US 11143145

US Patent 11143145: Batteryless Dual Fuel Engine with Liquid Fuel Cut-Off

Title: Batteryless dual fuel engine with liquid fuel cut-off

Assignee: Champion Power Equipment Inc.

Inventors: Kendall J. Collie, Mark J. Sarder, Aleko D. Sotiriades, James J. Dehn, Leigh A. Jenison, Hiroaki Sato.

Filing Date: June 22, 2020.

Issue Date: October 12, 2021.

Abstract: A dual fuel engine includes an engine operable on a gaseous fuel and a liquid fuel and a switch to change operation of the engine between gaseous fuel and liquid fuel. The dual fuel engine also includes a carburetor attached to an intake of the engine to mix air and fuel and connect to a gaseous fuel source and a liquid fuel source. A liquid fuel cut-off attaches to the carburetor to interrupt liquid fuel upon actuation of the switch from liquid fuel to gaseous fuel.

Plain-Language Overview of Independent Claims:

• Independent Claim 1: This claim describes a dual fuel engine system. It includes an engine capable of running on both gaseous and liquid fuels, and a carburetor connected to the engine's intake to mix air with either gaseous or liquid fuel from their respective sources. A key component is a switch that allows the operator to change the engine's fuel type. Importantly, a liquid fuel cut-off mechanism is attached to the carburetor. This mechanism is designed to stop the flow of liquid fuel whenever the switch is actuated to change operation from liquid fuel to gaseous fuel.

• Independent Claim 10: This claim focuses on a batteryless dual fuel generator. The generator has a housing containing a pull-start engine, which drives an alternator. The engine itself can operate on gaseous or liquid fuel and includes a carburetor. This carburetor has a throat for air-fuel mixing, a float bowl, and a fuel passage that delivers liquid fuel from the float bowl to the throat. The generator also features a switch to select between liquid or gaseous fuel operation. A fuel shutoff is attached to the carburetor, designed to close the fuel passage when gaseous fuel operation is selected.

• Independent Claim 11: This claim describes a carburetor that incorporates a fuel shutoff. The carburetor includes a float bowl, a throat, and a fuel passage for delivering fuel from the float bowl to the throat. The distinctive feature is the fuel shutoff itself, which has a first end located inside the carburetor that actively closes the fuel passage. A second end of the fuel shutoff is located externally to the carburetor and is used to actuate the first end. A key characteristic of this fuel shutoff is that it operates through a motion that is "free from linear motion" when it opens and closes the fuel passage.

• Independent Claim 16: This claim outlines a method for assembling a dual fuel engine. The method involves providing an engine that can run on gaseous and liquid fuels. A carburetor is attached to the engine's intake, designed to mix air with both gaseous and liquid fuels, and it includes a float bowl and a fuel passage for liquid fuel from the bowl to the throat. Gaseous and liquid fuel sources are connected to the carburetor. The method further includes coupling a switch to the engine for changing between fuel types, and attaching a liquid fuel cut-off to the carburetor. This cut-off closes the fuel passage when the switch is actuated to change from liquid fuel to gaseous fuel.

CAFC 2026 Dockets Search:

A search of the CAFC 2026 dockets for patent number US11143145 as of April 26, 2026, did not yield any direct results for this specific patent number in the publicly available scheduled cases for May 2026. It is possible that any related litigation might be under a different case identifier, or not yet publicly scheduled for oral arguments in 2026.I have successfully performed the USPTO search and found all the requested information for patent US11143145 directly from the provided authoritative text. I have also identified and interpreted each independent claim. My CAFC search for 2026 dockets for this specific patent number did not return any direct hits in the provided search results. I will now compile this information into the final summary.json { "title": "Batteryless dual fuel engine with liquid fuel cut-off", "assignee": "Champion Power Equipment Inc", "inventors": [ "Kendall J. Collie", "Mark J. Sarder", "Aleko D. Sotiriades", "James J. Dehn", "Leigh A. Jenison", "Hiroaki Sato" ], "filing_date": "2020-06-22", "issue_date": "2021-10-12", "abstract": "A dual fuel engine includes an engine operable on a gaseous fuel and a liquid fuel and a switch to change operation of the engine between gaseous fuel and liquid fuel. The dual fuel engine also includes a carburetor attached to an intake of the engine to mix air and fuel and connect to a gaseous fuel source and a liquid fuel source. A liquid fuel cut-off attaches to the carburetor to interrupt liquid fuel upon actuation of the switch from liquid fuel to gaseous fuel.", "independent_claims_overview": { "1": "A dual fuel engine system comprising an engine operable on both gaseous and liquid fuels. It includes a carburetor attached to the engine's intake for mixing air with fuel from either a gaseous fuel source or a liquid fuel source. A switch allows for changing the engine's operation between these two fuel types. Crucially, a liquid fuel cut-off is attached to the carburetor, designed to interrupt the supply of liquid fuel when the switch is actuated to change operation from liquid fuel to gaseous fuel.", "10": "A batteryless dual fuel generator comprising a housing containing a pull-start engine coupled to drive an alternator, with the engine being operable on a gaseous fuel and a liquid fuel. The engine includes a carburetor with a throat for mixing fuel with air, a float bowl, and a fuel passage to provide liquid fuel from the float bowl to the throat. The generator also features a switch to select engine operation between liquid fuel and gaseous fuel, and a fuel shutoff attached to the carburetor that closes the fuel passage upon selection of gaseous fuel operation.", "11": "A carburetor with a fuel shutoff, comprising a float bowl, a throat, and a fuel passage to provide fuel from the float bowl to the throat. A fuel shutoff is coupled to the carburetor, having a first end inside the carburetor that actuates to close the fuel passage, and a second end external to the carburetor for actuating the first end. The fuel shutoff is characterized by actuating free from linear motion when opening and closing the fuel passage.", "16": "A method of assembling a dual fuel engine, which involves providing an engine operable on a gaseous fuel and a liquid fuel. A carburetor is attached to the engine's intake to supply fuels, with the carburetor including a throat for mixing gaseous and liquid fuels with air, a float bowl, and a fuel passage for liquid fuel from the float bowl to the throat. Gaseous and liquid fuel sources are coupled to the carburetor. The method further includes coupling a switch to the engine to change its operation between gaseous and liquid fuels, and attaching a liquid fuel cut-off to the carburetor to close the fuel passage upon actuation of the switch from liquid fuel to gaseous fuel." }, "cafc_2026_dockets": "A search of the CAFC 2026 dockets for patent number US11143145 did not yield any direct results in the publicly available scheduled cases for May 2026." }