JP5811392B2 - Evaporative fuel processing device for vehicle engine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an evaporative fuel processing apparatus for a vehicular engine, and more particularly to an evaporative fuel processing apparatus for a vehicular engine that can improve the processing performance of an evaporative fuel gas adsorbed by a canister during cold weather.

In a vehicle in which an engine to which gaseous fuel and liquid fuel are selectively supplied is mounted in the engine room in the front part of the vehicle, a regulator that depressurizes high-pressure gaseous fuel and supplies the engine to the engine is disposed in the engine room, A canister is disposed in the engine room as an evaporative fuel processing apparatus for processing evaporative fuel gas of liquid fuel vaporized in the fuel tank, and the evaporative fuel gas is adsorbed by the canister. The canister contains an adsorbent such as activated carbon in the container, adsorbs the evaporated fuel gas generated in the fuel tank to the adsorbent, and separates the evaporated fuel gas from the adsorbent with fresh air taken in while the vehicle is running. The separated evaporated fuel gas is supplied to the engine and burned.
In the conventional evaporative fuel processing apparatus, a canister is attached to the front upper part of a fuel tank arranged at the lower part of a vehicle floor panel (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-62727), and a canister is attached to a battery arranged in an engine room. (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-73882). Some regulators for reducing the pressure of gaseous fuel are arranged in the engine room via a dash panel (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-345917).

JP 11-62727 A JP 2000-73882 A JP 2000-345917 A

In general, an adsorbent such as activated carbon incorporated in a canister is easily affected by outside air temperature, and the higher the ambient temperature, the more the adsorbed evaporated fuel gas is promoted. On the other hand, when the temperature of the adsorbent is lowered due to the temperature drop of the canister container, the evaporative fuel gas detachment performance is lowered and the processing performance is lowered.
The evaporative fuel treatment apparatus of Patent Document 1 has a structure in which a canister is attached to the upper front side of a fuel tank attached to the lower part of a vehicle floor panel. However, in this structure, when the vehicle travels, a large amount of cooling air flows below the floor panel, so that the temperature of the space where the canister is disposed may be lowered, and the canister may be cooled.
On the other hand, the evaporative fuel processing apparatus of Patent Document 2 has a structure in which a canister is disposed in an engine room where the ambient temperature is relatively higher than the space formed below the floor panel. However, in general, in such a structure, the canister is disposed at a position away from the engine so that the engine and the canister do not interfere when the vehicle receives an external force.
Therefore, when a vehicle having a canister disposed in the engine room is driven during cold weather, low-temperature cooling air flows into the engine room, and the canister disposed at a position away from the engine is less likely to receive heat from the engine. And there existed a possibility that the surrounding temperature of a canister might fall and a canister might be cooled.
As a result, when the temperature of the adsorbent incorporated in the canister is lowered, the evaporative fuel gas detachment performance from the adsorbent is lowered, and the evaporative fuel gas processing performance may be lowered.
In addition, as described in Patent Document 3, there is a regulator arranged in the engine room via a dash panel. However, the structure of the canister described in Patent Document 2 is applied to the structure of Patent Document 3. Even if it is, the canister is cooled at the time of cold, and there is a possibility that the processing performance of the fuel evaporative gas with respect to the adsorbent incorporated in the canister may deteriorate.

  It is an object of the present invention to improve the processing performance of evaporated fuel gas in a cold engine in a fuel vapor processing apparatus for a vehicle engine.

According to the present invention, an engine to which gaseous fuel and liquid fuel are selectively supplied is mounted in an engine room in a front portion of a vehicle, and a regulator for depressurizing high-pressure gaseous fuel and supplying the engine to the engine is provided in the engine room. In the evaporative fuel processing apparatus for a vehicle engine, wherein the regulator is arranged to circulate the hot water of the engine to the regulator, and a canister for adsorbing the evaporated fuel gas of the liquid fuel vaporized in the fuel tank is disposed in the engine room. And the canister are disposed on the front side of a dash panel disposed at the rear of the engine room so as to be adjacent to each other in the vehicle width direction, and the canister has a rectangular cross section, and the canister has a rectangular cross section. of the long side portion is disposed so as to extend in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, the regulator, the gas fuel A housing unit fuel filter for filtering dust is heated by the hot water of the engine with attached, attached to the fuel filter to the lower front of the housing portion so that this fuel filter protrudes forward of the vehicle than the canister The housing portion is arranged at a position adjacent to the canister in the vehicle width direction.

In the evaporative fuel treatment apparatus for a vehicle engine according to the present invention, the canister is disposed close to the housing portion heated by the hot water in the regulator, so that the canister can receive a large amount of heat generated from the housing portion. .
As a result, even when low-temperature cooling air flows into the engine room during cold weather, the canister can receive heat from the housing portion of the regulator, and the canister and the adsorbent incorporated in the canister can be heated.
As a result, the evaporative fuel treatment device can increase the temperature of the adsorbent incorporated in the canister even in cold weather, and enhance the ability of the evaporative fuel gas to desorb from the adsorbent, thereby treating the evaporative fuel gas. Performance can be improved.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the front portion of the vehicle. (Example) FIG. 2 is a side view of the front portion of the vehicle. (Example) FIG. 3 is a front view of the front portion of the vehicle. (Example) FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of the regulator and the canister. (Example) FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view of the regulator and the canister. (Example) FIG. 6 is an enlarged front view of the regulator and the canister. (Example) FIG. 7 is an enlarged front view of the regulator and the canister. (Modification)

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

1 to 6 show an embodiment of the present invention. 1 to 3, 1 is a vehicle, 2 is a bumper, 3 and 4 are left and right fender panels, 5 is a dash panel, 6 is an engine hood, and 7 is an engine room. A vehicle 1 has an engine 8 to which gaseous fuel and liquid fuel are selectively supplied in a front engine room 7 mounted horizontally, a transmission 9 is connected to the left side of the engine 8, and left and right front wheels 10. • Drive 11
In the engine 8, an air cleaner 12 is disposed at the top, and an air cleaner inlet duct 13 that takes in air and an air cleaner outlet duct 14 that supplies purified air to the engine 8 are connected. The air cleaner outlet duct 14 extends from the left rear portion of the air cleaner 12 to the lower side and is connected to the throttle body 15. The throttle body 15 is connected to an intake manifold 16 attached to the rear side of the engine 8. The engine 8 has an exhaust manifold 17 attached to the front side. A catalytic converter 18 is connected to the exhaust manifold 17. Connected to the catalytic converter 18 is an exhaust pipe 19 that guides exhaust to the rear of the vehicle.
In the vehicle 1, a radiator 20 is disposed in an engine room 7 in front of the engine 8. The engine 8 has a water jacket connected to the radiator 20 by a radiator inlet hose 22 via a thermostat 21. The radiator 20 is connected to a water jacket of the engine 8 through a water pump by an outlet hose 23. In the vehicle 1, a battery 24 is disposed on the left side of the engine room 7 and above the transmission 9. The battery 24 is placed on the battery tray 25. The battery tray 24 is attached to the fender apron on the left side of the engine room 7 by a battery bracket.

The engine 8 is supplied with gaseous fuel stored in a gaseous fuel container mounted on the rear of the vehicle 1. The high-pressure gaseous fuel in the gaseous fuel container is led to a regulator 27 disposed in the engine room 7 in the front portion of the vehicle 1 through the high-pressure gaseous fuel pipe 26 and decompressed to a low-pressure gaseous fuel. As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the regulator 27 has a housing portion 28. The housing portion 28 is attached to the dash panel 5 that forms the rear portion of the engine room 7 with a bracket 29. The regulator 27 connects the high-pressure gaseous fuel pipe 26 to the upper part of the housing portion 28 via a joint 30.
In the regulator 27, a pressure gauge 31 is attached above the housing portion 28 by a bracket 32. The pressure gauge 31 is connected to the joint 30 via a pressure gauge pipe 33 and measures the gaseous fuel pressure in the gaseous fuel container. The regulator 27 has a fuel filter 34 attached to the front side of the lower portion of the housing portion 28. The fuel filter 34 filters the dust of the decompressed gaseous fuel. The regulator 27 has a low-pressure gas fuel pipe 35 connected to an intermediate part of the housing part 28. The gaseous fuel that has been decompressed and filtered is supplied to a gaseous fuel delivery pipe 36 through a low-pressure gaseous fuel pipe 35. The gaseous fuel in the gaseous fuel delivery pipe 36 is injected into the intake manifold 16 by the gaseous fuel injection valve 37 and supplied to the engine 8.
In the regulator 27, the housing portion 28 may be cooled to a very low temperature (for example, −40 ° C. or less) due to adiabatic expansion due to sudden pressure reduction. It has a structure that always turns hot water (coolant). The regulator 27 is provided with a hot water inlet portion 38 and a hot water outlet portion 39 at an intermediate portion of the housing portion 28. The hot water inlet portion 38 is connected to the thermostat 21 by a hot water introduction pipe 40. The warm water outlet 39 is connected to the water jacket of the engine 8 by a warm water outlet pipe 41. In the regulator 27, the hot water of the engine 8 is circulated through the housing portion 28 through the hot water introduction pipe 40 and the hot water outlet pipe 41, and is heated with the hot water.

The engine 8 is supplied with liquid fuel stored in a fuel tank mounted on the rear part of the vehicle 1. The liquid fuel in the liquid fuel container is guided to the engine room 7 at the front portion of the vehicle 1 through the liquid fuel pipe, and is supplied to the liquid fuel delivery pipe 42 through the fuel filter. The liquid fuel in the liquid fuel delivery pipe 42 is injected into the intake manifold 16 by the liquid fuel injection valve 43 and supplied to the engine 8.
The vehicle 1 introduces the evaporated fuel gas into the canister 46 of the evaporated fuel processing device 45 disposed in the engine room 7 by the evaporated fuel introduction pipe 44 in order to process the evaporated fuel gas of the liquid fuel vaporized in the fuel tank. doing. The canister 46 adsorbs the evaporated fuel gas to an adsorbent such as activated carbon in the container 47, and causes the evaporated fuel gas to desorb from the adsorbent by fresh air taken in by the atmospheric pipe 48 while the vehicle 1 is traveling. The separated evaporated fuel gas is supplied to the air cleaner 12 and the throttle body 15 through the evaporated fuel supply pipe 49 and burned by the engine 8.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the evaporative fuel processing device 45 of the engine 8 arranges the container 47 of the canister 46 at a position adjacent to the housing portion 28 heated by the warm water of the regulator 27, and It is attached to a dash panel 5 that forms the rear part of the room 7.
In this fuel vapor processing apparatus 45, the canister 46 is arranged close to the housing portion 28 heated by the hot water in the regulator 27, so that the canister 46 can receive a large amount of heat generated from the housing portion 28. . As a result, even when a low-temperature cooling air flows into the engine room 7 during cold weather, the canister 46 can receive heat from the housing portion 28 of the regulator 27, and the canister 46 and the adsorbent incorporated in the canister 46 can be heated. it can.
As a result, the evaporative fuel processing device 45 can increase the temperature of the adsorbent incorporated in the canister 46 even when it is cold, and enhance the ability of the evaporative fuel gas to detach from the adsorbent, thereby evaporating the fuel gas. The processing performance can be improved.

As shown in FIG. 4, the canister 46 has a rectangular shape having a short side portion and a long side portion in cross section. As shown in FIG. 6, the canister 46 is arranged such that the long side portion of the rectangular cross section faces the intermediate portion through which the hot water of the housing portion 28 of the regulator 27 flows.
The fuel vapor processing apparatus 45 can increase the surface area of the canister 46 facing the housing portion 28 of the regulator 27. Thus, the canister 46 can increase the amount of heat received from the housing portion 28 through which the hot water of the regulator 27 flows, and the heating performance of the canister 46 can be improved.
As a result, the evaporative fuel processing device 45 can reliably suppress a decrease in the temperature of the adsorbent incorporated in the canister 46 during cold weather.

FIG. 7 shows a modification of the evaporated fuel processing device 45. The regulator 27 in which the canisters 46 are arranged close to each other communicates the housing portion 28 with the engine 8 through a hot water introduction pipe 40 and a hot water outlet pipe 41. The hot water introduction pipe 40 and the hot water lead pipe 41 are partly formed by an introduction side metal pipe 50 and a lead side metal pipe 51, respectively. The introduction-side metal tube 50 and the outlet-side metal tube 51 are arranged in the space in front of the container 47 of the canister 46 so as to extend in the horizontal direction.
In the evaporative fuel processing device 45, the introduction side metal pipe 50 and the outlet side metal pipe 51 formed in a part of the hot water introduction pipe 40 and the hot water outlet pipe 41 can be arranged close to the canister 46. As a result, the canister 46 can be heated not only by the ripening from the housing portion 28 but also by hot air emitted from the introduction side metal pipe 50 of the hot water introduction pipe 40 and the lead side metal pipe 51 of the hot water lead pipe 41. The amount of heat received can be increased.
As a result, the evaporative fuel processing device 45 can reliably suppress the temperature of the adsorbent contained in the canister 46 from being lowered by the heat of the hot water introduction pipe 40 and the hot water outlet pipe 41 during cold weather.

  The present invention is capable of improving the processing performance of the evaporated fuel gas by the evaporated fuel processing apparatus when it is cold, and is not limited to an engine that selectively supplies gaseous fuel and liquid fuel, but is disposed in the engine room. The same effect can be produced by using a device that is heated by the warm water of the engine.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle 7 Engine room 8 Engine 20 Radiator 21 Thermostat 26 High pressure gas fuel piping 27 Regulator 28 Housing part 31 Pressure gauge 34 Fuel filter 35 Low pressure gas fuel piping 40 Hot water introduction piping 41 Hot water extraction piping 44 Evaporative fuel introduction piping 45 Evaporative fuel processing apparatus 4
46 Canister 47 Container 49 Vaporized fuel supply pipe 50 Introduction side metal pipe 51 Outlet side metal pipe

Claims (1)

An engine in which gaseous fuel and liquid fuel are selectively supplied is mounted in an engine room at the front of the vehicle, and a regulator for depressurizing high-pressure gaseous fuel and supplying the engine to the engine is disposed in the engine room, In an evaporative fuel treatment apparatus for a vehicle engine, wherein a canister that circulates warm water of an engine to the regulator and adsorbs an evaporative fuel gas of liquid fuel vaporized in a fuel tank is disposed in the engine room.
The regulator and the canister are arranged on the front side of a dash panel arranged at the rear of the engine room so as to be adjacent to each other in the vehicle width direction,
The canister has a rectangular cross section, and the canister is arranged such that a long side portion of the rectangular cross section extends in the front-rear direction of the vehicle,
The regulator includes a housing part to which a fuel filter for filtering dust from gaseous fuel is attached and heated by hot water of the engine,
The fuel filter is attached to a lower front side of the housing portion so that the fuel filter protrudes forward of the vehicle from the canister, and the housing portion is disposed at a position adjacent to the canister in the vehicle width direction. An evaporative fuel processing apparatus for a vehicle engine.

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