unlocked position. However, applying a momentary pressure, like activating the fuel pump for a penny's worth' of gas, by a remote gas station attendant will momentarily push the diaphragm and the ratchet member 25 forward to push the rotating lock 21 forward while rotating the locking slide 24 to the next slot which will be the unlocked position. Since the pressure is immediately released, the wedges are unlocked by the slide 24 sliding into the long slot or unlocked position which retracts the arms through the pressure from the coil spring 23 to retract the locking wedge springs and locking wedge members 17. An emergency release is provided with a rotating shaft 40 located adjacent the arms 20 and having a key end 41 for inserting a special key for rotating the arm 20. The shaft 40 has a cam member 42 attached thereto so that rotating the shaft 40 rotates the cam and rotates the cam against a camming bar 43 attached between the arms 20 to thereby push the arms 'backwards against the coil spring 23 to pull the locking wedges 17 into an unlocked position. In operation, the standard fuel nozzle spout is removed from a gas station fuel pump and inserted into a vehicle filler tube 15 until it passes the restrictor area 16 thereby moving the outer sleeve 39 upward where the patron begins to pump gas by pulling on the handle 12. • The upward movement of the outer sleeve 39 exposes and immediately extends the locking wedges 17 as long as there is pressure on the diaphragm 32 driving the arms 20 forward by pressure being applied to the racheting member 25 and rotating locking member 21. However, in pushing the arms 20 forward with the racheting member, it forces the • locking member 21 to rotate slightly by sliding on the angled surfaces of the teeth 31 once the locking slides are pushed forward enough to be removed from slot 27 to slot 28. - Thus, when pressure is released on the diaphragm 32, the racheting member 25 retracts allowing the locking member 21 to slide backwards with the locking slide 24 falling into the adjacent locked position or short slot 28 " and holding the arms 20 extended against the pressure of the coil spring 23 and thus leaving the locking wedges extended and locking the spout 20 in the filler tube 15 so that a patron cannot leave without paying for the dispensed gas. The station attendant can quickly and remotely unlock the filler spout 20 from the filler tube 15 by applying a brief and .momentary pressure to the diaphragm 32 to force the rotation of the locking slides from the locking slot 28 into the unlocking slot 27. It should be clear at this time that a locking fuel pump fuel dispenser nozzle has been provided which has a locking mechanism for automatically locking the fuel nozzle spout in the vehicle filler tube whenever fuel is being pumped into the vehicle filler tube and- fuel tank and leaving the nozzle spout locked into the filler tube until released by an attendant. Another feature of this device is that if someone attempts to defeat the locking mechanism by inserting the nozzle pipe 14 just slightly into the filler tube 15, but not sufficient to allow the outer sleeve 39 to fully expose and extend the locking. wedges outward while past the restrictor area 16, the curved extensions attached to the locking wedge springs 18 will be in the center of the fuel stream and redirect a sufficient amount of the fuel rearward into the auto-shutoff tube 8 (Figure 1) automatically closing the nozzle valve. This will continue to occur until the patron gives up and pushes the nozzle pipe 14 further into the filler tube 15 and past the restrictor area 16 thereby allowing the locking wedges 17 to extend into their locked position and moving the curved extensions out of the fuel stream. This action virtually eliminates any refueling prior to the locking wedges 17 being released past the restrictor area 16. However, the present invention is not to be construed as limited to the forms shown which are to be considered illustrative rather than restrictive.