JP2000203279A - Check valve and fuel tank - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance sealing performance between the inside and the outside of a tank body without increasing the number of parts in a check valve mounted on a fuel tank. SOLUTION: This fuel tank is provided with a check valve 30 mounted on the inner wall surface of a tank main body 12. The check valve 30, connected to the fuel passage 22c of a fuel injecting tube, prevents fuel and fuel vapor in the tank main body 12 from being discharged to the outside through the fuel injecting tube and is opened by fuel injection to the fuel injecting tube to lead the fuel into the tank main body 12. The check valve 30 is provided with a housing 32, a valve element 40 opening and closing the discharging opening 33 of the housing 32, and a mounting plate 37, whose one end part is insert-formed at the end part of the housing 32 and whose other end part is welded to the tank main body 12, to perform sealing between the inside and the outside of the tank main body 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a check valve mounted on a tank body of a fuel tank and a fuel tank provided with the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a fuel tank of an automobile, there has been known a fuel tank provided with a check valve for preventing fuel and fuel vapor in a tank body from flowing back and being discharged to the outside during refueling. . FIG. 6 is a side view showing a part of a fuel tank of an automobile in a cutaway manner. The fuel tank 200 includes a fuel supply mechanism 210 on a side wall 204 of the tank body 202.
The refueling mechanism 210 includes an inlet lower pipe 212 fixed to the side wall portion 204 and an inlet lower pipe 21.
Inlet hose 214 attached to the tip opening of No. 2
, An inlet filler pipe 216 connected to the distal end opening of the inlet hose 214, and a fuel cap 218 attached to a fuel port 216 a of the inlet filler pipe 216. The tank body 202
Is connected to a canister (not shown).
Fuel vapor in the tank body 202 is sent at the time of refueling or the like.

[0003] A check valve 220 is mounted on an opening 212a of the inlet lower pipe 212. The check valve 220 is for preventing fuel and fuel vapor in the tank body 202 from flowing back and being discharged to the outside during refueling. FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a state where the check valve 220 is opened. 7, a check valve 220 includes a holding member 224 connected to the inlet lower pipe 212,
A valve body 226 having a valve portion 226a;
And

[0004] The holding member 224 is a member for supporting the valve body 226, and a claw portion 224 c formed on the side wall portion 224 a engages with an engagement hole 212 b formed on the outer periphery of the inlet lower pipe 212. Thereby, it is fixed to the inlet lower pipe 212. Also, the holding member 2
A discharge port 224d for discharging fuel into the tank main body 202 is formed at one end of the fuel cell 24, and a guide part 225 for supporting the valve body 226 is formed at the center of the discharge port 224d. The guide portion 225 slidably supports the support portion 226b of the valve body 226 with a guide hole 225a.

Further, the guide portion 225 of the holding member 224
Supports one end of the spring 228. The other end of the spring 228 is supported by a spring stopper 226c fixed to the tip of the column 226b. Thus, the valve element 226 receives a biasing force in the valve closing direction by the spring 228.

When the fuel reaches the valve element 226 by refueling, the valve element 226 opens against the urging force of the spring 228 and the discharge port 224d, as shown in FIG. Is supplied to the tank main body 202 from the tank. Then, when refueling is completed, the valve body 226 closes when the force in the valve opening direction received from the fuel falls below the urging force of the spring 228, and the fuel vapor in the tank body 202 is released to the outside. Preventing.

[0007]

However, the casing of the check valve 220 according to the prior art is assembled by engaging the claw portion 224c with the engagement hole 212b. Therefore, the inside of the tank body 202 is
To the inlet lower pipe 212 side, and the sealing property is not sufficiently ensured. In order to solve such a problem, provision of a sealing member such as an O-ring has been studied. However, there has been a problem that the number of parts increases and the cost increases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and uses a check valve and a check valve having improved sealing between the inside and the outside of the tank body without increasing the number of parts. The purpose is to provide a fuel tank that has been used.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems and Action / Effect The first invention for solving the above problems is a check valve attached to the inner wall surface of the fuel tank, wherein the check valve is a fuel injection pipe for the fuel tank. A housing having a valve chamber connected to the valve chamber, a discharge port for discharging fuel from the valve chamber into the tank body, a valve element for opening and closing the discharge port, and one end of the housing being insert-molded at an end of the housing. And a mounting plate for sealing the inside and outside of the tank body by welding the other end to the inner wall surface of the tank body.

[0010] The check valve according to the first invention is attached to the inner wall surface of the tank body, and opens when the fuel is injected into the fuel injection pipe to supply the fuel into the tank body. When fuel is not supplied, the valve body of the check valve closes the fuel passage to prevent the fuel and fuel vapor in the tank main body from flowing back and being discharged to the outside.

[0011] The check valve is attached to the inner wall surface of the tank body via a mounting plate by welding.
That is, the mounting plate is integrated by inserting one end of the mounting plate into the housing, and the other end is welded to the inner wall surface of the tank body. The mounting plate is
Since the function of sealing the inside of the tank body to the fuel injection pipe side and the outside is achieved, an O-ring or the like for sealing is not required, and the number of parts can be reduced.

Also, since the mounting plate is integrated with the housing by insert molding, a step for mounting the check valve is not required, and the mounting step can be simplified.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a fuel tank having a tank body for storing fuel and a fuel injection pipe connected to the tank body for injecting fuel into the tank body. The fuel tank is mounted on a wall surface and connected to a fuel passage of the fuel injection pipe. The fuel and the fuel vapor in the tank main body are prevented from being discharged to the outside through the fuel injection pipe, and the fuel is supplied to the fuel injection pipe. A check valve that is opened by injection to introduce the fuel into the tank body, wherein the check valve discharges fuel from the valve chamber into the tank body from the valve chamber connected to the fuel injection pipe. A housing having a discharge port, a valve body for opening and closing the discharge port, and one end of the housing is insert-molded at an end of the housing, and the other end is welded to an inner wall surface of the tank body to form a tank body. A mounting plate for sealing the inner and outer, and further comprising a.

A second aspect of the present invention is a fuel tank in which a check valve is mounted on a fuel tank, that is, a fuel tank in which the check valve is easily mounted.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In order to further clarify the configuration and operation of the present invention described above, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a fuel tank 10 of an automobile. As shown in FIG. 1, the fuel tank 10 includes a tank body 12 and a fuel supply mechanism 20 for supplying fuel into the tank body 12. The tank body 12 is made of a galvanized steel plate and is integrally formed by joining a half tank upper part 13 and a tank lower part 14 together. The refueling mechanism 20 includes an inlet lower pipe 22 welded and fixed to the side wall portion 14a of the tank lower part 14, an inlet hose 24 attached to a leading end opening of the inlet lower pipe 22, and a leading end opening of the inlet hose 24. The fuel cell system includes an inlet filler pipe 26 connected thereto, and a fuel cap (not shown) attached to a filler port of the inlet filler pipe 26.

The front end of the inlet lower pipe 22 is connected to an opening 1 formed in the side wall 14a of the tank lower part 14.
4b is fixed to the flange portion 22a. In addition, the outlet 22b of the inlet lower pipe 22,
A check valve 30 is mounted on the inner wall surface of the tank lower part 14. The check valve 30 opens when fuel is supplied, and is closed when fuel is not supplied. Further, a fuel cutoff valve 28 is mounted on the upper part of the tank main body 12, and this fuel cutoff valve 28 is connected to a canister (not shown) via a pipe 28a.

When the fuel cap is opened and the fuel is supplied from the refueling gun FG into the inlet filler pipe 26 by the configuration of the refueling mechanism 20, the fuel is supplied to the check valve 3 via the inlet hose 24 and the inlet lower pipe 22.
When it reaches 0, it is opened and fed into the tank body 12. On the other hand, when the fuel is not supplied, the check valve 30 is in the closed state.
2 prevents the fuel and the fuel vapor in 2 from flowing back and being released to the outside.

Next, the configuration and operation of the check valve 30 will be described in detail. FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the check valve 30, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a state in which the check valve 30 is opened from the state of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a view seen from the direction of arrow 4 in FIG. 2 to 4, the check valve 30 includes a housing 32 forming a valve chamber 31 communicating with the fuel passage 22c of the inlet lower pipe 22, a mounting plate 37, and a valve body 40.
And a spring 50 as main components.

The housing 32 is formed of a cylindrical side wall 32a, and the valve chamber 31 is formed therein. The side wall 32a has a flange 32b at one end on the tank body 12 side.
A mounting plate 37 is fixed to 2b by insert molding. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the mounting plate 37 is a donut plate having an inner circumferential circle 37 b, made of the same galvanized steel plate as the tank body 12, and having a grip portion 37 a having three bent outer circumferential portions. Provided. The grip portion 37a is a portion to be gripped by a mounting jig for mounting the check valve 30 as described later. The periphery of the inner circumferential circle 37b of the mounting plate 37 is integrated with the housing 32 by being insert-molded into the flange 32b of the housing 32. Further, the mounting plate 37 is formed on a smooth surface so as to be in close contact with the side wall portion 14a of the tank body 12, and the three welding portions 3
7c is attached to the side wall 14a of the tank body 12 by spot welding. At this time, since the side wall portion 14a of the tank body 12 is inclined with respect to the vertical direction, the check valve 30 is mounted so as to face slightly upward.

Returning to FIG. 2, the other end of the housing 32 is a discharge port 33 which is opened and closed by a valve element 40. The discharge port 33 is opened and closed by the valve element 40. Valve body 4
0 is a valve portion 41 and a shaft portion 4 formed integrally with the valve portion 41.
2 is provided. The valve portion 41 includes a seat portion 41a. The sheet portion 41a is a sheet portion 33 of the discharge port 33.
This is a portion that opens and closes the discharge port 33 by being attached to and detached from a. Further, a flare portion 41b is formed integrally with the sheet portion 41a. The flare portion 41b is a portion that is formed in a divergent shape so that the fuel flowing through the valve chamber 31 is directed to a wide range from the discharge port 33.

The valve body 40 is supported by a valve support portion 34 and a connecting portion 35 of the housing 32 via a shaft portion 42 so as to be openable and closable. That is, the connection portion 35 and the valve support portion 34 for supporting the valve body 40 are provided on the valve chamber 31 side of the housing 32. Three connecting portions 35 are radially arranged in the direction of 120 °, respectively, and a passage therebetween is defined as a passage. A valve support portion 34 having a valve support hole 34a is integrally formed at a connection center portion of the three connection portions 35. The valve body 40 is movably supported with respect to the housing 32 by the shaft portion 42 of the valve body 40 passing through the valve support hole 34 a of the valve support portion 34. The tip of the shaft portion 42 has a snap fit for elastically engaging the spring stopper 43.

A spring 50 biasing the valve body 40
Is mounted between the valve support portion 34 and the spring stop portion 43 by attaching the spring stop portion 43 to the engagement portion 42a at the end of the shaft portion 42 while being mounted on the shaft portion 42. Therefore, the check valve 30 is connected to the shaft portion 4 of the valve body 40.
2 is inserted into the valve support hole 34a of the valve support portion 34, and the spring 50 is mounted on the shaft portion 42 of the valve body 40.
Can be assembled by engaging the spring stopper 43 with the engaging portion 42a.

In the configuration of the check valve 30, the check valve 3
When 0 is closed, the fuel and the fuel vapor in the tank body 12 are prevented from flowing backward and being discharged to the outside through the inlet lower pipe 22 and the like. On the other hand, when fuel is supplied through the inlet filler pipe 26, the inlet hose 24, and the inlet lower pipe 22 at the time of refueling, the fuel flows from the fuel passage 22c to the valve chamber 3 of the check valve 30.
1 and reaches the valve element 40. Then, when the force from the fuel applied to the valve body 40 exceeds the urging force of the spring 50, the valve body 40 opens and the fuel is supplied into the tank body 12. At this time, the flare portion 41b of the valve body 40 guides the fuel in a divergent shape and scatters the fuel over a wide range in the tank body 12. As a result, the low-temperature fuel at the time of refueling lowers the saturated vapor pressure in the tank body 12 to prevent the fuel vapor from being released to the outside.

Next, the operation of attaching the check valve 30 to the inner wall surface of the tank body 12 will be described. First, the tank lower part 14 is positioned on a work table (not shown) in a state where the tank upper part 13 and the tank lower part 14 are not joined in half. Thereafter, the grip portion 37a of the mounting plate 37 is gripped by a mounting jig, and the check valve 30 is brought into contact with the outlet 22b of the inlet lower pipe 22. Then, the outer peripheral portion of the mounting plate 37, that is, three places between the grip portions 37a are spot-welded. As a result, the check valve 30 is
2 attached to the inner wall surface.

The check valve 30 thus mounted
Since the mounting plate 37 is insert-molded at the end of the housing 32, a sealing property therebetween is ensured, and a smooth surface thereof is in close contact with the inner wall surface of the tank body 12 by spot welding. The sealing property during that time is also ensured. As described above, since the mounting plate 37 has a function of sealing the inside of the tank main body 12 to the fuel injection pipe side and the outside, an O-ring or the like for sealing is not required, and the number of parts can be reduced.

Moreover, since the mounting plate 37 is insert-molded into the housing 32 during injection molding, it becomes a single part when assembled to the tank body 12, thereby simplifying the assembling operation. In addition, the check valve 30 does not require an O-ring or the like for sealing, and can reduce the number of parts.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be implemented in various modes without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, the following modifications are possible.

(1) FIG. 5 is an explanatory view for explaining the periphery of a mounting plate 37 according to another embodiment. FIG.
As shown in (1), a seal projection 32d is protruded from an end face of the flange portion 32b. The seal protrusion 32d is a protrusion formed in an annular shape on the entire circumference of the flange portion 32b and elastically deformable. The seal protrusion 32d is crushed when pressed against the side wall portion 14a of the tank main body 12, and can enhance the sealing performance between the inside of the tank main body 12 and the fuel passage 22b.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a fuel tank 10 of an automobile.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a check valve 30;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a check valve 30 is opened from the state shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view as seen from the direction of arrow 4 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the periphery of a mounting plate 37 according to another embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a part of a fuel tank of an automobile in a cutaway manner.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a check valve 220 is open.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Fuel tank 12 ... Tank main body 13 ... Tank upper part 14 ... Tank lower part 14a ... Side wall part 14b ... Opening 20 ... Oil supply mechanism 22 ... Inlet lower pipe 22a ... Flange part 22b ... Outlet 22c ... Fuel passage 24 ... Inlet hose 26 ... Inlet Filler pipe 28 Fuel cutoff valve 28a Pipe line 30 Check valve 31 Valve chamber 32 Housing 32a Side wall 32b Flange 33 Discharge port 33a Seat 34 Valve support 34a Valve support hole 35 ... Connecting part 37 ... Mounting plate 37a ... Grip part 37b ... Inner circumference circle 37c ... Welding point 40 ... Valve element 41 ... Valve part 41a ... Sheet part 41b ... Flare part 42 ... Shaft part 42a ... Engaging part 43 ... Spring Tobe 50: Spring

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Masayuki Nakagawa 1 Ochiai Ogata, Kasuga-cho, Nishi-Kasugai-gun, Aichi F-term (reference) 3D038 CA22 CA38 CB01 CC04 CC13 3E070 AA02 AB03 GB01 HA06 HB10 HD05 3H058 AA01 BB03 CB14 CC02 CC07 CD04 EE03 EE15

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A check valve mounted on an inner wall surface of a fuel tank, comprising: a valve chamber connected to a fuel injection pipe of the fuel tank; and a discharge port for discharging fuel from the valve chamber into the tank body. A housing having a valve body that opens and closes the discharge port; one end of the housing is insert-molded at an end of the housing, and the other end is welded to an inner wall surface of the tank main body, so that the inside and outside of the tank main body are And a mounting plate for sealing the check valve. 2. A fuel tank having a tank body for storing fuel and a fuel injection pipe connected to the tank body for injecting fuel into the tank body, wherein the fuel tank is attached to an inner wall surface of the tank body, and The fuel injection pipe is connected to a fuel passage of the fuel injection pipe to prevent fuel and fuel vapor in the tank main body from being discharged to the outside through the fuel injection pipe, and opened by injection of fuel into the fuel injection pipe to open the fuel. A check valve for introducing fuel into the tank body, the check valve having a valve chamber connected to the fuel injection pipe, and a discharge port for discharging fuel from the valve chamber into the tank body. A valve body that opens and closes the discharge port, and one end of the housing is insert-molded at an end of the housing, and the other end is welded to the inner wall surface of the tank body, thereby sealing the inside and outside of the tank body. A fuel tank, characterized in that it comprises a mounting plate to Le, the.