FR2710721A1 - Filler cap for a motor vehicle tank filler pipe - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention proposes a filler cap for a motor vehicle fuel tank filler pipe, of the type including a body in the shape of a bowl (12), the upper face (16) of which has a filler opening (24), and including a shut-off flap (30) mounted so that it can pivot with respect to the bowl (12) between a position of rest towards which it is returned elastically and in which it closes off the filler opening (24) and a position in which it is non-obstructing, inside the bowl (12), and in which position the filler opening (24) is freed and towards which it is driven when a filler nozzle (150) is introduced into the filler opening (24), characterised in that it includes means (76, 96) for automatically locking the shut-off flap (30) in the position of rest, these means including a member (110) for bringing about unlocking which is arranged on the upper face of the shut-off flap and which is actuated by the end of the filler nozzle (150).

Description

 The present invention relates to a filling assembly for a filling line for a motor vehicle fuel tank.

 A filling head is generally in the form of a housing or a hollow body the upper face of which is open in a part of the vehicle body and into which the free end of the filling pipe opens in order to allow filling the tank by introducing a filling lance into the pipeline.

 The orifice of the pipe can be closed by a removable plug, the open face of the filling head being itself possibly closed by an articulated hatch.

 In order to eliminate the removable plug, a filling head of the type has been proposed comprising a bowl-shaped body the upper face of which has a filling orifice and comprising a shutter flap mounted so as to pivot relative to the bowl between a position of rest towards which it is resiliently recalled and in which it closes the filling orifice and a cleared position inside the bowl in which the filling orifice is released and towards which it is driven when the lance is introduced filling in the filling opening.

 In a known design of such a type of filling head, the shutter equipped with a simple return spring in the closed position, is not locked in the latter position, or is equipped with locking means with positive locking control or the opening of which depends on the opening of the access hatch to the filling head.

 The use of a shutter having no locking means presents a risk of accidental introduction of polluting elements into the tank. This is particularly the case when, during vehicle cleaning operations, the access hatch and the surrounding area of the filling orifice are cleaned by means of a jet of water or steam under pressure, this pressure may be sufficient to cause the shutter to open accidentally.

 When the shutter is fitted with an externally controlled locking device, its locking then depends on a positive action from the user and this solution is not entirely satisfactory insofar as there is a risk of forgetting operations. locked by the user.

 In order to remedy these drawbacks, the invention proposes a filling head of the type mentioned above, characterized in that it includes automatic locking means in the rest position of the shutter comprising an unlocking control member which is arranged on the upper face of the flap and which is actuated by the end of the filling lance.

 The solution proposed according to the invention therefore makes it possible to ensure the automatic locking of the shutter flap, without user intervention during the withdrawal of the fuel dispensing lance. The solution also makes it possible to unlock the shutter during the start of the introduction of the lance, by a positive action by the user independent of any other action such as for example that necessary for unlocking the access hatch to the filling head.

According to other features of the invention
- The shutter is resiliently biased against a seat formed around the filling orifice, the locking means comprise at least one locking finger mounted movably between a locking position towards which it is resiliently biased and in which it extends opposite a portion of the bowl and an unlocking position in which it is retracted laterally behind said portion of the bowl, and the unlocking control member controls the movements of the locking finger against elastic means which urge it;
the locking finger is arranged in the central part of a locking arm, a first end of which is articulated with respect to the shutter flap around an axis perpendicular to the axis of articulation of the flap, and the second end has a control surface capable of cooperating with a control cam formed on one control member
- The control member is a control pusher mounted mobile on the shutter between a high locking position and a low unlocking position, and the control cam is formed on a lateral edge of the pusher;
- the pusher is resiliently returned to its high locking position
the plunger is mounted articulated on the shutter flap around an axis adjacent to the axis of articulation of the shutter flap, and the control cam is formed on a portion of the plunger remote from its axis of articulation which describes a curvilinear trajectory centered on this axis during the pivoting movements of the pusher relative to the shutter;
- the filling head comprises means for blocking the pusher in the low unlocking position when the shutter is no longer pressing against its sealing seat and which automatically release the pusher when the shutter is in support against its sealing seat;
- The locking means comprise a locking latch mounted articulated on the shutter;
the blocking latch is mounted articulated on the shutter flap around an axis parallel to the axis of articulation of the pusher and it comprises a blocking spout capable of being received in a notch formed in a screw portion -with respect to the pusher and an actuating finger which cooperates with a fixed abutment surface of the bowl to cause the pivoting movements of the blocking latch around its axis of articulation.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the detailed description which follows for the understanding of which reference will be made to the accompanying drawings in which
- Figure 1 is a sectional view along line 1-1 of Figure 2 of a filling head made in accordance with the teachings of the invention and on which the shutter is illustrated in the closed and locked position;
- Figure 2 is a sectional view along line 2-2 of Figure 1
- Figure 3 is a view similar to that of Figure 1 in which the shutter is illustrated in the closed position pressing against its sealing seat and unlocked by the end of a fuel dispensing lance;
- Figures 4 and 5 are views similar to those of Figures 1 and 2 in which the shutter is illustrated in the partially open position with the control pusher locked in the unlocked position;
- Figure 6 is a view similar to that of Figure 5 which illustrates the shutter in the open position completely cleared inside the filling head under the action of the fuel delivery lance introduced into the head filling ; and
- Figure 7 is a partial schematic perspective view of the main moving parts which equip the shutter.

 The filling head 10 illustrated in the figures essentially consists of a body in the general shape of a hollow cylindrical bowl 12, the bottom 13 of which has a discharge hole 14 intended to be connected to the upper end of a line for filling a motor vehicle fuel tank (not shown), and an upper cover in the general form of a disc 16.

 The filling head, which is lustrous in the figures, has a general symmetry of design and construction according to the vertical median plane indicated by line 1-1 of FIG. 2.

 The lower face 18 of the cover 16 bears against the upper edge 20 of the skirt-shaped side wall 22 of the bowl 12.

 The cover 16 is fixed, by means not shown, on the upper edge 20 of the bowl 12, for example by welding.

 The cover 16 has a central filling orifice 24 which has a profile which delimits a conical sealing seat 28.

 The filling head also includes a shutter 30 for closing the orifice 24.

 The shutter 30 is mounted articulated under the cover 16, by means of mistletoe will be described in detail below, about a pivot axis X-X parallel to the plane of the cover 16.

 The shutter comprises a seal made in the form of a yeast joint 32 which, in the closed position illustrated in particular in FIGS. 1 and 3, bears against the conical seat 28.

 In the closed position, the lower face 36 of the shutter 30 is parallel to the plane of the lower face 18 of the cover.

 According to a known characteristic, the shutter 30 is returned elastically to its closed position of rest and shutter by a return spring which is here produced in the form of a wire spring 38 of which a first strand 40 is in support against the underside 36 of the shutter 30, which surrounds the axis of articulation of the shutter and of which a second strand 42 bears against the underside 18 of the cover.

 The return spring 38 thus permanently urges the shutter 30 in rotation about the axis X-X, in the counterclockwise direction, considering FIG. 1.

 The underside 18 of the cover 16 comprises, as can be seen in particular in FIG. 2, a projecting central tab 60 which comprises a hole traversed by the central part of an axis 62 of articulation of the shutter 30 on the cover 16.

 The axis 62 has cylindrical ends 64 each of which is received in a corresponding hole formed in one of the lugs 66 of articulation of the shutter which are made integrally with the shutter 30 and are in the form of an elbow vertical.

 The shutter 30 is thus mounted to pivot about the axis X-X.

 We will now describe in detail the locking means of the shutter in the closed position as well as the control means of these locking means.

 The shutter 30 comprises for this purpose two locking arms 76 of generally curved shape, each of which extends in an arc of a circle substantially parallel to the screw-and-screw portion of a cylindrical internal skirt 19 which extends axially projecting inwards from the underside 18 of the cover 16 of the bowl 12.

 Each locking arm 76 extends in a plane parallel to the lower face 38 of the shutter 30.

 The first end 78 of each locking arm 76 is mounted articulated around an axis 80, perpendicular to the axis XX and to the lower face 36 of the shutter, the lower end 82 of which is received in a corresponding hole 84 forms in the upper face 34 of the shutter 30.

 The opposite end 90 of each locking arm is in the form of a tab folded down substantially diametrically in the direction of the axis 80 and which comprises a control surface 92, the two surfaces 92 extending substantially parallel and vertically.

 Each locking arm 76 has, in its central part 94, a locking finger 96 which extends transversely, that is to say in the direction of the internal surface of the internal cylindrical skirt 19 of the cover 16 in opposite directions. screw of a notch 98 formed in this internal surface opposite a locking finger 96 which is received there when the shutter is in the formed and locked position as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

 Each locking arm 76 is resiliently biased towards its positive locking position illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, by a locking spring 100 which rests on the one hand in a blind housing 102 (FIG. 7) formed in the middle part 94 of the arm 76 and on the other hand against a stop tab 104, illustrated diagrammatically in FIG. 2, formed on the shutter 30.

 Each spring 100 is a helical compression spring which biases the locking fingers 96 away from the center of the bowl and the control surfaces 92 in the direction corresponding to their mutual distance.

 According to the invention, a push-button 110 is provided for controlling the unlocking of the arms 76.

 The pusher 110, which is arranged on the shutter 30 above the latter is, in this embodiment, produced in the form of a rocker, one end 112 of which is articulated on the upper part of the cover d obturation via a hinge pin 114.

 The rocker-shaped pusher 110 comprises two parallel link arms in the form of plates 116 which extend perpendicular to the axis 114 and each of which is extended, at its free end remote from the axis 112 by a curved extension 118 centered on the axis 112 and turned in the direction of the axis of the bowl substantially at right angles to the arm 116.

 The internal lateral edge 120 of each extension 118 constitutes a control cam produced in the form of a ramp inclined towards the outside of the bowl from the top to the bottom. The two cams 120 are turned towards one another and each cooperate with a control surface 92 formed on a corresponding locking arm 76.

 Each cam 120 has, at its lower part, a transverse stop lug 122 which defines the rest position, also called the locking position, of the control push-button 110 in cooperation with the corresponding lower flat face of an arm 76, towards which the pusher 110 is elastically recalled by a wire return spring 124 which urges it permanently counterclockwise by considering the figures.

 The unlocking position of the pusher 110, against the force exerted by the return spring 124, is defined by the cooperation of the lower edges 117 of the arms 116 with a corresponding notch 126 formed in the facing part. screw of the shutter 30.

 Each extension 118 comprises, in the vicinity of its upper part, a blocking notch 130 which extends substantially parallel to the axis 114 and whose function will be explained later.

 According to the invention, the shutter 30 is also equipped with a latch 132 for blocking the pusher 110 in the unlocked position.

 The latch 132 is mounted articulated on the upper face of the shutter 30 by means of a hinge pin 134 which is parallel to the hinge pin 62 of the shutter 30 under the cover 16 and to the axis 114 of articulation of the pusher 110 on the shutter 30.

 The latch 132 is arranged opposite the curved extensions 118 of the pusher 110 and it comprises two locking lugs 136 which are capable of cooperating with the locking notches 130 formed in these extensions 118 to block the pusher 110 in its locking position counting that is illustrated in Figures 4 and 6.

 The locking latch 132 also includes a control finger 138 which projects in the direction opposite to that of the locking beaks 136 and whose slightly inclined upper face 140 cooperates with a fixed abutment surface 142 formed on a cross-member. screw- & -screw 144 of the cover 16 of the bowl 12.

 I1 is possible to provide a return spring (not shown in the figures) which permanently urges the locking latch 132 in rotation about its axis 134 counterclockwise by considering the figures.

 The mode of operation of the filling head illustrated in the figures will now be described.

 In the position illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the shutter 30 is in the closed and locked position and the pusher 110 is in its high locking position to which it is returned by the action of the spring 124.

 When the user wishes to fill the fuel tank, using a dispensing lance 150 illustrated in silhouette in FIGS. 3 and 4 and in solid lines in FIG. 6, he exerts pressure directly on the edges upper arms 116 of pusher 110 so as to cause the latter to pivot about the axis 114 clockwise, considering the figures.

 The pusher 110 which thus moves from its high locking position illustrated in FIG. 1 to its low unlocking position illustrated in particular in FIG. 3, causes, due to the cooperation of the control surfaces 92 with the cam ramps 120, bringing the locking arms 76 closer to their unlocking position which is illustrated in FIG. 5 and in which the two locking fingers 96 are located completely outside the housings 98 formed in the internal surface of the cylindrical skirt 19.

 The locking fingers 96 are thus retracted and the shutter is free to pivot around the axis X-X.

 The various components, and in particular the pusher 110 and the locking latch 132, are then in the position illustrated in FIG. 3 in which the user has not yet exerted sufficient pressure using the lance 150 to cause the shutter 30 to detach from its sealing seat 28.

 In this position, the upper face 140 of the finger 138 of the latch 132 is always in contact with the lower face 142 of the cross member 144 and the latch 132 is thus maintained in its rest position illustrated in FIG. 3 in which the pusher 110 n is not yet locked in its unlocked position.

 When the user continues his pressure action on the shutter 30, through the pusher 110 which is in abutment in the notches 126, it causes a pivoting of the shutter 30, clockwise by considering the figure 3, Up to the intermediate open position illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 in which the shutter 30 is detached from the sealing seat 28.

 This additional pivoting of the shutter clockwise caused a separation of the surface 140 of the finger 138 of the locking latch 132 from the abutment surface 142 formed on the cross member 144 thereby releasing the locking latch 132 including the spouts 136 then penetrate into the locking notches 130 formed in the extensions 118 of the pusher 110 to block the latter in its locking position as illustrated in particular in FIGS. 4 and 6.

 The user extends his effort by means of the lance 150 to bring the shutter in its erased position inside the bowl illustrated in FIG. 6, this complete pivoting of the shutter 30 taking place at against the return force applied to it by the spring 38. The filling operations can then begin insofar as the user has been able to introduce the lance 150 into the bowl 12 and into the lower orifice 14 of the latter .

 When the filling of the tank is finished, the user removes the lance 150 from the bowl 12. During this withdrawal movement, the shutter 30 pivots about the axis XX, in the counterclockwise direction starting from Figure 6, and gradually returns to its closed and locked position illustrated in Figure 1, the release of the pusher 110 by the latch 132 being caused by the coming into contact again of the upper face 140 of the finger 138 of the latch 132 against the abutment surface 142 formed on the cross member 144.

 When the user has completely removed the filling lance, all the components are again in the position illustrated in FIG. 1 in which the sealed shutter is in the closed and locked position.

 The automatic closing of the shutter 30 therefore causes, at the end of the closing stroke, its automatic locking, the pusher 110 being again in the high position for a new filling operation.

 No opening of the shutter 30, for example by a jet of pressurized steam, is possible insofar as it is necessary to exert a direct mechanical action on the pusher 110 which does not offer a grip on the jet under pressure.

 Furthermore, it is easily understood that it is impossible for the shutter to remain in the closed, unlocked position, insofar as it is the return of the latter in the high closed position which automatically causes it to be locked in the closed position. , without requiring any positive action from the user.

 It is also noted that a filling operation does not require any manual operation by the user on any pipe closure plug, a usual operation and generally messy for the user and complex to execute.

 Locking in the closed position of the shutter 30 is also completely independent of any locking of an access hatch to the filling head.

 The cover 16 has a groove 160 in the general shape of a truncated cone and opening on its upper face, the role of which is to allow the evacuation of liquid, for example water, which would otherwise be stagnant inside the cover 16 and would thus risk damaging all or part of the mechanism.

Claims (10)

 1. Filling head for a filling line for a fuel tank of a motor vehicle, of the type comprising a bowl-shaped body (12) whose upper face (16) has a filling orifice (24), and comprising a shutter (30) pivotally mounted relative to the bowl (12) between a rest position towards which it is resiliently recalled and in which it closes the filling orifice (24) and a position erased inside the bowl (12) in which the filling orifice (24) is released and towards which it is driven during the introduction of a filling lance (150) into the filling orifice (24), characterized in that '' It comprises means (76, 96) for automatically locking the shutter flap (30) in the rest position comprising an unlocking control member (110) which is arranged on the upper face of the shutter and which is actuated by the end of the filling lance age (150).  2. filling head according to claim 1, characterized in that the shutter (30) is resiliently biased against a seat (28) formed around the filling orifice (24), in that the means of locking comprise at least one locking finger (96) mounted movable between a locking position towards which it is resiliently biased and in which it extends opposite a portion (98) of the bowl (12), and a position unlocking in which it is laterally retracted back from said portion of the bowl (12), and in that the unlocking control member (110) controls the movements of the locking finger (96) against the elastic means (100) who request it.  3. filling head according to claim 2, characterized in that the locking finger (96) is arranged in the central part (94) of a locking arm (76), a first end (78) of which is articulated by relative to the shutter (30) about an axis (80) perpendicular to the axis (XX, 62) of articulation of the shutter (30), and the second end (90) of which has a control surface ( 92) capable of cooperating with a control cam (120) formed on the control member (110, 118).  4. filling head according to claim 3, characterized in that the control member (110) is a control pusher mounted movable on the shutter (30) between a high locking position and a low unlocking position , and in that the control cam (120) is formed on a lateral edge of the pusher (110, 118).  5. Filling head according to claim 4, characterized in that the pusher (110) is resiliently returned (124) to its high locking position.  6. filling head according to one of claims 4 or 5, characterized in that the pusher (110) is mounted articulated on the shutter (30) around an axis (114) adjacent to the axis d '' joint (X X, 62) of the shutter (30), and in that the control cam (120) is formed on a portion (118) of the pusher remote from its axis of articulation (114) which describes a curvilinear trajectory centered on this axis (114) during the pivoting movements of the pusher (110) relative to the shutter (30).  7. filling head according to any one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that it comprises means (132) for blocking the pusher (110) in the low unlocking position when the shutter (30) n 'is no longer supported against its sealing seat and which automatically release the pusher (110) when the shutter (30) is pressing against its sealing seat (28>.  8. Stubborn filling according to claim 7, characterized in that the locking means comprise a locking latch (132) mounted articulated on the shutter (30).  9. filling head according to claim 8 taken in combination with claim 6, characterized in that the locking latch (132) is articulated on the shutter (30) about an axis (134 parallel to the hinge pin (XX, 62) of the pusher (110), and in that it comprises a locking spout (136) capable of being received in a notch (130) formed in a portion facing screw (118) of the pusher (110) and an actuating finger (138) which cooperates with a fixed abutment surface (142) of the bowl (12, 16, 144) to cause the pivoting movements of the locking latch (132 ) around its axis of articulation (134).  10. Filling head according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the upper face of the bowl consists of a cover (16) in which the filling orifice (24) is formed and in that the flap d the shutter (30) is articulated on the underside (18) of the cover (16).