JP2009173300A - Fuel feeding apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately suck vapor generated in a tank into which a fuel is fed. <P>SOLUTION: A fuel feeding apparatus 10 has a vapor sucking opening 40 provided at its fuel feeding nozzle 13. The vapor sucking opening 40 communicates with one end of a vapor sucking tube 22 extended and formed along a fuel feeding hose 14 through a vapor sucking pipe 32 and a universal coupling 34, and the other end of the vapor sucking tube 22 is connected with a vapor sucking pipe line 23 through a coupler 16 in a box body 12. The vapor sucking pipe line 23 is connected to a sucking opening of a vapor sucking pump 28, and the other end of the vapor sucking pipe line 24 connected to a delivering opening of the vapor sucking pump 28 is communicated with an underground tank 18. A rotating shaft 50 of a flow meter 19 passes through the vapor sucking pump 28 as a rotor shaft of the vapor sucking pump 28. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a fuel supply apparatus, and more particularly to a fuel supply apparatus configured to accurately suck and collect vapor generated when fuel is supplied to a fuel supply body.

  For example, in a fuel supply device installed in a fuel supply station or the like, a fuel supply nozzle is connected to a fuel supply path via a fuel supply hose, and the fuel supply nozzle is opened by opening a nozzle lever of the fuel supply nozzle. The built-in valve mechanism is opened so that fuel can be supplied.

  When a fuel supply nozzle discharge pipe is inserted into a fuel supply port of a fuel tank (fueled supply body) mounted on a vehicle to supply fuel, the fuel is supplied and vapor (oil vapor) is supplied in the fuel tank. Will occur. Then, the liquid level in the fuel tank rises, and the vapor accumulated in the upper space in the tank is released into the atmosphere from the fuel supply port.

  For this reason, development of a fuel supply device having a vapor recovery mechanism that collects vapor in the tank during fuel supply has been underway (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In this type of fuel supply device, the fuel supply nozzle is provided with a vapor suction line for collecting vapor generated in the tank that is supplying fuel, and the device main body is provided with a flow meter and a fuel supply pump. A conduit and a vapor suction pump connected to the vapor suction conduit are provided.

  The vapor suction pump is driven so as to obtain the same suction amount as the instantaneous discharge amount of the fuel supply pump. As a result, the vapor in the fuel tank is sucked and collected in the underground tank with a suction amount proportional to the supply amount supplied to the fuel tank.

In addition, a fluid motor that is rotationally driven according to the flow rate of the fuel is provided in the fuel supply line that supplies fuel instead of the motor that drives the vapor suction pump, and the rotational force of the fluid motor is transmitted to the rotor of the vapor suction pump. Some are configured to do so.
JP 2002-68399 A

  However, in the configuration in which the fluid pump is provided in the fuel supply pipe as described above, the rotor of the fluid motor is driven to rotate at a rotational speed corresponding to the amount of fuel supplied. When leakage occurs due to wear of the vane sliding portion, there is a problem that it becomes difficult to drive the rotor of the vapor suction pump at a rotational speed proportional to the fuel supply amount.

  Further, in the configuration using the fluid motor as described above, in order to minimize the leakage at the vane portion of the fluid motor, it is necessary to considerably increase the machining accuracy of the vane and the inner wall of the casing on which the vane slides. It becomes expensive.

  In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a fuel supply device that solves the above-described problems.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following means.

  The present invention includes a nozzle that supplies fuel to a fuel supply body, a pump that sends fuel to the nozzle, a fuel supply line that connects between the nozzle and the pump, and the fuel supply line. A flow meter that has a rotating shaft that rotates according to the flow rate of the circulating fuel, and that measures the amount of fuel supplied to the fuel supply body from the rotation of the rotating shaft, and a fuel supply port of the nozzle at one end A vapor suction line having an opening in the vicinity and having the other end connected to the suction port of the vapor suction pump; and a vapor suction pump connected to the vapor suction line and sucking the vapor generated in the fuel supply body; The vapor suction pump has a rotor that rotates with the rotation of the rotation shaft of the flowmeter as a power source, and the fuel supply is supplied through the vapor suction line by the rotation of the rotor. Bae generated in the body By sucking, it is to solve the above problems.

  The vapor suction pump may be a vane pump that uses a rotation shaft of the flowmeter as a rotor shaft.

  According to the present invention, since the vapor suction pump rotates using the rotation of the flow meter as a power source, the rotation of the flow meter originally manufactured with high accuracy is transmitted to the rotor of the vapor suction pump, thereby the rotor of the vapor suction pump. The number of revolutions can be set to a number of revolutions proportional to the fuel supply amount, and the vapor generated in the fuel-supplied supply body can be accurately and accurately sucked through the vapor suction line.

  Moreover, the number of parts for driving the vapor suction pump can be reduced by using the rotating shaft of the flowmeter as a rotor.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a fuel supply apparatus according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the fuel supply device 10 is installed at a fuel supply station that supplies fuel to the vehicle 16, and vapor (oil vapor) generated in the fuel tank 30 of the vehicle 16 during fuel supply. It has a vapor recovery function to collect. A fuel supply hose 14 connected to the fuel supply nozzle 13 is drawn out on the side surface of the housing 12 of the fuel supply device 10. The fuel supply nozzle 13 is usually hooked on a nozzle hook 15 provided on the side surface of the housing 12.

  For example, when the customer's vehicle 16 arrives at the fuel supply station, the fuel supply nozzle 13 is removed from the nozzle hook 15 and inserted into the fuel supply port 31 of the fuel tank (fueled supply body) 30 of the vehicle 16.

  The nozzle switch 15 a provided in the nozzle hook 15 is turned on from off when the fuel supply nozzle 13 is removed from the nozzle hook 15, and is turned on from off when the fuel supply nozzle 13 is returned to the nozzle hook 15. Switch.

  The fuel supply hose 14 has a double structure in which the vapor suction tube 22 is inserted, and is connected to the fuel supply line 17 through a joint 27 in the housing 12. A tip 17a of the fuel supply pipe 17 extends and is inserted into an underground tank 18 as a fuel storage tank. Further, an electromagnetic valve 26, a flow meter 19, and a fuel supply pump 20 are arranged in the middle of the fuel supply pipe 17.

  The underground tank 18 is provided for each type of fuel. For example, liquid fuel such as regular gasoline is stored, and underground tanks for other fuels are also provided separately although not shown. Further, the housing 12 is provided with a plurality of fuel supply nozzles corresponding to each type of fuel, but in FIG. 1, only one fuel supply nozzle 13 is shown for convenience of explanation.

  A vapor suction port 40 is provided at the base of the discharge pipe 36 of the fuel supply nozzle 13. Therefore, when the discharge pipe 26 and the vapor suction port 40 of the fuel supply nozzle 13 are inserted into the fuel supply port 31, the vapor (oil vapor) in the fuel tank 30 can be sucked into the vapor suction port 40. The vapor suction port 40 communicates with one end of the vapor suction tube 22 formed along the fuel supply hose 14 via the vapor suction tube 32 and the universal joint 34, and the other end of the vapor suction tube 22. Is connected to the vapor suction line 23 through the joint 16 in the housing 12.

  The vapor suction line 23 is connected to the suction port of the vapor suction pump 28, and the other end of the vapor suction line 24 connected to the discharge port of the vapor suction pump 28 is connected to the underground tank 18. The rotation shaft 50 of the flow meter 19 passes through the vapor suction pump 28 as the rotor shaft of the vapor suction pump 28. Therefore, the rotor of the vapor suction pump 28 is driven by the rotary shaft 50 when the flow meter 19 measures the flow rate. Accordingly, the vapor suction pump 28 is driven at a rotational speed proportional to the fuel supply amount (flow rate measured by the flow meter 19) discharged from the fuel supply nozzle 13, and the fuel supply from the fuel supply nozzle 13 is performed. When is stopped, vapor suction is also stopped.

  A control device 25 is supplied with each signal output from the nozzle switch 15a and the pulse transmitter 48 of the flow meter 19, opens the electromagnetic valve 26, and controls the pump motor 20a of the fuel supply pump 20, The current fuel supply amount measured is displayed on the display 21 output from the pulse transmitter 48 of the flow meter 19. Further, when the nozzle switch 15a is turned off, the control device 25 stops the pump motor 20a and closes the electromagnetic valve 26.

  Here, the attachment state of the vapor suction pump 28 will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a side view showing a state in which the vapor suction pump 28 is disposed on the flow meter 19. As shown in FIG. 2, the rotation shaft 50 of the flow meter 19 is assembled as the rotor shaft of the vapor suction pump 28. The flow meter 19 is composed of a piston-type flow meter, and protrudes so that the rotation shaft 50 extends upward (sideward in FIG. 1) from the center of the upper surface.

  The rotary shaft 50 extends through the vapor suction pump 28 to above the vapor suction pump 28, and is connected to the shaft 54 of the flow rate pulse transmitter 52 at its tip. The flow rate pulse transmitter 52 is supported by a bracket 56 that is horizontally mounted in the housing 12.

  Therefore, the flow rate pulse transmitter 52 receives the rotation of the rotation shaft 50 of the flow meter 19 that rotates at a rotation number proportional to the measured flow rate, and outputs the flow rate pulse to the control device 25. The control device 25 integrates the flow rate pulses from the pulse transmitter 52 to obtain an integrated flow rate value, and displays the numerical value on the display unit 21.

  FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view of the vapor suction pump 28. FIG. 3B is a longitudinal sectional view of the vapor suction pump 28. As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the vapor suction pump 28 includes a casing 60, a pump chamber 62 formed inside the casing 60, a rotor 64 inserted into the pump chamber 62, and a radial to the rotor 64. It consists of six vanes 66 arranged.

  The pump chamber 62 is surrounded by an inner wall 68 formed in a circular shape when viewed from above, and has a vapor suction port 70 and a vapor discharge port 72 formed in a tangential direction of the inner wall 68. The vapor suction port 70 is connected to the upstream vapor suction line 23, and the vapor discharge port 72 is connected to the downstream vapor suction line 2. The vapor suction port 70 and the vapor discharge port 72 are provided in a direction of 180 ° with respect to the pump chamber 62, and are configured so that the suction side vapor and the discharge side vapor are not mixed.

  Further, the rotating shaft 50 is supported by bearings 74 and 76 provided on the bottom plate and the top plate of the casing 60 so as to be located at a distance L from the center O of the pump chamber 62. Therefore, the rotor 64 connected to the rotating shaft 50 rotates eccentrically by an eccentric amount of the distance L when the rotating shaft 50 rotates. As a result, the gap between the outer periphery of the rotor 64 and the inner wall 68 differs depending on the direction, so that the vane 66 slidably held in the radial groove 80 of the rotor 64 is displaced in the radial direction according to the rotational position, and thus each vane. The volume of each chamber 82 partitioned between 66 is increased or decreased to suck and discharge the vapor.

  In this embodiment, the rotary shaft 50 is formed so as to extend through the rotor 64 and above the vapor suction pump 28. However, the rotary shaft 50 is shortened and rotated to the rotor shaft that passes through the rotor 64. The shafts may be combined.

  Thus, since the rotary shaft 50 of the flow meter 19 is attached as the rotor shaft, the vapor suction pump 28 has the rotor 64 supplied with the oil liquid supplied from the fuel supply nozzle 13 to the fuel tank 30 (flow rate). It is driven at a rotational speed proportional to Moreover, since the flow meter 19 is originally configured to have high measurement accuracy, the rotation accuracy of the rotary shaft 50 is considerably high. Therefore, the rotor 64 of the vapor suction pump 28 rotates at a rotational speed that is exactly proportional to the amount of oil supplied by the rotation of the rotating shaft 50, so that the amount of vapor suction (flow rate) is discharged from the fuel supply nozzle 13. It becomes a value equal to the supplied fuel amount.

  Therefore, the vapor generated in the tank when the fuel discharged from the fuel supply nozzle 13 is supplied to the fuel tank 30 is measured by the flow rate corresponding to the rotational speed of the rotor 64 of the vapor suction pump 28, that is, by the flow meter 19. The fuel is sucked at the same flow rate as the supplied fuel amount and collected in the underground tank 18.

  In particular, even when the fuel discharged from the fuel supply nozzle 13 has a small flow rate, the rotation of the rotary shaft 50 of the precisely processed flow meter 19 is proportional to the small flow rate, and this accurate rotation is caused by the vapor suction pump 28. Since the rotor 64 is driven, the vapor generated in the fuel tank 30 can be sucked at the same flow rate as the fuel supply amount.

  Here, a modified example will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a side view showing a modification. In FIG. 4, the same parts as those in the above embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the modification includes a speed increasing mechanism 90 that speeds up the rotation of the rotating shaft 50. The speed increasing mechanism 90 is provided on the rotating shaft 50 of the flow meter 19 and is provided on the main driving side gear 92 made of a large diameter gear and the rotor shaft 94 of the vapor suction pump 28, and has a small diameter driven to mesh with the main driving side gear 92. Side gear 96. The speed increasing mechanism 90 is interposed between the rotating shaft 50 and the rotor shaft 94 of the vapor suction pump 28 and has a speed increasing ratio determined by the gear ratio between the main driving side gear 92 and the driven side gear 96.

  In addition, the flow rate pulse transmitter 52 and the vapor suction pump 28 are supported by a bracket 56 that is horizontally mounted in the housing 12.

  Therefore, the rotation of the rotating shaft 50 is converted to a rotational speed increased at a constant rate by the speed increasing ratio of the speed increasing mechanism 90 and transmitted to the rotor shaft 94. As a result, the vapor suction force can be maintained even when a small-sized vapor suction pump 28 is used, so that the mounting space in the housing 12 can be used effectively.

  Further, the speed increasing mechanism 90 is not limited to the combination of the main driving gear 92 and the driven gear 96, and for example, a belt is wound between a large diameter pulley and a small diameter pulley to rotate the rotating shaft 50. A configuration in which the speed is increased to a predetermined ratio depending on the diameter ratio between the large diameter pulley and the small diameter pulley may be used.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the oil liquid is supplied has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is also applied to the case where the vapor generated when supplying liquid fuel other than the oil liquid is sucked. Of course, you can.

It is a block diagram which shows one Example of the fuel supply apparatus by this invention. 4 is a side view showing a state in which a vapor suction pump 28 is arranged on the flow meter 19. FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view of a vapor suction pump 28. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a vapor suction pump 28. FIG. It is a side view which shows a modification.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Fuel supply apparatus 12 Housing | casing 13 Fuel supply nozzle 14 Fuel supply hose 15 Nozzle hook 16 Vehicle 17 Fuel supply line 18 Underground tank 19 Flowmeter 20 Fuel supply pump 22 Vapor suction tubes 23 and 24 Vapor suction pipe 25 Control apparatus 28 Vapor Suction pump 30 Fuel tank 31 Fuel supply port 40 Vapor suction port 48 Pulse transmitter 50 Rotating shaft 52 Flow rate pulse transmitter 60 Casing 62 Pump chamber 64 Rotor 66 Vane 70 Vapor suction port 72 Vapor discharge port 90 Speed increasing mechanism 92 Drive side gear 94 Rotor shaft 96 Driven side gear

Claims (2)

A nozzle for supplying fuel to the fuel supply body;
A pump for feeding fuel to the nozzle;
A fuel supply line connecting between the nozzle and the pump;
A flowmeter that has a rotating shaft that rotates in accordance with the flow rate of fuel flowing through the fuel supply pipe, and that measures the amount of fuel supplied to the fuel supply body from the rotation of the rotating shaft;
A vapor suction line having one end opened near the fuel supply port of the nozzle and the other end connected to the suction port of the vapor suction pump;
A vapor suction pump connected to the vapor suction line and sucking the vapor generated in the fuel supply body;
In a fuel supply device having
The vapor suction pump has a rotor that rotates with the rotation of the rotation shaft of the flow meter as a power source, and sucks the vapor generated in the fuel supply body through the vapor suction line by the rotation of the rotor. The fuel supply apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned.   The fuel supply device according to claim 1, wherein the vapor suction pump is a vane pump that uses a rotation shaft of the flowmeter as a rotor shaft.

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