JP3393671B2 - Fuel tank support structure for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fuel tank support structure for a vehicle in which a subframe supporting a fuel tank is attached to a lower portion of a main frame.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a vehicle fuel tank is provided with a filler pipe and a breather pipe, and the upper end of the breather pipe is connected near the upper end of the filler pipe fixed to the opening of the vehicle body. Since the height of the open end of the breather pipe inside the fuel tank determines the upper limit of the liquid level of the fuel tank, in order to effectively use the internal volume of the fuel tank to increase the substantial volume, It is desirable to increase the height of the mounting position of the breather pipe (that is, the height of the open end of the breather pipe).

[0003]

By the way, when a suspension and a fuel tank are assembled in advance to a subframe to form a subframe assembly, and the subframe assembly is collectively mounted on a main frame of a vehicle, the subframe assembly is installed above the fuel tank. Since the extending breather pipe interferes with the sub-frame and the main frame, the mounting position of the breather pipe with respect to the fuel tank is restricted and it becomes difficult to increase the substantial capacity of the fuel tank.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a vehicle in which the degree of freedom of the mounting position of the breather pipe with respect to the fuel tank can be increased and the substantial capacity of the fuel tank can be increased. An object is to provide a fuel tank support structure.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention described in claim 1 attaches a sub-frame supporting a fuel tank to the lower part of the main frame,
The subframe assembly including the fuel tank and the subframe
In a vehicle that can be attached to the main frame at once, a filler pipe whose lower end is connected to the fuel tank
Connect the upper end near the upper end of the filler pipe of
Subframe with breather pipe with lower end connected to
And breathing the breather pipe between the sub-frame and the main frame to extend upward,
On the lower surface of the main frame facing the breather pipe ,
The height of the mounting position of the breather pipe is increased to make the pipe
It is characterized in that a concave portion is formed to increase the height of the connection portion to the fuel tank .

[0006] The invention described in claim 2, in addition to the first aspect, the filler pipe and breather pipe, characterized by being supported on the sub-frame via a resilient member.

[0007] The invention described in claim 3, in addition to the second aspect, between the elastic member and the fixed portion of the vehicle body of the filler pipe and breather pipe, the Fi <br/> It is characterized in that each of the large pipe and the breather pipe is provided with a flexible portion.

[0008]

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

1 to 7 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a rear suspension subframe assembly, and FIG. 2 is an overall plan view of the subframe assembly.
3 is a view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of an essential part of FIG. 2, FIG. 5 is a view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4, and FIG.
FIG. 7 is a line enlarged arrow view, and FIG. 7 is a 7-7 line arrow view of FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, a rear suspension RS for suspending left and right rear wheels W, W of a front-wheel drive vehicle,
The sub-frame SF that supports the RS includes a pair of left and right side members 1, 1 and a front cross member 2 and a rear cross member 3 that connect between the front ends and the rear ends of both side members 1, 1.

The side members 1, 1 are members having a box-shaped cross section, and the rear half portion thereof extends in the vehicle front-rear direction in plan view and the front half portion is slightly bent toward the outer side of the vehicle body ( (See FIG. 2), and the front end is curved so as to be slightly lower than the rear end (see FIG. 3).

The front and rear ends of both side members 1, 1 are
The front cross members 2 extending in the left-right direction of the vehicle body are respectively connected to the outer cylinders 5 of the four rubber bush mounts 4 and are connected to the outer cylinders 5 and 5 of the two front rubber bush mounts 4 and 4. The left and right ends of are joined. The front cross member 2 is a member having a U-shaped cross section with an open front surface, and the open parts of the front surface are closed by the reinforcing members 2 ₁ and 2 ₁ in the vicinity of the left and right ends except for the central part. Each side member 1,
The vicinity of the front end of 1 and the vicinity of the left and right ends of the front cross member 2 are joined by brackets 6 and 6 for the trailing arm having an open bottom surface and having a U-shaped cross section.

Outer cylinders 5 and 5 of the two rear rubber bush mounts 4 and 4 connected to the rear ends of both side members 1 and 1.
The left and right ends of the rear cross member 3 extending in the left-right direction of the vehicle body are joined together. The rear cross member 3 is a member having an L-shaped cross section having a vertical portion 3 and a horizontal portion 3 (see FIG. 3), and is joined to the outer cylinders 5 and 5 at the upper end of the vertical portion 3.

Two rear rubber bush mounts 4, 4
The upper ends of the control arm brackets 7, 7 whose outer surfaces in the left-right direction of the vehicle body are open are coupled to the outer cylinders 5, 5.
The control arm brackets 7, 7 extend in a substantially vertical direction, and the vertical portion on the rear side is connected to the vertical portion of the rear cross member 3, and the horizontal portion at the lower end is on the horizontal portion of the rear cross member 3. Are combined (see FIG. 3).

Each of the rubber bush mounts 4 ... is an outer cylinder 5.
An inner cylinder 34 elastically coupled to the inside of the inner cylinder 34 through an annular rubber bush (not shown) is provided, and bolts 35 penetrating the inner cylinder 34 extend to both left and right sides of the vehicle. The main frames MF, MF are respectively screwed.

Upper ends of lower arm brackets 8 and 8 extending downward are coupled to the lower surfaces of the side members 1 and 1 near the center rear. The lower arm brackets 8 and 8 are members having a U-shaped cross section whose outer surface in the left-right direction of the vehicle body is open.
The horizontal portion of the lower end thereof is connected to the horizontal portion of the rear cross member 3.

Further, upper arm brackets 9 and 9 are provided on the central upper surfaces of both side members 1 and 1, and rear arm brackets 10 and 10 are provided on the rear surfaces of the two rear rubber bush mounts 4 and 4, respectively. 10 are provided.

Thus, the trailing arm brackets 6, 6, the control arm brackets 7, 7, the lower arm brackets 8, 8, the upper arm brackets 9, 9 and the leading arm brackets 10, 1
0, rear suspension RS, trailing arms 11, 11 of RS, control arms 12, 1 respectively
2, lower arms 13, 13, upper arms 14, 14
And the leading arms 15 and 15 are connected. Knuckles 17, 17 supporting the axles 16, 16 are connected to the ends of the suspension arms.
7, 17 and the vehicle body are connected via dampers 18, 18.

The left and right ends of the torsion portion 19 ₁ of the stabilizer 19 are elastically supported on the front surface of the front cross member 2 via a pair of stabilizer support members 20, 20. A pair of arm portions 19 ₂ and 19 ₂ extending from the left and right ends of the torsion portion 19 ₁ toward the rear of the vehicle body and the vicinity of the upper arm attachment portion of the knuckles 17 and 17 are provided with stabilizer links 21 and 21 extending in the vertical direction. Are connected.

The front portion of the sub-frame SF is wider in the left-right direction than the rear portion, and the stabilizer is arranged so as to bypass the outside of the front two rubber bush mounts 4, 4 provided in the widest portion thereof. Since 19 is provided, it is possible to secure the maximum length of the torsion portion 19 ₁ and provide a sufficient resistance to twisting. Moreover, by mounting the torsion portion 19 ₁ along the front surface of the front cross member 2, the space for disposing the torsion portion 19 ₁ can be minimized, the rear of the front cross member 2 There is no influence on the capacity of the fuel tank 23 located at. Further, since a pair of stabilizer support members 20, 20 for supporting the stabilizer 19 are provided near the rubber bush mounts 4, 4 for supporting the subframe SF on the main frame MF, the stabilizer support members 20, 20 are mounted. The rigidity of the stabilizer 19 can be strengthened by increasing the rigidity near the portion.

Both side members 1 of the subframe SF
1, in the space defined by the front cross member 2 and the rear cross member 3, the left and right ends are both side members 1,
The fuel tank 23 is supported by the upper and lower two bands 22 and 22 fixed to the lower surface of 1. Further, the fuel tank 23
The four corners of the fuel tank support bracket 37 provided on the left and right side members 1, 1 via the triangular connecting members 36.
Fixed to ... By supporting the fuel tank 23 inside the frame-shaped sub-frame SF, not only the maximum capacity of the fuel tank 23 can be secured, but also the fuel tank 23 is protected by the sub-frame SF when the vehicle collides. You can

As will be apparent with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, the filler pipe 24 and the breather pipe 2 extending from the rear left side surface of the fuel tank 23 toward the outside of the vehicle body.
5 passes between the upper surface of the left side member 1 of the sub-frame SF and the lower surface of the left main frame MF, and rises upward. The upper end of the breather pipe 25 is connected near the upper end of the filler pipe 24, and the flange 24 ₁ provided on the upper end of the filler pipe 24 is fixed to the body B.

Filler pipe 24 and breather pipe 2
A recess 40 is formed in the lower surface of the main frame MF facing the filler pipe 24 and the breather pipe 25 in order to make the mounting position of the fuel tank 5 of the fuel tank 23 as high as possible. Breather pipe 25 inside the fuel tank 23
Since the height of the opening end is the upper limit of the liquid level of the fuel tank 23, the height of the opening end of the breather pipe 25 regulates the substantial capacity of the fuel tank 23. Therefore,
By forming the recess 40 on the lower surface of the main frame MF, the height of the mounting position of the breather pipe 25 (that is, the height of the open end of the breather pipe 25 in the fuel tank 23) is increased, and the inside of the fuel tank 23 is increased. The volume can be effectively used. In addition, in order to prevent the height of the main frame MF from decreasing due to the recess 40 and the strength from decreasing,
The width of the main frame MF corresponding to the recess 40 is formed wider than the front and rear thereof (see FIG. 7), which makes the strength of the main frame MF uniform in the longitudinal direction.

The subframe SF supported on the mainframes MF, MF via the rubber bush mounts 4 moves relatively to the mainframes MF, MF due to the load input from the rear suspensions RS, RS. , The main frame MF, the filler pipe 24 and the breather pipe 2 fixed to the body B integrated with the MF
The tip of 5 does not move, so that two bellows parts 24 ₂ and 24 ₂ are formed in the filler pipe 24 in order to absorb the relative movement of the fuel tank 23 and the tips of the filler pipe 24 and the breather pipe 25. The breather pipe 25 has one bellows portion 25 ₁ . The bellows 2
4 ₂ , 24 ₂ ; 25 ₁ absorbs the positional deviation between the tip of the filler pipe 24 and the breather pipe 25 and the body B due to an error when the sub-frame SF supporting the fuel tank 23 is mounted on the main frames MF, MF. It also has functions.

A filler pipe 24 is provided on the upper surface of the left side member 1 facing the lower surface of the left main frame MF.
And elastic member 3 made of rubber for supporting the breather pipe 25
8 is attached with four bolts 39 ... Elastic member 3
8, a filler pipe support hole 38 ₁ through which the filler pipe 24 penetrates, a breather pipe support hole 38 ₂ through which the breather pipe 25 penetrates, and a lightening hole 3 extending in the front-rear direction.
8 ₃ are formed. A predetermined gap α is formed between the top surface 38 ₄ of the elastic member 38 and the recess 40 of the main frame MF.

Since the filler pipe 24 and the breather pipe 25 extending from the fuel tank 23 are stably supported by the subframe SF by the elastic member 38, the subframe SF together with the fuel tank 23 are connected to the main frame MF, Workability at the time of attaching to MF improves. In addition, the subframe SF is the rear suspension RS,
It is prevented that the top surface 38 ₄ of the elastic member 38 abuts the lower surface of the main frame MF and the filler pipe 24 and the breather pipe 25 directly interfere with the main frame MF even when the load is applied from the RS to move in the vertical direction. , Even when the vertical movement amount of the sub-frame SF is large,
The lightening hole 38 ₃ of the elastic member 38 is compressed in the vertical direction to absorb the load and prevent the filler pipe 24 and the breather pipe 25 from being damaged.

As is apparent from FIGS. 1 to 3, in the sub-frame SF, a front expansion chamber 26, a front exhaust pipe 27, and a main expansion chamber which are detachably connected to the rear end of the exhaust pipe extending from the engine. An exhaust system 31 including a rear exhaust pipe 28, a rear exhaust pipe 29, and a rear expansion chamber 30 is supported. The front expansion chamber 26 and the front exhaust pipe 27 are arranged along the center line of the vehicle body, and the main expansion chamber 28 connected to the rear of the front exhaust pipe 27.
Are arranged in the left-right direction below the seat portion 41 ₁ of the seat 41 along the front surface of the front cross member 2, and are suspended and supported by the front cross member 2 via a pair of left and right elastic members 32, 32. To be done. The rear exhaust pipe 29 extending rearward from the right end of the main expansion chamber 28 extends rearward through the right side surface of the right side member 1, and the rear expansion chamber 30 connected to the rear end thereof is connected to the right side via the elastic member 33. Is suspended and supported by the bracket 10 for the leading arm.

As described above, by disposing the rear exhaust pipe 29 on the right side surface of the right side member 1, the interference between the fuel tank 23 supported inside the sub-frame SF and the rear exhaust pipe 29 is avoided. Not only can the capacity of the fuel tank 23 be secured sufficiently, but it is not necessary to form a notch or the like for passing the rear exhaust pipe 29 in the subframe SF, and the strength of the subframe SF can be secured. it can. Further, by supporting the exhaust system 31 on the sub-frame SF before and after the right rear suspension RS, the relative position between the rear suspension RS and the exhaust system 31 can be maintained precisely and interference between the two can be prevented.

As is apparent from FIGS. 4 and 5, the rear exhaust pipe 29 includes the upper suspension arm (upper arm 14 and leading arm 15) and the lower suspension arm (trailing arm 11, control arm 12) of the right rear suspension RS. And the rear arm 13) and extends rearward through a gap formed between the lower arm 13 and the lower arm 13. Due to the layout of the rear exhaust pipe 29, it is not necessary to bend the suspension arm to avoid interference with the rear exhaust pipe 29. ， The rigidity of the suspension arm can be maintained.

Further, the elastic member 33 supports the rear portion of the exhaust system 31 on the right side of the rear portion of the sub-frame SF, and the filler pipe 34 and the breather pipe 35 are supported on the left side of the rear portion by the elastic member 38. The weight balance in the left-right direction of the sub-frame assembly can be maintained, and the front part of the exhaust system 31 is supported by the pair of elastic members 32, 32 at the center of the front part of the sub-frame SF. You can maintain balance.
As a result, the center of gravity of the subframe assembly is aligned with the center of the subframe assembly to improve the weight balance, improve the workability when the subframe assembly is mounted on the main frames MF, MF, and reduce the weight of the four rubber pieces. Bush mount 4 ...
The load applied to can be made uniform.

Moreover, since the seat 41 ₁ of the seat 41 is arranged in front of the front cross member 2 of the sub-frame SF, the capacity of the fuel tank 23 supported inside the sub-frame SF by the seat 41 has an influence. Never receive.
Moreover, since the main expansion chamber 28 extending in the left-right direction along the front surface of the front cross member 2 is arranged by utilizing the dead space below the seat portion 41 _{1 of} the seat 41, the seat 41 is brought close to the sub-frame SF. It is possible to secure a sufficient volume of the main expansion chamber 28 while retreating to the position where the main expansion chamber 28 is kept wide to keep the vehicle interior wide.

Thus, the left and right rear suspensions RS,
A sub-frame assembly in which the RS, the fuel tank 23, and the exhaust system 31 are integrally assembled is a pair of left and right main frames M via four rubber bush mounts 4 ...
It is attached to F and MF. At this time, the number of assembling steps can be significantly reduced by previously subassembling the subframe assembly as a unit and attaching the subframe assembly to the mainframes MF and MF all together.

On the subframe SF mounted on the main frames MF, MF by the four rubber bush mounts 4 ..., the load received by the rear wheels W, W from the road surface while the vehicle is running is mediated by the rear suspensions RS, RS. Sub-frame SF, the left and right side members 1,
1, the front cross member 2 and the rear cross member 3 are formed in a frame shape, and the two front corners are reinforced by the trailing arm brackets 6 and 6 and the two rear corners are Since it is reinforced by the control arm brackets 7, 7, the rigidity in the vicinity of the corner of the subframe SF becomes extremely high. Therefore, when the load from the rear suspension RS is input to the sub-frame SF, it is possible to effectively prevent the deformation in which the planar shape of the sub-frame SF is distorted due to the change in the joint angle of the corners. Moreover, in the event of a vehicle collision,
The fuel tank 23 can be effectively protected by the highly rigid sub-frame SF.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and various design changes can be made.

[0035]

As described above, according to the invention described in claim 1, the sub-frame supporting the fuel tank is attached to the lower part of the main frame, and the fuel tank and the sub-frame are attached .
Subframe assembly including the main frame
In a vehicle that can be attached to a fuel pipe, a filler pipe whose lower end is connected to the fuel tank and
The upper end was connected near the end and the lower end was connected to the fuel tank.
The breather pipe and the subframe are supported by the breather pipe.
The pipe is passed between the subframe and the main frame and extended upward , and the bottom surface of the main frame facing the breather pipe is provided with a mounting position of the breather pipe.
Increase the height of the pipe to connect it to the fuel tank.
Since a recess for increasing the height, not only can extend upwardly without interfering with the main frame breather pipe, connection to the fuel tank to raise the position of the breather pipe by the recess By increasing the height of the fuel tank, the internal volume of the fuel tank can be effectively used to increase the substantial capacity.

According to the invention described in claim 2,
By supporting the filler pipe and the breather pipe extending from the fuel tank on the subframe through the elastic member, the filler pipe and the breather pipe are stably supported on the subframe, and the fuel tank and the subframe are collectively supported by the mainframe. Can be easily attached to the. Moreover, the elastic member can effectively suppress the transmission of vibration from the sub-frame to the filler pipe and the breather pipe.

According to the invention described in claim 3,
By providing flexible parts in the filler pipe and breather pipe between the fixed part to the vehicle body and the elastic member,
It is possible to easily absorb the positional deviation between the fuel tank and the vehicle body due to the relative movement of the subframe with respect to the main frame, and the positional deviation between the fuel tank and the vehicle body due to an error during assembly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a rear suspension subframe assembly.

FIG. 2 is an overall plan view of a subframe assembly

FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG.

4 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG.

5 is a view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged arrow view taken along line 6-6 of FIG.

7 is a view taken along the line 7-7 of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

B body (vehicle body) MF main frame SF subframe 23 fuel tank 24 filler pipe 24 ₂ bellows part (flexible part) 25 breather pipe 25 ₁ bellows part (flexible part) 38 elastic member 40 recess

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --- Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-58-76326 (JP, A) JP-A-1-247883 (JP, A) JP-A-4-230421 (JP, A) JP-A-4- 11517 (JP, A) Actual opening 1-161936 (JP, U) Actual opening Sho 63-185728 (JP, U) Actual opening Sho 63-184124 (JP, U) Actual opening Sho 61-179124 (JP, U) Japanese Patent Publication 5-44389 (JP, B2) Actual Public Publication 5-9967 (JP, Y2) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60K 15/04 B62D 21/00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sub-frame (SF) supporting a fuel tank (23) is attached to a lower portion of a main frame (MF), and the fuel tank (23) and the sub-frame (SF) are attached .
The subframe assembly including the mainframe (M
F) A vehicle that can be attached to a filler pipe whose lower end is connected to the fuel tank (23)
(24) and near the upper end of this filler pipe (24)
The upper end was connected and the lower end was connected to the fuel tank (23)
Support the breather pipe (25) to the subframe (SF)
Hold the breather pipe (25) in the subframe (S
F) and the main frame (MF) are passed and extended upward, and the breather pad is provided on the lower surface of the main frame (MF) facing the breather pipe (25).
The height of the mounting position of the ip (25) is increased and the pipe (2
5) Increase the height of the connection to the fuel tank (23)
Characterized in that a recess (40) for
Fuel tank support structure for vehicles. The method according to claim 2, wherein the filler pipe (24) and breather pipe (25), characterized in that supported on the sub-frame (SF) through an elastic member (38), according to claim 1
A fuel tank support structure for the vehicle described. Wherein the filler pipe (24) and between said elastic member (38) and the fixed portion of the vehicle body (B) of the breather pipe (25), the filler pipe (24) and breather pipe (25) To the flexible parts (24 ₂ , 25
3. The fuel tank support structure for a vehicle according to claim 2, further comprising: ₁ ).