Means and Method of Reclaiming Crankcase Oil

Up until recently petroleum products were sufficiently inexpensive that although engine oil is sometimes recycled when collected at a service station, no serious thought was given to recycling used crankcase oil when changed by the home mechanic. The current high prices of petroleum products however was made the prospect of saving crankcase oil either to be re-refined and used again as crankcase oil or simply used as heating oil, more practical. In fact many stoves which have been developed in the last few years to accommodate a variety of different fuels advertise that they can use used crankcase oil without clogging.

Aside from the conversation aspects of recycling oil and the possibility of saving money, it is common knowledge that the oil changing operation is an unpleasant and messy job which ends up in several quarts of oil lying in an oil change pan with no place to put it. Typical solutions involve trying to pour the oil into plastic gallon milk containers or just dumping it in a hole one has in the backyard. Dumping becomes increasingly impractical with increased housing density and condominium living, and in any event more often than not, no matter how the job is done, some of the oil will have slopped into the pavement or onto elaborately arrayed newspapers put under the car to protect the pavement.

The present invention is a dual purpose means and method of changing the crankcase oil which both eliminates the mess and results in the used oil being neatly packaged in the quart cans that the new oil came in.

The apparatus used in the technique involves an oil collection pan somewhat resembling a frying pan with a funnel coming off the side terminating in a valved spout. Preferably a second valve is disposed upstream in the funnel from the first valve so that when the oil is into the cans, a charge of oil equaling one quart can be loaded into the spout between the valves for discharge into a quart can so that overflow is eliminated.

The fresh oil is opened by means of a combination spout and a can opener similar to those typically in use except that the hole created in the can is circular to accommodate a circular plastic plug.

The procedure for use of this apparatus involves, first, emptying the used oil into the collecting pan, then puncturing all of the new oil cans with the special spout and emptying them into the crankcase, and then by utilizing the funnel side of the collector container refilling all of the empty cans and sealing them with a circular plastic plug.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the oil collection container;

FIG. 2 is a top elevation view of the container of FIG. 1 showing portions in phantom;

FIG. 3 is a section taken along Line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a top elevation view of an oil can with a plug therein;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation view partially in section showing the spout inserted into the oil can;

FIG. 6 is a side elvation view showing the filling process of the emptied oil cans; and

FIG. 7 is a section taken along lines 7--7 of FIG. 4.

The first stage of the oil changing process involves removal of the used crankcase oil which of course is done by unscrewing the plug at the bottom of the oil pan and permitting the oil to drip into the specially designed receiver container 10 which has a flat pan portion 12 and a funnel portion 14 extending from one side of the pan. The funnel may taper upwardly as shown into an arcuate snout 16 sufficiently elevated to reatin oil when the pan is lying flat. The wide end of the funnel 14 expands at 18 to define a partial lid over one edge of the pan to facilitate pouring the used oil from the pan.

The interior of the funnel maybe open but in the preferred embodiment illustrated is fitted at its tip end with a first valve 20. Toward the wide end the interior is substantially isolated from the pan by means of the curved pan wall 24 which has a central port 26 which may be at least partially opened by raising the gate valve 28 which slides in tracks 30. The volume of area 32 defined in the funnel should be one quart so that when fully charged with oil will just fill an empty quart can.

The fresh oil cans represented at 34 are opened by forcing into the top of the oil can opener snout 36 which has a cutting edge such as at 38 which makes a circular hole 40 to accommodate a circular plug 42. This plug preferably has detents 44 to retain itself in the hole and a top sealing flap 46 which is pressed down tightly onto the top surface of the can to seal it regardless of the inevitable irregularities which would occur in the planform of the opening 40.

Once the used oil from the crankcase has been completely emptied, the container 10 may be pulled from beneath the vehicle by the snout 16 which doubles as a handle. Once the new oil cans have been emptied, the used oil can be poured through the holes in the cans as shown in FIG. 6. The diameter of the snout 16 is slightly less than the hole 40 to facilitate this filling.

Naturally the pan must be held at a slant for the oil to drain out. Although not shown in the preferred embodiment, the container 10 could also incorporate collapsible legs to automatically position it in the proper orientation and height for the snout to be in the approximate position shown in FIG. 6. Otherwise, naturally someone is going to be required to hold the container while it is draining.

As can be visualized from FIG. 6, by the sequential operation of the two valves 20 and 22 one quart of used oil can be sequentially loaded into the funnel and discharged to precisely fill up an oil can, and the process repeated until all the oil has been containerized.