JP2016022861A - Fuel tank - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fuel tank allowing a fuel introduction portion to be disposed in the vicinity of a bottom portion in the resin molded fuel tank.SOLUTION: A stay 46 temporary fixed to a temporary fixing portion 54 is rotated and moved to a fixing portion 56 by pulling a fuel pipe 38 after molding of a fuel tank while contact between a suction 36 suctioning fuel F and molten resin 12A is being avoided by causing the temporary fixing portion 54 of a bracket 34 being an integrated component to hold the stay 46 at the time of resin molding. As a result of this, the suction 36 positioned at a leading end of the stay 46 is disposed so as to be brought into contact with a bottom wall 12.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to a fuel tank.

  Conventionally, in order to avoid a propeller shaft disposed in the vehicle front-rear direction in a four-wheel drive vehicle or the like, a so-called saddle type fuel tank in which the center of the tank bottom in the vehicle width direction is recessed upward has been proposed.

  Such a vertical fuel tank has a first reservoir portion and a second reservoir portion in which fuel is respectively stored on both sides of the connecting portion in the center portion in the vehicle width direction. A pump module for supplying fuel to the engine or the like is disposed in the first reservoir, and a siphon tube is disposed between the first reservoir and the second reservoir, and the fuel moves between the two. Is possible (see Patent Document 1).

  An open end for sucking fuel is connected to the end of such a siphon tube.

JP 2010-202044 A

  By the way, for example, it is said that the open end of the siphon tube provided in the second reservoir portion should be installed as close as possible to the bottom wall of the second reservoir portion so that suction can be performed even when the remaining fuel in the second reservoir portion is reduced. There is a request. In order to meet this requirement, it is conceivable to install a fuel introduction portion provided at the open end on the bottom wall of the second reservoir portion.

  On the other hand, when the fuel tank is molded with resin, a built-in component is placed on the molten resin at the time of molding the resin, and after molding the resin, another component is mounted from the opening of the fuel tank for mounting the pump module in the first reservoir. Is done. However, it is difficult to attach the part after resin molding unless the opening for mounting is separately provided on the second reservoir portion side. Therefore, when the fuel introduction part is disposed in the vicinity of the molten resin constituting the bottom wall of the fuel tank at the time of resin molding, the fuel introduction part comes into contact with the molten resin and a notch or the like is formed on the wall surface of the molded fuel tank. There is a fear.

  In other words, in a resin-molded vertical fuel tank, the fuel introduction part on the second reservoir side should be located as low as possible (near the bottom wall). There is a risk that a notch or the like is formed on the bottom wall of the fuel tank in contact with the fuel.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above facts, and an object of the present invention is to provide a fuel tank that can efficiently use residual fuel without affecting moldability in a resin fuel tank.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a fuel tank body formed by resin molding and having an attachment port formed on an upper wall, and is installed in the fuel tank body from the attachment port, and the fuel inside the fuel tank body A pump module for supplying the fuel to the outside, a fuel introduction part having an opening for sucking the fuel to supply the fuel to the pump module, a bottom wall of the fuel tank body, A built-in component in which a temporary fixing portion that holds the fuel introduction portion at a first position spaced from the wall and a fixing portion that holds the fuel introduction portion at a second position that contacts the bottom wall; and the fuel The fuel introduction part and the pump module are connected to the introduction part and the pump module, respectively, and the fuel introduction part held in the first position is held in the second position. Thereby, and a fuel pipe for supplying fuel to the pump module inside the fuel tank body.

  In this fuel tank, the fuel introduction portion can be held at a first position separated from the molten resin (bottom wall) by a temporary holding portion in a built-in component attached to the molten resin (bottom wall) during resin molding. Therefore, the notch or the like is prevented or suppressed from being formed in the bottom wall of the fuel tank body due to the fuel introduction portion coming into contact with the molten resin during resin molding.

  On the other hand, after the resin molding of the fuel tank, the operator manually operates the fuel pipe that communicates from the fuel introduction part to the pump module from the mounting port of the fuel tank body, for example, by pulling the fuel pipe, so that the built-in components The fuel introduction portion held at the first position is held at the second position. As a result, the fuel introduction part can be disposed in contact with the bottom wall of the fuel tank body.

  Since the fuel tank of the present invention has the above-described configuration, the remaining fuel can be used efficiently without affecting the moldability.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the fuel tank which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the suction temporary fixed state of the bracket which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the suction fixed state of the bracket which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. It is a longitudinal section corresponding to Drawing 1 showing the work state after resin molding of the fuel tank concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure corresponding to FIG. 3 which shows the bracket which concerns on other embodiment of this invention.

  A fuel tank according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Hereinafter, in each drawing, the upper side of the vehicle is indicated by an arrow UP, and the vehicle width direction is indicated by an arrow W.

  First, the entire fuel tank 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The fuel tank 10 includes a bottom wall 12 extending in the vehicle width direction, a left wall 14, a right wall 16, a left wall 14, and a right wall 16 extending from both ends of the bottom wall 12 in the vehicle width direction. The fuel tank main body 20 is provided with an upper wall 18 that connects the upper ends and extends in the vehicle width direction.

  In order to avoid the drive shaft of the vehicle, the bottom wall 12 has a convex portion 22 in which a central portion in the vehicle width direction is recessed upward. That is, the fuel tank 10 is a so-called saddle type fuel tank.

  The interior of the fuel tank main body 20 is divided by the convex portion 22 into a first reservoir portion 24 and a second reservoir portion 26 on both sides in the vehicle width direction. A hole 28 is formed in a portion of the upper wall 18 constituting the first reservoir 24, and a pump module 30 is attached from the hole 28.

  Inside the pump module 30, there is a jet pump (not configured) that moves fuel from the second reservoir 26 to the first reservoir 24 via a fuel pump 29 that supplies fuel from the fuel tank body 20 to the engine and a suction 36 described later. Etc.) are arranged. The pump module 30 has a cylindrical shape, and is positioned and held by a bracket 32 fixed to the position where the pump module 30 is disposed on the bottom wall 12. The bracket 32 is formed with a connecting hole 33 for connecting a fuel pipe 38 to be described later to the jet pump.

  A bracket 34 is fixed to the bottom wall 12 in the second reservoir 26. The bracket 34 is provided with a suction 36 attached to the tip of a stay 46 described later and pressed against the bottom wall 12 by the urging force of the coil spring 52. The suction 36 and the jet pump of the pump module 30 are connected by a fuel pipe 38. The fuel pipe 38 is supported by a clamp 39 or the like between the suction 36 and the jet pump, and is disposed in the fuel tank body 20 so as to be separated from the bottom wall 12.

  The brackets 32 and 34 are disposed on the molten resin during resin molding, and are fixed on the bottom wall 12 by cooling and solidifying the molten resin.

  Next, the bracket 34 will be described in detail.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the bracket 34 is a side-view hat-shaped member, and is fixed to the bottom wall 12 by flange portions 40 </ b> A and 40 </ b> B formed at both ends thereof. A shaft 44 that is rotatably supported between a pair of side surfaces (only one is shown in FIG. 2) 42 is attached to the bracket 34. A stay 46 extending in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the shaft 44 is provided at an outer end portion of the side surface 42 of the shaft 44. At the tip of the stay 46, a stay 48 that is movable forward and backward with respect to the stay 46 is disposed. A suction 36 is attached to the tip of the stay 48. A coil spring 52 wound around a stay 48 is disposed between the flange portion 50 formed at the tip of the stay 46 and the suction 36.

  The distance L1 (see FIG. 2) from the shaft 44 at the time of temporary fixing described later to the lower end of the suction 36 by the coil spring 52 (see FIG. 2) is from the shaft 44 at the time of fixing described later to the lower end of the suction 36 (bottom wall 12). It is set longer than the distance L2 (see FIG. 3). That is, when the coil spring 52 is fixed, the suction 36 is pressed against the bottom wall 12 by a predetermined biasing force.

  In addition, a temporary fixing portion 54 and a fixing portion 56 for holding the stay 46 at a predetermined position are formed on the side surface 42.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the temporary fixing portion 54 is a pair that extends on the side surface 42 in a direction inclined about a predetermined angle θ with respect to a direction toward the vehicle lower side with the axis of the shaft 44 as the center. A concave portion 60 is formed between the convex portions 58A and 58B and the convex portions 58A and 58B. As shown in FIG. 4, the protrusions 58 </ b> A and 58 </ b> B have a semicircular tip, and the recess 60 is also formed in a substantially semicircular cross section corresponding to the stay 46. Therefore, the stay 46 is held (temporarily fixed) at the position when the stay 46 gets over the convex portion 58B and enters the concave portion 60 by the rotation of the shaft 44.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the temporary fixing portion 54 is formed on the side surface 42 so that the suction 36 is sufficiently separated from the bottom wall 12 by the stay 46 being held by the temporary fixing portion 54. Has been.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the fixing portion 56 includes a pair of convex portions 62A and 62B extending below the vehicle of the shaft 44, and a concave portion 64 having a substantially rectangular cross section between the pair of convex portions 62A and 62B. Is provided. As shown in FIG. 5, the convex portion 62 </ b> A includes an upright surface 66 that stands upright with respect to the side surface 42 that forms the concave portion 64, and a guide surface 68 that is inclined from the upper portion of the upright surface 66 toward the opposite side of the concave portion 64. . On the other hand, the convex portion 62 </ b> B includes an upright surface 70 that stands upright with respect to the side surface 42 constituting the concave portion 64. Therefore, the stay 46 is held (fixed) in the concave portion 64 by the shaft 46 rotating over the guide surface 68 of the convex portion 62A and entering the concave portion 64 from the temporary fixing portion 54 side.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the suction 36 has a skirt portion 74 in which a plurality of openings 72 for sucking the fuel F are formed at the lower end thereof, and a fuel pipe 38 attached to the upper portion of the skirt portion 74. And a base portion 76 having a connection portion 78. By connecting the fuel pipe 38 to the connection portion 78 of the base portion 76, the fuel F is sucked from the opening 72 by driving the jet pump of the pump module, and the fuel F is drawn from the second reservoir portion 26 to the first reservoir portion 24. Is configured to be transferred.

  In addition, the skirt portion 74 of the suction 36 is formed with a guide portion 80 wound up toward the tip in the clockwise direction in FIG. This is because the distance (natural length) L1 from the axis of the shaft 44 to the lower end of the suction 36 is set longer than the distance L2 between the shaft 44 and the bottom wall 12 by the coil spring 52. This is to prevent the skirt portion 74 of the suction 36 from colliding with the bottom wall 12 and inhibiting the rotation of the stay 46 when the stay 46 rotates from the fixed portion 56 to the stationary portion 56.

  In the present embodiment, the position of the suction 36 when the stay 46 is held by the temporary fixing portion 54 is the first position, and the position of the suction 36 when the stay 46 is held by the fixing portion 56 is the second position. Sometimes called a position.

  Next, the operation of the fuel tank 10 will be described. First, the operation at the time of resin molding of the fuel tank 10 will be described.

  A built-in component is attached to a molten resin (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as “molten resin 12A”) that becomes the bottom wall 12 molded along the mold during blow molding. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, the bracket 32 for attaching the pump module 30 of the first reservoir 24, the clamp 39 for supporting the fuel pipe 38, the bracket 34 of the second reservoir 26 and the like are melted by a jig (not shown). Attach to the resin 12A at the same time.

  At this time, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the stay 46 is held by the temporary fixing portion 54 with respect to the bracket 34, and the suction 36 is fixed at the first position. Therefore, even if the flange portions 40A and 40B of the bracket 34 come into contact with the molten resin 12A, the suction 36 is prevented from coming into contact with the molten resin 12A.

  Further, the fuel pipe 38 whose one end is locked to the suction 36 is supported by a clamp 39 on the way, and the other end is temporarily fixed to the connection hole 33 of the bracket 32. Therefore, when the brackets 32 and 34 and the clamp 39 are fixed to the molten resin 12A, and after the fixing, the fuel pipe 38 is prevented from contacting the molten resin 12A inside the mold.

  In this way, the suction 36, the fuel pipe 38, etc. that are arranged together inside the mold other than the built-in parts (for example, the brackets 32, 34 and the clamp 39) fixed to the molten resin 12A come into contact with the molten resin 12A. This prevents the suction 36 and the like from contacting a part of the molten resin 12 </ b> A, thereby preventing or suppressing the formation of a notch on the wall surface such as the bottom wall 12 of the fuel tank body 20. That is, the strength of the fuel tank body 20 can be further improved.

  Next, the effect | action after cooling of the molten resin of the fuel tank 10 is demonstrated.

  After cooling of the molten resin, as shown in FIG. 6, the hand H is inserted from the pump module mounting hole 28 of the fuel tank body 20, and the fuel pipe 38 temporarily fixed to the connection hole 33 of the bracket 32. Grab the end and pull it upward (in the direction of arrow A). As a result, a predetermined tension is applied to the fuel pipe 38 and a moment in the clockwise direction in FIG. 6 (in the direction of arrow B) acts on the shaft 44 via the suction 36. As a result, the stay 46 gets over the convex portion 58B of the temporary fixing portion 54, and the locked state by the temporary fixing portion 54 is released. Further, the stay 46 reaches the fixing portion 56 due to the rotational moment acting on the shaft 44 from the fuel pipe 38, is guided by the guide surface 68, is inserted into the concave portion 64, and is fixed. Even if the moment is applied to the shaft 44 further, the stay 46 is prevented from moving by the upright surfaces 66 and 70 of the recess 64, and the stay 46 is fixed to the fixing portion 56.

  At this time, the suction 36 positioned on the distal end side of the stay 46 is first guided to the second position so that the guide portion 80 comes into contact with the bottom wall 12 and the skirt portion 74 faces the bottom wall 12 by contraction of the coil spring 52. Is done. As a result, the skirt 74 of the suction 36 is pressed against the bottom wall 12 by the urging force of the coil spring 52, and the opening 72 is placed in contact with the bottom wall 12.

  Thereafter, the fuel pipe 38 is connected to the jet pump of the pump module.

  In this way, when the operator pulls the fuel pipe 38 with the hand H, the shaft 44 (stay 46) is rotated from the temporary fixing portion 54 to the fixing portion 56, and the suction 36 is moved from the first position to the second position. be able to. As a result, the opening 72 of the suction 36 can be placed in contact with the bottom wall 12. That is, the suction position of the fuel F (the position of the opening 72) in the second reservoir 26 can be the lowest position of the second reservoir 26. Therefore, the amount of the fuel F that cannot be sucked by the suction 36 can be reduced.

  In addition, since the suction 36 can be placed in contact with the bottom wall 12 after the molten resin is cooled, restrictions on the placement of the suction 36 due to resin molding can be avoided.

  Furthermore, the operator simply inserts the hand H from the hole 28 and pulls the fuel pipe 38 temporarily fixed to the connection hole 33 of the bracket 32 after resin molding, and the suction 36 is arranged at an appropriate position. be able to. That is, in order to properly arrange the suction 36 after the resin molding, there is no need to provide a working hole on the second reservoir 26 side, and the manufacturing efficiency of the fuel tank 10 is improved. Further, since the stay 46 can be moved from the temporary fixing portion 54 to the fixing portion 56 by simply pulling the fuel pipe 38 with the hand H, there is an effect that it is not necessary to provide a separate member for moving the suction 36.

  In the present embodiment, the coil spring 52 is used to apply a biasing force to press the suction 36 against the bottom wall 12, but a resin spring 82 may be provided as shown in FIG.

  In the present embodiment, the so-called vertical fuel tank 10 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the present invention can be applied to a fuel tank of a type that supplies fuel to the pump module 30 by the suction 36 and the fuel pipe 38 in the fuel tank body 20.

10 Fuel Tank 12 Bottom Wall 20 Fuel Tank Body 28 Hole (Mounting Port)
30 Pump module 34 Bracket (built-in parts)
36 Suction (fuel introduction part)
38 Fuel piping 54 Temporary fixing portion 56 Fixing portion 72 Opening portion

Claims (1)

A fuel tank body formed by resin molding and having an attachment port formed on the upper wall;
A pump module installed inside the fuel tank body from the attachment port, and supplying the fuel inside the fuel tank body to the outside;
A fuel introduction part having an opening for sucking the fuel in order to supply the fuel to the pump module;
The fuel tank main body is fixed to the bottom wall of the fuel tank body, and the fuel introduction section is held at a first position spaced from the bottom wall, and the fuel introduction section is held at a second position contacting the bottom wall. A built-in component formed with a fixed part;
The fuel introduction part and the pump module are connected to the fuel introduction part and the pump module, respectively, and the fuel introduction part and the pump module are connected to each other, and the fuel introduction part held in the first position is held in the second position, Fuel piping for supplying fuel to the pump module inside the fuel tank body;
With fuel tank.

Images