JP2007255377A - Fuel feed device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fuel feed device in which the performance of a suction filter is enhanced and air is prevented from being sucked when a vehicle is tilted. <P>SOLUTION: This fuel feed device 10 for feeding fuel in a fuel tank to the outside of the fuel tank comprises a sub tank 70 contained in the fuel tank 1, a fuel pump 36 contained in the sub tank 70 and sucking and discharging the fuel in the sub tank 70, and the suction filter 60 installed at the bottom 71 of the sub tank 70 and removing foreign matters in the fuel sucked by the fuel pump 36. The sub tank 70 comprises a projection 75 formed by projecting the side wall of the bottom 71 to the outer peripheral side. At least a part 64 of the suction filter 60 is contained in the projection part 75. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a fuel supply apparatus, and is suitable for application to a fuel supply apparatus that supplies fuel in a fuel tank to the outside of the fuel tank, for example.

  Conventionally, a fuel pump has been housed in a fuel tank in a fuel supply device. For example, even when a vehicle equipped with a fuel tank travels and the fuel in the fuel tank is biased due to turning or uphill, the fuel pump is stable. It is known that a sub-tank is mounted so that fuel can be sucked and discharged (see Patent Documents 1 and 2). This type of fuel pump is provided with a bag-like suction filter on the fuel suction side, and a high-pressure filter comprising a filter element on the fuel discharge side, which suctions relatively large foreign matter contained in the fuel sucked from the sub tank. A relatively small foreign matter contained in the fuel collected by the filter and discharged from the fuel pump is collected by the high-pressure filter.

  In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, a fuel pump is disposed in a substantially vertical direction in a cylindrical sub tank, and a suction filter attached to the lower side of the fuel pump is disposed at the bottom of the sub tank.

In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2, a fuel pump is disposed in a shallow box-shaped sub-tank substantially parallel to the bottom of the sub-tank, and a suction filter is disposed between the fuel pump and the bottom.
JP 2001-132568 A JP-A-11-264353

  The applicant is studying improvement in the performance of the suction filter, for example, an increase in filtration capacity for collecting fine foreign substances captured by the high-pressure filter. However, when such a thing is applied to a prior art, in order to ensure the filtration life, it is necessary to make a suction filter larger than the bottom area of a cylindrical or box-shaped sub tank.

  On the other hand, it is conceivable that the suction filter 960 is bent along the side wall 972 of the sub-tank 970 and the tip 964 is lifted upward so as to be accommodated in the sub-tank (see FIG. 7). However, in this method, since the tip 964 of the suction filter 970 is disposed on the upper side of the sub tank 970, there is a possibility that the fuel pump sucks air accumulated on the suction filter when the vehicle is tilted. .

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a fuel supply device that improves the performance of a suction filter and prevents air suction that occurs when the vehicle is tilted.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises the following technical means.

  That is, according to the first to fifth aspects of the present invention, in the fuel supply device that supplies the fuel in the fuel tank to the outside of the fuel tank, the sub tank accommodated in the fuel tank, the sub tank accommodated in the sub tank, A fuel pump that sucks and discharges the fuel and a suction filter that is provided at the bottom of the sub tank and removes foreign matters in the fuel sucked by the fuel pump, and the sub tank projects the side wall of the bottom to the outer peripheral side It has a protrusion part, and at least one part of the suction filter is accommodated in the inside of a protrusion part, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  According to this, the sub tank which arrange | positions a suction filter in a bottom part has a protrusion part which made the side wall of the bottom part protrude to the outer peripheral side, and accommodates at least one part of a suction filter in the inside of a protrusion part. As a result, the suction filter can be arranged in a protruding portion connected to the bottom portion and the outer peripheral side of the bottom portion while increasing the size of the suction filter, so that the suction filter can be improved in performance and generated when the vehicle is inclined. Air suction can be prevented.

In the invention according to claims 2 to 4, the fuel tank includes an opening for accommodating at least the sub tank in the fuel tank,
The sub-tank is a diagonal dimension between the base-side side wall portion at the base of the projecting portion and the anti-projection-side side wall portion substantially opposite to the base-side side wall in the side wall of the sub-tank inserted into the opening. Is formed smaller than the diameter of the opening.

  Thereby, in order to accommodate the subtank in the fuel tank, the subtank having the protruding portion can be prevented from interfering with the opening of the fuel tank when the subtank is inserted into the fuel tank from the opening. . Therefore, the sub tank having the protruding portion can be easily installed inside the fuel tank without increasing the size of the opening.

  Further, the invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the anti-projection part side wall part has a corner part whose bottom part side is recessed radially inward.

  According to this, it is preferable that the anti-projection part side wall part has a corner part in which the bottom part side is dented radially inward, for example, in a curved shape. Thereby, after inserting the protrusion part in the bottom part side of a subtank through an opening part, a subtank can be rotated etc. using a recessed corner. Therefore, the sub tank can be easily and smoothly installed inside the fuel tank when the sub tank is accommodated in the fuel tank.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lid member that closes the opening of the fuel tank, and a coupling member that is coupled to the lid member and the sub tank and supports the sub tank.

  Thereby, since the sub tank is supported by the lid member that closes the opening of the fuel tank and the coupling member, the bottom and the protruding portion of the sub tank can be stably arranged on the bottom of the fuel tank, for example. .

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the suction filter is disposed between the fuel pump and the bottom portion, and extends along the bottom portion toward the protruding portion.

  Thereby, for example, the suction filter formed in a bag shape and extending in the longitudinal direction can be accommodated in the sub-tank without bending the end portion upward or the like.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments in which a fuel supply device of the present invention is embodied will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the fuel supply apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the fuel supply apparatus in FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a process of installing the fuel supply device in FIG. 1 in a fuel tank.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the fuel supply device 10 includes a flange portion 12 as a lid member, a pump module 30, and a sub tank 70.

  The flange portion 12 is formed of a resin material in a substantially disc shape, and closes the opening 2 a formed in the upper wall 2 of the fuel tank 1. Members other than the flange portion 12 of the fuel supply device 10 are accommodated in the fuel tank 1. The fuel tank 1 may be made of resin or metal.

  The flange portion 12 is provided with a fuel outlet 13 and a connector 14. The fuel discharge port 13 supplies the fuel discharged from the fuel pump 36 of the pump module 30 to the outside of the fuel tank. The connector 14 supplies power to the fuel pump 36 that is electrically connected by a lead wire.

  A metal column 16 as a coupling member extends in the vertical direction in FIG. 1, and one end thereof is press-fitted into the flange portion 12. The other end is inserted into an insertion portion (not shown) formed in the sub tank 70, and the metal column 16 is movable in the axial direction to the insertion portion (not shown). The spring 17 as an urging force member urges the flange portion 12 and the sub tank 70 so as to be separated from each other. Due to the biasing force of the spring 17, the sub tank 70 is always pressed against the inner bottom surface 3 a of the bottom wall 3 of the fuel tank 1.

  The sub tank 70 is not sealed and is open upward. The sub tank 70 is formed of a resin material in a substantially cylindrical shape, and accommodates therein a fuel pump 36, a fuel filter 32 as a high pressure filter, a suction filter 60, and the like.

  The structure of the sub tank 70 that houses the suction filter 60 will be described later.

  The pump module 30 includes a fuel filter 32, a fuel pump 36, a pressure regulator 50, and a suction filter 60. The fuel filter 32 houses the filter element 40 in a filter case including a case body 33 and a lid 34 and covers the outer periphery of the fuel pump 36. The filter element 40 has a cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the axis formed in an annular shape in the space inside the filter case. The filter element 40 is filter paper formed in a honeycomb shape, for example. With this filter element 40, the fuel filter 32 removes relatively small foreign matters contained in the fuel discharged from the fuel pump 36.

  The filter case including the case main body 33 and the lid 34 is a pump casing that covers the fuel pump 36. The case body 33 and the lid 34 are integrally fixed by welding or the like. The fuel pump 36 has a pump-side connector (not shown) that is electrically connected to the connector 14, and the pump-side connector is exposed from the lid 34. The fuel pump 36 contains a motor (not shown) inside, and boosts the fuel sucked from the suction filter 60 by a rotating member (not shown) such as an impeller that rotates together with the motor.

  The pump module 30 is supported by an elastic member (not shown). Specifically, the elastic member connects the lid 34 of the fuel filter 32 and the sub tank 70 above the suction filter 60. The sub tank 70 supports the fuel filter 32, the fuel pump 36, the pressure regulator 50, and the suction filter 60 through this elastic member. For example, the elastic member is formed by integrally forming a plurality of snap-fit coupling portions on a thin plate, and one snap-fit coupling portion and the lid 34, and the other snap-fit coupling portion and the sub tank 70 are snap-fit coupled. Yes.

  The pressure regulator 50 has an inlet connected to an outlet (not shown) of the case body 33, and regulates the pressure of the fuel discharged from the fuel pump 36 and from which foreign matter has been removed by the fuel filter 32. The pressure-adjusted fuel passes through a fuel pipe 18 such as a bellows pipe and travels toward the fuel discharge port 13.

  The suction filter 60 is formed in a bag shape and is connected to a suction port (not shown) on the fuel suction side of the fuel pump 36. The suction filter 60 is formed in a bag shape with a filter member such as a non-woven fabric as a filter medium, and a skeleton member (not shown) is disposed in the bag so as to extend in the longitudinal direction having a predetermined thickness. Is formed into a thing. The filter member is formed of, for example, a non-woven fabric made of resin, and can remove relatively small foreign matters contained in the fuel sucked from the sub tank 70 by the fuel pump 36. The suction filter 60 of the present embodiment removes relatively small foreign matters that the fuel filter 32 removes. In addition, the filter member makes gaps, such as a fiber of a nonwoven fabric, small so that a comparatively small foreign material can be collected.

  Moreover, the suction filter 60 extends the bag-shaped filter member in the bag-shaped longitudinal direction, and the filtration area is expanded. As a result, the gap between the filter members is reduced to increase the foreign matter collecting ability, and the size is increased in the longitudinal direction to increase the filtration area, and the filtration is determined by the filtration resistance caused by the clogging of the gap. The service life is secured.

  Here, the suction filter 60 enlarged in the longitudinal direction is divided into a front end portion (hereinafter also referred to as an extended end portion) 64 accommodated in the protruding portion 75 and a main body portion 62 for convenience. The main body 62 and the tip (extended end) 64 are integrally formed.

  Next, the structure of the sub tank 70 that houses the suction filter 60 that is a feature of the present embodiment will be described.

  The sub tank 70 has a bottom portion 71 that abuts against the bottom wall 3 of the fuel tank 1 and a side portion 72 formed in a substantially cylindrical shape. The side portion 72 projects a side wall on the bottom portion 71 side to the outer peripheral side. A projecting portion 75 is formed (see FIGS. 1 and 2). The tip end portion 64 of the suction filter 60 is accommodated in the protruding portion 75.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the projecting portion 75 is formed flush with the bottom portion 71 along the inner bottom surface 3 a of the fuel tank 1. As a result, the suction filter 70 can be reliably disposed in the bottom portion 71 and the projecting portion 75 that extends to the outer peripheral side by connecting to the bottom portion 71 without bending the tip portion 64 upward or the like.

  Furthermore, for example, it is possible to reduce the surface pressure of the bottom wall 3 of the fuel tank 1 against which the bottom 71 and the protrusion 75 are pressed by the urging force of the spring 17.

  Further, since the sub tank 70 is inserted into the fuel tank through the opening 2a of the fuel tank 1, at least the side portion 72 of the sub tank 70 has an outer diameter smaller than the diameter L2 of the opening 2a.

  Further, in the present embodiment, in the side portion 72, a root side wall portion (hereinafter referred to as a root portion) 76 at the base of the projecting portion 75, and an anti-projection portion side side wall that is substantially opposite to the root portion 76 in the radial direction. The diagonal dimension L70 with the part 73 is set smaller than the diameter L2 of the opening 2a. Accordingly, when the sub tank 70 is inserted into the opening 2a during the assembly operation of housing the fuel injection device 10 shown in FIG. 3 in the fuel tank 1, the sub tank 70 having the protrusion 75 and the opening 2a are It is possible to prevent interference.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the anti-projection part side wall part 73 is preferably recessed in a curved shape inward in the radial direction toward the bottom 71 side. Thus, when the sub-tank 70 is housed in the fuel tank 1, the protrusion 75 on the bottom 71 side of the sub-tank 70 is inserted into the opening 2 a and then recessed. Thus, the sub tank can be rotated using the corner 73. Thereby, the sub tank 70 can be easily and smoothly installed in the fuel tank 1.

  As a method of forming the resin-made sub tank 70, resin is formed by blow molding. The method for forming the sub tank 70 is not limited to this, and the sub tank 70 may be integrally formed using a manufacturing technique such as welding.

  In addition, the anti-projection part side wall part 73 respond | corresponds to the corner part as described in a claim here.

  In the present embodiment described above, the sub-tank 70 has the protruding portion 75 that is connected to the bottom portion 71 and protrudes to the outer peripheral side, and the tip of the suction filter 60 disposed on the bottom portion 71 in the protruding portion 75. The part 64 is accommodated. Accordingly, the suction filter 60 can be disposed in the bottom portion 71 and the protruding portion 75 while the suction filter 60 is enlarged in the longitudinal direction. Therefore, it is possible to improve the performance of the suction filter 60 and to prevent air suction that occurs when the vehicle is inclined.

  Further, in the present embodiment described above, the sub tank 70 accommodated in the fuel tank 1 includes the root portion 76 at the base of the protruding portion 75 and the root portion 76 at the side portion 72 inserted into the opening 2a. And a diagonal dimension L70 with the anti-projection part side wall part 73 substantially on the opposite side in the radial direction is formed smaller than the diameter L2 of the opening 2a. Accordingly, when the sub tank 70 is inserted into the opening 2a during the assembling work for housing the fuel injection device 10 in the fuel tank 1, the sub tank 70 having the protruding portion 75 and the opening 2a do not interfere with each other. can do. Therefore, the sub tank 70 can be easily installed inside the fuel tank 1 without increasing the size of the opening 2 a of the fuel tank 1.

  Moreover, in this embodiment demonstrated above, it is preferable that the said anti-projection part side wall part 73 is dented in the curved surface shape to radial inside toward the bottom part 71 side. As a result, when at least the sub tank 70 is accommodated in the fuel tank 1, the protrusion 75 on the bottom 71 side of the sub tank 70 is inserted from the opening 2 a, and then the sub tank is rotated using the corner 73 while being recessed. Can be equalized. Therefore, the sub tank 70 can be easily and smoothly installed in the fuel tank 1.

  Further, in the present embodiment described above, the fuel supply device 10 includes the flange portion 12 that closes the opening 2a, and the metal support 16 that is coupled to the flange portion 12 and the sub tank 70 and supports the sub tank 7020. is doing. As a result, the sub tank 70 is supported by the flange portion 12 that closes the opening 2 a of the fuel tank 1 and the metal column 16, so that the bottom 71 and the protrusion 75 of the sub tank 70 are connected to the bottom wall 3 in the fuel tank 1. Can be stably arranged.

(Second and third embodiments)
Hereinafter, other embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described. In the following embodiments, the same or equivalent components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will not be repeated.

  In the first embodiment, the method of molding the sub tank 70 has been described by the method of resin molding by blow molding.

  On the other hand, in the second and third embodiments, the sub-tanks 170 and 270 are welded, so that the two sub-tank portions formed by split resin molding are integrally molded by welding. FIG. 4 is an external view showing a sub tank according to the second embodiment. FIG. 5 is an external view showing a sub tank according to the third embodiment.

  In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the sub-tank 170 is divided into a first divided tip end portion 175 b and a fuel pump 36 which are split at an intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction of the tip end portion 175 (the left-right direction in FIG. And a second divided tip end portion 175a including a sub tank main body portion to be accommodated. In addition, the 1st division | segmentation front-end | tip part 175b and the 2nd division | segmentation front-end | tip part 175a comprise two sub tank parts which carried out the division resin molding.

  In the resin molding process of resin molding the sub tank portions 175a and 175b, the first divided tip portion 175b and the second divided tip portion 175a are separately resin-molded as separate members. Then, in the integral resin molding process, the first divided tip 175b and the second divided tip 175a are joined to the first divided tip 175b, the welded portion 179, and the second divided tip 175a by welding, and are integrally molded. To do.

  Further, in the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the sub tank 270 is divided and formed into a projecting portion 275 and a sub tank main body portion in the vicinity of the root portion 76. The sub-tank 270 and the sub-tank main body separately divided and formed are combined with the first divided tip 175b, the welded portion 179, and the second divided tip 175a by welding, and are integrally molded.

  In the second and third embodiments, instead of the integral resin molding by blow molding, the molding method of the sub tanks 170 and 270 formed by welding the two sub tank portions molded by split resin integrally with the first is also used. The same effect as in the embodiment can be obtained.

(Fourth embodiment)
In the first embodiment, the fuel filter 32 is provided on the downstream side of the fuel discharged from the fuel pump 36 in the pump module 30.

  On the other hand, in the fourth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the fuel filter 32 is omitted. FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the fuel supply apparatus according to this embodiment.

  A fuel pipe 18 is connected to a discharge port (not shown) on the fuel discharge side of the fuel pump 36. A pressure regulator 50 is provided in the middle of the fuel pipe 18, and the fuel discharged from the fuel pump 36 and flowing through the fuel pipe 18 is regulated by the pressure regulator 50. Further, the sub tank 70 supports the fuel pump 36 by an elastic member 80.

  In the present embodiment, the suction filter 60 can collect relatively small foreign matters in the fuel captured by the conventional fuel filter, so that the fuel discharged from the fuel pump 36 is almost the same as that having the fuel filter. The foreign matter can be discharged from the fuel pump 36 and supplied to the outside of the fuel tank in the same manner.

  Even with the above-described configuration, substantially the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, a resin mounting portion 69 may be provided between the suction filter 60 and the suction port of the fuel pump 36. By mounting the suction filter 60 on the fuel pump 36 via the mounting portion 69, the suction filter 60 is disposed on the outer peripheral side from the outer peripheral surface of the fuel pump 36 (see FIG. 6). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a part of the suction filter 60 may be disposed inside the outer peripheral surface of the fuel pump 36.

  Further, a support member 68 that supports the suction filter 60 may be attached to the mounting portion 69. This support member 68 can prevent the suction filter 60 from coming into contact with the inner surface of the bottom of the sub tank 70. Thereby, abrasion of the suction filter 60 by vibration etc. can be prevented, for example.

(Other embodiments)
As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is limited to this embodiment and is not interpreted and can be applied to various embodiment in the range which does not deviate from the summary.

  (1) For example, in the above-described embodiment, it has been described that the bottom portion 71 and the protruding portion 75 of the sub tank 70 are formed flush with the bottom wall 3 of the fuel tank 1. Not only this but the protrusion part 75 may have a level | step difference with respect to the bottom part 71. FIG.

  (2) In the present embodiment described above, the front end portion (extension portion) 64 of the suction filter 60 is accommodated in the projecting portion 75 of the sub-tank 70. Further, a part or all of the main body 62 may be accommodated in the tip portion, and any portion may be used as long as at least a part of the suction filter is accommodated in the tip portion.

  (3) In the second and third embodiments described above, the sub-tank portion on which the divided resin is formed is divided in the middle portion of the tip portion 175 or in the vicinity of the root portion 76. If the intermediate part to be divided is between the left end part in the drawing of the tip part 175 and the left end part (end part on the root part side), it is divided at either the intermediate position on the left end part side or the intermediate position on the left end part side May be.

It is a fragmentary sectional view which shows the structure of the fuel supply apparatus by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the fuel supply apparatus in FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the process in which the fuel supply apparatus in FIG. 1 is installed in a fuel tank. It is an external view which shows the sub tank concerning 2nd Embodiment. It is an external view which shows the subtank concerning 3rd Embodiment. It is a fragmentary sectional view which shows the fuel supply apparatus concerning 4th Embodiment. It is a fragmentary sectional view which shows the fuel supply apparatus to which a prior art is applied.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fuel tank 2 Upper wall 2a Opening part 3 Bottom wall 10 Fuel supply apparatus 12 Flange part (lid member)
13 Fuel outlet 14 Connector 16 Metal support (joint member)
17 Spring (biasing member)
30 Pump module 32 Fuel filter 33 Lid (filter case)
34 Case body 36 Fuel pump 40 Filter element 50 Pressure regulator 60 Suction filter 62 Body 64 Extension (tip)
70 Sub tank 71 Bottom portion 72 Side portion 73 Anti-projection side wall portion (corner portion)
75 Protrusion 76 Root (base side wall)

Claims (5)

In the fuel supply device for supplying the fuel in the fuel tank to the outside of the fuel tank,
A sub-tank accommodated in the fuel tank;
A fuel pump that is housed in the sub tank and sucks and discharges fuel in the sub tank; and
A suction filter that is provided at the bottom of the sub tank and removes foreign matter in the fuel sucked by the fuel pump;
The sub-tank has a protruding portion that protrudes a side wall of the bottom portion toward an outer peripheral side, and at least a part of the suction filter is accommodated in the protruding portion. Provided in the fuel tank, comprising an opening for accommodating at least the sub tank in the fuel tank;
Of the side walls of the sub-tank inserted into the opening, the sub-tank is a base-side side wall at the base of the projecting part, and an anti-projection part-side side wall part that is substantially radially opposite to the base-side side wall. The fuel supply device according to claim 1, wherein a diagonal dimension of the opening is smaller than a diameter of the opening.   The fuel supply device according to claim 2, wherein the anti-projection portion side wall portion has a corner portion in which the bottom portion side is recessed radially inward.   4. A lid member for closing the opening of the fuel tank, and a coupling member coupled to the lid member and the sub tank and supporting the sub tank, respectively. The fuel supply apparatus as described.   The said suction filter is arrange | positioned between the said fuel pump and the said bottom part, and is extended along the said bottom part toward the said protrusion part, The any one of Claims 1-4 characterized by the above-mentioned. The fuel supply device described in 1.

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