JP6534289B2 - Fuel tank - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a fuel tank for a vehicle.

  Conventionally, vehicles are divided by size and total weight by law, and since this division has different standards in different countries, only the total weight is changed without changing the appearance in order to conform the manufactured vehicles to the standards of each country. May.

  By the way, when changing only the total weight without changing the appearance of the vehicle, it may be dealt with by changing the maximum fueling amount of the fuel tank. However, since the maximum fueling amount of the fuel tank is determined by the connection position of the breather tube that guides the fuel vapor inside the fuel tank to the outside of the fuel tank, the fuel tank with different connection positions of the breather tube to change the total weight of the vehicle If multiple vehicles are prepared for one vehicle, the cost will increase.

  In order to cope with this, for example, it is conceivable to apply the fuel tank disclosed in Patent Document 1 to a vehicle. In the fuel tank, an insertion hole is formed in the upper portion of the fuel tank for slidably inserting the tip portion of the breather tube, and the tip portion of the breather tube is slid relative to the fuel tank to move the inside of the fuel tank. The tip end position of the breather tube at can be changed to change the maximum refueling amount of the fuel tank.

JP, 2014-205451, A

  However, in the fuel tank of Patent Document 1, the structure of the portion for sliding the breather tube with respect to the fuel tank is complicated, which increases the cost.

  Further, as in the fuel tank of Patent Document 1, when the maximum fuel supply amount of the fuel tank is changed by changing the tip position of the breather tube, the maximum fuel supply height inside the fuel tank changes, so the maximum fuel supply height Each time the fuel level is changed, the level gauge disposed inside the fuel tank may need to be reset or replaced accordingly, which also increases the cost.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a low-cost fuel tank which can easily change the total weight of a vehicle without changing the maximum fuel supply height. is there.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is characterized in that the weight of the vehicle is changed by attaching a weight changing member inside the fuel tank and changing the maximum fueling amount of the fuel tank.

That is, according to the first aspect of the invention, a storage unit for storing fuel and a level gauge which is disposed in the storage unit and detects a predetermined liquid level height determined in advance in the storage unit as the maximum refueling height at the time of maximum refueling And the weight obtained by subtracting one's own weight from the weight of the fuel attached to the inner surface of the storage section and corresponding to the volume occupied in the space below the maximum filling height of the storage section is equal to the weight changed in the vehicle Alternatively, the weight change member is configured to have a weight change member set to be larger than a weight to be changed in the vehicle, and the weight change member has a cylindrical or rectangular cylindrical portion having an opening at one end, and the opening The flange portion is attached to the inner surface of the storage portion so as to cover the opening portion with the inner surface of the storage portion; A further member extends straight upward from the bottom surface of the container portion, the extending end is characterized in that it is a position higher than the maximum fueling level.

In the second invention, in the first invention, the level gauge is characterized by being adapted to convert the ratio of the actual fuel supply amount to the maximum amount of oil to the resistance value in each of the liquid level height .

In the third invention, a storage unit for storing fuel, a level gauge which is disposed in the storage unit and detects a predetermined liquid level height determined in advance in the storage unit as the maximum refueling height, and The weight of the fuel attached to the inner surface and corresponding to the volume occupied in the space below the maximum filling height of the reservoir minus the weight of its own weight equals the weight to be changed in the vehicle, or in the vehicle And the weight change member has a cylindrical or square cylindrical portion having an opening at one end, and the outer side from the periphery of the opening. and a flange portion overhanging, the flange portion so as to cover the opening on the inner surface of the container portion is attached to the inner surface of the container portion, the weight change member covers the opening of the tubular portion Characterized in that it comprises a cover plate fixed to the sea urchin the flange.

  According to the first aspect of the invention, when fuel is supplied to the storage portion so as to achieve the maximum fuel supply height in a state where the weight change member is attached to the storage portion, compared to the storage portion to which the weight change member is not attached In the space below the maximum refueling height, fuel can not be refueled by the volume integral occupied by the weight change member. Then, the weight of the vehicle is increased by the weight of the weight change member itself, while the weight of the fuel corresponding to the volume occupied by the weight change member in the space below the maximum refueling height of the reservoir is reduced. Therefore, the total weight of the vehicle can be changed by reducing the maximum refueling amount of the vehicle by a simple structural change. Also, since the maximum refueling height does not change depending on before and after attaching the weight change member, the level gauge may be changed to correspond to the maximum refueling height each time the total weight of the vehicle is changed, or the weight change member may be changed. There is no need to replace with a level gauge that corresponds in advance to the setting after being attached to the storage section, and furthermore, there is no need to slide the breather tube as in Patent Document 1, thus increasing the cost. Absent.

In addition, the shape of the weight change member is simple, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Moreover, when the weight change member is attached to the inner surface of the storage portion, a space in which fuel is not accumulated is formed inside the cylinder portion, so the weight change member itself is not heavier than the maximum refueling height of the storage portion. The volume occupied by the weight changing member in the lower space can be increased, and the total weight of the vehicle can be efficiently reduced.

In the second invention, since the relationship between the ratio of the actual amount of oil supply to the maximum amount of oil supply and the liquid surface height hardly changes before and after attaching the weight change member to the reservoir, before and after attaching the weight change member to the reservoir There is no need to change the setting of the level gauge or replace it with a level gauge that corresponds in advance to the setting after attaching the weight change member to the storage section, and the cost can be reduced.

In the third aspect of the invention, when fuel is supplied to the storage section, the fuel does not intrude into the space inward of the cylinder portion, so the volume of the weight change member is previously determined in consideration of the weight of fuel invading the space inward of the cylinder portion. The weight of the vehicle can be changed as designed without the need to make large settings.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a fuel tank according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is a perspective view of a weight change member. It is the figure which showed the relationship of the amount of refueling and liquid level height before and behind attaching a weight change member in the fuel tank concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is the FIG. 2 equivalent view which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings. The following description of the preferred embodiments is merely exemplary in nature.
Embodiment 1 of the Invention
FIG. 1 shows a fuel tank 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The fuel tank 1 is designed to be able to change only the total weight without changing the appearance in order to make the manufactured vehicle conform to the standards of each country, and is a tank body having a reservoir 20 for storing the fuel G inside. It is equipped with two.

  The tank body 2 has a flat box shape, and is divided into upper and lower parts at a substantially central position in the vertical direction into an upper divided body 21 opening downward and a lower divided body 22 opening upward.

  A through hole 2a penetrating vertically is formed in the upper wall on one side in the longitudinal direction of the tank body 2, and the through hole 2a is formed at a position corresponding to the through hole 2a of the upper wall of the tank body 2 A mounting cover 23 having a substantially disk shape is detachably mounted so as to cover it.

  Further, one end side of the cylindrical breather tube 3 is connected to the upper side wall of the other end side in the longitudinal direction of the tank main body 2 so as to face the storage portion 20, and the fuel vapor of the storage portion 20 is the breather The tube 3 leads to the outside of the tank body 2.

  On the other hand, one end side of a cylindrical fuel supply pipe 4 is connected to the lower side wall of the tank body 2 at the other end side in the longitudinal direction so as to face the storage portion 20.

  On the bottom surface of the storage section 20 at one end side in the longitudinal direction of the tank main body 2, a sub tank 5 having a substantially bowl-like shape opened upward is fixed.

  A communication hole 5a connecting the inside and the outside of the sub tank 5 is formed below the side wall of the sub tank 5, and the communication hole 5a allows fuel to flow between the inside and the outside of the sub tank 5.

  A cylindrical pump unit 6 for sucking the fuel G is disposed inward of the sub tank 5.

  Above the pump unit 6, a feed pipe 7 for guiding the fuel G sucked up by the pump unit 6 to an engine (not shown) is provided, and one end of the feed pipe 7 is connected to the upper end of the pump unit 6 On the other hand, the other end side extends straight upward and extends through the mounting cover 23 to an engine (not shown).

  Further, a return pipe 8 for returning surplus fuel G in an engine (not shown) to the storage section 20 is provided on the side of the feed pipe 7, and the return pipe 8 extends vertically and is The upper end side extends through the mounting cover 23 to the engine (not shown), and the lower end side is located in the sub tank 5.

  Further, a level gauge 9 for detecting the liquid level of the fuel G accumulated in the storage section 20 is provided on the side of the return pipe 8 in the storage section 20, and the level gauge 9 is provided in the storage section 20. In the above, a predetermined liquid level height determined in advance is detected as the maximum fueling height Hm.

  The level gauge 9 includes a box-shaped gauge main body 91 fixed to the back surface of the mounting cover 23, and a substantially L-shaped arm portion 92 one end of which is vertically rotatably supported by the gauge main body 91. The spherical float 93 is attached to the other end of the arm 92 and floats on the fuel G stored in the storage unit 20, and when the liquid level of the fuel G accumulated in the storage unit 20 changes, the float 93 The position of the arm 92 is changed to move the arm 92 up and down.

  The gauge main body 91 is configured to convert the vertical movement of the arm portion 92 into a resistance value by variable resistance, and the resistance value is a ratio of the actual amount of oil supply to the maximum amount of oil supply at each liquid level. It is set to correspond.

  A weight change member 10 is provided on the other end side of the tank body 2 in the longitudinal direction.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the weight changing member 10 includes a cylindrical portion 10a having an opening 10c at one end, and a flange portion 10b projecting outward from the periphery of the opening 10c, and the opening 10c. The flange portion 10 b and the tank main body 2 are welded to each other so as to cover the bottom surface of the storage portion 20, whereby the flange portion 10 b is attached to the bottom surface of the storage portion 20.

  Further, the weight change member 10 extends straight upward from the bottom surface of the storage portion 20, so that air is retained and fuel G does not enter therein.

  Then, the weight changing member 10 changes the weight obtained by subtracting its own weight from the weight of the fuel G corresponding to the volume S2 occupied in the space S1 below the maximum filling height Hm of the storage portion 20 in the vehicle It is set to be equal to the weight, and its upper end is at a position higher than the maximum refueling height Hm.

  When the fuel G was supplied to the storage portion 20, the fuel G intruded into the space inward of the cylindrical portion 10a from between the bottom surface of the storage portion 20 and the flange portion 10c, and invaded inward of the cylindrical portion 10a. The weight of the vehicle may not change as designed by the amount of fuel G. Therefore, the weight changing member 10 is set such that the weight obtained by subtracting its own weight from the weight of the fuel G corresponding to the volume S2 occupied by the weight changing member 10 in the space S1 is larger than the weight to be changed in the vehicle It may be done.

  The storage unit 20 is provided with first and second baffle plates 12 and 13 for preventing the fuel G stored in the storage unit 20 from being biased as much as possible when traveling, etc. The first baffle plate 12 The second baffle plate 13 extends straight downward from a position near the longitudinal ends of the tank body 2 on the upper surface of the storage section 20, and extends straight above the maximum liquid level Hm. ing.

  Next, the fuel tanks 1 before and after the weight change member 10 is attached to the storage unit 20 will be described.

  First, as shown in FIG. 3, in the fuel tank 1 before the weight change member 10 is attached to the storage portion 20, the maximum fuel supply amount F is 50 L, and the maximum liquid level height Hm is 140 mm. The level gauge 9 is attached to the storage section 20 to convert the ratio of the actual amount of oil supply to the maximum amount of oil supply F at each liquid level to a resistance value.

  Next, the fuel tank 1 after the weight change member 10 is attached to the storage unit 20 is one in which the maximum fuel supply amount F is reduced by 5 L and the maximum fuel supply amount F 'is 45 L. The weight change attached to the storage unit 20 The member 10 is equal to the weight obtained by subtracting its own weight from the weight of the fuel corresponding to the volume S2 (here, 5 L) occupied in the space S1 below the maximum filling height Hm of the reservoir 20 It is set to be Therefore, when the fuel G is supplied to the storage unit 20 so as to obtain the maximum fuel supply height Hm, the fuel supply unit 20 is lower than the maximum fuel supply height Hm of the storage unit 20 as compared with the storage unit 20 without the weight change member 10 attached. The fuel G can not be supplied by the volume S2 occupied by the weight change member 10 in the space S1. Then, while the weight of the vehicle is increased by the weight of the weight change member 10 itself, the weight of the fuel G corresponding to the volume S2 occupied by the weight change member 10 in the space below the maximum refueling height Hm of the reservoir 20 Decrease by minutes. Therefore, the total weight of the vehicle can be changed by reducing the maximum refueling amount of the vehicle by a simple structural change.

  In addition, when the fuel tank 1 after the weight change member 10 is attached to the storage unit 20 reaches the maximum oil supply amount F ′, the liquid level of the fuel tank 1 before the weight change member 10 is attached is the maximum fuel level It becomes the same as the maximum refueling height Hm when the amount F is reached. As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, the maximum fueling height Hm does not change depending on before and after the attachment of the weight change member 10, so that the level gauge 9 corresponds to the maximum fueling height each time the total weight of the vehicle is changed. There is no need to change the setting or replace it with the level gauge 9 corresponding in advance to the setting after attaching the weight change member 10 to the storage section 20, and furthermore, the breather tube as disclosed in Patent Document 1 There is no need for a structure for sliding the slide, so the cost is not increased.

  Furthermore, since the upper end of the weight change member 10 is at a position higher than the maximum fuel supply height Hm, the ratio of the actual amount of fuel supply to the maximum amount of fuel supply F in the fuel tank 1 before the weight change member 10 is attached When the ratio of the actual amount of oil supply to the maximum amount of oil supply F 'in the fuel tank 1 after the mounting of 10 is the same, the liquid level of the fuel G in the reservoir 20 does not change. For example, when the fueling amount 75% of the maximum fueling amount F is supplied to the fuel tank 1 before the weight change member 10 is attached (3/4 F), the fuel tank after the weight change member 10 is attached The liquid level height is 75% (3 / 4Hm) of the maximum oiling height Hm when the oil supply amount is 75% of the maximum oil amount F 'in 1 (3 / 4F') become. As described above, since the relationship between the ratio of the actual amount of oil supply to the maximum amount of oil supply and the liquid surface height hardly changes before and after the weight change member 10 is attached to the reservoir 20, the weight change member 10 is attached to the reservoir 20 There is no need to change the setting of the level gauge 9 before and after or replace it with the level gauge 9 corresponding in advance to the setting after attaching the weight change member 10 to the storage section 20, thereby suppressing the cost. it can.

In addition, the weight change member 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention is composed of the cylindrical portion 10a and the flange portion 10b and has a simple shape, so that the manufacturing cost can be suppressed low. Moreover, when the weight change member 10 is attached to the bottom surface of the storage portion 20, a space in which fuel is not accumulated is formed inside the cylindrical portion 10a, so the storage portion 20 is not heavy. The volume S2 occupied by the weight change member 10 can be increased in the space S1 below the maximum oil supply height Hm, and the total weight of the vehicle can be efficiently reduced.
Embodiment 2 of the Invention
FIG. 4 shows a weight change member 10 of a fuel tank 1 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, the disk-like cover plate 10d is fixed to the flange portion 10b so as to cover the opening 10c of the cylindrical portion 10a of the weight changing member 10, thereby completely sealing the space inward of the cylindrical portion 10a. The other points are the same as those of the first embodiment, except for the points of the second embodiment. Therefore, the detailed description will be omitted.

  Therefore, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the fuel G does not enter the space inward of the cylindrical portion 10a when the fuel G is supplied to the storage portion 20, so the fuel G entering the space inward of the cylindrical portion 10a It is possible to change the weight of the vehicle as designed without having to set the volume of the weight changing member 10 in advance in consideration of the weight of the vehicle.

  In the first and second embodiments of the present invention, the level gauge 9 is configured to convert the vertical movement of the arm 92 into a resistance value by means of variable resistance, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Other structures may be used as long as the liquid level can be detected as the maximum oil supply height Hm.

  Further, in the first and second embodiments of the present invention, the weight changing member 10 has the cylindrical portion 10a, but the portion of the cylindrical portion 10a may have a rectangular cylindrical shape.

  Further, in the first and second embodiments of the present invention, the weight change member 10 is attached to the tank main body 2 by welding. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the weight change member 10 may be attached using a bracket or the like.

  Further, in the first and second embodiments of the present invention, the weight change member 10 is attached to the bottom surface of the storage unit 20, but the weight change member 10 may be attached to the inner surface of the storage unit 20. .

  In the first and second embodiments of the present invention, the upper end of the weight change member 10 is at a position higher than the maximum oil supply height Hm, but may be at a position lower than the maximum oil supply height Hm.

  Moreover, weight change members 10 according to Embodiments 1 and 2 of the present invention can be easily prepared for a plurality of vehicles having different total weights without changing the appearance by preparing in advance a plurality of vehicles having different volumes. become.

  Moreover, although the cover plate 10d of Embodiment 2 of this invention is making the disk shape, you may make it a rectangular plate shape.

  The present invention is suitable for a vehicle fuel tank.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 fuel tank 2 tank main body 9 level gauge 10 weight change member 10a cylindrical part 10b flange part 10c opening part 10d cover plate 20 storage part

Claims (3)

A storage unit for storing fuel;
A level gauge disposed in the storage section and detecting a predetermined liquid level height determined in advance in the storage section as the maximum refueling height;
The weight of fuel attached to the inner surface of the storage section and corresponding to the volume occupied in the space below the maximum filling height of the storage section minus the weight of one's own weight equals the weight to be changed in the vehicle, or , And a weight change member set to be larger than the weight to be changed in the vehicle ,
The weight changing member includes a cylindrical or rectangular cylindrical tube having an opening at one end, and a flange projecting outward from the periphery of the opening, and the opening is an inner surface of the storage. The flange portion is attached to the inner surface of the storage portion so as to cover the
Furthermore, the weight change member extends straight upward from the bottom surface of the storage portion, and the extended end thereof is at a position higher than the maximum fuel supply height . In the fuel tank according to claim 1 ,
The level gauge, a fuel tank, characterized in that is adapted to convert the ratio of the actual fuel supply amount to the maximum amount of oil to the resistance value in each of the liquid surface height. A storage unit for storing fuel;
A level gauge disposed in the storage section and detecting a predetermined liquid level height determined in advance in the storage section as the maximum refueling height;
The weight of fuel attached to the inner surface of the storage section and corresponding to the volume occupied in the space below the maximum filling height of the storage section minus the weight of one's own weight equals the weight to be changed in the vehicle, or , And a weight change member set to be larger than the weight to be changed in the vehicle,
The weight changing member includes a cylindrical or rectangular cylindrical tube having an opening at one end, and a flange projecting outward from the periphery of the opening, and the opening is an inner surface of the storage. The flange portion is attached to the inner surface of the storage portion so as to cover the
A fuel tank characterized in that the weight change member includes a cover plate fixed to the flange portion so as to cover an opening of the cylinder portion.

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