JP5537362B2 - Fuel tank - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a fuel tank mounted on a device or device such as a vehicle.

  2. Description of the Related Art As a fuel tank used for a vehicle such as an automobile, a resin fuel tank in which a main body is formed by blow molding resin is known.

  However, the resin fuel tank has a low rigidity against the fluctuation of the tank internal pressure. For this reason, a steel tank band is generally used, and a fuel tank is sandwiched and fixed between the vehicle body and the tank band to ensure rigidity against fluctuations in tank internal pressure. Therefore, in addition to the fuel tank itself, a separate member called a tank band is required. In order to prevent fuel permeation, the wall of the fuel tank body needs to have a multilayer structure in which EVOH or the like is laminated.

  On the other hand, a metal press in which the main body is formed by welding a half-cracked box-shaped upper member and lower member formed by press-forming a steel plate (SP material) or an aluminum plate in the vicinity of the periphery of the opening. A fuel tank for a molded product is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The fuel tank of such a metal press-molded product has high rigidity and can suppress fuel permeation.

JP-A-8-323487

  However, the technique described in Patent Document 1 has a problem that a large increase in weight is unavoidable in the case of a steel press-formed product. Further, even in the case of an aluminum press-molded product, the press mold is expensive, and there is a problem that the capital investment for the mold is increased and the manufacturing cost is increased.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and provides a fuel tank that has high rigidity, can suppress fuel permeation, and can reduce capital investment for a mold while reducing weight. The purpose is to do.

The invention according to claim 1 is a fuel tank for a vehicle, which is a hollow molded body having openings at both ends, and a pair of lid bodies that are joined to both ends of the molded body and close the openings. And an upper wall forming an upper surface of the molded body forms a flange portion extending outward from an upper end of a vertical wall forming a side surface of the molded body, and the molded body The flange portion is directly fixed to the vehicle body of the vehicle, and a pump module for pumping up fuel stored in the tank body is passed through an opening formed in the upper wall. It is inserted in the said tank main body, The cover member of the said pump module is attached so that the said opening part formed in the said upper wall may be plugged up .

According to the present invention, since the extruded molded body is provided, the rigidity is high and fuel permeation can be suppressed. Further, since the configuration is extrusion molded article, it is possible to reduce the capital investment in molds as compared to the press-molded article.
That is, according to the present invention, there is an excellent effect that the rigidity is high and the permeation of fuel can be suppressed, and the capital investment for the mold can be reduced while reducing the weight.

Further, there is an effect that the fuel tank can be directly fixed to the mounting target easily and inexpensively without requiring a separate member such as a tank band for fixing the fuel tank to the mounting target.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the fuel tank for a vehicle according to the first aspect, the molded body is formed with a rib extending in the extrusion direction of the molded body, and overlaps the pump module. The rib is cut away .
According to the present invention, in addition to the operational effect of the first aspect of the present invention, the operational effect is achieved that the rigidity of the fuel tank can be easily and arbitrarily increased as necessary.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the fuel tank for a vehicle according to the second aspect, the lid body has a bottomed box shape opened to one side.
According to this invention, in addition to the function and effect of the invention according to the second aspect , the gap formed between the inner surface of the lid and the end of the rib allows each part in the molded body defined by the rib to mutually connect. As a result, the fuel stored in the fuel tank can be freely moved in the fuel tank, and there is an effect that it is not partially biased.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the fuel tank for a vehicle according to any one of the first to third aspects, the pair of left and right frames extending in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body are arranged in the direction in which the molded body is extruded. The left and right attachment parts provided separately are fixed to each other.
According to this invention, in addition to the operational effects of the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , the fuel tank can be used as a structural material, and the function as a reinforcing member of the vehicle body can be exhibited. There is an effect of being able to.

  According to the fuel tank of the present invention, the rigidity is high and the permeation of fuel can be suppressed, and the capital investment for the mold can be reduced while reducing the weight.

It is a perspective view showing a schematic structure of a fuel tank concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a disassembled perspective view of the fuel tank shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the III-III line of FIG. It is a perspective view for demonstrating the method to attach a fuel tank to a vehicle body.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a fuel tank according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the fuel tank shown in FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 1 to 3 are appropriately enlarged, reduced or simplified for easy understanding of the invention (the same applies to FIG. 4).

  In this embodiment, a pump built-in type fuel tank mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the fuel tank 1 includes a tank body 2 for containing fuel. Although not shown, the tank body 2 is provided with an oil supply valve for supplying fuel from the outside into the tank body 2.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the tank body 2 includes a hollow molded body 3 having openings 31 at both ends, and a pair of lid bodies 4 and 4 that are joined to both ends of the molded body 3 and close the opening 31. have.

  The molded body 3 is formed from an aluminum extruded profile having a closed cross section. That is, the molded body 3 is formed in a hollow shape obtained by extending a predetermined closed cross-sectional shape in the axial direction, and is erected in a direction perpendicular to the bottom wall 32 from both side ends of the bottom wall 32. Vertical walls 33, 33 and an upper wall 34 provided to connect the upper ends of the vertical walls 33, 33 so as to face the bottom wall 32 are provided.

  The wall portion forming the side surface of the molded body 3 is provided with a flange portion 35 projecting outward from the wall portion. In the present embodiment, the upper wall (wall portion) 34 of the molded body 3 extends outward from the side surface of the lid body 4 in a plane including the upper wall 34, thereby forming the flange portion 35. Has been.

  However, the flange portion 35 may be provided so that a wall portion other than the upper wall 34 of the molded body 3 extends according to the vehicle body of the vehicle to which the fuel tank 1 is mounted. It may be provided so as to protrude outward from the wall portion at a position other than the edge of the wall portion.

  In the present embodiment, the flange portion 35 is integrally formed with the molded body 3 by extrusion molding. However, the flange portion 35 may be provided by fixing a separately manufactured plate member such as a bracket to the molded body 3 by a fixing method such as welding.

  The flange portion 35 is provided with a hole portion (attachment portion) for attaching the fuel tank 1 to the vehicle body. The hole 36 has a diameter large enough to allow the screw shaft of the bolt 7 (see FIG. 4) for fixing the fuel tank 1 to be inserted therethrough. The upper wall 34 provided with the flange portion 35 is desirably set to have a thickness dimension larger than that of the bottom wall 32 and the vertical walls 33 and 33 from the viewpoint of increasing the rigidity of the members related to the fixation of the fuel tank 1.

  By providing the flange portion 35 having such a hole portion 36 in the molded body 3, the fuel tank 1 can be easily and inexpensively provided without requiring a separate member such as a tank band for fixing the fuel tank 1 to the vehicle body. The tank 1 can be directly fixed to the vehicle body 6 (see FIG. 4). However, it is also possible to adopt a method in which the flange portion 35 having the hole portion 36 is omitted and the fuel tank 1 is fixed to the vehicle body 6 with a tank band.

  The molded body 3 is formed with ribs 37 extending in the extrusion direction when the molded body 3 is molded. Here, the rib 37 is formed in the middle of the two vertical walls 33 and 33 in parallel therewith. However, as long as the ribs 37 extend in the extrusion direction when the molded body 3 is molded, the positions and the number of the ribs 37 are arbitrary.

  According to such a configuration of the molded body 3, the rigidity of the fuel tank 1 can be easily and arbitrarily increased as necessary. For example, a closed tank is adopted as a technique for suppressing the generation of fuel vapor in a hybrid vehicle or the like that travels in combination with an engine and a motor. This closed tank can be manufactured with a very lightweight structure. However, the rib 37 can be omitted if the required rigidity is ensured.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the molded body 3 of the tank body 2 has an opening 38 for inserting the pump module 5 for pumping up the fuel stored in the tank body 2 into the fuel tank 1. Yes. In FIG. 3, the pump module 5 and the rib 37 are not shown in cross section, but are shown as viewed from the side.

  Here, since the installation positions of the pump module 5 and the rib 37 partially overlap each other, the opening 38 can be obtained by scraping the upper wall 34 of the molded body 3 and the vicinity of the center in the longitudinal direction (extrusion direction) of the rib 37. Is formed. However, at least one of the pump module 5 and the rib 37 may be moved in a direction perpendicular to the vertical wall 33 to avoid interference therebetween. For example, a pair of ribs parallel to the vertical wall 33 may be provided, and the pump module 5 may be disposed between the pair of ribs. In this way, it is not necessary to cut the rib 37, so that a reduction in rigidity can be prevented. Or you may make it not interfere with a rib by making the part inserted in the tank main body 2 of the pump module 5 into two forks.

  The pump module 5 includes a fuel pump (not shown) in the chamber 51. Further, the pump module 5 includes a lid member 53 that supports the chamber 51 via the connecting member 52. The opening 38 of the tank body 2 is closed by the lid member 53 in a state where the chamber 51 is disposed in the tank body 2. The chamber 51 includes an inlet (not shown) for introducing the fuel in the tank body 2 into the chamber 51. The pump module 5 drives the fuel pump to suck the fuel in the chamber 51 and supplies the sucked fuel to the engine (not shown) through the supply pipe 54.

  The lid 4 has a rectangular bottomed box shape opened on one side (see FIG. 2). That is, the lid body 4 includes a rectangular plate-like portion 41 and a wall portion 42 erected in a direction perpendicular to the plate-like portion 41 from the periphery of the plate-like portion 41.

  The opening peripheral end portions of the pair of lids 4 are liquid-tightly fixed to the opening peripheral end portions on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the molded body 3, whereby the opening 31 of the molded body 3 is closed to the outside. . Here, the lid 4 is fixed to the molded body 3 by welding. However, the fixing may be performed by other methods capable of ensuring liquid tightness such as screw fastening with a sealing member such as a gasket interposed.

  Since the lid body 4 has a bottomed box shape that opens to one side, a predetermined gap is provided between the inner surface of the lid body 4 (the plate-like portion 41 and the wall portion 42) and the longitudinal ends of the ribs 37. C is formed (see FIG. 3). The gap C functions to allow the respective parts in the molded body 3 defined by the ribs 37 to communicate with each other. Thereby, the fuel accommodated in the tank main body 2 can move freely within the tank main body 2 and is not biased to a part. In addition, the rib 37 restricts a large movement of fuel in the tank body 2.

  The gap C is not necessarily formed at both end portions of the rib 37, and may be formed at one end portion of the rib 37. That is, one of the pair of lids 4 may be formed of a flat plate. If the lid body 4 is formed of a flat plate body, manufacturing is easy and cost can be reduced. Further, the gap C can also be formed by cutting the end portion of the rib 37 by machining after the molded body 3 is extruded. In this case, both of the pair of lid bodies 4 can be formed of flat plate bodies.

  The material of the tank body 2 (the molded body 3 and the lid body 4) is an aluminum material containing an aluminum alloy. For example, a 5000 series, 6000 series, or 7000 series aluminum alloy defined by JIS is preferable. The tank body 2 is excellent in durability and weather resistance even without coating, but the surface treatment for known aluminum materials such as painting, anodizing treatment, plating treatment, chemical conversion coating treatment may be applied to all or part of the tank body 2. Good. However, the material of the lid 4 is not necessarily limited to the aluminum material, and may be formed from other metal materials or resins.

Next, with reference to FIG.2 and FIG.3, the manufacturing method of the fuel tank 1 is demonstrated.
First, an aluminum extruded shape member having a closed cross section used for the molded body 3 is prepared. The aluminum extruded profile is formed by extruding a heated aluminum material through a die (mold) having a predetermined shape.

  Subsequently, the prepared aluminum extruded shape is cut so that the length in the extrusion direction (longitudinal direction) is a predetermined length. Thereby, the hollow molded object 3 provided with the opening parts 31 at both ends is manufactured. Moreover, the hole part 36 and the opening part 38 are opened by cutting the molded object 3 after extrusion molding.

  The lid 4 is manufactured by cutting a plate made of an aluminum material. However, since the lid 4 has a simple small shape, it may be manufactured by other methods such as pressing and casting. Then, the pair of lids 4 are bonded and fixed to both ends of the molded body 3 by welding. Thereby, the tank main body 2 is manufactured.

  In addition, about the manufacturing method of the pump module 5, since it can respond with a general manufacturing method, description is abbreviate | omitted.

  Subsequently, the pump module 5 is inserted into the tank body 2 through the opening 38 formed in the tank body 2 with the chamber 51 containing the fuel pump at the head, and the opening 38 is blocked by the lid member 53. It is. Thereby, the fuel tank 1 is completed.

Next, a method for attaching the fuel tank 1 to the vehicle body 6 will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the fuel tank 1 is positioned below a pair of left and right frames 61 and 61 extending in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body 6.

  The bottom wall 62 of the frame 61 is provided with a through hole (not shown) through which the screw shaft of the bolt 7 for fixing the fuel tank 1 is inserted. The bottom wall 62 is coaxial with the through hole. A nut 63 is fixed on the top by welding, for example.

  Then, the upper wall 34 of the fuel tank 1 is brought into contact with the lower surface of the frame 61 so that the position of each hole 36 of the fuel tank 1 matches the position of each nut 63 on the frame 61. Subsequently, the screw shaft of the bolt 7 is screwed into the nut 63 from below through the hole 36 of the fuel tank 1 and the through hole of the frame 61.

  In this manner, the fuel tank 1 is directly fixed to the vehicle body 6 of the vehicle to be mounted without requiring a separate member such as a tank band. In FIG. 4, the fuel tank 1 is screwed and fixed to the vehicle body 6 at four locations, but the number of fixed locations can be set as appropriate.

  Here, the fuel tank 1 of the present embodiment has a high degree of freedom of mounting on the vehicle body 6 because the outer shape is generally a rectangular parallelepiped. Moreover, the fuel tank 1 has high rigidity, can be used as a structural material, and can function as a reinforcing member for the vehicle body 6.

  Thus, according to the fuel tank 1 of this embodiment, since it has the molded object 3 formed from the aluminum extrusion shape material, rigidity is high and permeation | transmission of a fuel can be suppressed. Moreover, since the molded body 3 is made of aluminum, the weight can be reduced as compared with steel. Furthermore, since the molded body 3 is an extrusion-molded product, it is possible to reduce the capital investment for the mold as compared with the press-molded product.

  In other words, according to the fuel tank 1 of the present embodiment, the rigidity is high and the permeation of the fuel can be suppressed, and the excellent effect of being able to reduce the capital investment for the mold while reducing the weight is achieved. .

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated based on embodiment, this invention is not limited to the structure described in the said embodiment, Including suitably combining thru | or selecting the structure described in embodiment, The configuration can be changed as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a fuel tank mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other equipment and devices such as ships. It can also be applied to a fuel tank mounted on the vehicle.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fuel tank 2 Tank main body 3 Molding body 31 Opening part 34 Upper wall (wall part)
35 Flange 36 Hole (Mounting part)
37 Rib 4 Lid 6 Car Body 61 Frame

Claims (4)

  A fuel tank for a vehicle,
  A tank body having a hollow molded body having openings at both ends, and a pair of lid bodies that are joined to both ends of the molded body and closes the openings,
  The upper wall that forms the upper surface of the molded body forms a flange portion that extends outward from the upper end of the vertical wall that forms the side surface of the molded body, and is extruded integrally with the molded body,
  The flange portion is directly fixed to the vehicle body;
  A pump module for pumping up the fuel stored in the tank body is inserted into the tank body through an opening formed in the upper wall,
  A fuel tank for a vehicle, wherein a lid member of the pump module is attached so as to close the opening formed in the upper wall. The fuel for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein a rib extending in an extrusion direction of the molded body is formed in the molded body, and the rib is cut at a position overlapping with the pump module. tank. The fuel tank for a vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the lid body has a bottomed box shape opened to one side. A pair of left and right frames extending longitudinally of the vehicle body, any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the mounting portion of the left and right sides provided with spaced apart in the extrusion direction of the molded body, characterized in that the respectively fixed A fuel tank for a vehicle according to claim 1 .

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