CN114506210A

CN114506210A - Tank flap assembly for a motor vehicle

Info

Publication number: CN114506210A
Application number: CN202011286013.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: F·赛茨
Original assignee: BOS GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: BOS GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 2020-11-17
Filing date: 2020-11-17
Publication date: 2022-05-17

Abstract

A tank flap assembly of this type is known, which has an outer partition, which in the assembled state on the vehicle side fits to an adjoining body section of the motor vehicle in a gap-size-adapted and skin-flush manner, and a support structure supporting the outer partition, which is mounted so as to be movable relative to the body section between a closed position, in which a tank opening is closed, and a release position, in which the tank opening is released. According to the invention, the outer partition is held at the support structure by means of a manually operable, mechanical adjustment system which is designed to spatially adjust the outer partition and to fix the adjusted adjustment. A charging cover for an electric vehicle.

Description

Tank flap assembly for a motor vehicle

Technical Field

The invention relates to a tank flap assembly for a motor vehicle, comprising an outer panel which, in the assembled state on the vehicle side, is adapted to the adjacent body section of the motor vehicle in a gap-adapted manner and with a skin flush thereto, and comprising a support structure which supports the outer panel and which is mounted so as to be movable relative to the body section between a closed position in which it closes a tank opening and a release position in which it releases the tank opening.

Background

In general, fuel tank flap assemblies for motor vehicles are known not only for motor vehicles with an internal combustion engine but also for motor vehicles with an electric motor. In motor vehicles with internal combustion engines, fuel tank cap assemblies are used to close fuel filler openings, fuel nipples or electrical plug connections. Such a tank flap assembly has an outer partition which is positioned in conformity with the gap dimension and flush with the vehicle body skin when the tank flap assembly is in its closed position. In the known tank flap assemblies, it is relatively costly to adjust and orient the outer panel before the motor vehicle is first put into use.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a tank flap arrangement of the type mentioned at the outset, which permits a simple and functionally reliable fitting (Einpassung) of an outer panel into an adjoining body section of a motor vehicle.

This task is solved by: the outer partition is held on the support structure by means of a manually operable, mechanical adjustment system, which is designed to spatially adjust the outer partition and to fix the adjusted adjustment. A mechanical adjustment system is arranged at the support structure and supports the outer partition. Preferably, the adjustment system is operable even when the outer partition is not in place, so that the adjustment system is accessible to an operator. Particularly advantageously, the solution according to the invention can be used for a fuel tank cap assembly in the form of a charging cap assembly in electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles which combine a combustion engine drive (verbrenneranieb) and an electric drive with one another. Such a charging cover assembly serves to close and release a vehicle electrical interface, preferably in the form of a socket arranged on the vehicle side, to which a charging plug present on the charging station side can be connected in a detachable manner. Such a charging flap assembly preferably has a charging flap which can be displaced between its closed position and its release position by means of a drive system. Such charging covers are designed in multiple parts and have an outer partition on the outside, which in the closed position of the charging cover is positioned in an opening for the charging socket with a uniform gap size and with the outer skin flush with respect to the adjoining body section of the body outer skin of the motor vehicle.

In one embodiment of the invention, the adjustment system has a plane adjustment unit, a height adjustment unit and a spatial inclination unit, which can be actuated independently of one another. This configuration makes it possible to perform a gradual adjustment and adjustment of the external partition, so that the adjustment can be performed and fixed separately for each unit before starting the adjustment of the next of the three units. The plane adjustment unit is used for adjusting in the plane of the support structure or in parallel with the plane of the support structure, the height adjustment unit is used for adjusting in the height direction at a positive angle with the plane of the support structure, and the spatial inclination unit is used for adjusting in space relative to the orientation in the height direction and relative to the orientation of the plane of the support structure.

In a further embodiment of the invention, at least one manually operable adjusting mechanism is associated with each of the height adjusting unit and the spatial inclination unit. The respective manually operable adjusting mechanism is part of the respective unit and can simply adjust and adjust the height adjusting unit or the spatial inclination unit depending on which adjusting mechanism is actuated. Since the two units are each assigned an adjusting mechanism, no additional tools for actuating the height adjusting unit or the spatial tilting unit have to be used.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the plane adjustment unit, the height adjustment unit and the spatial inclination unit are arranged one above the other in this order from the support structure. This means that the plane adjustment unit is positioned as the lowermost unit in the region of the support structure. The planar adjusting unit is followed by a height adjusting unit, which is in turn followed by a spatial tilting unit, which in the adjusted state is positioned in close proximity to the outer partition. Preferably, in this embodiment, the adjustment system is oriented and fixed in a plane relative to the bottom side of the support structure by means of a plane adjustment unit supporting the height adjustment unit and the spatial inclination unit. Then, the spatial inclination unit located above is adjusted and fixed by means of the height adjustment unit in the height direction with respect to the plane adjusted by the plane adjustment unit, i.e., orthogonal to the plane adjusted by the plane adjustment unit. Finally, the receiving region for the outer panel is adjusted spatially with respect to a suitable slope by means of the spatial inclination unit in such a way that, when the outer panel is finally placed on, the desired outer panel, which is flush with the outer skin and is positioned circumferentially with a uniform gap size with respect to the adjoining body section, is adapted.

Therefore, the space-tilting unit is preferably disposed between the height-adjusting unit and the outer partition.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the height adjustment unit is positioned between the support structure and the spatial inclination unit. This embodiment preferably enables the height adjustment before the spatial inclination adjustment of the outer partition.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the height adjustment unit has a stroke assembly that can be activated by a rotary movement. The stroke assembly therefore has a helical guide function or a spiral guide function in order to bring about a stroke movement of the spatial tilting unit located above it coaxially to the axis of rotation.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the stroke assembly is assigned a mechanical fastening device for fastening the adjusted height displacement. Preferably, the fixing device is assigned at least one clamping screw which can be tightened after the desired adjustment position has been reached and can be loosened again if readjustment is possible.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the spatial inclination unit has a spherical cap-shaped support surface and a triangular adjustment mechanism which interacts with the spherical cap-shaped support surface. The triangular adjusting mechanism has three spaced-apart support points which interact with a spherical cap-shaped support surface. The three support points ensure a statically determined bearing. The corresponding spherical convex curvature (kugelkonvexe Kr hummung) of this supporting surface in combination with the support and bearing at the three supporting points of the triangular adjusting mechanism enables an arbitrary orientation of the supporting surface in space.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the spatial inclination unit is assigned a mechanical fastening device for fastening an adjusted relative position between the spherical-crown-shaped support surface and the triangular adjusting mechanism. The mechanical fastening device can be provided with at least one clamping screw or with differently designed components that can be moved manually between a fastening position and a release position. The three support points of the triangular adjusting mechanism enable statically determined support of the spherical cap-shaped support surface at each position.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the spherical-cap-shaped support surface is part of a receiving plate which is provided with a receiving region for holding the outer separating wall, in particular with a latching profile for latching the outer separating wall. The receiving region is preferably located on the opposite side of the receiving plate to the spherical-crown-shaped support surface. Advantageously, the receiving region is provided with a latching profile for latching the outer partition. The latching profiles are designed to be complementary to corresponding latching profiles of the outer screen in order to achieve a secure latching of the outer screen on the receiving plate.

Drawings

Further advantages and features of the invention emerge from the claims and from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, which is illustrated on the basis of the drawings.

Fig. 1a to 1d show schematically part-regions of a passenger vehicle in the region of a front fender, having an embodiment of a tank flap assembly according to the invention, wherein different open and closed positions of the tank flap assembly are shown,

figure 2 shows in a perspective exploded schematic view the tank cap assembly according to figure 1,

figure 3 shows the tank cap assembly according to figure 2 in a perspective assembled view with the outer partition omitted,

figure 4 shows in an enlarged schematic view a part region of the tank cap assembly according to figure 3,

figure 5 shows the tank cap assembly according to figure 3 in a top view,

figure 6 shows a schematic cross-sectional view along section line VI-VI of the tank cap assembly according to figure 5,

figure 7 shows a top view of the tank cap assembly according to figure 5 in another functional state,

figure 8 shows a schematic cross-sectional view along section line VIII-VIII of the tank cap assembly according to figure 7,

figure 9 shows the tank cap assembly according to figure 7 in another functional configuration,

figure 10 shows a schematic cross-sectional view along section line X-X of the tank cap assembly according to figure 9,

figure 11 shows the tank cap assembly according to figure 9 in another functional position,

figure 12 shows a cross-sectional view along section line XII-XII of the tank cap assembly according to figure 11,

figure 13 shows a top view of the tank cap assembly according to figure 11 in another functional configuration,

figure 14 shows a schematic cross-sectional view along the section line XIV-XIV of the tank cap assembly according to figure 13,

FIG. 15 shows in a plan view another functional position of the tank cap assembly according to FIG. 13, an

Figure 16 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the tank cap assembly according to figure 15 taken along section line XVI-XVI.

Detailed Description

According to fig. 1, a motor vehicle F in the form of a passenger car has a vehicle body, in the outer body skin of which, in this case in the region of the left front fender, an opening, not shown in detail, is formed, which is closed by a tank flap assembly 1. The opening is provided with an electrical plug interface, by means of which a charging plug of the charging station can be attached in order to charge an on-board electrical storage device of the motor vehicle F, which supplies the electric drive of the motor vehicle F. The opening is bounded by a body section K of a body skin of the vehicle body. The tank cover arrangement 1 has an outer bulkhead 8, which can be seen in fig. 1 and is shown in fig. 2, and which is pressed into the vehicle body skin flush and with a uniform gap dimension with the adjacent vehicle body section K as long as the tank cover arrangement 1 is in its closed position according to fig. 1.

The tank cover arrangement 1 is associated with a schematically illustrated actuating drive S, by means of which the tank cover arrangement 1 can be transferred from a closed position into an open position, in which the opening for the electrical plug interface is released. The tank flap assembly 1 is displaced in the interior of the vehicle body skin into an open position, so that the tank flap assembly 1 is arranged in the open position, at least in regions, as viewed from the outside, in such a way as to be shielded behind the corresponding vehicle body section K of the vehicle body skin. The corresponding opening step can be seen in fig. 1a to 1 d.

In order to be able to adjust the outer panel 8 relative to the adjacent body section K in a simple manner before the motor vehicle F is put into operation for the first time, the tank cap assembly 1 according to fig. 2 to 16 is provided with an adjustment system, which is explained in detail below.

In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, the body section K is a component of a fender (more precisely, a left front fender). In a further embodiment of the invention, further body sections of the vehicle body in the side regions, in the front region, in the rear region or at the transition region can delimit around an opening which can be closed by a tank flap assembly.

The tank flap assembly according to fig. 2 to 16 has a support ring 2 as a support structure, which is connected in a manner not shown in detail to the aforementioned actuating drive or to a differently designed actuating mechanism in order to move the tank flap assembly 1 from the closed position into the open position and back again. The support ring 2 supports a plane adjustment unit, which will be described in detail below, which in turn supports a height adjustment unit, which will also be described in detail below, which ultimately supports a space tilting unit on which the outer partition 8 is fastened.

The surface-adjusting unit has a support plate 3, which is provided on the sides facing one another with integrally formed bearing supports 9 and 10. The support plate 3 has a substantially disc-shaped bottom surface. The bearing blocks 9 and 10 are provided with rectangular passages (in the present case square passages) through which, in the assembled state, a fixing screw assembly 12, which consists of a cap screw and a washer, respectively, passes. As can be seen clearly from fig. 2, the support ring 2 has, on the sides facing each other, an annular support on the one hand and a threaded bore coaxial with the annular support on the other hand. The annular support and the threaded bore each form a fastening receptacle 11 for a fastening screw assembly 12. Furthermore, each fastening receptacle 11 is assigned an approximately rectangular recessed receptacle region 11a, the base surface of which is larger than the base surface of the

respective bearing block

9, 10. The term "bottom surface" is to be understood as a corresponding surface extension in top view. Each

bearing block

9, 10 can therefore be moved transversely and/or longitudinally in a restricted manner relative to the associated receiving region 11a of the support ring 2 in a radial plane relative to the central longitudinal axis L of the support ring 2, and thus in the annular plane of the support ring 2. The movability in this support ring plane corresponds to the difference between the length and width of the respective base surface of the

bearing support

9, 10 and the length and width of the respective base surface of the receiving region 11 a. The square passages in the bearing blocks 9, 10, which support this limited planar mobility, are much larger than the diameter of the respective set screw assembly 12. Thus, the support plate 3 can be adjusted in the support ring plane relative to the support ring 2 before the two fixing screw assemblies 12 are tightened. After adjustment, the fixing screw assembly 12 is fixedly tightened, thereby fixing the adjusted orientation in the support ring plane relative to the support ring 2.

Furthermore, the support plate 3 of the planar adjustment unit also serves as a support for the height adjustment unit. The support plate 3 has an outer ring for the bearing blocks 9 and 10 and an upwardly stepped, disk-shaped inner plate region from which six support tongues, not shown in detail, project outward in the plane of this inner plate region in a uniformly distributed manner over the circumference. The support tongues are spaced apart in the height direction from the outer support ring. With these functional sections, the support plate 3 serves to receive and rotatably support the stroke ring 4 in a limited manner. The displacement ring 4 is of annular design and has a plurality of circular-arc-shaped support webs projecting radially inward, which are each spaced apart from one another in order to be able to guide the support tongues through in the height direction when the displacement ring 4 is placed on. The support webs of the stroke ring 4 together with the support tongues of the support plate 3 form a rotary bearing for the stroke ring 4 in order to achieve a rotary movement of the stroke ring 4 about the central longitudinal axis L of the adjustment system.

The travel ring 4 has, on the outside, a groove-shaped spiral guide 16 which forms a guide groove that opens radially outward. The helical guides 16 each rise along an inclined plane, as seen in the circumferential direction, wherein all helical guides 16 are provided with the same pitch. Each helical guide 16 has an upwardly open insertion section at the lower end and a stop in the upper end region, which is opposite in the circumferential direction. The open receiving section serves for the purpose of introducing the runner lugs of the support component 5 located above it from above, wherein the runner lugs are concealed in fig. 2. The link lugs project radially inward, as can be seen in particular from fig. 6. For this purpose, the support assembly 5 has a circular ring-shaped bulge which is closed upward and open downward. On the underside, the elevations form a downwardly open annular groove in which a sliding groove web is formed. As can be seen from fig. 6, a runner web, not shown in detail, projects horizontally inward in this annular groove and is integrally formed on the outer edge of the annular groove of the annular elevation. The chute web is recessed from above into the corresponding receiving section of the screw guide 16. By subsequent relative rotation between the travel ring 4 and the support component 5, the link lugs enter the helical guides 16 and slide upwards gradually along the respective inclined plane. The distance of the support component 5 relative to the support plate 3 must thereby be changed in the height direction, i.e. coaxially to the central longitudinal axis L. The relative rotational mobility between the travel ring 4 and the support plate 3 is limited by an adjusting assembly which has, on the one hand, a fixing screw 12 and, on the other hand, a circular arc guide 13 at the travel ring 4. The circular arc guide 13 is positioned coaxially to the central longitudinal axis L at the outer circumference of the travel ring 4 and is formed in an integrally molded plastic section. The circular arc guide 13 is also associated with an adjusting mechanism 14 in the form of an integrally formed adjusting tongue.

Furthermore, the support element 5 is mounted so as to be movable in a stroke manner relative to the support plate 3 by means of

linear guides

17, 18 effective in the height direction. The support assemblies 5 each have longitudinal slots 18 on the sides lying opposite one another, which extend in the height direction and open radially outward and which are assigned complementary, radially inwardly oriented guide webs 17 in the region of the respective bearing blocks 9, 10 of the support plate 3. The corresponding guide webs 17 and longitudinal slots 18 form sliding guides for the support component 5 relative to the support plate 3. Furthermore, threaded bores 15 are provided on the support plate 3, into which the fastening screws 12 can be screwed. During assembly, the fixing screw 12 can first be screwed into the threaded bore 15 from above through the circular arc guide 13, so that there is also a gap in the height direction between the circular arc guide 13 and the fixing screw 12. Therefore, the stroke ring 4 can be rotationally moved within the angle of the circular arc guide 13, limited by the circular arc guide 13. The corresponding rotational movement of the stroke ring 4 necessarily causes a stroke movement of the support assembly 5. Once the desired travel of the support assembly 5 relative to the support ring 2 and relative to the support plate 3 is adjusted, the set screws 12 can be tightened and the adjusted adjustment fixed in height. The adjusting mechanism 14 is used to rotate the stroke ring 4, which can be grasped by hand and rotated in a simple manner.

As can be seen from fig. 2 and 3, the support element 5 has a recess a₁So as to be able to access the fixing screw 12 when the support assembly 5 is put on.

The annular elevation of the support assembly 5 delimits a flat torus on which a triangular, triangular adjusting mechanism 6 of the spatial inclination unit is movably arranged. The triangular adjusting mechanism 6 has an elongated hole 23 which, in the assembled state, encompasses a cylindrical bearing sleeve 27 which projects upward from the flat upper surface of the support assembly 5 coaxially with the central longitudinal axis L. The bearing nipple 27 furthermore has a threaded bore, the function of which is explained below. The triangular adjusting mechanism 6 is provided with an actuating mechanism 22 in the form of a gripping web, which projects upward from the flat underside of the triangular adjusting mechanism 6. The triangular adjustment mechanism forms an equilateral triangle, at the three corners of which support pegs 21 are arranged in each case. All three support pegs 21 protrude upwards from the upper surface of the triangular adjustment mechanism 6. The supporting pegs 21 are designed in the form of spherical caps and serve to support spherical and thus spherical-cap-shaped supporting surfaces 24 of the receiving plate 7 for the outer separating plate 8. The receiving plate 7 has a circumferential edge arranged in a common plane, at which a total of four receiving slots 20 are arranged in a uniformly distributed manner in the circumferential direction. Starting from this circumferential edge, the spherical-crown-shaped support surface 24 sinks spherically and thus concavely downward toward the center, as can be seen clearly in fig. 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16. The support surface 24 is supported on the underside by three support pins 21, which support the support surface 24 statically. The support surface 24 of the receiving plate 7 and the triangular adjustment mechanism 6 belong to the aforementioned spatial inclination unit.

The support element 5 has a total of four positioning lugs 19 in the region of its outer edge, which project upwards at right angles and which, in the assembled state, engage in receiving slots 20 of the receiving plate 7. The containment plate 7 is therefore not able to rotate about the central longitudinal axis L with respect to the support assembly 5. In contrast, the receiving slot 20 and the positioning web 19 are matched to one another in such a way that the receiving plate 7, although being able to be oriented obliquely in space with respect to the support component 5 depending on the orientation of the delta-type adjustment mechanism 6, does not allow a relative rotation between the receiving plate 7 and the support component 5. As can be seen from fig. 2 and 3 or also from fig. 9, 11, 13 and 15, the support surface 24 has a semicircular annular groove 25 which is oriented coaxially with the central longitudinal axis L. This semicircular annular groove 25 serves to limit the mobility of the actuating element 22 of the triangular adjusting mechanism 6. Thus, the actuating element 22, which protrudes upward in the form of a web, can be moved in the recess 25, which is integrally formed on the triangular adjusting element 6. The triangular adjusting mechanism 6 is additionally guided by the elongated hole 23 and the bearing sleeve 27. Once the desired orientation for the receiving plate 7 has been achieved, the adjusted spatial inclination of the receiving plate 7 can be fixed by a central fixing screw assembly 12 which passes through the passage 26 and further engages in a threaded bore of a bearing sleeve 27 of the support assembly 5. The receiving plate 7 is also provided with a recess a₂The groove is in the height direction and the groove A₁Aligned so as to access the set screw 12 for the circular arc guide 13 from above.

Thus, the different functional units (i.e. the plane adjustment unit on the one hand, the height adjustment unit on the other hand, and the spatial inclination unit) can be adjusted individually and can each be fixed individually, thereby resulting in a very simple and functionally reliable adjustability.

Finally, the outer separating wall 8 has latching lugs 28 on the inner side facing the alignment system, by means of which the outer separating wall 8 can be latched to the receiving plate 7 after the desired adjustment and fixing has been carried out in order to orient the outer separating wall 8.

According to fig. 6 and according to fig. 8, a lower height adjustment structure (fig. 6) and an upper height adjustment structure (fig. 8) for the support assembly, and thus for the height adjustment unit, are shown. Fig. 5 and 7 also show this by way of the different orientations of the circular arc guides 13.

Finally, with reference to fig. 9 to 16, it is possible to see the different final positions of the spatial inclination unit, wherein the different orientations of the actuating element 22 in the semicircular annular groove 25 are to be noted in each case.

Claims

1. Tank flap assembly (1) for a motor vehicle (F), having an outer bulkhead (8) which, in a state fitted on the vehicle side, is adapted to an adjoining body section (K) of the motor vehicle (F) in a gap-size-adapted and skin-flush manner, and having a support structure (2) supporting the outer bulkhead (8), which support structure is mounted so as to be movable relative to the body section (K) between a closed position closing a tank opening and a release position releasing the tank opening, characterized in that the outer bulkhead (8) is held at the support structure (2) by means of a manually operable mechanical adjustment system which is designed for spatial adjustment of the outer bulkhead (8) and for fixing the adjusted adjustment.

2. The tank deck assembly (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the adjustment system has a plane adjustment unit, a height adjustment unit and a spatial tilting unit, which can be manipulated independently of each other.

3. The tank cap assembly (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that at least one manually operable adjusting mechanism is assigned to each of the height adjusting unit and the spatial inclination unit.

4. The tank deck assembly (1) according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the plane adjustment unit, the height adjustment unit and the space inclination unit are arranged one above the other in this order from the support structure.

5. The tank cap assembly (1) according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the height adjustment unit is positioned between the support structure (2) and the space tilt unit.

6. The tank cap assembly (1) according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that the space-tilting unit is arranged between the height-adjustment unit and the outer partition (8).

7. The tank cap assembly (1) according to one of claims 2 to 6, characterized in that the height adjustment unit has a stroke assembly which can be activated by a rotational movement.

8. Tank cap assembly (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that a mechanical fixing device is associated with the stroke assembly for fixing the adjusted height displacement.

9. The tank cap assembly (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the spatial inclination unit has a spherical-cap-shaped bearing surface (24) and a delta-adjustment mechanism (6) which interacts with the spherical-cap-shaped bearing surface (24).

10. The tank cap assembly (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a mechanical fixing device is associated with the spatial inclination unit for fixing the adjusted relative position between the spherical-crown-shaped bearing surface (24) and the triangular adjustment mechanism (6).

11. The tank cap assembly (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the spherical-cap-shaped bearing surface (24) is part of a receiving plate (7) which is provided with a receiving region for clamping the outer partition (8), in particular with a latching profile for latching the outer partition (8).