JP2001150963A - Fuel tank - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent sealability from getting worse in a gas filling port. SOLUTION: A filling cap is removed and a gas filling gun 44 is inserted into an inlet pipe 10 when fuel is filled. A protrusion 42 of a valve system 30 is projected toward an outside of the filing port in a substantially central part of the valve system 30 not to make a tip 44A of the gun 44 interfere with a gasket of the valve system 30 when the gun 44 is inserted. That is, a height H from a gasket 32 of the protrusion 42 and a diameter R thereof are set at values only brought into contact with the protrusion 42 in the tip 44A of the protrusion 42 and not to interfere with the gasket 32 of the valve system 30 when the gun 44 is inserted. Resultingly, the gasket 32 is prevented from being abraided or deformed by the interference with the tip 44A of the gun 44.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fuel tank, and more particularly to a fuel tank equipped with a fuel evaporative emission control device and mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a fuel tank mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile, there is a fuel tank in which a fuel evaporative gas (vapor) generated in the fuel tank is hardly leaked from a filler port. No. 8-25984.

As shown in FIG. 5, in this fuel tank, an outer pipe 76 having a seal member 74 provided at an end 76A is provided at an end 72A of a fuel supply pipe 72 provided at a fuel tank body 70, and an outer pipe 76 provided at an end 76A. An inner pipe 78 which is disposed inside the outer pipe 76 and extends outside from an end 72A of the oil supply pipe 72 is provided. A shutter valve 80 that opens and closes an end portion 76A of the outer tube 76 via a seal member 74 is rotatably attached to the outer peripheral portion of the outer tube 76 by a hinge 82. Further, the opening 78 of the inner pipe 78 serving as a refueling port is provided.
A is closed by a refueling cap 84 having no relief valve. For this reason, in this fuel tank, even when forgetting to tighten the fuel filler cap 84 or loosening the fuel filler cap 84, vapor leakage from the fuel filler port can be prevented.

[0004]

However, in this fuel tank, as shown in FIG.
When inserted into the refueling pipe 72, the tip 88 of the refueling gun 88
A may interfere with the sealing surface 80A of the shutter valve 80 and damage the sealing surface 80A. As a result, the sealing performance between the sealing surface 80A of the shutter valve 80 and the sealing member 74 may be reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a fuel tank that can prevent a decrease in sealing performance at a fuel filler port.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a fuel tank provided with a valve device which is opened by inserting a refueling gun into a refueling port of the fuel tank. A protrusion is provided at a substantially central portion of the valve device so as to protrude outward from the oil supply port so that a tip end does not interfere with a seal portion of the valve device.

Therefore, interference between the tip of the fuel gun and the seal of the valve device can be prevented by the convex portion of the valve device. As a result, it is possible to prevent the seal portion of the valve device from being worn or deformed due to interference with the tip of the refueling gun, and it is possible to prevent a decrease in the sealing performance at the refueling port.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the fuel tank according to the first aspect, a screwing portion is provided which is screwed to the projection of the valve device and the fuel supply cap.

Therefore, in addition to the contents of the first aspect, when the oil supply cap is closed, the seal portion of the valve device maintains close contact by screwing with the oil supply cap. For this reason, even when the internal pressure of the fuel tank body fluctuates, the valve device can be prevented from opening, and the sealing performance can be ensured.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the fuel tank according to the second aspect, the convex portion of the valve device and the fuel cap are attracted by magnetic force.

Therefore, in addition to the contents described in claim 2, when the oil supply cap is closed, the protrusion of the valve device and the oil supply cap are attracted by magnetic force, so that the valve device can be prevented from escaping. As a result, the projection of the valve device and the oil supply cap can be easily screwed together, and the workability of mounting the oil supply cap is improved.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of a fuel tank according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

The arrow UP in the figure indicates the upward direction of the vehicle, and the arrow IN in the figure indicates the direction toward the inside of the vehicle width.

As shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, an inlet pipe (fuel supply pipe) 1 extending from the fuel tank main body.
0, a cylindrical guide 12 is provided on the inner peripheral portion of the oil filler end 10A.
Are arranged. A screw portion 14 is formed at the end 12A on the opening side of the guide 12, and an oil supply cap 18 can be screwed into the screw portion 14. On the other hand, the guide 12 is connected to the fuel tank main body side of the inlet pipe 10 (FIG. 2).
The opening 2 is a circular opening 2 having a ring-shaped wall 20 on the outer periphery at its tip.
2 are formed. In addition, a guide wall 24 for a refueling gun is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the opening 22 so as to expand toward the outside of the refueling port (upper right in FIG. 2). The side surface of the fuel tank main body in the ring-shaped wall portion 20 is a sealing surface 20A.

The opening 22 can be opened and closed by a valve device 30, and a ring-shaped gasket 32 as a sealing member is fixed to the sealing surface 30A of the valve device 30 facing the sealing surface 20A. Accordingly, the gasket 32 fixed to the sealing surface 20A of the wall portion 20 and the sealing surface 30A of the valve device 30 comes into close contact with each other, so that the opening 22 is sealed.

As shown in FIG. 3, one end 34A of a hinge arm 34 is fixed to the upper part of the outer periphery 30B of the valve device 30 in the vehicle, and the other end 34B of the hinge arm 34 is The hinge shaft 36 is rotatably supported. The hinge shaft 36 is provided upright on the outer peripheral portion 12 </ b> B of the guide 12, and is bridged over a pair of bearing portions 38.
Open inside the fuel filler opening and above the vehicle (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1). An urging means 40 such as a coil spring is disposed on the outer periphery of the hinge shaft 36, and the valve device 30 is moved by the urging means 40 to the opening 2.
2 is urged in the direction of closing (the direction of arrow B in FIG. 1).

As shown in FIG. 2, the valve device 30 is made of iron,
The valve device 30 is formed of a magnetic material such as ferritic stainless steel, and has a convex portion 42.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the refueling gun 44 is inserted, the projection 44 has a tip 44A of the refueling gun 44 that is connected to the valve device 3.
In a closed state (the state shown in FIG. 2), the valve device 30 projects outwardly (upper right in FIG. 2) of the fuel filler in a substantially central portion of the valve device 30 so as not to interfere with the gasket 32. That is,
As shown in FIG. 1, the height H and the diameter R of the projection 42 from the gasket 32 are different from each other only when the tip 44A of the refueling gun 44 contacts the projection 42 when the refueling gun 44 is inserted. Are set to values that do not interfere with the gasket 32.

As shown in FIG. 2, a male screw portion 44 as a screwing portion is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the convex portion 42. The male screw portion 44 is formed at the tip 18A of the oil supply cap 18. It can be screwed into the female screw part 48 as a screwing part. The female screw portion 48 is formed at an inner peripheral portion of a concave portion 46 formed at a substantially central portion of the distal end portion 18A of the oil supply cap 18.

The refueling cap 18 is formed of a resin material, and a permanent magnet 50 is fixed to the inside of the cap substantially at the center of the tip 18A. Therefore, the protrusion 42 of the valve device 30 and the oil supply cap 18 are attracted by magnetic force.

Note that, as shown in FIG.
The coil spring 52 attached to the guide 12
Is formed so as to engage with a screw portion 14 formed at the opening end 12A.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, at the time of fuel supply, the fuel supply cap 18 (see FIG. 2) is removed, and the oil gun 44 is inserted into the inlet pipe 10. At this time, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG.
Since the tip 44A of the refueling gun 44 always comes into contact with the gasket 2, the tip 44A of the refueling gun 44 and the gasket 32 of the valve device 30
Interference can be prevented. As a result, abrasion or deformation of the gasket 32 due to interference with the tip 44A of the refueling gun 44 can be prevented, and a decrease in sealing performance at the refueling port can be prevented.

In the present embodiment, the male screw portion 4 screwed to the convex portion 42 of the valve device 30 and the oil supply cap 18 are connected.
4 and the female screw portion 48, when the oil supply cap 18 is closed, the male screw portion 44 and the female screw portion 48 are screwed together.
The valve device 30 is kept closed. As a result, the valve device 30 can be prevented from opening even if the inside of the fuel tank becomes a negative pressure without increasing the urging force of the urging means 40, and the sealing performance can be ensured.

Further, in this embodiment, since the convex portion 42 of the valve device 30 and the permanent magnet 50 provided on the refueling cap 18 are attracted by magnetic force, when the refueling cap 18 is closed, the convex portion 42 of the valve device 30 Interference with the refueling cap 18 can be prevented from escaping inward (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 2). As a result, the convex portion 42 of the valve device 30 and the oil supply cap 1
8 can be easily screwed into the oil supply cap 18.
The mounting workability is improved.

In the present embodiment, the fuel supply cap 18
Since the permanent magnet 50 is provided in the vehicle, the fueling cap 18 can be held by magnetic force on the side surface 54A of the vehicle body 54 as shown in FIG. 4 during fueling, so that the fueling cap 18 can be prevented from being lost.

In the above, the present invention has been described in detail with respect to a specific embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and various other embodiments are included in the scope of the present invention. It is clear to a person skilled in the art that is possible. For example, in the present embodiment, the valve device 30 is formed of a magnetic material such as iron or ferritic stainless steel, and the permanent magnet 50 is provided on the oil supply cap 18. However, instead of this, the permanent magnet 50 is provided on the valve device 30 side. And the oil supply cap 18 may be formed of a magnetic material such as iron or ferritic stainless steel. Further, a configuration in which permanent magnets are provided in both the valve device 30 and the oil supply cap 18 may be adopted.

Further, in this embodiment, the hinge portion of the valve device 30 is provided on the upper side of the vehicle, but the hinge portion of the valve device 30 may be provided on another portion such as the lower side of the vehicle. Also,
The shape of the filler end 10A of the inlet pipe 10, the shape of the filler cap 18, the shape of the hinge of the valve device 30, and the like are not limited to the shapes of the present embodiment.

[0029]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a fuel tank provided with a valve device which is opened by inserting a refueling gun into a refueling port of the fuel tank. Since a convex portion protruding outward from the filler port is provided substantially at the center of the valve device so as not to interfere with the seal part, there is an excellent effect that the sealing performance at the filler port can be prevented from lowering.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the fuel tank according to the first aspect, a screwing portion is provided which is screwed to the projection of the valve device and the fuel supply cap. Therefore, even when the internal pressure of the fuel tank body fluctuates, the valve device can be prevented from opening and the sealing effect can be ensured.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the fuel tank according to the second aspect, the convex portion of the valve device and the oil supply cap attract each other by magnetic force. This makes it possible to easily screw the portion and the fuel filler cap together, and has an excellent effect that the workability of mounting the fuel filler cap is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a refueling state at a refueling port of a fuel tank according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing a fuel supply cap closed state at a fuel supply port of a fuel tank according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a hinge portion of a valve device of a fuel filler port of a fuel tank according to an embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from above and outside the vehicle.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a vehicle to which the fuel tank according to one embodiment of the present invention is applied, as viewed obliquely from the rear of the vehicle.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing a conventional fuel tank.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Inlet pipe (oil supply pipe) 12 Guide 18 Oil supply cap 20 Ring-shaped wall part 20A Seal surface of wall part 22 Opening 30 Valve device 30A Seal surface of valve device 32 Gasket 42 Convex part of valve device 44 Male screw part (screw connection) Part) 48 female screw part (screw part) 50 permanent magnet

Claims (3)

[Claims] In a fuel tank provided with a valve device which is opened by inserting a refueling gun into a refueling port of a fuel tank, when the refueling gun is inserted, a tip of the refueling gun and a seal portion of the valve device do not interfere with each other. A fuel tank, characterized in that a convex portion protruding outward from the filler port is provided at a substantially central portion of the valve device. 2. The valve device according to claim 1, further comprising: a screwing portion screwed to the projection of the valve device and the oil supply cap.
The fuel tank according to 1. 3. The fuel tank according to claim 2, wherein the protrusion of the valve device and the fuel cap are attracted by magnetic force.