JP6966167B2 - Vehicle inlet box mounting structure - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an inlet box mounting portion structure to which an inlet box is mounted, for example, for a fuel tank filler port or a battery charging port in a vehicle such as an automobile.

The applicant has previously proposed the structure described in Patent Document 1 as an example of the structure of the inlet box mounting portion of the vehicle.
In the structure described in the document, an inlet box (fuel inlet box) is fitted into the panel opening provided in the vehicle body panel, and a lid for opening and closing the main opening of the inlet box is rotatably provided. ing. On the other hand, a lock unit for the lid capable of switching the lock / unlock operation of the lid is attached to the side wall portion of the inlet box. As a means for attaching the lock unit, a means for inserting the lock unit into the side wall opening provided in the side wall portion of the inlet box and screwing a tightening nut into the lock unit to tighten the lock unit is adopted.

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, there is still room for improvement as described below.

That is, when installing the lock unit, it is necessary to insert a tool into the inlet box through the main opening of the inlet box to screw and tighten the nut on the lock unit. However, in that case, it is necessary to hold the lock unit with the hand opposite to the one hand holding the tool. The lock unit is held by gripping the portion of the lock unit that is inserted outside the inlet box, but there is a vehicle body panel on the front side of the lock unit, which is an obstacle. Therefore, it is troublesome for the operator to use both hands to tighten the nut while grasping the lock unit, resulting in poor workability.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-88110

The present invention has been conceived under the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle inlet box mounting portion structure capable of appropriately facilitating assembly work. There is.

In order to solve the above problems, the following technical measures are taken in the present invention.

The vehicle inlet box mounting structure provided by the present invention is a main opening that is fitted into a panel opening provided in a vehicle body panel and is opened and closed by a lid, and the panel opening from the edge of the main opening. An inlet box having a side wall portion protruding to the back side of the lid and a side wall opening provided in the side wall are attached to the side wall, and the lid can be locked / unlocked. A vehicle inlet box mounting structure comprising a lock unit for a possible lid, wherein a portion of the lock unit on the tip side is inserted into the side wall opening from the inside of the inlet box. The outer surface is provided with a recess that allows the inlet box to enter the edge near the vehicle body panel, which is a part of the peripheral edge of the side wall opening of the inlet box when this insertion is made. In a state where the edge portion closer to the vehicle body panel is inserted into the recess, the rotation operation is possible so that a part of the tip end side is brought into contact with the vehicle body panel, and the rotation operation is performed to cause the lock unit to move. In a state of being in contact with the vehicle body panel, the lock unit is further provided with engaging portions that engage with the inner surface side and the outer surface side of the side wall portion so that the lock unit can be attached to the side wall portion. When the unit is attached to the side wall portion, the vehicle body panel is sandwiched between the edge portion of the main opening of the inlet box and the lock unit.

According to such a configuration, the following effects can be obtained.
First, in order to attach the lock unit for the lid to the inlet box, a part of the lock unit is inserted into the side wall opening provided in the side wall portion of the inlet box from the inside of the inlet box . When this work is performed, the engaging portion provided on the lock unit engages with the inner surface side and the outer surface side of the side wall portion, and the lock unit can be attached to the side wall portion . According to the present invention, the mounting work of the lock unit becomes much easier as compared with the conventional technique in which the lock unit is mounted on the inlet box by using the tightening nut. As a result, it is possible to improve the productivity of the vehicle and reduce the manufacturing cost.
Second, when the lock unit is attached to the side wall of the inlet box, the body panel is sandwiched between the edge of the main opening of the inlet box and the lock unit, so that the lock unit is It is possible to prevent the lock unit from coming off the outside of the vehicle body panel and to position the lock unit (positioning in the contact direction between the lock unit and the vehicle body panel). In addition, it is possible to prevent the inlet box from coming off the vehicle body panel, and it is also possible to secure a sealing property between the inlet box and the vehicle body panel. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately obtain the inlet box mounting portion structure of the vehicle in which the assembly of each component is optimized by preventing the trouble caused by facilitating the mounting work of the lock unit. ..

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It is sectional drawing of the main part which shows an example of the inlet box attachment part structure of the vehicle which concerns on this invention. (A) is a sectional view taken along line IIa-IIa of FIG. 1, and FIG. 1B is an exploded sectional view taken along the line (a). (A) is a sectional view taken along line IIIa-IIIa of FIG. 1, (b) is an exploded sectional view taken along the line (a), and (c) is a sectional view taken along line IIIc-IIIc of (b). It is an enlarged sectional view of the main part of FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing an example of a state in which the lid shown in FIG. 4 is unlocked and partially opened. It is sectional drawing of the main part which shows an example of the work of attaching the lock unit to the inlet box of the structure shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing of the main part which shows another example of the inlet box attachment part structure of a vehicle.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

The vehicle inlet box mounting structure A shown in FIG. 1 is a structure provided with an inlet box 2 (fuel inlet box) for the fuel filler port 10 of the fuel tank 1 of the vehicle, and is used for the lid 3 (fuel lid) and the lid. It also has a lock unit 4.

The inlet box 2 is fitted in a panel opening 50 provided in the vehicle body panel 5. The body panel 5 is, for example, a side outer panel. Specifically, the inlet box 2 has a main opening 20 that opens outward in the vehicle width direction and is opened and closed by the lid 3, and a frame-shaped flange portion 21 that corresponds to the edge of the main opening 20. A side wall portion 22 protruding from the flange portion 21 toward the inner side (inward side in the vehicle width direction) of the panel opening 50, and a back wall portion 23 connected to the innermost part of the side wall portion 22 are provided. The back wall portion 23 is provided with an inlet opening 23a through which the fuel filler port pipe body portion 11 of the fuel tank 1 is inserted, and the fuel filler port 10 is arranged in the inlet box 2.

The lid 3 is capable of opening and closing the main opening 20 (also the panel opening 50), and the lid inner 3b is joined to the inside of the lid outer 3a formed in a shape and size corresponding to the panel opening 50. It is configured. An arm 6 is continuously provided to the lid 3, and its tip is supported by a rotation support shaft 60. The arm 6 and the lid 3 can rotate about the rotation support shaft 60 in a substantially horizontal direction, and the main opening 20 is opened and closed by the lid 3 by this rotation operation. An urging force applying unit 7 that urges the arm 6 in the direction in which the lid 3 opens is attached to the inlet box 2. The urging force applying unit 7 is housed in, for example, a pin-shaped or axial contact member 71 supported by the housing case 70 so as to be able to reciprocate in a direction facing the arm 6, and housed in the housing case 70. An elastic member 72 such as a spring that elastically urges the arm 6 in a certain direction is provided so that the tip of the abutting member 71 is pressed against the arm 6.

The lock unit 4 for the lid is for switching the lock / unlock of the lid 3. The lock unit 4 is, for example, an electromagnetic type, and has a rod portion 40 having a locking engaging portion 43 at its tip, a housing case 46 that supports the rod portion 40, and a rod portion that is housed in the housing case 46. An electromagnetic mechanism 49 (schematically shown in FIGS. 2 and 3) capable of switching between fixing and releasing the 40, an engaging portion 41 for attaching to the inlet box 2, a convex portion 44 for positioning, and abutting. A convex portion 45 is provided.

The locking engaging portion 43 is, for example, a substantially oval or substantially rectangular small piece-shaped portion, and is continuously provided at the tip end portion of the rod portion 40. The rod portion 40 can reciprocate in the axial length direction with a rotational movement. As is well shown in FIG. 4, when the lid 3 is fully closed, the locking engaging portion 43 passes through the engaged opening 39 provided on the inner surface side of the lid 3 outward in the vehicle width direction. In addition, it is adapted to engage with the engaged portion 38 of the lid 3 in a retaining state. When the lid 3 is locked, the above-mentioned state is maintained. On the other hand, at the time of unlocking, as is often shown in FIG. 5, it is possible to release the engaged state between the locking engaging portion 43 and the engaged portion 38 to open the lid 3. In the state shown in FIG. 5, the width La of the locking engaging portion 43 in the plan view is smaller than the width Lb in the plan view due to the rotation of the locking engaging portion 43. .. When the lid 3 is closed from the state shown in FIG. 5, the locking engaging portion 43 is pushed by the pressing portion 37 of the lid 3 to rotate, and the state shown in FIG. 4 can be set.

In FIG. 1, the engaging portion 41 engages with the edge portion of the side wall opening 24 provided in, for example, a region near the rear of the vehicle among the side wall portions 22 of the inlet box 2, and the lock unit 4 is engaged with the side wall portion 22. This is the part that can be attached. The engaging portion 41 is configured by combining a flange portion 41a and an engaging claw 41b. The flange portion 41a is a flange portion that protrudes outward from the outer surface of the housing case 46, and can come into contact with the inner surface of the side wall portion 22 (see also FIGS. 2 and 3). The engaging claws 41b are provided at a plurality of locations on the outer surface of the housing case 46, and in FIG. 2B, when the lock unit 4 is inserted into the side wall opening 24, it is compressed by the edge of the side wall opening 24. It is deformed into a flat shape and can pass through the side wall opening 24. Further, after passing through the side wall opening 24, the engaging claw 41b returns to the original state as shown in FIG. 2A, and its tip portion engages with the outer surface of the side wall portion 22. The flange portion 41a prevents the lock unit 4 from being inserted into the side wall opening 24 by a certain amount or more, and the engaging claw 41b prevents the lock unit 4 from coming off in the direction opposite to the insertion direction. The engaging portion 41 is set so as to sandwich the side wall portion 22 between both the flange portion 41a and the engaging claw 41b described above. As a result, the lock unit 4 is attached to the side wall portion 22.

The positioning convex portion 44 is a portion for positioning the lock unit 4 with respect to the side wall portion 22, and is projected on the outer surface portion of the lock unit 4 as is well shown in FIG. As is often shown in FIGS. (B) and (c), the concave portion 24a is partially provided on the inner peripheral edge of the side wall opening 24, whereas the positioning convex portion 44 is provided. The concave portion 24a is fitted into the concave portion 24a without rattling, whereby the lock unit 4 is positioned.

The contact convex portion 45 is a portion for contacting the vehicle body panel 5, and is projected from the outer surface of the lock unit 4. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the edge portion of the panel opening 50 of the vehicle body panel 5 is formed as a flange portion 51, and the contact convex portion 45 is applied to the inner surface side of the flange portion 51. I'm in contact. On the other hand, the flange portion 21 at the edge of the main opening 20 of the inlet box 2 is in contact with the outer surface side of the flange portion 51 via the seal member 8. That is, the flange portion 51 of the vehicle body panel 5 is sandwiched between the flange portion 21 of the inlet box 2 and the contact convex portion 45 of the lock unit 4. The effect of this will be described later.

Of the housing case 46 of the lock unit 4, a concave portion 47 for avoiding interference with the side wall portion 22 is formed on the vehicle front side of the abutting convex portion 45, whereby the lock unit 4 can be moved. It can be attached to the side wall portion 22 in the manner shown in FIG.
That is, in the figure, after the lock unit 4 is made to enter the inlet box 2 from the main opening 20, the outer edge 22a of the side wall opening 24 in the vehicle width direction is formed in the recess 47 among the side wall portions 22. After setting to enter, the lock unit 4 is rotated as shown by the arrow Na in the figure. As a result, although the width Ld of the lock unit 4 is larger than the opening width Lc of the side wall opening 24 shown in the figure, a part of the lock unit 4 is inserted into the side wall opening 24, and FIG. It is possible to set to the indicated mounting state.

Next, the operation of the inlet box mounting portion structure A of the vehicle described above will be described.

First, the lock unit 4 may be attached to the inlet box 2 by simply inserting a part of the lock unit 4 into the side wall opening 24 of the inlet box 2, as described with reference to FIG. There is no need to attach the lock unit 4 to the side wall portion 22 using screw parts, and the entire assembly work is facilitated. Since the positioning and fixing of the lock unit 4 can be achieved by the action of the positioning convex portion 44 being fitted into the concave portion 24a, it is possible to make the mounting of the lock unit 4 more appropriate.

Since the flange portion 51 of the vehicle body panel 5 is sandwiched between the abutting convex portion 45 of the lock unit 4 and the flange portion 21 of the inlet box 2, the lock unit in the vehicle width direction In addition to being able to properly position the lock unit 4, it is also possible to prevent the lock unit 4 from coming off the vehicle body panel 5. Further, it is appropriately prevented that the inlet box 2 comes off from the vehicle body panel 5. In particular, when the lid 3 is strongly opened, a force that tends to displace the inlet box 2 outward in the vehicle width direction acts, but the insertion direction of the lock unit 4 with respect to the side wall opening 24 is the above-mentioned force. Since the directions of the lock units 4 are different from each other, it is more reliably prevented that the lock unit 4 is inadvertently detached from the side wall portion 22 by the force. Further, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to secure the sealing property between the inlet box 2 and the vehicle body panel 5, and in particular, since the sealing member 8 is interposed between them, the portion concerned. It is also possible to make the sealing property of the above more preferable.
In the mounted state of the lock unit 4, the engaging state between the engaging portion 41 and the side wall portion 22 can be released by pressing each engaging claw 41b. Therefore, the lock unit 4 can be removed from the side wall opening 24 so that it can be taken out of the inlet box 2. This is preferable in order to facilitate the maintenance work of the lock unit 4.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the vehicle inlet box mounting structure. In the figure, elements that are the same as or similar to those of the embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals as those of the embodiment.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, there is a notch in the side wall portion 22 of the inlet box 2 that allows the contact convex portion 45 of the lock unit 4 to pass through the portion corresponding to the contact convex portion 45. Part 22b is formed.

According to the present embodiment, when the lock unit 4 is attached to the inlet box 2, when the lock unit 4 is moved from a portion facing the side wall opening 24 in the direction indicated by the arrow Nb, the contact convex portion 45 And the side wall portion 22 do not interfere with each other. Therefore, by moving in the direction of the arrow Nb described above, the lock unit 4 can be inserted into the side wall opening 24 and attached to the side wall portion 22.

However , according to the present embodiment, since it is necessary to provide the notch portion 22b, the sealing property of the mounting portion of the lock unit 4 is slightly deteriorated as compared with the configuration in which such the notch portion 22b is not provided. In addition, the mechanical strength of the side wall portion 22 is reduced. Therefore, it is preferable that the notch portion 22b is not provided as in the above embodiment.

The present invention is not limited to the contents of the above-described embodiments. The specific configuration of each part of the vehicle inlet box mounting part structure according to the present invention can be variously redesigned within the scope intended by the present invention.

In the above-described embodiment, the structure of the inlet box mounting portion for the fuel filler port of the fuel tank has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, it is possible to have an inlet box mounting portion structure for a charging port of a plug-in type electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle, and the specific mounting portion of the inlet box is not limited. The present invention can be applied to various parts as long as the inlet box is attached to the vehicle. Therefore, the vehicle body panel referred to in the present invention is not limited to the side outer panel.
The engaging portion in the present invention is not limited to a configuration in which the flange portion 41a and the engaging claw 41b are combined. The point is that the structure may be such that it can be engaged with each of the inner surface side and the outer surface side of the side wall portion of the inlet box, and the specific shape and number thereof are not limited.

A Vehicle inlet box mounting structure 1 Fuel tank 2 Inlet box 20 Main opening 21 Flange part (edge of main opening)
22 Side wall 3 Lid 4 Lock unit 41 Engagement 5 Body panel 50 Panel opening

Claims (1)

An inlet box having a main opening that is fitted into a panel opening provided on the vehicle body panel and opened and closed by a lid, and a side wall that protrudes from the edge of the main opening toward the inner side of the panel opening.
A lid lock unit that is attached to the side wall while being inserted into the side wall opening provided in the side wall and is capable of switching between locking and unlocking the lid.
The structure of the vehicle inlet box mounting part, which is equipped with
A part of the lock unit on the tip end side can be inserted into the side wall opening from the inside of the inlet box, and when this insertion is made , the peripheral edge of the side wall opening of the inlet box. The outer surface portion is provided with a recess that allows a part of the edge portion near the vehicle body panel to enter, and in a state where the edge portion near the vehicle body panel is inserted into this recess, a part of the tip side is said. It can be rotated so that it comes into contact with the car body panel.
When the lock unit is in contact with the vehicle body panel after the rotation operation is performed, the lock unit is engaged with the inner surface side and the outer surface side of the side wall portion so as to be attached to the side wall portion. It has more joints,
When the lock unit is attached to the side wall portion, the vehicle body panel is sandwiched between the edge portion of the main opening of the inlet box and the lock unit. Vehicle inlet box mounting structure.

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