EP2444367B1 - Device for installing a pumping unit and the drive motor thereof in the hydraulic compartment of a device for dispensing liquid fuel - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a mounting device, in the hydraulic compartment of a liquid fuel dispensing apparatus of a pumping unit for transferring fuel from a storage tank to a dispensing gun, and the engine training of this pumping group.

Such a device mounted in a fuel dispensing apparatus is disclosed in the document US-A-2,364,138 .

The pumping unit equipping liquid fuel dispensing devices can be immersed in the fuel stored in the storage tank or be mounted to the inner part of the hydraulic compartment fitted to this device.

In the latter case, the pumping unit is on the one hand equipped with a mechanical suction pump (screw type, paddle on rotors or pistons), as well as a filter whose function is to eliminate solid particles present in the fuel and a degasser whose function is to eliminate the air dissolved in the fuel and is further connected to an electric motor for driving the suction pump.

This training is performed by means of two pulleys, namely a first driving pulley which is driven directly by the electric motor and a second driven pulley mounted integrally on the pumping unit.

These two pulleys are interconnected by a transmission belt.

The pumping unit and its drive motor are conventionally both fixedly secured to a frame mounted in the hydraulic compartment of the dispensing apparatus.

Such a rigid assembly is however not devoid of drawbacks because of precision errors during manufacture and assembly that can not be excluded.

Indeed, such inaccuracies can cause a tension defect of the drive belt.

In addition, during operation it can occur, within the dispensing apparatus, vibrations causing a relative displacement of the pumping unit and its drive motor may also result in a decrease in the tension of the belt of transmission.

However, insufficient tension of this belt has the corollary of a malfunction of the pumping unit and therefore a faulty delivery of fuel.

This situation is due to the fact that the entire torque developed by the motor is then not transmitted to the pump so that the maximum flow can not be reached.

In addition, the transmission belt can slide on the periphery of one of the pulleys without being driven, which prevents the actuation of the pumping unit or allows it only by jerks.

Such phenomena may, in addition, cause the emission of additional noise and therefore increase noise.

The object of the present invention is to remedy these drawbacks by proposing a device for mounting a pump unit and its drive motor in the hydraulic compartment of a liquid fuel dispensing device of the aforementioned type designed to guarantee the maintenance in tension of the drive belt.

According to the invention, such a device is characterized in that it comprises, on the one hand, a chassis fastened integrally to the dispensing apparatus, inside the hydraulic compartment and comprising an upper face, a lower face and two lateral faces. and on the other hand a holding plate and a mounting plate.

Of course, in the context of this description the terms upper, lower, lateral ... refer to the dispenser mounted in the normal position of use.

The pumping unit is conventionally fixed integrally on the upper face of the frame.

The holding plate is fixed integrally on a first lateral face or front face of the frame and projects on its lower face, at a first of its lateral ends by a hinge tongue provided with a first through-opening forming a bearing.

This hinge tongue cooperates with an associated hinge member fixed integrally on the second side face or rear face of the frame and provided with a second through-opening forming a bearing.

The through openings forming a bearing of the hinge tongue of the holding plate and the hinge element are located facing each other on both sides of the frame.

The mounting plate is positioned under the underside of the chassis; the electric motor is fixed integrally below this plate.

It is equipped at one of its lateral ends with articulation tabs projecting from either side of the frame and are respectively engaged in the through-openings forming bearings of the hinge tongues of the holding plate and of the hinge element.

The mounting plate can thus pivot around this tongue and this element at this level.

According to the invention, this plate is also resiliently mounted on the holding plate, at its second lateral end so as to bias the electric motor downwards and thus to ensure the tensioning of the transmission belt.

The configuration of the hinge lugs may be arbitrary, and these tabs may in particular have a quadrangular or circular section without departing from the scope of the invention.

To facilitate its manufacture, the mounting plate may for example be equipped at its first lateral end with an inclined plane extending on either side of the frame to define the hinge lugs.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention the holding plate is equipped at its second lateral end opposite its first lateral end provided with the hinge tongue, with an L-shaped extension projecting outwards from the frame and having a first leg or connecting leg substantially bent at right angles and a second leg or branch attachment equipped with a threaded fixing hole.

According to this preferred embodiment, the mounting plate is equipped at its second lateral end opposite its first lateral end provided with the hinge lugs, with at least one connecting piece which protrudes outwards from the chassis, above the attachment branch of the L-shaped extension of the holding arm, parallel to this branch.

This connecting end is equipped with a connecting orifice having a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the fixing orifice and located opposite this orifice.

A mounting screw passing through the connecting hole of the connecting end of the mounting plate is screwed into the fixing hole of the holding plate.

A return spring is held around the rod of this screw, between the head thereof and the connection end of the mounting plate so as to urge this plate and the electric motor fixed integrally thereto towards the bottom in the absence of external stress exerted on him and thus to ensure the maintenance of tension of the drive belt.

Given this configuration, the mounting screw is fixed relative to the holding plate and to the frame, and the mounting plate is held relative to these elements only by the transmission belt and the hinge tabs coming from engaged in the through-openings forming bearings of the hinge tongue and the hinge member.

More precisely, it is thus created, following the pivoting of the hinges of the mounting plate in the through openings forming bearings, an equilibrium between on the one hand the force directed downwards exerted by the return spring on the electric motor via the mounting plate on which it is fixed, and secondly the reverse-biased tension force exerted by the transmission belt mounted between the two pulleys.

In other words, the only force exerted by the return spring makes it possible to guarantee the tensioning of the transmission belt.

This force, and therefore the tension of the transmission belt can be adjusted to an optimum value during the manufacture and assembly of the device according to the invention on the dispensing apparatus, by adjusting the screwing of the mounting screw in the threaded mounting hole.

Such tightening adjustment can also be performed during a revision of the dispensing machine by a service technician.

It should also be noted that, in the presence of vibrations during operation, the return spring is more or less compressed depending on the intensity and the frequency of these vibrations, but makes it possible to attenuate them by guaranteeing the tension of the transmission belt.

According to the invention, the hinge member may be constituted by a second holding plate projecting from the lower part of the frame by a second hinge tongue provided with the second through-opening forming a bearing.

In this case, the elastic mounting of the mounting plate can be performed on only one of the holding plates, or advantageously on each of these plates, on either side of the frame so as to ensure the symmetry of the device and to allow a better distribution of efforts.

Such a configuration has the further advantage of allowing to adjust the parallelism of the electric motor.

According to a first variant of the invention, the hinge element is constituted by a wafer, in particular of rectangular form fixed to the frame by means of screws and equipped with the second through-opening forming a bearing.

The height position of this hinge plate can be adjusted by equipping it or the frame with several openings for the screws or oblong holes.

Such a configuration is particularly advantageous if the axis of the electric motor and the driving part is not in a plane perpendicular to that of the transmission belt after adjustment of the tension thereof by the mounting screw.

Such an adjustment makes it possible to optimize the position of the engine relative to the transmission belt.

According to a second variant of the invention, the hinge member is defined by a shoulder provided with the second through-bore forming a bearing provided on the frame.

Such a configuration has the advantage of requiring fewer parts and reducing the assembly time of the device and consequently its cost.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the connecting end of the mounting plate is equipped with a lateral positioning edge forming a stop during the placement of this plate on the frame.

The presence of such a positioning rim makes it possible to a large extent to facilitate the assembly of the device according to the invention to the internal part of the hydraulic compartment of the dispensing apparatus, and in particular the positioning of the mounting plate with respect to the frame.

Additional holding members such as rails into which the mounting plate can be inserted can also be provided at the bottom of the chassis to facilitate the mounting of the device.

• la figure 1 est une vue de face d'un appareil distributeur de carburant liquide conforme à l'art antérieur.
• la figure 2 est une vue de face avant d'un dispositif conforme à l'invention permettant le montage d'un groupe de pompage et de son moteur d'entrainement dans le compartiment hydraulique d'un appareil distributeur de carburant.
• la figure 3A est une vue de face arrière d'un tel dispositif, conforme à la première variante de l'invention.
• la figure 3B est une vue de face arrière d'un tel dispositif, conforme à la seconde variante de l'invention.
• la figure 4 est une perspective de détail représentant le prolongement en forme de L d'une plaque de maintien et l'embout de liaison de la plaque de montage positionnés sur le châssis.
• la figure 5 est une vue de face de la plaque de maintien.
• la figure 6 est une vue de face du moteur électrique fixé sur la plaque de montage.
• la figure 7 est une vue de dessus du moteur électrique fixé sur la plaque de montage.

The characteristics of the device which is the subject of the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the appended nonlimiting drawings in which:

• the figure 1 is a front view of a liquid fuel dispensing apparatus according to the prior art.
• the figure 2 is a front view of a device according to the invention for mounting a pump unit and its drive motor in the hydraulic compartment of a fuel dispenser apparatus.
• the figure 3A is a rear view of such a device, according to the first variant of the invention.
• the figure 3B is a rear view of such a device, according to the second variant of the invention.
• the figure 4 is a detail perspective showing the L-shaped extension of a holding plate and the connecting end of the mounting plate positioned on the frame.
• the figure 5 is a front view of the holding plate.
• the figure 6 is a front view of the electric motor attached to the mounting plate.
• the figure 7 is a top view of the electric motor attached to the mounting plate.

According to figure 1 , A liquid fuel dispensing apparatus conventionally comprises a lower compartment 2 or hydraulic compartment surmounted by an upper compartment 3 or electronic compartment.

The hydraulic compartment 2 contains mechanical equipment that allows the transfer of the liquid fuel stored in a storage tank 4 to a dispensing gun 17 mounted at the end of a flexible pipe 16 and intended to be inserted into the opening of the tank of a motor vehicle.

The electronic compartment 3 is itself equipped with processors (not shown) which control the fuel delivery operations and in particular control the mechanical equipment of the hydraulic compartment 2, calculate the volume delivered and the price of the delivery and display the delivery data at the user.

According to figure 1 , the hydraulic compartment 2 contains a pumping unit 7 consisting of a compact assembly comprising a suction mechanical pump, a particle filter and a deaerator not shown.

This pumping unit 7 makes it possible to transfer the liquid fuel 5 from the storage tank 4 to the dispensing gun 17 via a fuel routing line 6 and is actuated by an electric drive motor 9 controlled by the processors of the electronic compartment 3 .

A driving pulley 10 mounted on the output shaft of the electric motor 9 makes it possible to transmit the torque developed by it to the pumping unit 7 to allow the transfer of the fuel 5.

For this purpose, this group 7 is equipped with a pulley 8 directly connected to the elements allowing this transfer and driven in rotation by the driving pulley 10, by means of a transmission belt 11.

Downstream of the pumping unit7, the liquid fuel 5 is transferred to a volumetric meter 13 equipped with a transmitter 14 connected to the processors of the electronic compartment 3 so as to determine the volume of fuel delivered, then is directed towards the dispensing gun 17 by via an opening valve 15 controlled by these processors.

According to figure 1 , a frame 12 having in the upper part an upper face, a lower face and two lateral faces is fixed integrally to the dispensing apparatus 1 to the inner part of the hydraulic compartment 2.

The pumping unit 7 is directly attached to the upper face of this frame 12 while the drive motor 9 is directly attached to the underside of this frame, below the pumping unit 7.

As already indicated, such a rigid assembly can cause a tension defect of the transmission belt 11 which can be a source of inconvenience.

According to figure 2 , an identical frame 12 is also fixed integrally in the hydraulic compartment 2 of the dispensing apparatus 1 and the pumping unit 7 equipped with the driven pulley 8 is also directly fixed on the upper face of this frame 12.

On the other hand, the drive motor 9 equipped with the driving pulley 10 is not fixed directly on the lower face of the frame 12, but by means of a holding plate 18 and a mounting plate 19.

According to figures 2 and 5 , the holding plate 18 is fixed by screws inserted into openings 27, 28 on a first lateral face or front face of the frame 12.

This holding plate 18 projects, at the lower part of the frame 12, at a first of its lateral ends, by a hinge tongue 33 provided with a through-opening forming a bearing 21.

According to figure 3A , the hinge tongue 33 cooperates with an associated hinge member constituted by a rectangular plate 39 fixed by means of screws on the second lateral face or rear face of the frame 12 and provided with a second through-opening forming a bearing 40 .

According to figure 3B the hinge tongue 33 cooperates with an associated hinge element defined by a shoulder 41 provided on the frame 12 and provided with a second through-opening forming a bearing 42.

The through openings of the hinge tongue 33 of the holding plate 18 and the hinge elements 39, 41 are situated facing each other on the one side and the other side of the frame 12.

According to Figures 4 and 5 , the holding plate 18 is equipped at its second lateral end opposite its first lateral end provided with the hinge tongue 33, with an L-shaped extension 34 projecting outwards from the frame 12.

This extension 34 comprises a first branch or connection branch 35 substantially bent at right angles and a second branch or attachment branch 20 which is equipped with a threaded fastening orifice 36 into which is screwed an associated mounting screw 25 of which the function will be described in more detail later in this presentation.

According to figures 2 , 6 and 7 , the mounting plate 19 has a flat central portion 37 below which is fixed the electric motor 9 equipped with the driving pulley 10 by screws inserted in openings 32 and in fixing elements 29 of the engine 9.

This mounting plate 19 is positioned below the underside of the frame 12 and is equipped at a first of its lateral ends with an inclined plane 30 which extends on either side of the frame 12 to define lugs. articulation 22, 22 '.

These hinge lugs 22, 22 'which protrude from either side of the frame 12 respectively engage in the through-openings forming bearings 21, 40, 42 of the hinge tongue 33 of the holding plate 18 and articulation elements 39, 41.

The mounting plate 19 is thus pivotally mounted at this level.

According to figures 2 , 4 and 6 this plate 19 is also equipped with a connecting end 23 at its second lateral end opposite its first lateral end provided with the hinge lugs 22, 22 '.

As represented more precisely on the figure 4 this connecting end 23 protrudes outwardly from the frame 12 above the fastening branch 20 of the L-shaped extension 34 of the holding plate 18, and extends parallel to this branch 20.

The connecting end 23 is equipped with a connecting orifice 31 situated opposite the fixing orifice 36 and whose diameter is a little greater than that of this orifice.

The mounting screw 25 passes through the connecting orifice 31 and is screwed into the fixing orifice 36.

A return spring 24 is held around the rod of this screw 25, between its head and the connecting end 23 so as to urge the mounting plate 19 and consequently the electric motor 9 equipped with the driving pulley 10 towards the low in the absence of external stress exerted on him.

The tensioning of the transmission belt 11 can thus be guaranteed.

According to figures 2 , 4 and 6 the connection end 23 of the mounting plate 19 is equipped with a lateral positioning edge forming a stop 26 whose function is to facilitate the placing of the device on the frame 12.

For the same purpose, the mounting frame 12 is equipped on its underside with a shoulder 38 shown in FIG. figure 4 .

• La première de ces étapes consiste à monter l'ensemble de la structure de l'appareil distributeur 1 et en particulier le châssis 12 dans le compartiment hydraulique 2.
• Le groupe de pompage 7 doit ensuite être fixé sur la face supérieure de ce châssis.
• L'étape suivante consiste à positionner sans la fixer la plaque de montage 19 préalablement fixée au moteur électrique 9 au dessous de la face intérieure du châssis 12 en s'aidant de la bordure de positionnement formant butée 26 et de l'épaulement 38.
• La présence éventuelle d'éléments de maintien tels que des rails permet de faciliter le positionnement de la plaque de montage 19 ainsi que le maintien de celle-ci à la partie interne du compartiment hydraulique 2 de l'appareil distributeur 1.
• La plaque de maintien 18 et le cas échéant la plaquette d'articulation 39 doit ensuite être positionnée sur le châssis 12 en insérant les pattes d'articulation 22, 22' de la plaque de montage 19 dans les ouvertures traversantes formant palier 21, 40, 42, puis être fixée par des vis au châssis 12.
• Lors de cette fixation, il est nécessaire de s'assurer du maintien du positionnement des pattes d'articulation 22, 22' dans les ouvertures traversantes formant palier 21, 40, 42.
• L'étape suivante consiste à insérer la vis de montage 25 équipée du ressort 24 dans l'orifice de liaison 31 de l'embout de liaison 23 de la plaque de montage 19, puis à visser celle-ci dans l'orifice de fixation 36 de la plaque de maintien 18.
• Lors de ce vissage, il est nécessaire de s'assurer que le ressort 24 reste positionné entre la tête de la vis 25 et l'embout de liaison 23.
• La courroie de transmission 12 peut alors être positionnée à la périphérie de la poulie motrice 10 d'une part et à la périphérie de la poulie entrainée 8 d'autre part.
• 11 ne reste alors plus qu'à ajuster le vissage de la vis de montage 25 dans l'orifice de fixation 36 pour obtenir une tension optimum de la courroie de transmission 11.

According to the invention, this setting up of the mounting device involves the following steps:

• The first of these steps is to mount the entire structure of the dispensing apparatus 1 and in particular the frame 12 in the hydraulic compartment 2.
• The pumping unit 7 must then be fixed on the upper face of this frame.
• The next step is to position without fixing the mounting plate 19 previously attached to the electric motor 9 below the inner face of the frame 12 with the help of the positioning edge forming abutment 26 and the shoulder 38.
• The possible presence of holding elements such as rails makes it possible to facilitate the positioning of the mounting plate 19 as well as the retention thereof at the inner part of the hydraulic compartment 2 of the dispensing apparatus 1.
• The retaining plate 18 and, if appropriate, the hinge plate 39 must then be positioned on the frame 12 by inserting the hinge lugs 22, 22 'of the mounting plate 19 into the through bearing openings 21, 40, 42, and then be fixed by screws to the frame 12.
• During this fixing, it is necessary to ensure the positioning of the hinge lugs 22, 22 'in the bearing through openings 21, 40, 42.
• The next step is to insert the mounting screw 25 equipped with the spring 24 in the connecting hole 31 of the connecting piece 23 of the mounting plate 19, and then screwing it in the fixing hole 36 of the holding plate 18.
• During this screwing, it is necessary to ensure that the spring 24 remains positioned between the head of the screw 25 and the connecting end 23.
• The transmission belt 12 can then be positioned at the periphery of the driving pulley 10 on the one hand and on the periphery of the driven pulley 8 on the other hand.
• It then remains only to adjust the screwing of the mounting screw 25 in the fixing orifice 36 to obtain an optimum tension of the transmission belt 11.

NOMENCLATURE

1.

Distributor device

2.

Hydraulic compartment

3.

Electronic compartment

4.

Storage tank

5.

Liquid fuel

6.

Fuel routing line

7.

Pumping group

8.

Driven pulley

9.

Electric drive motor

10.

Driving pulley

11.

Drive belt

12.

Frame

13.

Volumetric measuring device

14.

Transmitter

15.

Valve

16.

A flexible pipe

17.

Dispensing gun

18.

Holding plates

19.

Mounting plate

20.

Fixing branch

21.

Opening forming a bearing

22, 22 '.

Hinge legs

23.

Connecting tip

24.

Spring

25.

Mounting screws

26.

stopper

27.

Opening

28.

Opening

29.

Fastening elements

30.

Inclined plane

31.

Connection port

32.

overtures

33.

Tongue tongue

34.

L-shaped extension

35.

Linking branch

36.

Threaded mounting hole

37.

Flat central part

38.

shoulder

39.

Articulation plate

40.

Opening forming a bearing

. 41

shoulder

42.

Opening forming a bearing

Claims (6)

1. A device for installing a pumping unit (7), by means of which fuel may be transferred from a storage tank (4) to a dispensing nozzle (17), and the drive motor (9) of said pumping unit (7), in the hydraulic compartment (2) of a liquid fuel dispensing apparatus, said motor being connected to the electrical network and being provided with a first pulley (10) driving a second pulley (8) mounted rigidly on the pumping unit (7) by means of a transmission belt (11), characterized in that it comprises:

   - a chassis (12) comprising an upper surface, a lower surface and two lateral surfaces secured rigidly to the dispensing apparatus (1) within the hydraulic compartment (2), and on the upper surface of which the pumping unit (7) is rigidly secured,

   - a retaining plate (18) secured rigidly to a first lateral surface or front surface of the chassis (12) and projecting at its lower end, at a first of its lateral ends, by means of a first articulation tongue (33) provided with a first through opening forming a bearing (21), said articulation tongue (33) cooperating with an associated articulation member (39, 41) secured rigidly to the second lateral surface or rear surface of the chassis (12) and provided with a second through opening forming a bearing (40, 42), said two through openings being disposed to face one another on either side of the chassis (12),

   - an assembly plate (19) positioned below the lower surface of the chassis (12), below which the electric motor (9) is rigidly secured, and provided at a first of its lateral ends with articulation lugs (22, 22') projecting on either side thereof and being taken up respectively in the through openings forming bearings (21, 40, 42) of the articulation tongue (33) of the retaining plate (18) and the articulation member (39, 41) so that the assembly plate (19) can pivot at this location, said assembly plate (19) being mounted resiliently on the retaining plate (18) at the location of its second lateral end so as to urge the electric motor (9) downwards and ensure that the transmission belt (11) is kept tensioned.
2. A device according to claim 1, characterized in that:

   - the retaining plate (18) is provided at its second lateral end opposite its first lateral end provided with the articulation tongue (33) with an L-shaped prolongation (34) projecting towards the exterior of the chassis (12) and comprising a first arm or connecting arm (35) bent substantially at a right angle and a second arm or securing arm (20) provided with a threaded fastening orifice (36),

   - the assembly plate (19) is provided at its second lateral end opposite its first lateral end provided with the articulation lugs (22, 22') with at least one connecting member (23) projecting towards the exterior of the chassis (12) above the fastening arm (20) of the L-shaped prolongation (34) of the retaining plate (18), parallel to said arm (20), and provided with a connection orifice (26) having a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the fastening orifice (36) and disposed opposite said orifice,

   - an assembly screw (25) passing through the connecting orifice (31) of the assembly plate (19) being screwed into the fastening orifice (36) of the retaining plate (18) and a recall spring (24) being held about the shank of this screw (25) between the head thereof and the connecting member (23) so to urge the assembly plate (19) and the electric motor downwards when no external stress is being exerted thereon.
3. A device according to any one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the articulation member is formed by a second retaining plate projecting from the lower portion of the chassis (12) by means of a second articulation tongue provided with the second through opening forming a bearing.
4. A device according to any one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the articulation member is formed by a plate (39), of rectangular shape in particular, secured to the chassis (12) by means of screws and provided with a through opening forming a bearing (40).
5. A device according to any one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the articulation member is defined by a shoulder (41) provided with a through opening forming a bearing (42) provided on the chassis (12).
6. A device according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that the connection member (23) of the assembly plate (19) is provided with a lateral positioning edge (26) forming an abutment when the device is installed on the chassis (12).

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