JP3199949B2 - Lock structure of fuel lid - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lock structure for a fuel lid for opening and closing a fuel injection portion formed on a vehicle body panel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a fuel injection portion of an automobile is provided with a concave portion on a side surface of a vehicle body panel, and an inlet of a fuel tube extending from a fuel tank is connected to a bottom surface of the concave portion so as to open into the concave portion. It has a structure with a fuel lid that opens and closes. As such a lock structure for locking the fuel lid to the vehicle body panel, conventionally, either a key cylinder or an opener is often used.

As described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 3-107330, for example, a lock structure employing a key cylinder is fixed to an outer cover of a fuel lid and a key arm is operated by operating the key cylinder. Is rotated to unlock or unlock. Further, in the lock structure employing the opener, a lock arm protruding from an inner cover of the fuel lid is engaged with a locking piece of the vehicle body panel to lock, and the vehicle is connected to the locking piece by a cable or the like. The lock is released by operating the opener lever in the room.

As shown in FIG. 9, a fuel lid using the above key cylinder has a substantially L-shaped inner cover 31 on the inner surface of a tray-shaped outer cover 30 having a mounting seat surface 30b into which the key cylinder is inserted and fixed. The left and right ends 31a, 31b of the inner cover 31 are joined to the flange 30a of the outer cover 30, and the left end 31a of the inner cover 31 is turned to the vehicle body panel via a hinge. It is movably supported.

[0005] Further, as shown in FIG. 7, an inner cover 35 is provided on the fuel lid when the above-mentioned opener is employed.
A lock arm 35a is integrally formed by cutting and raising a part of this, and the inner cover 35 is joined to the outer cover 34, or, as shown in FIG. The formed lock arm 36 is spot-welded.

[0006]

In the production of automobiles, it is common to produce both the key cylinder type and the opener type for the same model. In such a case, in the conventional fuel lid, it is necessary to separately manufacture the inner cover 31 for the key cylinder and the inner cover 35 of the cut-and-raised type for the opener with two types of molds. There is a problem that the cost of the mold is large. In addition, the outer cover is manufactured using a mold common to the cylinder type and the opener type, whereas the inner cover is manufactured using different molds. Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to obtain mounting accuracy.

In the above-described conventional type in which the lock arm 36 is spot-welded, the inner cover itself can be used in common, but the lock arm is separately formed, and the lock arm is set on the inner cover with a jig. Because of this structure, there is a problem that the processing cost increases. Furthermore, when joining by spot welding, there is a problem that it is difficult to secure the mounting accuracy of the lock arm, and the rigidity is low because only one spot is welded.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional situation, and can realize the common use of the inner cover and the outer cover of both the cylinder type and the opener type, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost and improving the mounting accuracy and rigidity. It is an object of the present invention to provide a fuel lid locking structure that can be improved.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a recess having a fuel inlet is formed in a vehicle body panel, and the recess can be opened and closed by a fuel lid including an outer cover and an inner cover. In the lock structure of the fuel lid to be locked to the vehicle body panel, the inner cover as an intermediate product having a lock arm piece integrally formed in a molding process,
It is commonly used for cylinder type fuel lids with key cylinders and opener type fuel lids without key cylinders.In the case of opener type, the lock arm piece can be engaged with the locking part on the vehicle body panel side. In the case of a cylinder type, the lock arm piece is cut and removed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a recess having a fuel inlet is formed in a vehicle body panel, and the recess can be freely opened and closed by a fuel lid including an outer cover and an inner cover.
A fuel lid having a key cylinder having an engagement member that is rotated by a key operation fixed to the outer cover, and the engagement member is engaged with a locking portion formed on the vehicle body panel to lock the fuel lid. The lock structure is characterized in that the inner cover is formed by cutting and removing an arm piece as an intermediate product formed on the inner cover in a mold forming step.

[0011]

According to the lock structure for a fuel lid according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the inner cover is press-molded with a mold, an arm piece as an intermediate product is previously formed integrally,
When using as an opener type inner cover,
When the arm piece is bent to form a lock arm and used as a key cylinder type inner cover, the arm piece is cut and removed, so that one inner cover is used for an opener type and a key cylinder type. Common to both inner covers. As a result, 1
Since only one type of die is required, the manufacturing cost can be reduced correspondingly, and the mounting accuracy to the outer cover can be ensured.

According to the lock structure of the fuel lid according to the second aspect of the present invention, since the arm piece as an intermediate product formed integrally with the inner cover is cut and removed, parts can be shared with the opener type inner cover. The manufacturing cost can be reduced.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the lock arm is formed by bending the arm piece of the inner cover, the conventional work of spot welding a separate lock arm via a jig is unnecessary. And the number of working steps can be reduced, and the processing cost can be reduced.

Further, since the lock arm is formed integrally with the inner cover, the mounting accuracy can be improved and the rigidity can be improved as compared with the case where the lock arm is spot-welded.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1 to 6 are views for explaining a lock structure of a fuel lid according to one embodiment of the first and second aspects of the present invention. FIGS. 1 to 3 show an opener type fuel lid, and FIGS. FIG. 6 shows a key cylinder type fuel lid.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 1 denotes an automobile body to which the structure of the present embodiment is applied. The door 4 has a schematic structure in which a back door 5 is disposed on the rear end surface so as to be freely opened and closed.

A fuel injection section 6 is formed at the rear of the side panel 3 on the vehicle body. As shown in FIG. 3, the fuel injection section 6 is provided with a recess 3a recessed in the vehicle body in the side panel 3, and an injection port 7 of a fuel tube connected to a fuel tank (not shown) is formed in the recess 3a. The inlet 7 is provided with a cap (not shown). Also, on the periphery of the concave portion 3a,
A step 3b on which a fuel lid 9 described later is disposed is recessed.

A locking piece 8 is provided in the recess 3a so as to be able to advance and retreat, and a locking arm 18 of a fuel lid 9 described later is engaged with the locking piece 8. One end of an operation cable (not shown) is connected to the locking piece 8, and the other end of the cable is connected to an opener lever arranged near the driver's seat of the vehicle body 1. By operating the opener lever, the locking portion 8 is retracted to release the lock of the fuel lid 9.

A fuel lid 9 is provided on the step 3b so as to open and close the recess 3a. The fuel lid 9 includes a tray-shaped outer cover 10 press-molded by a mold, and a substantially L-shaped inner cover 11 also press-molded by a mold. The outer cover 9 is formed so as to form a substantially continuous surface with the side panel 3, and a flange portion 9 a is formed to be bent inward at an outer peripheral edge of the outer cover 9.

The inner cover 11 comprises a base 11a extending vertically in the vehicle body and a main body 11b extending rearward from the base 11a.
And a flange 11 at the rear end of the main body 11b.
are formed on the inside of the vehicle, and each of the flanges 11c is joined to the inner surface of the flange portion 9a of the outer cover 9. The base 11a and the main body 11b
Is formed with a convex reinforcing bead portion 12.

A hinge 13 is formed integrally with the base 11a of the inner cover 11.
3 is pivotally supported via a spring 14a by a hinge bracket 14 screwed and fixed to the recess 3a. The fuel lid 9 is urged in the closing direction by the spring 14a.

The lock arm 1 is attached to the inner cover 11.
8 are integrally formed by bending. The lock arm 18 has a V-shaped engaging portion 18 attached to the tip of a lock piece 18a bent inward from the vicinity of the rear flange portion 11c.
When the fuel lid 9 is closed, the engaging portion 18b engages with the locking piece 8 so that the fuel lid 9 is locked.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the inner cover 11 is press-molded by a mold, the lock arm 18 of this embodiment is provided with a strip-shaped arm piece 19 as an intermediate product on the main body 11b. Are formed integrally, and the arm portion 19 is formed by bending.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show the inner cover 11 described above.
Is a diagram for explaining a lock structure in which is applied to the inner cover 22 of the fuel lid for a key cylinder type. In the drawings, the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 1 to 3 denote the same or corresponding parts.

Key cylinder type fuel lid 2
No. 0 is formed by joining each flange portion 22c of the substantially L-shaped inner cover 22 to the flange portion 21a of the tray-shaped outer cover 21, and the basic structure is the same as that of the opener type.

The outer cover 21 has a mounting seat 21
A key cylinder (not shown) is inserted and fixed to the seat surface 21b. In this key cylinder, an engaging piece that is rotated by a key operation is fixed to a cylinder portion, and the engaging piece is disengaged from a locking portion formed on the fuel injection section 6 so that the fuel lid is engaged. 20
Is locked or unlocked.

When the inner cover 22 is press-molded by a mold, an arm 19 as an intermediate product is formed integrally with the main body 22b of the inner cover 22, and the arm 19 is cut and removed. It was formed as follows.

Next, the operation and effect of this embodiment will be described. In the fuel lids 9 and 20 according to the present embodiment, the arm pieces 19 are integrally formed when the inner covers 11 and 22 are press-formed with one mold. When using as the opener type inner cover 11, the arm piece 1 is used.
9 is bent to form a lock arm 18. When used as a key cylinder type inner cover 22, the arm portion 19 is cut and removed. Here, at the time of the press molding, the lock arm and the inner cover are simultaneously bent to form an inner cover for an opener type, and the lock arm can be cut to form an inner cover for a key cylinder.

According to the present embodiment, since the arm piece 19 as an intermediate product is integrally formed on the inner covers 11 and 22 as described above, when the arm part 19 is used for an opener, the arm 19 is bent. When the lock arm 18 is formed and used for a key cylinder, by cutting the arm piece 19, one part can be used in common for both types of inner covers, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced accordingly. In addition, since it is manufactured with one common mold,
Joint flange portions 11c, 2 of inner covers 11, 22
The dimensional accuracy of 2c can be secured, and the mounting accuracy to the outer covers 10 and 21 manufactured by a common mold can be improved.

In this embodiment, since the lock arm 18 is formed by bending the arm piece 19 of the opener type inner cover 11, the conventional separately formed lock arm is spot-welded via a jig. Work can be eliminated, and machining costs can be reduced as much as the number of work steps can be reduced. In addition, an unnecessary overlapping margin for spot welding the lock arm can be eliminated, which contributes to weight reduction.

Further, in this embodiment, the inner cover 1
Since the lock arm 18 is formed integrally with the mounting member 1, the mounting accuracy can be improved and the rigidity can be improved as compared with the case of spot welding.

[0032]

As described above, according to the lock structure of the fuel lid according to the first aspect of the present invention, an arm piece as an intermediate product is integrally formed with the inner cover when the inner cover is formed in a mold, and the arm piece is formed. According to the second aspect of the present invention, the inner cover is cut and removed to form an inner cover by forming a lock arm or cutting and removing the bent arm. Since the inner cover is formed, one inner cover can be used in common for both the opener and the key cylinder, so that the manufacturing cost can be reduced and the mounting accuracy and rigidity can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining a lock structure of a fuel lid for an opener according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the inner cover of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the fuel lid of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a vehicle body to which the structure of the embodiment is applied.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view for explaining a lock structure of a fuel lid for a key cylinder according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the fuel lid of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional inner cover for an opener.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing another conventional inner cover for an opener.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a conventional inner cover for a key cylinder.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 Side panel (body panel) 3a Recess 6 Fuel injection port 8 Locking section 9 Fuel lid for opener type 10 Outer cover 11 Inner cover 18 Lock arm 19 Arm piece 20 Fuel lid for key cylinder type 21 Outer cover 22 Inner cover

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A recess having a fuel inlet is formed in a vehicle body panel, and the recess is openable and closable with a fuel lid including an outer cover and an inner cover.
-In the lock structure of the fuel lid in which the fuel lid is locked to the vehicle body panel, a molding process is performed.
As an intermediate product with a lock arm piece integrally formed with
The inner cover is a cylinder tie with a key cylinder
For the fuel lid of the pump and without the key cylinder
Shared with Puna type fuel lid, open
When using the lock arm on the vehicle,
Bent so that it can be engaged with the locking part on the
When using the cylinder type,
A lock structure for a fuel lid , wherein a piece of the frame is cut and removed . 2. A key cylinder having a recess having a fuel inlet formed in a vehicle body panel, the recess being openable and closable by a fuel lid comprising an outer cover and an inner cover, and a key cylinder having an engagement member which is turned by a key operation on the outer cover. Wherein the inner cover is fixed to the inner cover, and the inner cover is fixed to the inner cover. A lock structure for a fuel lid, which is formed by cutting and removing an arm piece as an intermediate product formed in a process.