JP2021134722A - Fuel tank - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a fuel tank which can limit an oil supply amount to a design value even when a tank body expands.SOLUTION: A fuel tank is provided with a breather pipe 5 which discharges air from an interior of a tank body 3 when oil is supplied. The breather pipe 5 penetrates through a tank upper surface 6 of the tank body 3 to the interior and the exterior. The breather pipe 5 is fixed to the tank upper surface 6. A position of a lower end opening 7 of the breather pipe 5 is set to an upper limit height 9 of a fuel 8. An expanding/contracting part 10 is provided at a portion, which is located within the tank body 3, of the breather pipe 5. A lower end part 12 of the breather pipe 5 is fixed to a tank bottom surface 13 of the tank body 3 through a bracket 11.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a fuel tank provided with a breather pipe that discharges air from the inside of the tank body at the time of refueling, and the position of the lower end opening thereof is set to the upper limit height of the fuel.

Generally, a fuel tank of a vehicle includes a tank main body 101, a refueling pipe 102 for refueling the tank main body 101, and a breather pipe 103 for discharging air from the inside of the tank main body 101 at the time of refueling, and the breather pipe 103 is a tank. The tank upper surface 104 of the main body 101 is fixed to the tank upper surface 104 while penetrating inside and outside, and the position of the lower end opening 105 of the breather pipe 103 is set to the upper limit height of the fuel (for example, Patent Documents 1 and 4). reference).

In the fuel tank shown in FIG. 4, by refueling from the refueling pipe 102, the fuel liquid level inside the tank main body 101 rises, and the air in the space above the fuel tank is discharged from the breather pipe 103. Further, when the fuel liquid level reaches the upper limit height, the lower end opening 105 of the breather pipe 103 is closed to prevent the fuel liquid level from rising, and the amount of oil supplied to the tank body 101 is limited.

JP-A-2002-371933 (Claim 1, paragraph 0016, FIG. 1)

By the way, by supplying fuel to the tank body, the tank body may expand due to volatilization of the fuel or the like, and at that time, the breather pipe fixed to the upper surface of the tank is displaced upward. When the breather pipe is displaced upward in synchronization with the expansion of the tank body, the lower end opening of the breather pipe set to the upper limit height of fuel rises, and the tank body is supplied with an amount of fuel exceeding the design value. May be done.

When the fuel in the tank exceeds the design value, the float of the fuel gauge, which indicates the remaining amount of fuel, rises to an abnormal position, which tends to cause the needle of the fuel gauge to vary after refueling, giving a sense of discomfort. Furthermore, by supplying fuel that exceeds the design value to the fuel tank, the weight of the tank may increase, which may deteriorate the maneuverability or cause the tank mounting site to be broken by applying an excessive load. ..

An object of the present invention is to provide a fuel tank capable of limiting the amount of refueling to a design value even when the tank body expands.

In order to achieve the above object, the fuel tank according to the present invention includes a tank main body, a refueling pipe for refueling the tank main body, and a breather pipe for discharging air from the inside of the tank main body at the time of refueling. The breather pipe is fixed to the upper surface of the tank while penetrating the upper surface of the tank of the tank body in and out, and the position of the lower end opening of the breather pipe is set to the upper limit height of the fuel. Further, the breather pipe is provided with a stretchable portion that can be expanded and contracted in the length direction at a portion located inside the tank body, and the lower end portion is fixed to the bottom surface of the tank of the tank body via a holding member.

As described above, according to the present invention, since the breather pipe is provided with an expansion / contraction portion and the breather pipe is fixed to the upper surface of the tank and the bottom surface of the tank, even if the tank body expands and the upper surface of the tank is displaced upward. The displacement can be absorbed by the telescopic portion, the position of the lower end opening of the breather pipe can be maintained at a predetermined height with respect to the bottom surface of the tank, and the amount of refueling can be limited to the design value.

Even if the tank body expands and the bottom surface of the tank is displaced downward, the displacement of the bottom surface of the tank can be absorbed by the expansion and contraction part, and the lower end opening of the breather pipe can be displaced downward in synchronization with the expansion of the tank body. As in the case where the upper surface of the tank is displaced upward, the position of the lower end opening can be maintained at a predetermined height with respect to the lower surface of the tank, and the amount of refueling can be limited to the design value.

Cross-sectional view of the fuel tank according to the present invention The figure which shows the expanded state of the fuel tank of FIG. The figure which shows another form of the telescopic part Diagram showing a conventional fuel tank

Hereinafter, a mode for carrying out the fuel tank according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the fuel tank 1 discharges air from the tank main body 3 arranged below the vehicle floor 2, the refueling pipe 4 for refueling the tank main body 3, and the inside of the tank main body 3 at the time of refueling. The breather pipe 5 is fixed to the upper surface 6 of the tank while penetrating the upper surface 6 of the tank of the tank body 3 in and out, and the position of the lower end opening 7 of the breather pipe 5 is the upper limit of the fuel 8. The height of the breather pipe 5 is set to 9, and the breather pipe 5 is provided with a telescopic portion 10 that can be expanded and contracted in the length direction at a portion located inside the tank body 3, via a bracket 11 as a holding member. The lower end 12 is fixed to the bottom surface 13 of the tank body 3.

The tank body 3 is, for example, an iron container capable of storing fuel 8 such as gasoline, and supplies fuel 8 to the fuel filler port 14 of the fuel pipe 4 led above the vehicle floor 2 from the lower part of the side surface thereof. The fuel 8 stored inside is sent from the fuel pump 15 to the injection. In FIGS. 1 and 2, 16 is a float of a fuel gauge indicating the remaining amount of the fuel 8.

The breather pipe 5 invades the inside of the tank body 3 while its lower end side is fixed to the upper surface 6 of the tank, and the upper end side extends above the vehicle floor 2 and is connected to the vicinity of the refueling port 14 in the refueling pipe 4. Air is discharged from the inside of the tank body 3 when refueling.

At the portion of the breather pipe 5 that has entered the tank body 3, a lower end portion 12 having the same diameter as the other portions is extended via the telescopic portion 10. The lower end 12 of the breather pipe 5 is welded to the bracket 11, for example, and the bracket 11 is welded to the bottom surface 13 of the fuel body 3, so that the lower end opening 7 of the breather pipe 5 is at a predetermined height from the bottom surface 13 of the tank. This height is set to the upper limit height 9 of the fuel 8.

The telescopic portion 10 is, for example, an oil-resistant bellows pipe that can be expanded and contracted in the length direction, and absorbs the relative displacement of the tank upper surface 6 and the tank bottom surface 13 to which the breather pipe 5 is fixed.

By refueling the fuel tank 1 from the refueling port 14 of the refueling pipe 4, the fuel 8 is supplied to the inside of the tank main body 3, and at that time, the air inside the tank main body 3 is discharged from the breather pipe 5.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the liquid level of the fuel 8 reaches the height of the lower end opening 7 of the breather pipe 5, the fuel 8 inside the tank body 3 closes the lower end opening 7 of the breather pipe 5 and the tank body. The discharge of air inside the fuel 8 is blocked, the rise in the liquid level of the fuel 8 is regulated, and excessive refueling is prevented.

As shown in FIG. 2, for example, when the tank body 3 expands due to the volatilization of the fuel 8 and the tank upper surface 6 is displaced upward, the expansion / contraction portion 10 is extended and fixed to the tank upper surface 6 of the breather pipe 5. The part is displaced upward. On the other hand, the lower end 12 of the breather pipe 5 is fixed to the bottom surface 13 of the tank, the lower end opening 7 of the breather pipe 5 maintains a predetermined height from the bottom surface 13 of the tank, and the upper limit height 9 of the fuel 8 changes. Prevent and limit the amount of refueling to the specified design value.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and modifications can be made as appropriate within the scope of the present invention. For example, not only when the tank body 3 expands and the tank upper surface 6 is displaced upward, but also when the tank bottom surface 13 is displaced downward, or when both the tank upper surface 6 and the tank bottom surface 13 are displaced. However, since the lower end opening 7 of the breather pipe 5 is displaced downward with the displacement of the tank bottom surface 13, the lower end opening 7 maintains a predetermined height from the tank bottom surface 13 and the amount of refueling is set to a predetermined design value. Limit to.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, instead of extending the lower end portion 12 having the same diameter as other portions on the lower end side of the breather pipe 5 via the telescopic portion 10, the lower end portion 12 is provided on the lower end side of the breather pipe 5. The telescopic portion 10 may be used as the lower end portion, and the telescopic portion 10 as the lower end portion may be welded to the bracket 11, for example.

Further, the telescopic portion 10 may be formed not only by providing a member separate from the breather pipe 5 but also integrally with the breather pipe 5. Further, not only the lower end opening 7 of the breather pipe 5 may be closed by the fuel 8, but also a float valve may be provided at the lower end of the breather pipe 5. Further, the tank body 3 may be made of oil as long as it is oil resistant, and may be made of not only iron but also, for example, a resin tank. Further, the position of the fuel gauge inside the tank body 3 may be changed according to the expansion of the tank body 3.

1 Fuel tank 2 Vehicle floor 3 Tank body 4 Refueling pipe 5 Breather pipe 6 Tank top surface 7 Lower end opening 8 Fuel 9 Upper limit height 10 Telescopic part 11 Bracket 12 Lower end 13 Tank bottom surface 14 Refueling port 15 Fuel pump 16 Float

Claims (1)

The tank is provided with a tank body, a refueling pipe for refueling the tank body, and a breather pipe for discharging air from the inside of the tank body at the time of refueling. It is a fuel tank that is fixed to the upper surface and the position of the lower end opening of the breather pipe is set to the upper limit height of the fuel.
The breather pipe is characterized in that a stretchable portion that can be expanded and contracted in the length direction is provided at a portion located inside the tank body, and the lower end portion is fixed to the bottom surface of the tank of the tank body via a holding member. Fuel tank.

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