JP2010089702A - Inlet and washer tank with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inlet capable of easily draining a cleaning fluid staying behind inside a tank body, and to provide a washer tank using the inlet. <P>SOLUTION: This invention relates to a cylindrical inlet 3 connected to the tank body 2 storing the cleaning fluid. The inlet 3 includes a bent part 31 formed by bending the sidewall 30 of the inlet 3, and a straight tube part 32 made by forming the sidewall 30 into a substantially straight line shape below the bent part 31. The straight tube part 32 includes a flange part 320 hollow inside formed by protruding the sidewall 30 radially outward. The flange part 320 is configured to be positioned by contacting a contact part 320a positioned in the lower face thereof with the external surface 200 of the rim of an opening hole 20 arranged in the tank body 2. Above the flange part 320, a reduced diameter part 321 arranged adjacently to the flange part 320 is formed. Moreover, the reduced diameter part 321 is formed to be reduced in the inner diameter of the sidewall 30 toward the flange part 320. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an inlet connected to a tank body for storing a cleaning liquid for cleaning glass of a vehicle or the like, and a washer tank provided with the inlet.

Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 6, for example, a washer tank 91 for storing a cleaning liquid for cleaning a windshield or rear glass of a vehicle or the like is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).
The washer tank 91 includes a tank main body 92 that stores the cleaning liquid and a cylindrical inlet 93 that is connected to the tank main body 92.

The inlet 93 has at least a bent portion 931 formed by bending the side wall of the inlet 93 and a straight pipe portion 932 formed by forming the side wall substantially linearly below the bent portion 931.
And this straight pipe | tube part 932 has the collar part 931 by which an inner side is formed hollow by making a side wall protrude toward radial direction outer side.
The flange 931 is configured such that the contact portion 931 a located on the lower surface thereof can be positioned by contacting the outer peripheral surface 921 of the opening hole 920 provided in the tank main body 92.

JP 2004-74905 A

However, the conventional washer tank 91 has the following problems. That is, when dismantling the vehicle or the like, it is necessary to remove the cleaning liquid remaining inside the tank main body 92 without removing the inlet 93 from the vehicle or the like. In this case, the hose tip 941 that is the tip of the suction hose 94 moves along the side wall 930 of the inlet 93 toward the tank main body 92. Here, since the flange portion 931 is formed hollow as described above, the hose tip 941 enters the hollow portion of the flange portion 931 and is caught by the contact portion 931a as shown in FIG. There was a case. For this reason, the suction hose 94 may not be easily inserted into the tank body 92.
For this reason, in the conventional inlet 93, it was not easy to extract the cleaning liquid remaining inside the tank main body 92.

  The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an inlet that can easily extract the cleaning liquid remaining inside the tank body, and a washer tank equipped with the inlet.

The first invention is a cylindrical inlet connected to the tank body for storing the cleaning liquid,
At least a bent portion formed by bending the side wall of the inlet, and a straight pipe portion formed by forming the side wall substantially linearly below the bent portion,
The straight pipe portion has a flange portion that is formed hollow inside by causing the side wall to protrude radially outward,
The flange portion is configured to be able to be positioned by bringing a contact portion located on a lower surface thereof into contact with an outer peripheral surface of an opening hole provided in the tank body,
Above the collar part, a reduced diameter part arranged adjacent to the collar part is formed,
The diameter-reduced portion is in the inlet characterized in that the inner diameter of the side wall becomes smaller as the flange portion is approached (Claim 1).

The function and effect of the present invention will be described.
The reduced diameter portion is disposed adjacent to the flange portion above the flange portion, and is formed so that the inner diameter of the side wall decreases as the flange portion is approached. Thereby, the inlet which can extract easily the washing | cleaning liquid which remains inside the tank main body which stores a washing | cleaning liquid can be obtained.
That is, when dismantling a vehicle or the like, it is necessary to remove the cleaning liquid remaining in the tank body without removing the inlet from the washer tank. At this time, when a suction hose for extracting the cleaning liquid is inserted into the inlet, the tip of the suction hose, which is the tip of the suction hose, moves toward the tank body along the side wall of the inlet.

Here, as described above, the reduced diameter portion is formed so that the inner diameter of the side wall becomes smaller as it approaches the collar portion. That is, the reduced diameter portion is formed such that the inner side of the side wall is inclined toward the inner side in the radial direction as approaching the flange portion. For this reason, by moving a hose front-end | tip part along the shape of a reduced diameter part, the said front-end | tip part can be made to face to the radial inside of a straight pipe part, ie, an axial center side. Thereby, it can suppress that a hose front-end | tip part and a collar part contact, and can avoid the malfunction that a hose front-end | tip part enters into the hollow part inside a collar part, and is caught in a contact part. .
As a result, the suction hose can be easily inserted into the tank body, and the cleaning liquid remaining inside the tank body can be easily extracted without removing the inlet even when the vehicle or the like is disassembled.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an inlet that can easily extract the cleaning liquid remaining inside the tank body.

A second invention is a washer tank comprising the inlet according to any one of claims 1 to 6 and the tank main body for storing the cleaning liquid (invention 7).
In this case, it is possible to obtain a washer tank having an inlet from which the cleaning liquid remaining inside the tank body can be easily extracted.

In the present specification, the side of the inlet in which the inlet is inserted into the tank body will be described as the lower side, and the opposite side will be described as the upper side.
1st and 2nd invention WHEREIN: The said washing | cleaning liquid wash | cleans windshields or rear glass, etc., such as a vehicle, for example.
The inlet can be formed, for example, by blow molding using PP (polypropylene), for example.

Moreover, it is preferable that the inner diameter of the side wall in the lowermost part of the reduced diameter portion is smaller than the inner diameter of the side wall in the contact portion.
In this case, it is possible to sufficiently suppress the hose tip from being caught by the contact portion. As a result, the suction hose can be more easily inserted into the tank body.

Moreover, it is preferable that the said diameter reduction part is formed so that the internal diameter of the said side wall in the lowest part may become 6-10 mm smaller than the internal diameter of the said side wall in the said contact part.
In this case, it is possible to further suppress the hose tip from being caught by the contact portion.

On the other hand, if the inner diameter of the reduced diameter portion is made smaller than the inner diameter of the contact portion by less than 6 mm, the hose tip may be caught by the contact portion.
Further, when the inner diameter of the reduced diameter portion is made smaller than the inner diameter of the contact portion by more than 10 mm, the cleaning liquid may not easily enter the tank body.
There is a risk of problems.

Further, when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the straight pipe portion, the axial distance between the lowermost portion of the reduced diameter portion and the uppermost portion of the reduced diameter portion is preferably 15 mm or more ( Claim 4).
Even in this case, it is possible to further suppress the hose tip from being caught by the contact portion. The axial distance is particularly preferably 15 to 30 mm.
On the other hand, when the axial distance is less than 15 mm, the tip of the hose may be caught by the contact portion.

Moreover, it is preferable that the said diameter reduction part is formed so that the outline inside the said side wall may be represented with a curve in the cross section containing the axial direction of the said straight pipe part.
In this case, by moving along the side wall of the reduced diameter portion formed in a curved shape, the tip of the hose can be easily directed toward the axis of the straight pipe portion. As a result, the suction hose can be more easily inserted into the tank body.

The diameter-reduced portion may be formed such that a contour line inside the side wall is represented by a straight line in a cross section including the axial direction of the straight pipe portion.
Even in this case, the tip of the hose can be easily directed to the axial center side of the straight pipe portion by moving along the side wall of the reduced diameter portion formed in a straight line.
Further, in this case, the moldability of the inlet can be improved as compared with the case where the contour line is formed in a curved shape.

An embodiment according to the inlet of the present invention and a washer tank equipped with the inlet will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, this example relates to a cylindrical inlet 3 connected to a tank body 2 that stores a cleaning liquid for cleaning glass (see reference symbol W in FIG. 1).

The inlet 3 has a bent part 31 formed by bending the side wall 30 of the inlet 3 and a straight pipe part 32 formed by forming the side wall 30 in a straight line below the bent part 31.
The straight pipe portion 32 has a flange portion 320 that is formed hollow inside by causing the side wall 30 to protrude outward in the radial direction.
The flange portion 320 is configured to be positioned by bringing the contact portion 320 a located on the lower surface thereof into contact with the outer peripheral surface 200 of the opening hole 20 provided in the tank body 2.

A reduced diameter portion 321 disposed adjacent to the flange portion 320 is formed above the flange portion 320.
Further, the reduced diameter portion 321 is formed so that the inner diameter of the side wall 30 becomes smaller toward the flange portion 320.

Moreover, the washer tank 1 of this example has the said inlet 3 and the tank main body 2 which stores the said washing | cleaning liquid W, as shown in FIGS. 1-3.
The washer tank 1 is formed by fitting most of the straight pipe portion 32 formed below the inlet 3 into the tank body 2.
The washer tank 1 is provided for storing a cleaning liquid W for cleaning a windshield or rear glass of a vehicle, for example.

Details will be described below.
In the following description, for convenience of explanation, the upper side of the paper in FIG. 1 will be described as the upper side, and the opposite side will be described as the lower side.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the washer tank 1 includes a tank body 2 made of, for example, PP (polypropylene) and formed in a box shape.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a mounting bracket 22 for mounting to a vehicle or the like is formed on the upper surface of the tank body 2, and an opening hole 20 for inserting the inlet 3 is formed. Yes.

A packing 21 made of, for example, EPPM (ethylene propylene rubber) is fitted into the outer peripheral surface 200 of the opening hole 20.
As shown in FIGS. 1, 4, and 5, the contact portion 320 a of the flange portion 320 formed on the straight pipe portion 32 of the inlet 3 contacts the upper surface of the packing 21.

Next, the inlet 3 will be described in detail.
The inlet 3 can be formed by blow molding using, for example, PP (polypropylene).
The inlet 3 is configured such that the cleaning liquid W can be injected from a receiving port 330 whose diameter is increased in a tapered shape as the side wall 30 is inserted into an injection portion 33 having a straight shape and goes upward.

The inlet 3 includes an elbow part 34 formed by bending the side wall 30 so as to go from the inlet 33 toward the tank body 2, and the side wall 30 extends linearly downward from the end of the elbow part 34. The diagonal member 35, the bent portion 31 formed by bending the side wall 30 so as to go downward from the end of the diagonal member 35, and the side wall 30 linearly downward from the end of the bent portion 31. And a straight pipe portion 32 that extends.
That is, the side wall 30 of the inlet 3 is bent at the elbow portion 34 and the bent portion 31, and is formed in a substantially crank shape as a whole.

  As described above, the straight pipe portion 32 is adjacent to the flange portion 320 having the contact portion 320a and is disposed adjacent to the upper portion of the flange portion 320, and is formed so that the inner diameter of the side wall 30 decreases toward the flange portion 320. And a reduced diameter portion 321.

  In addition to the above-described contact portion 320a, the flange portion 320 has a side surface portion 320b erected upward from the radially outer end portion of the contact portion 320a and a downward direction from the end portion of the side surface portion 320b. And a tapered portion 320c formed to reduce the diameter.

The flange portion 320 is surrounded by the contact portion 320a, the side surface portion 320b, and the tapered portion 320c, so that the inner side is formed hollow.
As shown in FIG. 4, the average inner diameter φ1 of the side wall 30 in the straight pipe portion 32 can be set to 30 to 40 mm, for example.

  In the reduced diameter portion 321, the inner diameter φ2 of the portion having the smallest inner diameter of the side wall 30, that is, the lowermost portion of the reduced diameter portion 321 (see reference numeral 321a shown in FIG. 4) can be set to 20 to 34 mm, for example. The inner diameter φ2 is particularly preferably about 6 to 10 mm smaller than the average inner diameter φ1 of the side wall 30 in the straight pipe portion 32.

  Further, in the reduced diameter portion 321, the axial distance L between the portion with the smallest inner diameter (the lowermost portion 321a) and the portion with the largest inner diameter (see reference numeral 321b shown in FIG. 4) is, for example, 20 mm or more. Can do. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, when viewed from the direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the straight pipe portion 32, the axial distance L between the lowermost portion 321 a of the reduced diameter portion 321 and the uppermost portion 321 b of the reduced diameter portion 321. Is 20 mm or more.

  In this example, as shown in FIG. 4, the inclination θ of the reduced diameter portion 321 with respect to the axial direction of the straight pipe portion 32 of the inlet 3 can be set to 5 to 20 °, for example. As described above, by setting the inclination θ within the above range, the hose 4 can be easily inserted without being caught by the flange portion 320.

Further, in this example, the reduced diameter portion 321 shows the contour line inside the side wall 30 in FIG. 4 represented by a straight line, but the contour line may be represented by a curve. .
Further, the straight pipe portion 32 is inserted into the tank body 1 by about 30 mm on the tip side from the flange portion 320.

Next, a procedure for attaching the inlet 3 to the tank body 2 will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 3, the distal end portion of the straight pipe portion 32 is inserted inside the packing 21. When inserted as it is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the abutting portion 320 a of the flange portion 320 abuts on the upper surface of the packing 21.

At this time, the distal end portion of the straight pipe portion 32 comes into contact with the fixing portion 23 disposed inside the tank body 2 as shown in FIG.
As a result, the inlet 3 is fixed to a predetermined position of the tank body 2 while being fitted to the packing 21.
The washer tank 1 can be configured by the above procedure.

Next, a procedure for inserting the suction hose 4 for the cleaning liquid W into the inlet 3 in the washer tank 1 of this example will be described.
In the following description, a suction hose 4 having an outer diameter (see symbol φ4 shown in FIG. 4) of, for example, 6 to 8 mm will be described.
First, the hose distal end portion 41 is inserted from the receiving port 330 arranged on the proximal end side of the inlet 3.

Then, after passing through the injection part 33, the hose tip part 41 further passes through the elbow part 34.
Thereafter, the suction hose 4 moves along the shape of the diagonal member 35 connected to the elbow part 34 while the hose tip 41 is brought into contact with the side wall 30 and heads toward the bent part 31.

Next, the hose tip portion 41 moves inside the inlet 3 along the shape of the bent portion 31.
Next, the hose tip portion 41 reaches the straight pipe portion 32 formed below the bent portion 31 and moves to the reduced diameter portion 321 while contacting the side wall 30.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the hose distal end portion 41 hits the proximal end portion 321 a of the reduced diameter portion 321, and is then radially inward of the straight pipe portion 32 along the side wall 30 of the reduced diameter portion 321. Head to the side.
As shown in FIG. 5, the hose tip portion 41 passes through the flange portion 320 as it is and enters the tank body 1 without being caught by the contact portion 320 a formed in a step shape.

In particular, in this example, as shown in FIG. 4, the difference between the inner diameter φ2 of the lowermost part 321a of the reduced diameter part 321 and the inner diameter φ3 of the contact part 320a is 6 to 10 mm, and the lowest diameter of the reduced diameter part 321 is obtained. As described above, the axial distance L between the lower part 321a and the uppermost part 321b of the reduced diameter part 321 is 20 mm or more. For this reason, the front-end | tip part 41 of the suction hose 4 is not caught by the contact part 320a.
Next, the cleaning liquid W can be extracted by the suction hose 4 inserted into the tank body 1 in this way.

  In this example, as the reduced diameter portion 321, the one formed by reducing both the outer diameter and the inner diameter of the side wall 30 as shown in FIG. 4, but without changing the outer diameter of the side wall 30, The reduced diameter portion 321 can be formed by reducing only the inner diameter.

Below, the effect of this example is demonstrated.
The reduced diameter portion 321 is disposed adjacent to the flange portion 320 above the flange portion 320 and is formed such that the inner diameter of the side wall 30 decreases as the flange portion 320 is approached. Thereby, the inlet 3 which can extract easily the washing | cleaning liquid W which remains inside the tank main body 2 can be obtained.
That is, when dismantling the vehicle or the like, it is necessary to remove the cleaning liquid W remaining in the tank body 2 without removing the inlet 3 from the washer tank 1. At this time, when the suction hose 4 for extracting the cleaning liquid W is inserted into the inlet 3, the hose tip 41 moves toward the tank body 2 along the side wall 30 of the inlet 3.

Here, as described above, the reduced diameter portion 321 is formed so that the inner diameter of the side wall 30 becomes smaller as it approaches the flange portion 320. That is, the reduced diameter portion 321 is formed such that the inner side of the side wall 30 is inclined toward the radially inner side as the flange portion 320 is approached. For this reason, by moving the hose tip portion 41 along the shape of the reduced diameter portion 321, the tip portion 41 can be directed radially inward of the straight pipe portion 32, that is, toward the axial core side. Thereby, it can suppress that the hose front-end | tip part 41 and the collar part 320 contact, The fault that the hose front-end | tip part 41 enters into the hollow part inside the collar part 320, and is caught in the contact part 321a. It can be avoided.
As a result, the suction hose 4 can be easily inserted into the tank body 2, and the cleaning liquid W remaining inside the tank body 2 can be easily extracted without removing the inlet 3 even when the vehicle or the like is disassembled. it can.

  Further, since the inner diameter of the side wall 30 in the lowermost part 321a is smaller than the inner diameter of the side wall 30 in the contact part 321a, the reduced diameter part 321 sufficiently suppresses the hose tip 41 from being caught by the contact part 321a. it can. As a result, the suction hose 3 can be inserted into the tank body 2 more easily.

  Further, since the reduced diameter portion 321 is formed so that the contour line inside the side wall 30 is represented by a straight line in the cross section including the axial direction of the straight pipe portion 32, the inlet 3 can be easily formed. it can.

  As described above, according to this example, it is possible to provide an inlet from which the cleaning liquid remaining inside the tank body can be easily extracted and a washer tank using the inlet.

Sectional drawing of the washer tank in an Example. The side view of the washer tank in an Example. The side view which shows the state before inserting an inlet in a tank main body in an Example. Explanatory drawing which shows the state in which the hose front-end | tip part reached | attained the reduced diameter part in an Example. Explanatory drawing which shows the state in which the hose front-end | tip part has entered the inside of a tank main body in an Example. Explanatory drawing which shows the state in which the hose front-end | tip part is caught in the contact part in a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Washer tank 2 Tank main body 20 Opening hole 200 Peripheral outer surface 3 Inlet 31 Bending part 32 Straight pipe part 320 Gutter part 320a Contact part 321 Reduced diameter part

Claims (7)

A cylindrical inlet connected to the tank body for storing the cleaning liquid,
At least a bent portion formed by bending the side wall of the inlet, and a straight pipe portion formed by forming the side wall substantially linearly below the bent portion,
The straight pipe portion has a flange portion that is formed hollow inside by causing the side wall to protrude radially outward,
The flange portion is configured to be able to be positioned by bringing a contact portion located on a lower surface thereof into contact with an outer peripheral surface of an opening hole provided in the tank body,
Above the collar part, a reduced diameter part arranged adjacent to the collar part is formed,
The inlet, wherein the reduced diameter portion is formed so that the inner diameter of the side wall becomes smaller as the flange portion is approached.   2. The inlet according to claim 1, wherein an inner diameter of the side wall at a lowermost portion of the reduced diameter portion is smaller than an inner diameter of the side wall at the contact portion.   3. The inlet according to claim 2, wherein the reduced diameter portion is formed so that an inner diameter of the side wall at a lowermost portion thereof is 6 to 10 mm smaller than an inner diameter of the side wall at the contact portion.   The axial distance between the lowermost part of the reduced diameter part and the uppermost part of the reduced diameter part when viewed from a direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the straight pipe part according to any one of claims 1 to 3. Is an inlet characterized by being 15 mm or more.   In any 1 paragraph of Claims 1-4, the above-mentioned diameter-reduced part is formed so that the outline inside the above-mentioned side wall may be expressed with a curve in the section containing the axial direction of the above-mentioned straight pipe part. Inlet characterized by.   In any 1 paragraph of Claims 1-4, the above-mentioned diameter-reduced part is formed so that the outline inside the above-mentioned side wall may be expressed with a straight line in the section containing the axial direction of the straight pipe part. Inlet characterized by.   A washer tank comprising the inlet according to claim 1 and the tank body for storing the cleaning liquid.

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