JP2023108318A - Fluid tank - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a technique for suppressing the deformation of a tank body even when a tank collides with a ground surface in a horizontal attitude.SOLUTION: A fluid tank disclosed by this specification includes the tank body, and a protector, the tank body having a cylindrical part and doom parts located at both ends of the cylindrical part, the protector being provided along the outer faces of the doom parts of the tank body, the protector having an outer peripheral face extending along the peripheral direction, the outer peripheral face having a maximum outer shape part that the outer shape thereof is maximum, in a range located on the radial outside with respect to the doom parts.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The technology disclosed herein relates to tanks for fluids.

US Pat. No. 6,300,000 describes a tank for fluids. This tank includes a tank body having dome portions at both ends of a cylindrical portion, and a protector fixed to the outer surface of the dome portion. The protector suppresses deformation of the tank body when the tank drops to the ground or the like.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-008148

Normally, when a tank falls to the ground or the like, it often collides with the ground in an oblique posture. In this case, the impact load due to the drop is input to the dome portion of the tank body via the protector. However, it is also conceivable that the tank collides with the ground in a horizontal position, albeit rarely. In this case, the impact load due to the drop can be input to the cylindrical portion of the tank body via the protector. The impact load due to the drop is likely to be input to the shoulder portion adjacent to the boundary between the cylindrical portion and the dome portion, even in the cylindrical portion. Since the shoulder portion of the cylindrical portion has lower rigidity than the dome portion, if a collision load is input to the shoulder portion of the cylindrical portion, the tank body may be deformed. The present specification provides a technique capable of suppressing deformation of the tank body even when the tank collides with the ground in a horizontal posture.

A tank for fluid disclosed herein includes a tank body and a protector. The tank body has a cylindrical portion and dome portions positioned at both ends of the cylindrical portion. A protector is provided along the outer surface of the dome portion of the tank body. The protector has an outer peripheral surface extending in a circumferential direction, and the outer peripheral surface has a maximum outer shape portion having a maximum outer shape within a range located radially outwardly of the dome portion.

According to the above configuration, when the tank collides with the ground in a horizontal position, the tank first collides with the ground at the maximum outer shape of the protector. Since the maximum outer shape of the protector is located radially outside the dome portion of the tank body, the impact load caused by the drop is transmitted mainly to the dome portion via the protector. Since the dome portion is curved in a dome shape (that is, a spherical shape), it has relatively high rigidity. Therefore, deformation of the tank body is suppressed even when the tank collides with the ground in a horizontal posture. When the tank collides with the ground obliquely, the impact load due to the drop is input to the dome portion of the tank body through the protector, as in the case of the conventional protector.

Details and further improvements of the technique disclosed in this specification are described in the following "Mode for Carrying Out the Invention".

The perspective view of the high pressure tank 2a of 1st Embodiment is shown. 2 shows a cross-sectional view along the line II-II of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 shows an enlarged view of the area of line III of FIG. 2; FIG. The same enlarged view as FIG. 3 of the high pressure tank 2b of 2nd Embodiment is shown. The same enlarged view as FIG. 3 of the high pressure tank 2c of 3rd Embodiment is shown.

In one embodiment of the present technology, the tank body has a first thickness in the cylindrical portion and a second thickness that is greater than the first thickness in at least a portion of the dome portion. may In that case, the maximum profile portion of the protector may be located radially inwardly with respect to the at least part of the dome portion. With such a configuration, the rigidity of the portion of the dome portion having the second thickness is improved, and when the tank collides with the ground in a horizontal position, the collision load is applied to the portion through the maximum outer shape portion. transmitted. Therefore, the deformation of the tank body when dropped is further suppressed.

In one embodiment of the present technology, the dome portion of the tank body may have a third thickness smaller than the first thickness at a portion adjacent to a boundary portion with the cylindrical portion. In that case, the maximum outer shape portion of the protector may be located away from the portion adjacent to the boundary portion with respect to the direction parallel to the central axis. With such a configuration, it is possible to prevent the collision load due to the drop from being transmitted to the portion having the third thickness via the protector. Therefore, deformation of the tank body due to dropping is suppressed.

In an embodiment of the present technology, the tank body may further comprise a boss positioned on the central axis and fixed to the dome portion. In that case, the maximum outline portion may be positioned at the boss-side end of the protector. However, as another embodiment, the maximum outline portion may be located at the other end located on the side opposite to the boss, or may be located at an intermediate portion away from both ends.

In one embodiment of the present technology, the protector may be configured using hard resin. With such a configuration, a relatively lightweight protector can adequately protect the fluid tank. However, the material constituting the protector is not particularly limited.

In one embodiment of the present technology, the tank body may have a reinforcing layer having a structure in which a long filament is wound in multiple layers. In this case, the filament may be helically wound in the portion of the reinforcing layer located in the dome portion. However, as another embodiment, the filament may be wound around the dome portion in a manner different from helical winding.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a high-pressure tank 2a of the first embodiment. The high-pressure tank 2a is mounted, for example, on a fuel cell vehicle (not shown). The high-pressure tank 2a stores high-pressure hydrogen gas used by the fuel cell vehicle to generate electricity. That is, the high-pressure tank 2a is a tank for fluid. The high-pressure tank 2a includes a tank body 4, a mouthpiece 8v, and protectors 10v and 10e. Hereinafter, the direction parallel to the central axis CL of the high-pressure tank 2a (that is, the positive direction and negative direction of the X-axis in the coordinate axes in the figure) may be referred to as the "axial direction". Further, in a plane orthogonal to the central axis CL, the direction parallel to the straight line passing through the intersection of the plane and the central axis CL is referred to as the "radial direction", and the direction of the outer circumference of the high-pressure tank 2a on the plane is referred to as the "circumferential direction". It is sometimes called "direction".

As shown in FIG. 2, it has a cylindrical portion 4c and dome portions 4d located at both ends of the cylindrical portion 4c. The cylindrical portion 4c has a cylindrical shape extending in the axial direction with a constant outer shape. The outer shape of the dome portion 4d gradually curves toward the central axis CL from the boundary portion 4b with the cylindrical portion 4c. That is, the dome portion 4d curves into a spherical shape (that is, a dome shape). A cap 8v is fixed to the dome portion 4d on the positive side in the X-axis direction (that is, on the right side of the paper surface of FIG. 2). An end boss 8e is fixed to the dome portion 4d on the negative side in the X-axis direction (that is, on the left side of the paper surface of FIG. 2). Both the base 8v and the end boss 8e are made of metal and fixed to the inner surface of the liner 5. As shown in FIG. Both the base 8v and the end boss 8e are positioned on the central axis CL. The base 8v has a through hole through which hydrogen gas passes.

The tank body 4 is composed of a liner 5 and a reinforcing layer 6 covering the outer surface of the liner 5. - 特許庁The liner 5 is made of resin and forms a space for sealing hydrogen gas. The reinforcing layer 6 is made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) (abbreviation for Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics). More specifically, the reinforcing layer 6 is formed by winding a plurality of layers of resin-impregnated filaments around the outer surface of the liner 5 by a filament winding method, and then curing the resin. In the high-pressure tank 2a of the present embodiment, the reinforcing layer 6 located in the cylindrical portion 4c is hoop-wound with a filament, and the reinforcing layer 6 located in the dome portion 4d is helically wound. Note that, in a modified example, the reinforcing layer 6 may be made of, for example, glass fiber reinforced plastics.

The protectors 10v and 10e are protective materials that cover the tip of the tank body 4. As shown in FIG. The protectors 10v and 10e are both made of hard resin. Here, a hard resin is a resin having a compression value higher than that of a soft resin (eg, polyurethane, EVA (abbreviation of Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate) resin, etc.). Hard resins include, for example, polypropylene, polycarbonate, polyacetal, ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) resins, and the like.

The protectors 10v and 10e are fixed to the outer surface of the dome portion 4d of the tank body 4 by adhesion. Protectors 10v and 10e are provided along the outer surface of dome portion 4d. As shown in FIG. 1, protectors 10v and 10e annularly cover dome portion 4d. The protectors 10v and 10e have an outer peripheral surface 10s extending along the circumferential direction. Since the protectors 10v and 10e both have the same structure, this specification mainly describes the protector 10v provided on the dome portion 4d on the base 8v side.

As shown in FIG. 2, the high-pressure tank 2a may be managed horizontally with respect to the ground GL. For example, it is conceivable that the high-pressure tank 2a, which is maintained in a horizontal posture with respect to the ground GL, may fall when the high-pressure tank 2a is mounted on a fuel-powered vehicle. In this case, it is estimated that the high-pressure tank 2a collides with the ground GL in a horizontal posture. The structure of the high-pressure tank 2a of the present embodiment for suppressing deformation of the tank body 4 even when the high-pressure tank 2a collides with the ground GL in a horizontal posture will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 3, the protector 10v has an outer peripheral surface 10s and a plurality of vertical walls 12, 14, 16. As shown in FIG. The plurality of standing walls 12, 14, 16 each extend radially toward the dome portion 4d. The end faces of the plurality of standing walls 12, 14, 16 on the side of the dome portion 4d and the outer surface of the dome portion 4d are adhered. Thereby, the protector 10v is fixed to the dome portion 4d.

An outer peripheral surface 10s of the protector 10v is inclined away from the central axis CL toward the base 8v. Therefore, the outer peripheral surface 10s of the protector has the maximum outer shape at the end on the base 8v side. That is, the maximum external shape portion P1 of the outer peripheral surface 10s is the end portion of the outer peripheral surface 10s on the base 8v side. A maximum external shape portion P1 of the outer peripheral surface 10s coincides with the dome portion 4d in the axial direction. In other words, the maximum outer shape portion P1 is located within a range A1 located radially outward (that is, on the lower side of the paper surface of FIG. 3) with respect to the dome portion 4d.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, when the high-pressure tank 2a falls in the direction D1 in a horizontal posture with respect to the ground GL, the high-pressure tank 2a first collides with the ground GL at the maximum outer shape portion P1 of the protector 10v. do. As a result, the impact load F1 due to the fall is transmitted to the dome portion 4d via the protector 10v. Here, the standing wall 12 of the protector 10v radially extends from the maximum outer shape portion P1 toward the dome portion 4d. Therefore, the impact load F1 due to the fall is transmitted to the dome portion 4d particularly via the standing wall 12 of the protector 10v.

As described above, the dome portion 4d is spherically curved, and therefore has a higher rigidity than the cylindrical portion 4c against the radial collision load F1. Therefore, the dome portion 4d is less likely to be deformed by the collision load F1 than the cylindrical portion 4c. In this way, the high-pressure tank 2a of the present embodiment has the maximum external shape portion P1 of the protector 10v disposed radially outside the dome portion 4d having high rigidity, so that when the high-pressure tank 2a is dropped in a horizontal posture with respect to the ground GL, In addition, deformation of the tank body 4 can be suppressed.

Furthermore, the thickness of the tank body 4 changes when the reinforcing layer 6 is formed by the filament winding method. Since the same number of layers of filaments can be laminated in the axial direction of the liner 5, the hoop-wound cylindrical portion 4c can be relatively stably formed with the first thickness T1. On the other hand, in the dome portion 4d, since the liner 5 is curved, the number of layers in which the filaments are laminated varies for each portion. Therefore, the dome portion 4d has a second thickness T2 larger than the first thickness T1 of the cylindrical portion 4c at the end portion on the base 8v side, and a portion adjacent to the boundary portion 4b with the cylindrical portion 4c. , and a third thickness T3 which is smaller than the first thickness T1 of the cylindrical portion 4c.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the high-pressure tank 2a of the present embodiment, the maximum outer shape portion P1 of the protector 10v is located radially outside the portion of the dome portion 4d having the second thickness T2. As a result, the collision load F1 due to the drop is transmitted to the portion of the dome portion 4d having high rigidity. As a result, deformation of the tank body 4 can be further suppressed.

In addition, the maximum outer shape portion P1 of the protector 10v is located axially apart from the portion having the third thickness T3 of the dome portion 4d. That is, the collision load F1 due to the drop is not transmitted to the portion of the dome portion 4d having low rigidity. As a result, deformation of the tank body 4 can be suppressed.

(Correspondence) In this embodiment, the high-pressure tank 2a is an example of the "tank". The base 8v and the end boss 8e are examples of the "boss".

(Second embodiment)
A high-pressure tank 2b of the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The high-pressure tank 2b of the second embodiment has a protector 20v instead of the protector 10v of the first embodiment, but otherwise has the same structure as the high-pressure tank 2c of the first embodiment.

The protector 20v includes a first outer peripheral surface 20s, a second outer peripheral surface 22s, and a plurality of standing walls 22, 24, 26, and 28. Each of the plurality of standing walls 22, 24, 26, 28 radially extends toward the dome portion 4d. A first outer peripheral surface 20s of the protector 20v is inclined away from the central axis CL toward the base 8v. The second outer peripheral surface 22s is inclined so as to approach the central axis CL toward the base 8v. As a result, in the protector 20v of the second embodiment, the boundary between the outer peripheral surfaces 20s and 22s becomes the maximum outline portion P2. As shown in FIG. 4, the maximum outer shape portion P2 is positioned within a range A1 positioned radially outward of the dome portion 4d. As a result, when the high-pressure tank 2b of the second embodiment collides with the ground GL in a horizontal posture, the collision load F1 is transmitted to the dome portion 4d of the tank body 4 via the protector 20v. The collision load F1 is particularly transmitted to the dome portion 4d via the vertical wall 24 radially extending from the maximum outer shape portion P2 toward the dome portion 4d. As a result, the high-pressure tank 2b of the second embodiment can suppress deformation of the tank body 4. FIG.

(Third Embodiment)
A high-pressure tank 2c of the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The high-pressure tank 2c of the third embodiment has a protector 30v instead of the protector 10v of the first embodiment, but otherwise has the same structure as the high-pressure tank 2c of the first embodiment.

The protector 30v has an outer peripheral surface 30s and a plurality of vertical walls 32, 34. As shown in FIG. Each of the plurality of standing walls 32, 34 radially extends toward the dome portion 4d. An outer peripheral surface 30s of the protector 30v is inclined so as to approach the central axis CL toward the base 8v. As a result, in the protector 20v of the third embodiment, the maximum outer shape portion P3 is located at the end of the outer peripheral surface 30s opposite to the base 8v.

However, the maximum outer shape portion P3 is located within a range A1 located radially outward of the dome portion 4d. As a result, when the high-pressure tank 2c of the third embodiment collides with the ground GL in a horizontal posture, the collision load F1 is transmitted to the dome portion 4d of the tank body 4 via the protector 30v. The collision load F1 is particularly transmitted to the dome portion 4d via the vertical wall 32 radially extending from the maximum outer shape portion P3 toward the dome portion 4d. As a result, the high-pressure tank 2c of the third embodiment can suppress deformation of the tank body 4. FIG.

Although specific examples of the technology disclosed in this specification have been described above in detail, these are merely examples and do not limit the scope of the claims. The technology described in the claims includes various modifications and changes of the specific examples illustrated above. Modifications of the above embodiment are listed below.

(Modification 1) Although the high-pressure tank 2a contains high-pressure hydrogen gas, in a modification, for example, various compressed gases such as helium gas and CNG (compressed natural gas) may be contained. Furthermore, the high-pressure tank 2a may contain various liquefied gases such as LNG (liquefied natural gas) and LPG (liquefied petroleum gas), and may contain various other pressurized fuel gases.

(Modification 2) The protectors 10v and 10e of the first embodiment are fixed to the outer surface of the dome portion 4d by adhesion. In this modification, for example, the protectors 10v and 10e are fixed to the dome portion 4d by welding. may

(Modification 3) The protectors 10v and 10e of the first embodiment may each have a divided structure. For example, the protectors 10v and 10e of the first embodiment may be divided into four pieces in the circumferential direction of the tank body 4 when viewed from the direction perpendicular to the central axis CL. In that case, the divided protectors may be arranged at regular intervals in the circumferential direction.

(Modification 4) The tank body 4 does not have to include the reinforcement layer 6 . In that case, the tank body 4 may have the same thickness in the cylindrical portion 4c and the dome portion 4d.

(Modification 5) The protectors 10v and 10e of the first embodiment may not be made of hard resin. In that case, the protectors 10v and 10e may be made of, for example, a foaming urethane agent or soft resin. In that case, the inside of the protectors 10v and 10e may be filled with those materials. In other words, the protectors 10v, 10e may have a solid shape and may not have the plurality of vertical walls 12, 14, 16. FIG.

The technical elements described in this specification or in the drawings exhibit technical usefulness alone or in various combinations, and are not limited to the combinations described in the claims as of the filing. In addition, the techniques exemplified in this specification or drawings can simultaneously achieve a plurality of purposes, and achieving one of them has technical utility in itself.

2a, 2b, 2c: high-pressure tank 4: tank body 4b: boundary portion 4c: cylindrical portion 4d: dome portion 5: liner 6: reinforcing layer 8e: end boss 8v: base 10e, 10v, 20v, 30v: protectors 10s, 30s: Outer peripheral surface 20s: First outer peripheral surface 22s: Second outer peripheral surface A1: Range CL: Central axis P1 to P3: Maximum outline portion T1: First thickness T2: Second thickness T3: Third plate thickness

Claims (6)

a tank body having a cylindrical portion and dome portions positioned at both ends of the cylindrical portion;
a protector provided along the outer surface of the dome portion of the tank body;
with
The protector has an outer peripheral surface extending along the circumferential direction,
The outer peripheral surface has a maximum outer shape portion having a maximum outer shape within a range located radially outwardly of the dome portion.
Tank for fluid. the tank body has a first thickness in the cylindrical portion and a second thickness larger than the first thickness in at least a part of the dome portion;
wherein the maximum outline portion of the protector is located radially inwardly with respect to the at least part of the dome portion;
A tank for fluids according to claim 1 . the dome portion of the tank body has a third thickness smaller than the first thickness at a portion adjacent to a boundary portion with the cylindrical portion;
3. A tank for fluid according to claim 2, wherein said maximum contour portion of said protector is located away from a portion adjacent to said boundary portion in a direction parallel to the central axis of said tank body. the tank body further includes a boss positioned on the central axis of the tank body and fixed to the dome portion;
4. A fluid tank according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said maximum profile portion is located at said boss-side end of said protector. 5. The fluid tank according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said protector is made of hard resin. The tank body has a reinforcing layer having a structure in which long filaments are wound in multiple layers,
6. A fluid tank according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the filament is helically wound in the portion of the reinforcement layer located in the dome portion.

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