JP2006188209A - Fuel tank arrangement structure for automobile and its arrangement method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fuel tank arrangement structure for an automobile and its arrangement method capable of making a flatness of a vehicle body floor and low ground height of the vehicle body floor compatible. <P>SOLUTION: In the arrangement structure of the fuel tank 13, an air chamber constitution swelled wall part 20 for constituting an air chamber 19 at the inside of the tank is provided on a part of an upper surface of the fuel tank 13 arranged at a lower part of the vehicle body floor 10 and having a flat shape in which an upper surface and a lower surface are approximately flat surfaces, and a storage space constitution swelled wall part 18 corresponding to the air chamber constitution swelled wall part 20 and swelled toward the inner side of a cabin is formed on a lower surface of the vehicle body floor 10. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an improvement in a fuel tank arrangement structure of an automobile and an arrangement method thereof.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a fuel tank arrangement structure of an automobile, a structure in which a fuel tank is arranged at a lower part of a vehicle body floor is known (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

In these conventional automobile fuel tank arrangement structures, a part of the vehicle body floor is greatly raised toward the indoor side in order to achieve a low ground elevation of the vehicle body floor, and is formed by raising the vehicle body floor to the indoor side. A rectangular parallelepiped fuel tank that is bulky in the height direction is disposed in the lower housing space of the vehicle body floor.
JP 2004-169650 A Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-8891

  By the way, in the conventional fuel tank arrangement structure of an automobile, a part of the vehicle body floor is raised to the vehicle interior side, and the fuel tank is entirely arranged in the accommodation space below the raised portion. However, when the vehicle body floor is flattened, the vehicle body floor cannot be flattened. There is an inconvenience that it is impossible to raise the ground level of the vehicle body floor because it is necessary to dispose a part of the vehicle body floor toward the vehicle interior side and to dispose the fuel tank below the vehicle body floor.

  Therefore, it is conceivable to arrange the fuel tank in a place where there is no hindrance to flattening the vehicle body floor such as the lower part of the seat of the driver's seat, but the problem is that the capacity of the fuel tank must be reduced because the arrangement space is limited There is.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a fuel tank arrangement structure for an automobile that can achieve both flattening of the vehicle body floor and low ground clearance of the vehicle body floor. Is to provide.

  The fuel tank arrangement structure according to the present invention includes an air chamber that is provided in a part of the upper surface of a fuel tank that is disposed in a lower portion of a vehicle body floor and has a flat shape with an upper surface and a lower surface being substantially flat. A raised wall portion for construction is provided, and a raised wall portion for housing space construction is formed on the lower surface of the vehicle body floor, corresponding to the raised wall portion for air chamber construction, and raised toward the vehicle interior side. Features.

  The fuel tank is preferably arranged at the center of the vehicle body floor.

  The fuel tank is provided with a gap in the vehicle width direction and extended in a direction crossing the pair of side members and a pair of side members extending in the vehicle front-rear direction with a pair of side members extending from the front to the rear of the vehicle. It is desirable to dispose in a surrounding area surrounded by a pair of cross members.

  Moreover, it is desirable to arrange the cut valve in the vicinity of the center of the fuel tank when viewed from above.

  Further, the raised space portion for constructing the accommodation space is preferably provided in the lower part of the seat of the driver's seat, in the lower part of the seat of the passenger seat, or in the vicinity of the dash panel of the passenger seat. It is desirable to use it also as a footrest.

  Further, a canister for collecting the evaporated gas is provided in the lower part of the vehicle body floor in parallel with the fuel tank, and the drain pipe of the canister is directed toward the gap between the raised wall portion for constituting the air chamber and the raised wall portion for constituting the accommodating space. It is desirable to extend and position the inlet of the drain pipe in the gap.

  The fuel tank may be provided with a fuel pump for supplying internal fuel to the engine in the air chamber, and a vent valve for adjusting the pressure inside the tank may be provided adjacent to the fuel pump.

  In addition, a front suspension member is provided on the underside of the vehicle body floor and in front of the fuel tank, a muffler is provided behind the fuel tank, and the front suspension member, the fuel tank, and the bottom surface of the muffler are arranged in a straight line facing the vehicle rear. It is good also as a structure to do.

  In addition, a portion of the upper surface wall portion of the fuel tank facing the cross member extending in the vehicle width direction is recessed downward to form a transverse groove extending in the vehicle width direction and guiding the cross member. At least two air chambers formed in the vehicle front-rear direction across the groove communicate with each other via the connection passage, and the cross member corresponds to a portion immediately below the seat rail extending in the vehicle front-rear direction and directly above the connection passage It is good also as a structure which forms the protruding shape part which protrudes in the vehicle interior side so that a connection channel | path may be guided.

  According to the present invention, a housing space having a shape corresponding to the raised wall portion for air chamber configuration is formed on the lower surface of the vehicle body floor, and the fuel tank is mounted on the vehicle body so that the raised wall portion for air chamber configuration is accommodated in the accommodation space. Since it is arranged at the lower part of the floor, the vehicle body floor can be lowered above the ground while the vehicle body floor is flattened.

  In addition, if the air chamber is configured to be flat so as to guarantee the distance from the cut valve that discharges the evaporative gas inside the tank to the fuel level, the cut valve does not increase the occupied area of the fuel tank more than necessary. Can be secured.

  Hereinafter, a fuel tank arrangement structure of an automobile according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Example 1
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle body floor according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a bottom surface of the vehicle body floor shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a fuel tank arrangement structure according to the present invention. In FIGS. 1 to 3, reference numeral 10 denotes a vehicle body floor. As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle body floor 10 is supported by a pair of external side members 11, 11 provided at intervals in the vehicle width direction.

  The pair of external side members 11 and 11 connect the pair of front side members 10F and 10F and the pair of rear side members 10R and 10R, and extend linearly from the front to the rear of the vehicle.

  The pair of external side members 11, 11 are welded with a pair of cross members 12, 12 that are spaced apart in the vehicle front-rear direction and extend linearly in a direction crossing the pair of external side members 11, 11. Yes.

  Here, the fuel tank 13 is disposed in the surrounding area 14 linearly surrounded by the pair of external side members 11, 11 and the pair of cross members 12, 12.

  The housing space constituting ridge is formed as a part of the surrounding area 14 and a housing space 17 for housing an air chamber constituting bulging wall portion described later at a lower portion of the seat 16 of the driver's seat (see FIG. 3) 15. A wall portion 18 is formed.

  As shown in an enlarged view in FIGS. 4 and 5, the fuel tank 13 has a rectangular shape and a flat shape with the space between the lower surface wall portion 13 a and the upper surface wall portion 13 b being close to each other. The upper wall portion 13b is formed with a raised wall portion 20 for forming an air chamber that forms an air chamber 19 inside the tank. A cut valve 21 for releasing the evaporated gas inside the tank to the outside is provided on the upper wall of the raised wall portion 20 for constituting the air chamber. The air chamber 19 plays a role of guaranteeing an interval from the cut valve 21 to the maximum fuel liquid level (full tank liquid level) 1 a to 1 c when the fuel tank 13 is inclined.

  The cut valve 21 is provided in the vicinity of the center X of the fuel tank 13 here, as shown in FIG. Thus, when the cut valve 21 is provided in the vicinity of the center X of the fuel tank 13, as shown in FIG. 5, even if the fuel tank 13 is inclined in any direction, the cut valve 21 is brought into the fuel 5 when the tank is full. It is desirable to be able to prevent immersion.

  Here, the raised wall portion 18 for constructing the accommodation space is also used as a footrest of the occupant M of the rear seat 15 'of the driver's seat as shown in FIG. As a result, the comfort of the occupant M is improved. Although FIG. 3 shows an embodiment in which the housing space constituting raised wall portion 18 is provided below the seat 16 of the driver's seat 15, the place where the housing space constituting raised wall portion 18 is formed is limited to this. Instead of this, it may be configured to be provided near the lower part of the passenger seat or near the dash panel of the passenger seat. This is because even if the vehicle body floor 10 is raised to the vehicle interior side, these portions are substantially portions that do not hinder flattening of the vehicle body floor 10.

  Thus, in the embodiment of the present invention, the air chamber 19 that guarantees the interval from the cut valve 21 to the fuel liquid level 1a is formed in a part of the fuel tank 13, so that the fuel storage capacity is secured. Therefore, the fuel tank 13 can be made thinner without increasing the bottom area of the fuel tank 13 more than necessary.

  Further, since only a part of the upper surface wall portion 13b of the fuel tank 13 is raised, the rise of the vehicle body floor 10 for forming the accommodating space 17 for accommodating the same to the vehicle interior is minimized, and The housing space constituting raised wall portion 18 for constructing the housing space 17 can be formed at a location where there is substantially no hindrance to flattening the vehicle body floor 10, and as shown in FIG. Flattening can be achieved.

  Furthermore, in the embodiment of the present invention, since the fuel tank 14 is disposed in the surrounding region 14 linearly surrounded by the pair of external side members 11 and 11 and the pair of cross members 12 and 12, Vehicle safety is improved.

  In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, the cut valve 21 is disposed in the vicinity of the center of the fuel tank 13, so that the cut valve 21 remains at the fuel level even when the fuel tank 13 is inclined in any direction when the tank is full. It can prevent being immersed in 1a-1c.

  Here, as schematically shown in FIG. 6, a front suspension member 22 is provided in front of the fuel tank 13, and a rear suspension member 23 and a muffler 24 are provided in the rear of the fuel tank 13. As shown in FIG. 3, the bottom surfaces of the vehicle floor underfloor members such as the suspension member 23, the fuel tank 13, the rear suspension member 23, and the muffler 24 are arranged in a straight line here.

  As described above, since the vehicle floor underfloor arrangement members are arranged in a straight line, the flow of air under the floor becomes smooth as shown by an arrow W in FIG. The underfloor aerodynamic performance can be improved without complicating the shape of the skeleton.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 25F indicates a front wheel, 25R indicates a rear wheel, and 25Z indicates a road surface.
(Example 2)
7 to 10 show a second embodiment of the arrangement structure of the fuel tank 13 according to the present invention. In this fuel tank 13, as shown in FIG. It is set as the structure extended long. Correspondingly, the raised wall portion 18 for constructing the accommodation space is also configured to extend long in the vehicle width direction.

  The upper surface wall portion 13a of the fuel tank 13 has a portion facing the cross member 12 ′ (see FIG. 8) that exists between the pair of cross members 12 and 12 and extends in parallel with the cross members 12 and 12. A transverse groove 13c that is recessed downward and extends in the vehicle width direction is formed in the upper surface wall portion 13a.

  As shown in FIG. 9, two air chambers 13d and 13d are formed in the fuel tank 13 in the vehicle front-rear direction with the transverse groove 13c interposed therebetween. The fuel tank 13 is formed with a raised passage portion as a connection passage 13f for connecting the air chambers 13d and 13d to the transverse groove constituting wall portion 13e constituting the transverse groove 13c. Instead of forming the connecting passage 13 by the raised passage portion, the air chambers 13d and 13d may be connected by a connecting pipe (not shown).

  The cross member 12 'is disposed along the transverse groove 13c, and the cross member 12' is curved upward at a position corresponding to the connection passage 13f as shown in FIG. A raised shape portion 12 a ′ that rises upward is formed.

  One of a pair of seat rails 10a extending in the vehicle front-rear direction is positioned on the vehicle body floor 10 at an interval in the vehicle width direction, directly above the raised shape portion 12a '. The height adjustment of the one seat rail 10a and the other seat rail 10a is adjusted, for example, by interposing the height adjustment bracket 10b on the other seat rail 10a.

  According to the fuel tank arrangement structure described in the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, the maximum fuel liquid level 1a can be secured in the connection passage 13f. Further, since the transverse groove 13c for guiding the cross member 12 'is formed in the upper surface wall portion 13a of the fuel tank 13, the cross member 12' can be disposed further downward, so that the seat rails 10a, 10a It is possible to lower the floor height between them, and it is possible to realize a lower floor without providing a plurality of air vent valves.

In FIG. 7, reference numerals 13g and 13g are rollover valves (ROV).
(Example 3)
11 and 12 show a third embodiment of the arrangement structure of the fuel tank 13 according to the present invention. In the second embodiment, a canister 25 for collecting evaporative gas at the lower portion of the vehicle body floor 10 is provided in the fuel tank 13. It is provided in parallel. The drain pipe 26 of the canister 25 extends toward the gap G between the raised wall part 20 for constructing the air chamber and the raised wall part 18 for constructing the accommodating space, and the inlet 27 of the drain pipe 26 is positioned in the gap G. Has been.

  In this manner, the air inlet 27 of the drain pipe 26 of the canister 25 is opened to the narrow gap G between the air chamber constituting raised wall portion 20 of the fuel tank 13 and the housing space constituting raised wall portion 18 of the vehicle body floor 10. Therefore, it is desirable that rainwater can be prevented from entering the canister 25 via the air inlet 27.

  As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, the example in which the cut valve 21 is provided on the raised wall portion 20 for air chamber configuration has been described. However, as shown in FIGS. A fuel pump module 28 that supplies fuel toward the engine (not shown) may be provided, and a part of the fuel pump module 28 may be provided so as to protrude from the upper surface of the air chamber constituting raised wall portion 20. As shown in FIG. 13, a pressure adjusting vent valve 29 inside the tank may be provided in parallel with the fuel pump module 28.

  Thus, if the fuel pump module 28 and the vent valve (ORVR) 29 are provided on the raised wall portion 20 for air chamber construction, the fuel tank components such as the fuel pump module 28 and the vent valve 29 which are conventional parts can be obtained. The fuel tank 13 can be made thin while being used as it is.

  In the embodiment of the invention described above, the fuel tank 13 is formed in a flat rectangular shape, and the rectangular air chamber constituting raised wall portion 20 is formed in a part thereof. Is not limited to this, and may be, for example, a flat cylindrical shape. Similarly, the air chamber constituting raised wall portion 20 may also be a flat cylindrical shape, and the air chamber constituting raised wall portion 20 is formed. The location is not limited to the position shown in the figure.

It is a perspective view which shows roughly the external appearance shape of the vehicle body floor concerning Example 1 of this invention. It is the top view which looked at the vehicle body floor concerning Example 1 of this invention from the lower side. It is a figure which shows typically the structure which looked at the arrangement | positioning structure of the fuel tank concerning Example 1 of this invention from the side surface. It is an external view of the fuel tank concerning Example 1 of this invention. It is sectional drawing for demonstrating the effect | action of the fuel tank concerning Example 1 of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state by which the underfloor arrangement | positioning member is arrange | positioned at the lower part of the vehicle body floor concerning this invention. It is a perspective view which shows roughly the external appearance shape of the vehicle body floor concerning Example 2 of this invention. It is the top view which looked at the vehicle body floor concerning Example 2 of this invention from the lower side.

It is a fragmentary sectional view which shows the arrangement | positioning relationship between the cross-section of the cross member shown in FIG. 7, and a fuel tank.
It is sectional drawing of the fuel tank concerning Example 2 of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the positional relationship of the cross member concerning Example 2 of this invention, and a fuel tank. It is the schematic diagram for demonstrating the arrangement structure of the fuel tank concerning Example 3 of this invention, Comprising: It is the figure which looked at the arrangement | positioning part of a fuel tank from the side surface. It is the fragmentary figure which looked at the arrangement | positioning part of the fuel tank shown in FIG. 11 from the lower side. It is a side view which shows typically the other example of the fuel tank concerning this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Vehicle body floor 13 ... Fuel tank 18 ... Raised wall part 19 for accommodation space structure ... Air chamber 20 ... Raised wall part for air chamber structure

Claims (14)

  A raised wall portion for air chamber constituting an air chamber inside the tank is provided on a part of the upper surface of the fuel tank having a flat shape with the upper surface and the lower surface being substantially flat and disposed at the lower part of the vehicle body floor, A fuel tank arrangement structure characterized in that a raised wall portion for accommodating space constituting the raised wall portion corresponding to the raised air wall portion for air chamber is formed on the lower surface of the housing and is raised toward the vehicle interior side.   The fuel tank arrangement structure according to claim 1, wherein the fuel tank is arranged at a center of the vehicle body floor.   The fuel tank is provided in a direction crossing the pair of side members and a pair of side members that are provided at intervals in the vehicle width direction and that extend from the front to the rear of the vehicle. The fuel tank arrangement structure according to claim 2, wherein the fuel tank arrangement structure is arranged in a surrounding area surrounded by a pair of extending cross members.   4. The fuel tank arrangement structure according to claim 1, wherein the cut valve is disposed near the center of the fuel tank as viewed from above. 5.   The fuel tank arrangement structure according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the housing space constituting raised wall portion is provided at a lower portion of a seat of a driver's seat.   The fuel tank arrangement structure according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the housing space constituting raised wall portion is provided at a lower portion of a seat of a passenger seat.   5. The fuel tank arrangement structure according to claim 1, wherein the air chamber forming raised portion is provided in the vicinity of a dash panel of a passenger seat. 6.   The fuel tank arrangement structure according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the raised portion for constituting the housing space is also used as a footrest.   A canister for collecting evaporative gas is provided in parallel with the fuel tank at a lower portion of the vehicle body floor, and a drain pipe of the canister is provided between the raised wall portion for configuring the air chamber and the raised wall portion for configuring the accommodating space. The fuel tank arrangement structure according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the fuel tank is disposed toward the gap, and an inlet of the drain pipe is located in the gap.   10. The fuel tank arrangement according to claim 1, wherein a fuel pump for supplying internal fuel toward the engine is provided in the air chamber. Construction structure.   12. The fuel tank arrangement according to claim 11, wherein a vent valve for adjusting the pressure inside the tank is provided adjacent to the fuel pump on the upper surface of the raised wall portion for constituting the air chamber. Construction.   A front suspension member is provided in front of the fuel tank on the lower surface of the vehicle body floor, a muffler is provided behind the fuel tank, and a bottom surface of the front suspension member, the fuel tank, and the muffler faces toward the rear of the vehicle. The fuel tank arrangement structure according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the fuel tank arrangement structure is arranged in a substantially straight line.   A portion facing the cross member extending in the vehicle width direction is formed in the upper surface wall portion of the fuel tank so as to be recessed downward and extending in the vehicle width direction to form a transverse groove for guiding the cross member. At least two air chambers are formed in the vehicle front-rear direction across each of the air chambers. The air chambers communicate with each other via a connection passage, and the cross member is directly above the connection passage just below a seat rail extending in the vehicle front-rear direction. 2. The fuel tank arrangement structure according to claim 1, wherein a protruding shape portion that protrudes toward the vehicle interior side is formed so that a portion corresponding to 1 is guided in the connection passage.   A raised wall portion for air chamber construction is provided in a part of the upper surface wall portion so as to form an air chamber inside a fuel tank having a flat shape with an upper surface and a lower surface being substantially flat. Corresponding to the raised wall portion for room configuration, it is raised toward the vehicle interior side to form a raised wall portion for housing space configuration, and the raised wall portion for air chamber configuration is placed behind the raised wall portion for housing space configuration A fuel tank disposition method in which the fuel tank is disposed below the vehicle body floor while being accommodated.

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