JP2008082184A - Suction filter and fuel supply system using it - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a suction filter reducing vibration transmitted from a fuel pump to a fuel tank, and a fuel supply system using it. <P>SOLUTION: The suction filter 50 is attached to the suction opening side of the fuel pump by a bracket 52. The rib part 62 of the bracket 52 is arranged in the filter part 72 of a filter body 70, and a predetermined space is kept in the filter part 72. The fuel introducing port 58 of the bracket 52 connects the suction opening of the fuel pump and the inside of the filter part 72 and introduces fuel with foreign matter eliminated by the filter part 72 to the fuel pump. The filter body 70 is composed of filter parts 72, 74 axially superposed. The filter parts 72 and 74 use high oil resistant PET-made non-woven fabric as a filter medium, and are connected to each other through a welding part 77 arranged therebetween. The filter parts 72, 74 reduce vibration transmitted from the fuel pump to the suction filter 50. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a suction filter that removes foreign matters in fuel sucked by a fuel pump and a fuel supply device using the suction filter.

In order to remove foreign matters in the fuel sucked by the fuel pump from the fuel tank, it is known to install a suction filter on the suction port side of the fuel pump and install it in the fuel tank (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
However, since the fuel pump sucks and boosts the fuel by rotating a rotating member such as an impeller with a motor or the like that is an electric drive unit, vibration is generated as the impeller rotates. This vibration is transmitted from the suction filter attached to the suction port side of the fuel pump to the fuel tank with which the suction filter is in contact, and may be transmitted to the outside of the fuel tank as noise. Here, the fuel tank represents a tank in which the filter main body of the suction filter contacts the inner wall surface and the fuel pump sucks fuel. Therefore, when the fuel pump is installed in a sub tank that is installed in the main tank and pumps fuel from the main tank by a jet pump or the like, the sub tank may be a fuel tank, or a sub tank is installed in the main tank. If not, the main tank may be a fuel tank.

JP 2004-92403 A

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a suction filter that reduces vibration transmitted from a fuel pump to a fuel tank, and a fuel supply device using the suction filter.

  According to invention of Claim 1-5, since the filter main body of a suction filter has piled up at least 2 or more filter parts in the direction of an axis, compared with the case where a filter main part is formed with one filter part, The effect of reducing the vibration of the fuel pump with the suction filter is enhanced. As a result, since the vibration transmitted from the suction filter to the fuel tank with which the filter main body abuts is reduced, it is possible to suppress the vibration of the fuel pump from being generated as noise from the fuel tank.

  Here, the overlapping of the filter portions in the axial direction means that the filter portions are stacked in the contact direction in which the suction filter contacts the inner wall surface of the fuel tank. In addition, it is not necessary to remove all foreign matters in the fuel by the filter portions that are stacked two or more in the axial direction, and it is sufficient that foreign matters are removed by at least one filter portion that introduces fuel into the intake port of the fuel pump.

By the way, since the nonwoven fabric is entangled with each other and many spaces are formed between the fibers, the vibration reducing effect is high. Therefore, the vibration transmitted from the fuel pump to the fuel tank can be effectively reduced by using the nonwoven fabric as the filter medium of the filter portion as in the invention described in claim 2.
According to the invention of claim 3, since the clearance is formed between the filter parts adjacent in the axial direction, in the filter body of the configuration in which two or more filter parts are stacked in the axial direction, The contact area where the filter portion comes into contact with the fuel can be increased as much as possible. Therefore, the suction area through which the filter body sucks fuel can be increased as much as possible.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the filter portions adjacent in the axial direction are overlapped in the axial direction with the welded portions of the outer peripheral edges separated from each other, and in the filter portion that contacts the inner wall surface of the fuel tank. The welded portion is located in a direction away from the inner wall surface rather than a contact surface that contacts the inner wall surface of the fuel tank. As described above, since the welded parts having no elasticity or the welded part and the inner wall surface of the fuel tank are prevented from coming into contact with each other, it is possible to prevent vibration from being transmitted from the welded part to the fuel tank.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
A fuel supply apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG.
The fuel supply device 10 includes a flange 12 as a lid member, a sub tank 20, a fuel pump 30, a fuel filter 40, a pressure regulator 42, a suction filter 50, and the like. In the first embodiment, the sub tank 20 corresponds to the fuel tank described in the claims. The fuel supply device 10 is an in-tank fuel supply device in which components other than the flange 12 are accommodated in the main tank 2.

  The flange 12 closes the opening 3 formed in the upper wall of the main tank 2. The flange 12 is provided with a fuel discharge pipe 14 and the like. The flange 12 has a disk shape, and one end of the two shafts 16 is press-fitted into the flange 12. The other end of the shaft 16 is loosely inserted into the cover 22 of the sub tank 20. The spring 18 is fitted on the outer periphery of the shaft 16 and applies a load to the cover 22 and the sub tank 20 in a direction away from the flange 12. Therefore, the sub tank 20 is pressed against the bottom inner wall surface 4 of the main tank 2 by the load of the spring 18 in a state where the fuel supply device 10 is attached to the main tank 2.

  In the fuel pump 30, a motor (not shown) as an electric drive unit rotates and drives an impeller (not shown) as a rotating member, thereby sucking the fuel in the sub tank 20 and increasing the pressure. Foreign fuel is removed from the fuel pump 30 by being pressurized and discharged, and the pressure is adjusted by the pressure regulator 42. The fuel regulated by the pressure regulator 42 passes through the bellows pipe 44 and is supplied from the fuel discharge pipe 14 to the outside of the main tank 2. The pressure regulator 42 is attached to the fuel filter 40 by being supported by the holder 54 of the bracket 52 shown in FIG.

  The suction filter 50 has a bracket 52 and a filter body 70. The bracket 52 as an attachment member is formed of resin, and the suction filter 50 is attached to the suction port side of the fuel pump 30 by the claw 56 being snap-fit coupled to the fuel filter 40. The fuel introduction port 58 of the bracket 52 connects the suction port of the fuel pump 30 and the inside of the filter unit 72, and guides the fuel from which foreign matters have been removed by the filter unit 72 to the fuel pump 30. The fuel discharge port 60 of the bracket 52 discharges air in the fuel generated in the pump part of the fuel pump 30 from the pump part. The bone part 62 of the bracket 52 extends in three directions from the central part. The bone part 62 is installed in the filter part 72 of the filter main body 70 and holds a predetermined space in the filter part 72.

  The filter main body 70 is formed by overlapping two filter portions 72 and 74 in the axial direction. The filter parts 72 and 74 use PET (polyethylene terephthalate) non-woven fabric having high oil resistance as a filter medium. The welded portions 73 and 75 on the outer peripheral edges of the filter portions 72 and 74 are welded at a high frequency. The welded portions 73 and 75 are indicated by hatching on the outer peripheral edges of the filter portions 72 and 74 in FIG. Since a part of the outer peripheral edge of the filter portion 72 is a portion where the nonwoven fabric is bent, it is not necessary to weld and seal it. Therefore, a part of the outer peripheral edge of the filter part 72 that is bending the nonwoven fabric is not welded, and a part of the welded part 73 is interrupted. Fuel is also sucked into the filter portion 72 from a part of the outer peripheral edge of the filter portion 72 that is not welded. The filter part 72 and the filter part 74 are joined by a weld part 77 at the center. The filter part 72 and the filter part 74 are not welded on the outer peripheral side of the weld part 77, and a clearance 200 is formed between the filter part 72 and the filter part 74 on the outer peripheral side of the weld part 77. The welding part 73 of the filter part 72 and the welding part 75 of the filter part 74 are separated so as not to contact each other. Further, the welded portion 75 of the filter portion 74 is farther from the bottom inner wall surface 21 than the contact surface 76 that contacts the bottom inner wall surface 21 of the sub tank 20. The fuel in the sub-tank 20 is sucked into the filter unit 72 from the periphery of the filter unit 72 including the clearance 200, excluding the welded portion 77, and foreign matter is removed. Since the filter portion 74 is coupled to the filter portion 72 at the weld portion 77 at the center portion, fuel is not sucked from the filter portion 74 into the fuel pump 30, but functions as a vibration reduction portion of the filter body 70.

  In the first embodiment, the filter unit 72 and the filter unit 74 are overlapped in the axial direction to form the filter body 70, so that the filter unit 74 is not overlapped with the filter unit 72 in the axial direction, and only the filter unit 72 is configured. In comparison, the vibration transmitted from the fuel pump 30 to the suction filter 50 can be effectively reduced by the filter body 70. In particular, the nonwoven fabric used as the filter medium of the filter parts 72 and 74 has a high vibration reduction effect because the fibers are entangled and a large number of spaces are formed between the fibers. Thereby, since the vibration transmitted from the fuel pump 30 to the sub tank 20 through the suction filter 50 can be reduced, it can be suppressed that the vibration of the fuel pump 30 is transmitted to the sub tank 20 and the main tank 2 and becomes noise.

Further, since the welded parts 73 and 75 of the filter parts 72 and 74 are not in contact with each other and the welded part 75 is not in contact with the bottom inner wall surface 21 of the sub tank 20, the welded parts 73 and 75 that are not elastic and easily transmit vibration are provided. It is possible to prevent the vibration of the fuel pump 30 from being transmitted to the sub tank 20 and the main tank 2.
Here, the frequency of the vibration generated with the rotation of the impeller of the fuel pump 30 is higher than the frequency at which the vibration isolating rubber reduces the vibration, and is about several KHz. Therefore, the vibration-proof rubber cannot sufficiently reduce the vibration of the fuel pump 30. Further, a material having low oil resistance such as urethane foam cannot be used as a material for reducing the vibration of the fuel pump even if the vibration reducing effect is high. Therefore, in the first embodiment, a filter portion 74 formed of a PET non-woven fabric used as a filter medium for the suction filter 50 is overlapped in the axial direction of the filter portion 72 to ensure high oil resistance and about several KHz. The vibration of the fuel pump 30 can be reduced.

  Further, since the clearance 200 is formed on the outer peripheral side of the welded portion 77 between the filter portion 72 and the filter portion 74, the filter portion 72 is configured so that the filter portion 72 and the filter portion 74 are overlapped in the axial direction. Can be brought into contact with the fuel and the area for sucking in the fuel can be increased as much as possible.

(Second to fourth embodiments)
A second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 3, a third embodiment is shown in FIG. 4, and a fourth embodiment is shown in FIG. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to substantially the same component as embodiment mentioned above.
The filter body 82 of the suction filter 80 shown in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 3 is obtained by further overlapping the filter part 74 on the bottom part in the axial direction of the filter body 70 of the first embodiment and triple the filter part. . The two filter parts 74 and the filter part 72 and the filter part 74 are joined by welding the central part.

  The filter main body 92 of the suction filter 90 of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 4 has a filter portion 96 thinner than the filter portion 94 on the bottom side of the filter portion 94 having the same size as the filter portion 72 of the first embodiment. Overlapping in the axial direction. The boundary between the filter unit 94 and the filter unit 96 is indicated by a dotted line 210 in FIG. The outer peripheral edge of the filter part 96 is pulled up toward the filter part 94, and the outer peripheral edge of the filter part 94 and the filter part 96 is welded together in the welded part 97. In this configuration, the fuel pump 30 can suck fuel not only from the filter unit 94 but also from the filter unit 96. Further, part of the outer peripheral edge of the filter portions 94 and 96 is a portion where the nonwoven fabric is bent, so there is no need to weld and seal it. Therefore, a part of the outer peripheral edge of the filter parts 94 and 96 that are bending the nonwoven fabric is not welded, and a part of the welded part 97 is interrupted in the circumferential direction. Fuel is also sucked from a part of the outer peripheral edge of the filter parts 94 and 96 that are not welded. The bone portion 62 of the bracket 52 is installed in the filter portion 94 and secures a predetermined space in the filter portion 94.

  The fuel supply device 100 according to the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is an in-tank type fuel supply device in which the fuel pump 30 is directly installed in the main tank 2 without installing the fuel pump 30 in the sub tank. The flange 12 supports the fuel filter 40 and the fuel pump 30 in the main tank 2 by a support portion 102. The filter body 70 of the suction filter 50 is in contact with the bottom inner wall surface 4 of the fuel tank. In the fourth embodiment, the main tank 2 corresponds to the fuel tank described in the claims.

(Other embodiments)
In the present invention, in the above embodiment, a non-woven fabric made of another material having high oil resistance may be used instead of the non-woven fabric made of PET used as the filter medium of the filter section. Moreover, not only a nonwoven fabric but nylon resin, POM (polyacetal) resin, etc. may be used as a filter medium.
As described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described plurality of embodiments, and can be applied to various embodiments without departing from the gist thereof.

(A) is the figure which looked at the suction filter of 1st Embodiment from the fuel pump side, (B) is the B direction arrow directional view of (A), (C) is the C direction arrow directional view of (B). Sectional drawing which shows the fuel supply apparatus of 1st Embodiment. The figure which looked at the suction filter of 2nd Embodiment from the same direction as (B) of FIG. (A) is the figure which looked at the suction filter of 3rd Embodiment from the fuel pump side, (B) is the B direction arrow directional view of (A), (C) is the C direction arrow directional view of (B). Sectional drawing which shows the fuel supply apparatus of 4th Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

2: Main tank (fuel tank), 4: Bottom inner wall surface, 10, 100: Fuel supply device, 20: Sub tank (fuel tank), 21: Bottom inner wall surface, 30: Fuel pump, 50, 80, 90: Suction filter , 52: Bracket (mounting member), 70, 82, 92: Filter body, 72, 74, 94, 96: Filter portion, 73, 75, 97: Welded portion, 76: Contact surface, 200: Clearance

Claims (5)

A filter main body that has a filter portion that is overlapped at least two in the axial direction, is placed in contact with the inner wall surface of the fuel tank, and removes foreign matter in the fuel of the fuel tank sucked by the fuel pump;
An attachment member for attaching the filter body to the suction port side of the fuel pump;
Suction filter with   The suction filter according to claim 1, wherein the filter medium of the filter portion is a nonwoven fabric.   The suction filter according to claim 1, wherein a clearance is formed between the filter portions adjacent in the axial direction.   The filter portions are each welded at the outer peripheral edge, and the filter portions adjacent in the axial direction are overlapped in the axial direction with the weld portions at the outer peripheral edges separated from each other, and the inner wall surface of the fuel tank 4. The suction filter according to claim 1, wherein the welded portion is positioned in a direction away from the inner wall surface with respect to the abutting surface in contact with the inner wall surface. Suction filter according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
An electrically driven fuel pump installed in the fuel tank and sucking fuel in the fuel tank through the suction filter;
A fuel supply device comprising:

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