CN210139774U - Retention module for fuel tank and high-pressure fuel tank for hybrid vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model relates to a maintenance module for fuel storage tank, the maintenance module includes and is used for supporting in maintenance support (1) between the roof of storage tank and diapire, its characterized in that, the maintenance module still includes respectively the top and the bottom overmolding of maintenance support (1) or install two weld plates (2) at the top and the bottom of maintenance support, weld plate (2) be used for with the roof and the diapire of storage tank weld, and at least one noise reduction baffle (3) of overmolding or installing between the support column of maintenance support. The utility model discloses still relate to a high-pressure fuel storage tank for hybrid vehicle, characterized in that includes the maintenance module wherein top and bottom overmolding or installing of maintenance support (1) are in the top and bottom of maintenance support two weld plate (2) respectively with the roof and the diapire welding of storage tank.

Description

Retention module for fuel tank and high-pressure fuel tank for hybrid vehicle

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a hybrid vehicle, in particular a high-pressure fuel tank for such a vehicle, in particular a retention module for such a tank.

Background

Aiming at the problem of air pollution caused by automobile exhaust, increasingly strict regulations are issued and implemented in many countries in the world. Under such a background, consumer demand for new energy vehicles such as hybrid vehicles is also increasing.

The power system of the hybrid electric vehicle combines an internal combustion engine and an electric motor, so that the hybrid electric vehicle can generally have three working modes, namely a pure internal combustion engine working mode, a pure electric motor working mode and a simultaneous working mode of the internal combustion engine and the electric motor. According to the operating principle of the power system of a hybrid vehicle, the internal combustion engine may not be operated all the time, but the fuel such as gasoline or diesel oil is volatilized all the time, thereby causing the fuel vapor pressure inside the fuel tank to be much higher than that of a conventional vehicle. Generally, the internal positive pressure of a conventional automotive fuel tank may be between 6-10 kpa, while the internal positive pressure of a hybrid automotive fuel tank may be as high as 35-45 kpa. Also, the fuel tank of a hybrid vehicle may be subjected to internal negative pressures as low as-15 kpa. Therefore, the fuel tank of a hybrid vehicle, known as a high-pressure fuel tank, imposes high demands on the rigidity of such a tank. In order to meet such high rigidity requirements, preventing the tank from undesired deformations under various positive and negative pressure conditions, it is conventional practice to add, inside the tank, retention brackets or plates supported between the upper and lower walls of the tank, of sufficient strength to limit the stresses and deflections to which the tank shell is subjected.

In addition, the interior of the fuel tank also typically includes noise reduction baffles, which function to reduce noise generated by possible fuel sloshing within the fuel tank by slowing down such sloshing when the vehicle is rapidly accelerating, braking, turning, or the like. Such fenders are also known as breakwaters.

The above-described retention bracket and noise reduction baffle, which are internal components of a high-pressure fuel tank, are generally manufactured to be installed inside the high-pressure fuel tank as an assembly to save the total weight of the tank and to reduce the internal component installation steps. Conventional retention assemblies including a retention bracket, a noise-damping baffle, and a weld plate for welding to the upper and lower walls of the tank are integrally molded. However, the retention bracket, the noise reduction baffle, and the weld plate must be made of the same material due to integral molding, which makes the choice of materials very limited. To satisfy the different functions of the retention bracket, weld plate, and noise reduction baffle at the same time, a relatively expensive material, such as PPA, polyphthalamide, has to be used, which unnecessarily increases the manufacturing cost. Also, modern fuel tanks are being made increasingly lightweight due to the need to offload the vehicle to save energy consumption. However, the use of a retention module integrally molded from the same material limits the use of lower density materials and therefore has a greater overall mass.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

In order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, the present invention provides a retention module for a fuel tank, the retention module comprising a retention bracket for supporting between a top wall and a bottom wall of the tank, the retention module further comprising two weld plates respectively overmolded or mounted at the top and bottom of the retention bracket, the weld plates being for welding with the top wall and the bottom wall of the tank and at least one noise reduction baffle overmolded or mounted between support columns of the retention bracket.

In the retention module according to the invention, the retention bracket as a main body has a strength sufficient to limit the stresses and deflections to which the tank shell may be subjected, so that undesired deformations of the tank under various positive and negative pressure conditions can be prevented. The retention bracket is made of a suitable fuel resistant and high temperature resistant material that fulfills its function, such as materials like Polyoxymethylene (POM), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polyphthalamide (PPA), Polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polyamide-imide (PAI), Polyaryletherketone (PAEK), and metals, with PPA being preferred.

For better strength, the above-mentioned material from which the retention bracket is made may preferably be reinforced with fibers, such as glass fibers, carbon fibers or polyamide fibers. Among polyamide fibers, aromatic polyamide fibers are preferred, while glass fibers are preferred because of their cost and environmental benefits. Examples of useful glass fibers include E-type glass fibers, S-type glass fibers, and the like.

Preferably, the retention bracket is an hourglass-shaped frame having an overall rectangular shape or a double-ended thick waist shape. Wherein the overall shape of the support columns as long sides may also be rectangular, preferably also hourglass-shaped. When the overall shape of the retention bracket is designed to be hourglass-shaped with a waist that is tapered, the support columns are not straight cylinders, but instead are curved inward at the designed waist location to form the waist of the retention bracket, but the curve is advantageously as smooth as possible, i.e., close to 180 °. An imaginary line connecting the center points of the narrowest waist portions of the hourglass-shaped retention bracket (i.e., the center points of the greatest bends of the two support posts) may be referred to as a "breaking line" because the support posts are most likely to break at this location when the tank is subjected to a violent impact.

The retention module according to the present invention is not integrally molded, wherein the weld plate or noise reduction baffle is mounted to or overmolded (sometimes also referred to as over-molding) on the previously manufactured retention bracket at the corresponding location. This allows the weld plate or noise reduction baffle to be manufactured from a material that is different from the retention bracket, thereby providing greater flexibility in the choice of materials and reducing the overall manufacturing cost or amount of the retention module as a whole.

Preferably, the top and/or bottom of the retention bracket may include a plurality of holes for facilitating the penetration of the manufacturing material of the solder plate when the solder plate is overmolded, thereby enhancing the coupling strength of the retention bracket and the solder plate. The holes may be arranged in rows, for example, at the top or bottom of the retention bracket. Each of the holes may be the same or different in size and may have any suitable shape, such as circular or square. For example, holes which are square and alternate in size, 6mm high and 4mm wide with large holes and 3mm high and 4mm wide with small holes have achieved good results in practice.

Preferably, the noise reduction baffle is made of a material that is fuel resistant and high temperature resistant, different from the material from which the retention bracket is made, and less costly. One preferred material that is inexpensive, fuel resistant, high temperature resistant, aging resistant, low density and widely used in the industry is HDPE, i.e., high density polyethylene.

Preferably, the noise reduction baffle comprises a hole, for example a circular hole having a diameter of between 8 and 12 mm. Whereby fuel can pass through the holes from one side of the noise reduction baffle to the other.

Preferably, the at least one noise reduction damper may be two noise reduction dampers. The two noise reduction baffles may be identical to facilitate repeated production. The two noise reduction baffles are preferably spaced apart and located on either side of the break line.

Preferably, the weld plate is made of a material that is fuel resistant and high temperature resistant, different from the material from which the retention bracket is made, and less costly. Likewise, the material from which the weld plate is made is preferably HDPE, i.e. high density polyethylene.

Preferably, in order to suppress the mixing of air bubbles when the weld plate is welded to the top or bottom wall of the tank, a channel for the outflow of air is designed on the side of the weld plate to be welded to the top or bottom wall of the tank. The air channels may be designed in any suitable shape, such as "racetrack" or "comb". For example, the comb-shaped air channel with the channel width of 3-5 mm, the distance between the channels of 3-5 mm and the channel height of 1-2 mm has good effect in practice.

In addition, the present invention also provides a high-pressure fuel tank for a hybrid vehicle, comprising a retention module as described above, wherein the two weld plates at the top and bottom of the retention bracket are overmolded or mounted with the top and bottom of the retention bracket are welded with the top and bottom walls of the tank, respectively.

Drawings

The present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood by those skilled in the art that the drawings are designed solely for the purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention. The same reference numbers in the drawings identify the same or similar elements. For purposes of illustration, the figures are not drawn to scale. In the drawings:

figure 1 schematically shows a perspective view of a retention module according to an embodiment of the invention;

figure 2 is a front view of the retention module of figure 1;

fig. 3 is a side view of the retention module of fig. 1 and 2;

fig. 4 schematically shows a retention module according to an embodiment of the invention, including a view of the retention module without the weld plate, showing the holes of the retention bracket that facilitate over-molding the weld plate;

fig. 5 is a close-up view of the retention module of fig. 4 without the weld plate, showing the holes of the retention bracket that facilitate the overmoulding of the weld plate;

fig. 6 schematically shows a top view of a retention module according to an embodiment of the invention, wherein the weld plate comprises racetrack-like air channels;

fig. 7 is a partial view of the retention module of fig. 1, wherein the solder plate comprises comb-shaped air channels.

Detailed Description

In this context, terms describing direction and location, such as "longitudinal," "lateral," "vertical," "upper," "lower," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," and the like, are defined with reference to X, Y and the Z-axis orientation conventionally used by motor vehicles and the orientation of the retention module when installed in a fuel tank on a motor vehicle.

Fig. 1-3 are schematic perspective, front and side views, respectively, of a retention module according to an embodiment of the present invention. The retention module includes a retention bracket 1, a weld plate 2, and a noise reduction baffle 3.

The retention brackets function to be supported between the upper and lower walls of the fuel tank and are strong enough to limit the stresses and deflections to which the tank shell is subjected to prevent undesirable deformation of the tank under various positive and negative pressure conditions. The retention bracket is preferably a frame having an overall shape that is rectangular or hourglass-shaped, wherein the support columns that are long sides may also have an overall shape that is rectangular or hourglass-shaped.

In the preferred embodiment shown in fig. 1, the retention bracket 1 is hourglass-shaped, which is visible in the front view of fig. 2. In which the retention bracket 1 comprises two support posts, each of which is not a straight cylinder but is curved inwardly at the waist of the retention bracket designed to form the waist, but the curve is advantageously as smooth as possible, i.e. close to 180 deg., as can be seen in fig. 1 to 3. An imaginary line connecting the center points of the narrowest waist portions of the hourglass-shaped retention bracket (i.e., the center points of the greatest bends of the two support posts) may be referred to as a "breaking line", as shown by the dashed lines in fig. 1 and 2, because the support posts are most likely to break at this location when the tank is subjected to a violent impact. It should be understood that the shape, size, configuration, arrangement, etc. of the retention bracket according to the present invention is not limited to the illustrated examples.

Fig. 4 schematically illustrates a retention module according to an embodiment of the invention, including a view of the retention module without weld plates. According to this embodiment, the top and bottom of the retention bracket 1 include a plurality of holes 11, which function to facilitate the penetration of the manufacturing material of the weld plate when overmolding the weld plate 2, thereby enhancing the strength of the connection of the retention bracket 1 and the weld plate 2. Fig. 5 is an enlarged partial view of the retention module of fig. 4 without the weld plate, wherein the holes 11 are more clearly shown. As shown in FIG. 4, the holes 11 are arranged in rows on the top and bottom of the retention bracket 1. Each of the holes may be the same or different in size and may have any suitable shape, such as circular or square. In the example of fig. 4 and 5, the holes are generally square and not of uniform size. The sizes of the big and small holes with good effect in practice are 6mm high and 4mm wide big holes and 3mm high and 4mm wide small holes.

The function of the weld plate is to weld the retention module to the upper and lower walls of the fuel tank. In the retention module shown in fig. 1 to 3, a weld plate 2 is over-molded on each of the top and bottom of the retention bracket 1, i.e., the upper and lower short sides of the retention bracket 1. It should be understood that the shape, size, configuration, arrangement, etc. of the weld plate according to the present invention are not limited to the illustrated examples.

In order to suppress the mixing of air bubbles when the weld plate 2 is welded to the top or bottom wall of the tank, a channel for air to flow out is designed on the surface of the weld plate 2 to be welded to the top or bottom wall of the tank. The air channels may be designed in any suitable shape, for example "racetrack" as shown in fig. 6 or "comb" as shown in fig. 1 and 7. For example, the comb-shaped air channel with the channel width of 3-5 mm, the distance between the channels of 3-5 mm and the channel height of 1-2 mm has good effect in practice.

The noise reduction baffle functions to reduce noise generated by such sloshing of fuel that may be present in the fuel tank when the vehicle is rapidly accelerating, braking, turning, etc., by slowing down the fuel sloshing. By "baffle" is meant a substantially flat member, preferably a plate, which may have any suitable shape. In the example of fig. 1, noise reduction baffle 3 is overmolded between the support posts of retention bracket 1, and the illustrated example includes two identical noise reduction baffles 2, one on each side of the "break line". The multiple noise reduction baffles are manufactured to be the same, so that the repeated production of the noise reduction baffles can be facilitated. The noise reduction baffle 3 shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4 further comprises a plurality of circular holes 31 (see FIG. 4) having a diameter of 8 to 12mm for allowing fuel to pass therethrough. It is to be understood that the shape, size, number, configuration, arrangement, and the like of the noise reduction baffle according to the present invention are not limited to the illustrated examples.

For a further understanding of the present invention, a brief description of how to manufacture a retention module in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention may be provided below may include the following major steps:

-moulding a retention bracket (S1) in a material such as PPA reinforced with glass fibres as designed and desired;

-overmolding noise reduction baffles (S2) between support posts of the molded retention bracket, preferably of a different material than the retention bracket;

-overmolding weld plates (S3) on top and bottom of the molded retention bracket with a material preferably different from the retention bracket.

Wherein steps S2 and S3 are not sequential in time, in other words, the noise reduction baffle can be overmolded first, the weld plate can be overmolded first, or both the weld plate and the noise reduction baffle can be overmolded simultaneously.

Further, in manufacturing the high-pressure fuel tank for a hybrid vehicle according to another embodiment of the present invention, the manufacturing method thereof includes the step of welding the welding plates to the top wall and the bottom wall of the tank, respectively, to mount the retention module to the inside of the tank.

While the preferred embodiment described above has the weld plate and noise reduction baffle overmolded onto the retention bracket, it should be understood that the weld plate or noise reduction baffle may also be mounted to the retention bracket in accordance with the present invention. Applicable mounting methods include, for example, snap-in, clip-on, plug-in mounting methods, and the like. In this case, the manufacturing method of the retention module may be replaced with the mounting method by the overmolding method.

The drawings and the foregoing description depict non-limiting specific embodiments of the invention. For the purpose of teaching inventive principles, some conventional aspects have been simplified or omitted. Those skilled in the art will appreciate variations from these embodiments that fall within the scope of the invention. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the above-described features can be combined in various ways to form multiple variations of the invention. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, but is only limited by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims (10)

1. A retention module for a fuel tank comprising a retention bracket (1) for supporting between a top wall and a bottom wall of the tank, characterized in that it further comprises two weld plates (2) overmolded or mounted respectively on the top and bottom of the retention bracket (1), the weld plates (2) being intended to be welded with the top and bottom walls of the tank, and at least one noise-reducing baffle (3) overmolded or mounted between the support columns of the retention bracket (1).

2. The retention module of claim 1, wherein the retention bracket (1) is made of a material selected from the group consisting of: polyoxymethylene (POM), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polyphthalamide (PPA), Polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polyamide-imide (PAI), Polyaryletherketone (PAEK) and metals.

3. The retention module of claim 2, wherein the material of which the retention bracket (1) is made is reinforced with fibres selected from the group consisting of: glass fibers, carbon fibers and polyamide fibers.

4. The retention module of one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the noise-reducing baffle (3) is made of a material resistant to fuel and to high temperatures, different from and less costly than the material of which the retention bracket (1) is made.

5. The retention module of claim 4, wherein the noise reduction baffle (3) is made of HDPE (high Density polyethylene).

6. The retention module of one of the claims 1 to 3, wherein the noise-reducing baffle (3) comprises a hole.

7. The retention module of claim 6, wherein the holes are circular holes having a diameter between 8 and 12 millimeters.

8. The retention module of one of the claims 1 to 3, wherein the weld plate (2) is made of a material resistant to fuel and to high temperatures, different from and less costly than the material of which the retention bracket (1) is made.

9. The retention module of claim 8, wherein the weld plate (2) is made of HDPE, high density polyethylene.

10. -high-pressure fuel tank for hybrid vehicles, characterized in that it comprises a retention module according to one of the preceding claims, in which the two weld plates (2) overmoulded on the top and on the bottom of the retention frame (1) or mounted on the top and on the bottom of the retention frame (1) are welded respectively to the top wall and to the bottom wall of the tank.

Images