JP6319166B2 - High pressure gas tank - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a high-pressure gas tank.

  The high-pressure gas tank exhibits pressure resistance by covering a liner as a core material with carbon fiber reinforced plastic or glass fiber reinforced plastic (hereinafter collectively referred to as a fiber reinforced resin layer). The high-pressure gas tank is provided with a base attached to the end of the liner for supplying gas in the tank or filling the tank with gas. Usually, from the viewpoint of weight reduction, the liner is a resin-made hollow container having gas barrier properties, and the base is a metal molded product. For this reason, when mounting the base, a technique for preventing the base from rotating freely around the liner shaft has been proposed by inserting a resin constituting the liner into a concave groove provided in the outer peripheral wall of the base (for example, Patent Documents). 1).

JP-A-9-119598

  By the way, the base is used for gas supply and filling, and is also used as a bearing for a rotating shaft when forming a fiber reinforced resin layer by winding a fiber around a liner by a filament winding method (hereinafter referred to as FW method). . In the FW method, since the fiber is wound around the outer periphery of the liner while rotating the liner, a certain degree of strength is required for the die that functions as a bearing for the rotating shaft in order to prevent rotational runout of the liner. The strength of the base can be ensured to some extent by providing a flange as in the base used in the above-described anti-rotation method, but it is desirable to further improve the strength from the viewpoint of preventing the rotational runout of the liner. For these reasons, there has been a demand for a new anti-spinning method capable of achieving both a liner non-spinning prevention and an improvement in the base strength.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to solve at least a part of the problems described above, and the invention can be implemented as the following forms.

(1) According to one aspect of the present invention, a high-pressure gas tank is provided. The high-pressure gas tank is a high-pressure gas tank in which a base is attached to an end portion in the axial direction of a liner, which is a cylindrical hollow container, and the base is from the outside in the axial direction of the end portion of the liner to the inside of the liner. A base body extending along the axial direction of the liner, a flange portion extending in a circumferential direction from the base body, and having a contact surface contacting the end surface of the end of the liner; and the base body is the liner A plurality of ribs extending from the outer periphery of the liner inner base body part, which is a part located inside, to the contact surface of the flange portion, and an interrib recess is formed around the outer periphery of the liner inner base body part The liner is meshed with the rib and the recess between the ribs at the end.

  The high-pressure gas tank of this configuration reinforces the flange portion of the base attached to the axial end portion of the liner with a plurality of ribs extending from the outer periphery of the liner inner base body portion to the contact surface of the flange portion. In addition, the high-pressure gas tank of this form prevents the liner from idling by engaging the liner with the rib and the recess between the ribs at the end. As a result, according to the high-pressure gas tank of this embodiment, it is possible to achieve both prevention of the liner from spinning and improvement of the base strength.

  Note that the present invention can be realized in various modes. For example, in addition to the form as a liner equipped with a base, it can be realized in the form of a liner manufacturing method, a high-pressure gas tank manufacturing method, or the like.

It is explanatory drawing which shows roughly the external appearance of the high pressure gas tank 100 as embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional end view of the high-pressure gas tank 100 as viewed in cross section along line 2-2 in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the high pressure gas tank 100 with the half sectional view and front view which followed the 3-3 line in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the mode of formation of rib 16v etc. with the single arrow figure of the nozzle | cap | die 16 from the X direction in FIG. 3, and the arrow figure after insert molding of the liner 10. FIG. FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 in FIG. FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 in FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the first half of the manufacturing process of the high-pressure gas tank 100. 4 is a flowchart showing the latter half of the manufacturing process of the high-pressure gas tank 100. It is explanatory drawing which shows the modification which prevents the idle rotation of the liner 10 with the depression base part 14r insert-molded in the recessed part 16vs between ribs.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory view schematically showing the appearance of a high-pressure gas tank 100 as an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional end view of the high-pressure gas tank 100 taken along line 2-2 in FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing the high-pressure gas tank 100 in a half sectional view and a front view along line 3-3 in FIG.

  As shown in the drawing, the high-pressure gas tank 100 is configured by covering the liner 10 with a fiber reinforced resin layer 102, and has a base 16 protruding from both ends. The fiber reinforced resin layer 102 is formed by winding a fiber reinforced resin layer impregnated with a thermosetting resin around the outer periphery of the liner by the FW method. As will be described later, when the fiber is wound, fibers by hoop winding are used. Winding and fiber winding by low-angle / high-angle helical winding can be used properly. For the formation of the fiber reinforced resin layer 102, an epoxy resin is generally used as the thermosetting resin, but a thermosetting resin such as a polyester resin or a polyamide resin can be used. Further, as a reinforcing fiber (sliver fiber) wound around the liner outer periphery by the FW method, glass fiber, carbon fiber, aramid fiber, or the like is used, and a plurality of types (for example, glass fiber and carbon fiber) FW method. By sequentially performing the winding process, the fiber reinforced resin layer 102 can be formed by laminating resin layers made of different fibers.

  The liner 10 is a hollow tank container, and is a joined product of a pair of liner parts divided into two at the center in the tank longitudinal direction. Each of the two-part liner parts is formed by insert-molding an appropriate resin such as a nylon resin into the later-described base 16, joining the liner parts of the molded product, and laser-welding the jointed portions. 10 is formed. Through this part joining, the liner 10 is provided with spherical dome parts 14 on both sides of the cylindrical cylinder part 12. The liner 10 is provided with a depressed pedestal portion 14r for mounting the cap 16 at the top portion of the dome portion 14, that is, at the longitudinal end portion along the axis AX of the liner 10, and has a through hole 14h at the center thereof. The through hole 14 h is formed in alignment with the liner axis and functions as a positioning hole for the base 16.

  The base 16 is a forged molded product such as aluminum, and includes a base body 16b, a base flange 16f, a valve connection hole 16h, and a plurality of ribs 16v. The base body 16b extends along the axis AX from the outside in the longitudinal direction of the end portion of the liner 10 to the inside of the liner 10, and a portion located inside the liner is defined as a liner inner base body portion 16t. The base flange 16f extends in the circumferential direction from the base body 16b and enters the depressed pedestal portion 14r. By this entry, the base flange 16 f brings the flange contact surface 16 fs into contact with the bottom surface of the recessed pedestal portion 14 r which is the end surface of the liner 10. The base flange 16f has an outer surface inclined in an arc shape so that the flange thickness decreases toward the outside, and the flange outer surface is continuous with the outer surface of the dome portion 14 surrounding the depressed pedestal portion 14r.

  The base body 16 b including the liner inner base body portion 16 t positions the base 16 with respect to the liner 10 in cooperation with the through hole 14 h of the dome portion 14. The valve connection hole 16h passes through the center of the base 16 and has a taper screw portion of a high-pressure seal specification for pipe connection on the opening side. Both of the above-described tank bases are also used for mounting a rotating shaft during fiber winding in the FW method for forming the fiber reinforced resin layer 102, and one base 16 closes the valve connection hole 16h inside the tank. It has a bottomed hole, and also has a bottomed bearing hole 16hi concentric with the valve connecting hole 16h on the inside of the tank.

  Next, how the rib 16v is formed and how the depressed pedestal portion 14r and the rib covering portion 14s are formed in the dome portion 14 of the liner 10 will be described. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the formation of the ribs 16v and the like with a single arrow view of the base 16 from the X direction in FIG. 3 and an arrow view after the insert molding of the liner 10, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the ribs 16v extend radially from the outer periphery of the inner base body portion 16t of the liner at an equal interval and incline on the outer peripheral edge side of the base flange 16f, and rise from the flange contact surface 16fs of the base flange 16f. ing. The ribs 16v thus raised form an inter-rib concave portion 16vs between adjacent ribs 16v, and the inter-rib concave portions 16vs are scattered at an equal pitch around the outer periphery of the liner inner base body portion 16t. In the high-pressure gas tank 100 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the rib 16v becomes narrower toward the outer peripheral edge of the base flange 16f, and the width (rib width) on the paper surface of FIG. The degree of rise from the surface 16fs is also reduced. Therefore, the forging volume of the rib 16v decreases continuously toward the outer peripheral edge of the base flange 16f.

  The liner 10 is insert-molded with respect to the die 16 having the ribs 16v and the inter-rib recesses 16vs. Therefore, the resin injected to perform the insert molding reaches the mold cavity overlapped with the inter-rib concave portion 16vs to form the recessed pedestal portion 14r, and not only the rib side surface of the rib 16v but also the inclined rib top surface. The covering rib covering portion 14s (see FIGS. 4 to 6) is formed by a mold cavity surrounding the rib 16v. The rib covering portion 14s rises from the depressed pedestal portion 14r and covers the rib 16v (see FIG. 6). Since the dome portion 14 is formed by the mold cavity on the outer side of the depressed pedestal portion 14r and the rib covering portion 14s, the liner 10 is formed at the end of the liner. In the dome portion 14 on the side, the recessed pedestal portion 14r and the rib covering portion 14s are engaged with the rib 16v and the inter-rib concave portion 16vs of the base 16. Thereby, the base flange 16f of the base 16 enters the depressed pedestal portion 14r formed by insert molding, and the flange contact surface 16fs is brought into contact with the bottom surface of the depressed pedestal portion 14r. Moreover, as shown in the lower stage of FIG. 4, each rib coating portion 14s has a rib coating portion base portion continuous on the outer peripheral side of the liner inner base body portion 16t due to a mold cavity accompanying insert molding.

  Next, a method for manufacturing the high-pressure gas tank 100 and the liner 10 will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the first half of the manufacturing process of the high-pressure gas tank 100, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the second half of the manufacturing process of the high-pressure gas tank 100. First, the die 16 is manufactured by a forging method (step S100). Next, the obtained die 16 is set in a mold for insert molding, and a molten resin is injected into the mold cavity to obtain a pair of liner parts that are resin insert-molded products (step S103). By this insert molding, the base 16 is positioned on the dome part 14 and attached to the dome part 14 to obtain a liner part having the base 16 on the top of the dome part.

  Next, a pair of liner parts having the caps 16 attached to both ends are joined on the cylinder portion 12 side, and the joined portions are assembled by laser welding (step S104). As a result, the liner 10 having the cap 16 attached to both ends is obtained.

  When the liner 10 is obtained in this way, as shown in FIG. 8, the fiber reinforced resin layer 102 is formed on the outer periphery of the liner 10 by the FW method. Specifically, the carbon fiber ECF impregnated with the epoxy resin EP is repeatedly wound around the liner 10 while rotating the liner 10 completed in Step S100 using the caps 16 at both ends thereof (Step S100). S202). When winding the carbon fiber ECF, fiber winding by hoop winding over the outer peripheral range of the cylinder portion 12 in the liner 10 and fiber winding by low-angle / high-angle helical winding over the outer peripheral range of the dome portion 14 are performed. And the rotational speed of the liner 10 and the fiber feed speed are also adjusted. Thereafter, the carbon fiber ECF impregnated with the epoxy resin is wound around the liner 10 and heated in a heating furnace to cure the epoxy resin (step S204). When the epoxy resin is cured, a fiber reinforced resin layer 102 made of CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics) is formed, and the high-pressure gas tank 100 is completed. In the case of forming the fiber reinforced resin layer 102, an induction heating method can be used by using an induction heating coil that induces high frequency induction heating instead of a heating furnace. With this high-frequency induction heating, the temperature of the thermosetting resin can be quickly raised.

  As described above, in the high-pressure gas tank 100 of the present embodiment, the base flange 16f of the base 16 mounted on the top of the dome portion 14 at both ends in the liner axial direction of the liner 10 is the liner inner base positioned inside the liner 10. Reinforcement is performed by a plurality of ribs 16v extending from the outer periphery of the body portion 16t (see FIGS. 3 and 5-6) to the flange contact surface 16fs of the base flange 16f. In addition, the high-pressure gas tank 100 according to the present embodiment includes a rib 16v and an inter-rib recess 16vs via a depressed pedestal portion 14r and a rib covering portion 14s in which the liner 10 is insert-molded so as to be continuous with the dome portion 14 at the end. The liner 10 is prevented from spinning freely. As a result, according to the high-pressure gas tank 100 of the present embodiment, the idle rotation of the liner 10 can be prevented while improving the strength of the base 16. In this case, the idle rotation of the liner 10 is prevented not only by the recessed pedestal portion 14r formed in each inter-rib recess 16vs but also by the rib covering portion 14s covering the respective ribs 16v. It can be prevented with high effectiveness.

  Since the high pressure gas tank 100 of this embodiment makes the nozzle | cap | die 16 high intensity | strength as already stated, when winding the carbon fiber ECF by FW method, the rotating shaft blurring of the liner 10 can be suppressed. Therefore, according to the high-pressure gas tank 100 of the present embodiment, the quality (winding quality) of the fiber reinforced resin layer 102 can be improved without disturbing the winding trajectory of the carbon fiber ECF.

  In the high-pressure gas tank 100 of the present embodiment, the rib width of the rib 16v and the rising degree of the base flange 16f from the flange contact surface 16fs are reduced toward the outer peripheral edge of the base flange 16f, so that the forged volume of the rib 16v is reduced. It was continuously reduced toward the outer peripheral edge of the flange 16f. Therefore, according to the high-pressure gas tank 100 of the present embodiment, the fluidity of the molten metal solution in the forging die during the forging of the die 16 can be improved, and seizure of the molten metal solution on the forging die surface can be prevented. .

  In the high-pressure gas tank 100 of the present embodiment, the liner 10 is prevented from being idled by the depressed pedestal portion 14r insert-molded in each inter-rib recess 16vs and the rib coating portion 14s insert-molded so as to cover each rib 16v. However, the recessed pedestal portion 14r and the rib covering portion 14s do not require any machining such as a concave groove. Therefore, according to the high-pressure gas tank 100 of the present embodiment, the manufacturing cost of the high-pressure gas tank capable of increasing the strength of the base 16 and preventing the liner 10 from idling can be reduced.

  As shown in the front view of FIG. 3, the high-pressure gas tank 100 of the present embodiment is provided with a so-called two-sided width portion at the end of the base 16 that is discharged from the dome portion 14 of the liner 10. The width can be positioned in an insert mold for forming the liner 10. Therefore, the phase alignment of the two-surface width portion of the base 16 and the rib 16v is possible.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the high-pressure gas tank 100 according to the present embodiment covers the rib 16v including the side surface and the upper surface thereof with a molten resin injected for insert molding, and the flange of the base flange 16f. The contact surface 16fs was also covered with molten resin (the depressed pedestal portion 14r). Therefore, according to the high-pressure gas tank 100 of the present embodiment, it is useful for ensuring airtightness between the liner 10, specifically, the dome portion 14 and the base 16.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, examples, and modifications, and can be realized with various configurations without departing from the spirit thereof. For example, the technical features in the embodiments, examples, and modifications corresponding to the technical features in each embodiment described in the summary section of the invention are to solve some or all of the above-described problems, or In order to achieve part or all of the above-described effects, replacement or combination can be performed as appropriate. Further, if the technical feature is not described as essential in the present specification, it can be deleted as appropriate.

  In the above embodiment, the idle rotation of the liner 10 is prevented by the rib covering portion 14s insert-molded so as to cover each rib 16v in addition to the depressed pedestal portion 14r insert-molded in each inter-rib concave portion 16vs. This can be omitted for the rib covering portion 14s. FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing a modified example in which the liner 10 is prevented from idling by a depressed pedestal portion 14r insert-molded in the inter-rib concave portion 16vs. As shown in the drawing, in the first modification, the depressed base portion 14r and the dome portion 14 continuous thereto are insert-molded at the end portion of the liner 10, but the rib covering portion 14s is not formed. Also in this modified example, the liner 10 can be prevented from spinning around by engaging the liner 10 with the recessed portion 16vs between the ribs through the depressed base portion 14r insert-molded so as to be continuous with the dome portion 14 at the end.

  In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the eight ribs 16v are radially extended from the outer periphery of the liner inner base body portion 16t at equal intervals, but the ribs 16v may be extended at unequal intervals. Further, the number of ribs 16v is not limited to eight but may be extended from the outer periphery of the liner inner base body portion 16t. In this case, from the viewpoint of ensuring forgeability, it is preferable that the ribs 16v have six or more bars. Tank specifications such as the overall length, diameter, and pressure resistance of the high-pressure gas tank 100 may vary depending on the vehicle model on which the high-pressure gas tank 100 is mounted. In order to cope with this, the number of ribs 16v may be changed according to the tank specifications.

  The extent of extension of the rib 16v is not limited to the flange contact surface 16fs of the base flange 16f, and the rib 16v is connected to the inner base body portion 16t of the liner base to a range of 1/2 to 1/3 of the radius of the base flange 16f. You may make it extend from outer periphery. In addition, instead of extending the ribs 16v in an inclined manner, the ribs 16v may be extended from the outer periphery of the liner inner base body portion 16t in a rectangular shape. The rib width of the rib 16v may be a width that ensures the fluidity of the molten metal solution in the forging die and prevents or reduces the seizure of the molten metal solution on the surface of the forging die. Further, the rib width of the rib 16v may be defined in consideration of the maximum stress acting on the die 16 when the fiber is wound by the FW method.

  In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the base flange 16 f is inserted into the recessed pedestal portion 14 r of the dome portion 14 so that the outer peripheral edge of the base flange 16 f in the base 16 is covered with the dome portion 14, Although the flange contact surface 16fs of the base flange 16f is brought into contact with the bottom surface of the portion 14r, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the top side of the dome portion 14 may be a planar end surface, and the flange contact surface 16fs of the base flange 16f may be brought into contact with the end surface. In this case, the mold surface of the insert molding die may be formed so that the top outer peripheral surface of the dome portion 14 is continuous with the outer peripheral surface of the base flange 16f.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Liner 12 ... Cylinder part 14 ... Dome part 14h ... Through-hole 14r ... Depression base part 14s ... Rib covering part 16 ... Base 16b ... Base body 16f ... Base flange 16fs ... Flange contact surface 16h ... Valve connection hole 16hi ... Bearing hole 16t ... Rinner inner cap body part 16v ... Rib 16vs ... Recess between ribs 100 ... High pressure gas tank 102 ... Fiber reinforced resin layer AX ... Axis CF ... Carbon fiber ECF ... Carbon fiber (epoxy impregnated carbon fiber)
EP: Epoxy resin

Claims (1)

A high-pressure gas tank with a base attached to the axial end of a liner that is a cylindrical hollow container,
The base is
A base body extending along the axial direction of the liner from the outside in the axial direction of the end of the liner to the inside of the liner;
A flange portion having a contact surface extending in a circumferential direction from the base body and contacting an end surface of the end portion of the liner;
A plurality of ribs extending from the outer periphery of the liner inner base body part, which is a part located in the liner, to the contact surface of the flange portion, around the outer periphery of the liner inner base body part A rib for forming a recess between ribs,
The liner is
A high-pressure gas tank that is engaged with the rib and the recess between the ribs at the end.

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