JP2023076208A - Vehicular fuel tank - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a fuel tank in which an oil supply part is further downsized at a vehicle in which the oil supply part and a storage part are separately provided at both sides as seen in a vehicle width direction.SOLUTION: A fuel tank 3 mounted on a vehicle includes: an oil supply part 32 provided at one side as seen in a vehicle width direction of the vehicle; a storage part 31 provided at the other side different from the one side; a first connection part 33 for oil supply which connects the oil supply part 32 with the storage part 31; a second connection part 34 for discharging air which connects the oil supply part 32 with the storage part 31; and a pump 35 which is provided at the second connection part 34 and discharges air from the storage part 31 to the oil supply part 32.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle fuel tank.

In a vehicle such as a bus, a fuel tank is arranged outside in the vehicle width direction. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a vehicle structure in which a fuel tank 21 is provided on the outside of the bus in the vehicle width direction.

JP 2004-203296

By the way, in vehicles such as buses, in order not to be affected by the installation location of the refueling device at the gas station, in addition to the refueling part provided in the storage part of the fuel tank, refueling is also performed on the opposite side in the vehicle width direction. department may be established. This makes it possible to refuel from either side of the vehicle. However, in this case, a box-shaped air bubble reduction section may be provided in the oil supply section in order to prevent air bubbles from being generated during oil supply. This air bubble reduction unit is sometimes arranged in front of the seat, which causes problems such as narrowing the space of the seat.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a fuel tank in which a fuel supply portion and a storage portion are separated on both sides in the vehicle width direction, and in which the fuel supply portion is made more compact.

The present invention has been made to solve at least part of the above problems, and can be implemented as the following aspects or application examples.

A fuel tank of a vehicle according to this application example is a fuel tank mounted on a vehicle, and includes a fuel supply portion provided on one side in a vehicle width direction of the vehicle and a storage portion provided on the other side different from the one side. a first connection portion for fuel supply that connects the fuel supply portion and the storage portion; a second connection portion for air discharge that connects the fuel supply portion and the storage portion; a pump for discharging air from a storage unit to the fuel supply unit.

The fuel tank of the vehicle configured in this manner can supply fuel while suppressing the generation of air bubbles without separately providing a device such as a spare tank. In the vehicle 1 that is divided into two sides, the fuel tank 3 can be configured with the fuel supply portion 32 made smaller.

1 is a left side view of a vehicle according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. It is the figure which looked at the seat of the right side from the passenger compartment of a vehicle. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a fuel tank;

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a left side view of a vehicle 1 according to one embodiment of the invention. The vehicle 1 of this embodiment is a bus, and has a boarding/alighting opening 11 in front. In the vehicle 1, for example, a plurality of seats 2 are arranged in tandem on the left and right sides of the vehicle interior (an overall view of the interior is not shown). FIG. 2 is a view of the right seat 2 viewed from the interior of the vehicle 1, and shows the configuration around the seat 2 located behind the tire house 121 of the right front wheel 12b (12).

The vehicle 1 also has a fuel tank 3 behind the front wheels 12 (see FIG. 1). FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the fuel tank 3. As shown in FIG. The fuel tank 3 includes a storage portion 31, a refueling portion 32, a first connection portion 33 which is a pipe for refueling that connects the refueling portion 32 and the storage portion 31, and an air vent that connects the refueling portion 32 and the storage portion 31. and a second connecting portion 34 that is a pipe.

The storage portion 31 is arranged in the rear portion of the tire house 121 of the left front wheel 12a (12) of the vehicle 1 in the vehicle width direction. The storage part 31 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped hollow box shape, and has an inclined surface 31a so that the front side follows the circular arc surface of the tire housing 121 . A substantially cubic projecting portion 311 to which one end of the first connecting portion 33 is connected is provided at the lower end of the storage portion 31 . The storage portion 31 has a fuel filler port 312 on the left side in the vehicle width direction of the vehicle 1 in the vicinity of the upper end portion. Refueling port 312 is formed as a refueling portion in storage portion 31 . A fuel cap is detachably attached to the fuel filler port 312 . A fuel door 13 is provided on the left side of the vehicle body of the vehicle 1 so as to be openable and closable at a position corresponding to the fuel filler port 312 .

The fuel supply portion 32 is arranged at the rear portion of the tire house 121 of the front wheel 12a (12) on the right side in the vehicle width direction of the vehicle 1 (see FIG. 2). The oil supply portion 32 is formed in a cylindrical shape having a slightly larger diameter than the first connection portion 33 . Further, the oil supply portion 32 is curved in an arc shape of approximately 90 degrees when viewed from the rear (or viewed from the front). The refueling portion 32 is connected to the first connecting portion 33 at one lower end side. Further, the oil supply portion 32 has an oil supply port 321 on the other end side. A fuel cap is detachably attached to the fuel filler port 321 .

As shown in FIG. 2 , the fuel supply portion 32 of the present embodiment is housed in a side panel located on the right side of the vehicle body in the vehicle width direction of the vehicle 1 . Alternatively, although not shown, the refueling portion 32 may slightly protrude into the interior of the vehicle at a rear portion of the tire housing 121 on the right side of the vehicle 1 (for example, a storage box in which the refueling portion 32 is stored may be located in the vehicle). provided indoors). Therefore, even when the fuel supply part 32 is provided on the right side of the vehicle, the fuel tank 3 can suppress an increase in the occupied area in the vehicle interior, thereby suppressing tightness of the passenger's living space. A fuel door is also provided on the right side (not shown) of the vehicle body of the vehicle 1 at a position corresponding to the fuel filler port 321 of the fuel filler 32 so that it can be opened and closed. Both the left fuel filler port 312 and the right fuel filler port 321 are arranged below the window 14 .

The first connecting portion 33 is an oil passage arranged through the lower portion of the floor 15 of the vehicle 1 . The second connecting portion 34 is an air vent line arranged through the ceiling portion of the vehicle 1 (for example, inside the roof panel). One end side of the second connection portion 34 is connected to the upper end portion of the storage portion 31 , and the other end side is connected to the fuel supply portion 32 . The second connection portion 34 and the fuel supply portion 32 are connected to the curved portion of the fuel supply portion 32 as shown in FIG.

The second connection portion 34 includes a pump 35 (compression pump) that discharges air from the storage portion 31 to the fuel supply portion 32 . The pump 35 is connected, for example, in the middle of the second connection portion 34 in the ceiling portion of the vehicle 1 .

Next, a usage example of the fuel tank 3 will be described. Refueling to the fuel tank 3 is performed by supplying fuel from the fuel filler port 312 on the left side of the vehicle 1 or the fuel filler port 321 on the right side. When refueling from the refueling port 321 of the refueling portion 32, a refueling nozzle (not shown) is inserted from the outside into the refueling port 321 with the fuel cap removed, and fuel is replenished through the refueling nozzle.

The fuel supplied to the fuel supply portion 32 is supplied to the storage portion 31 side via the first connection portion 33 .
At this time, the pump 35 is driven by a pump drive section (not shown), and the air in the storage section 31 is forcibly exhausted to the fuel supply section 32 via the second connection section 34 . The air exhausted to the fueling portion 32 is released to the outside through the fueling port 321 (that is, the exhaust path such as the gap between the opening of the fueling port 321 and the fueling nozzle).

While the pump 35 is driven, the air on the side of the storage section 31 is forcibly exhausted, so the air pressure in the storage section 31 decreases, and the supply of fuel from the refueling section 32 side to the storage section 31 side is facilitated. be. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the retention of the refueled fuel in the refueling portion 32 and suppress the generation of air bubbles. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a malfunction in which the sensor provided in the fuel nozzle inserted into the fuel filler port 321 detects air bubbles and the fuel supply is automatically stopped before the fuel supply is completed. In this manner, even when fuel is supplied from the fuel supply port 321 that is remote from the storage unit 31, the fuel supply performance can be improved.

The pump 35 may be configured to be driven while the fuel nozzle is inserted into the fueling portion 32 or while the fuel is being supplied to the fueling portion 32 by detection of a sensor (not shown). Alternatively, the pump 35 may be configured to be driven when a preset condition is satisfied during refueling (for example, when the amount of oil in the reservoir 31 is equal to or greater than a threshold). The second connecting portion 34 can be configured to be able to exhaust air (ventilate) even when the pump 35 is stopped during refueling. Alternatively, the pump 35 may be driven and controlled (started, stopped, etc.) by manually operating the pump control section by an operator or the like who supplies fuel.

The fuel tank 3 mounted on the vehicle configured as described above includes a fuel supply portion 32 provided on one side in the vehicle width direction of the vehicle, a storage portion 31 provided on the other side different from the one side, and a fuel supply portion 32 . and the storage portion 31, a second connection portion 34 for air discharge that connects the oil supply portion 32 and the storage portion 31, and a second connection portion 34 provided in the storage portion 31 32 and a pump 35 that discharges air to the refueling part. By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to efficiently supply fuel while suppressing the generation of air bubbles without separately providing an air bubble reduction unit such as a spare tank. Therefore, in the vehicle 1 in which the fuel supply portion 32 and the storage portion 31 are separated on both sides in the vehicle width direction, the fuel tank 3 with the fuel supply portion 32 made smaller can be configured.

The fuel tank 3 of the present embodiment can reduce costs compared to a configuration in which an air bubble reducing portion (such as a spare tank) is provided to prevent air bubbles from being generated on the fuel supply portion 32 side. For example, when a spare tank is provided, there are cases where a space occupied by the spare tank is required in the passenger compartment. The passenger space is secured, and the seat pitch can be expanded. Therefore, it is possible to improve the ease of getting in and out of the passenger seats.

In addition, since the fuel tank 3 of this embodiment does not require installation of a panel or the like for separating the spare tank and the passenger compartment, for example, it is possible for passengers who may feel a sense of oppression due to structures such as panels. Comfort can be improved.

This completes the description of the embodiment of the vehicle transmission according to the present invention, but the aspect of the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

For example, in the present embodiment, a bus is used as the vehicle 1, but other vehicles such as trucks and automobiles may be used.

Further, in the present embodiment, the case where one side in the vehicle width direction of the vehicle 1 is the left side and the other side different from the one side is the right side has been described, but one side may be the right side and the other side may be the left side. Also, the combination of one side and the other side of the vehicle 1 is not limited to the left-right direction of the vehicle 1, and may be any combination including front-rear and up-down.

1 Vehicle 2 Seat 3 Fuel tank 11 Entrance/exit 12 (12a, 12b) Front wheel 13 Refueling door 14 Window 15 Floor 31 Storage part 31a Inclined surface 32 Refueling part 33 First connecting part 34 Second connecting part 35 Pump 121 Tire house 311 Projection Part 312 Oil filler port 321 Oil filler port

Claims (1)

A fuel tank mounted on a vehicle,
a fueling portion provided on one side in the vehicle width direction of the vehicle;
a storage unit provided on the other side different from the one side;
a first connecting portion for refueling that connects the refueling portion and the storage portion;
a second connection portion for discharging air that connects the fuel supply portion and the storage portion;
a pump provided at the second connecting portion for discharging air from the storage portion to the fueling portion;
A fuel tank for a vehicle, comprising:

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