JP7829839B2 - Fueling device - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to a fuel supply device installed at gas stations and the like for supplying fuel oil to vehicles.

Fueling systems installed at gas stations and other locations incorporate separate fueling mechanisms for each type of fuel used by different vehicles. For such fueling systems, the applicant has proposed a pump unit structure in which the fueling motor is mounted on top of the fueling pump. This structure prevents oil leaking from the fueling pump from entering the fueling motor, simplifies the connection work between the fueling pump and the underground tank piping, and reduces work time (see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-105999

While the above proposal is valid, vibrations during transport of the refueling equipment by truck or other means can cause large amplitude vibrations due to the high center of gravity of the pump unit. This could potentially damage the piping connecting the refueling pump and flow meter, and during the final inspection before shipment, residual gasoline could leak from the damaged section of the piping, potentially leading to a fire. This risk could not be ruled out.

This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to improve the safety of the refueling system by minimizing the amplitude of the pump unit during transport with a simple configuration.

To achieve the above objective, the present invention provides a refueling device comprising: a pump unit comprising a plurality of refueling pumps and a plurality of refueling motors positioned above the plurality of refueling pumps and driving the plurality of refueling pumps; a flow meter connected to each of the plurality of refueling pumps via piping; a refueling hose connected to the flow meter and having a refueling nozzle at its tip; a housing body having support columns on its left and right sides and housing the pump unit; and support members connected to the left and right support columns of the housing body and fixing only the plurality of refueling motors.

According to the present invention, since the lubrication motor is fixed by support members connected to the left and right support columns of the housing body, the amplitude of the pump unit during transportation of the lubrication device can be kept small, thereby enhancing safety.

In the aforementioned refueling device, by providing a front panel covering the front of the pump unit and the flow meter, a nozzle holder provided on the front panel for hanging the refueling nozzle, and a reinforcing member positioned on the back surface of the front panel to which the nozzle holder is fixed, the force applied to the front panel when hanging the refueling nozzle on the nozzle holder can be mitigated, thereby preventing damage to the front panel.

Furthermore, by riveting the side of the reinforcing member to the side of the front panel at two points, the linear force applied to the front panel can be received across a surface, preventing the front panel from deforming into a V-shape.

In the aforementioned refueling device, a lever attached to the front panel and rotated by a key, and a stopper attached to the main housing and engaging with the lever are further provided. The stopper prevents the lever from moving upward, thereby preventing the front panel from moving upward and detaching from the main housing.

Furthermore, by engaging the stopper with the lever at the left and right sides of the main housing from the center of rotation of the lever, the stopper does not put stress on the lever when only one side of the lock is opened, thus preventing deformation of the lever.

Furthermore, by providing the above-mentioned refueling device with a rain gutter formed on the left and right sides of the main housing and abutting against the front panel, a hole formed in the lower end of the front panel, a protrusion provided at the lower end of the main housing that passes through the hole, and a projection provided at the lower end of the front panel that abuts against the rain gutter, the lower end of the front panel does not get inside the protrusion, preventing scratches on the front surface of the front panel and improving ease of assembly.

As described above, the present invention provides a refueling device with a simple configuration, which minimizes the amplitude of the pump unit during transport and offers features such as high safety.

This shows one embodiment of the refueling device according to the present invention, where (a) is a front view and (b) is a side view. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing the refueling mechanism of the refueling device. Figure 2 is an enlarged side view of the refueling mechanism. Figure 1 shows the front panel of the refueling device, where (a) is a side view and (b) is a rear view. Figure 4 is a perspective view illustrating the procedure for attaching the front panel to the lower case, with (a) showing the panel before attachment and (b) showing the panel after attachment. This is a partially broken cross-sectional view showing the relationship between the lever and the stopper when the front panel is opened, with (a) showing the conventional design and (b) showing the present invention. This is a perspective view illustrating the conventional method of attaching the front panel to the bed. This is a cross-sectional view illustrating how to attach the front panel shown in Figure 4 to the bed.

Next, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Figure 1 shows one embodiment of a fuel supply device according to the present invention. This fuel supply device 1 includes a fuel supply mechanism (see Figure 2), a display unit 5, a fuel nozzle 6, etc., inside or on the surface of the housing body 2. A safety joint 3 at the very end of the fuel pipe is positioned at the top of the housing body 2, and a fuel hose 7 connects the safety joint 3 to the fuel nozzle 6. The back side of the fuel supply device 1 is configured similarly to the above.

The housing body 2 comprises a pair of support columns 21 and 22 on the left and right sides, a bed 20 at the bottom for fixing to an island (not shown) with anchor bolts, etc., a lower case 23 for housing the fuel supply system, an upper case 24 above the lower case 23 for housing the display unit 5, and a top case 25 to which the safety joint 3 is attached and to which piping for connecting the fuel supply hose 7 is arranged.

The refueling mechanism has the same configuration and operation as those found in conventional refueling systems, and consists of a refueling pump 12, refueling motor 13, and flow meter 14 as shown in Figure 2, and a refueling hose 7, refueling nozzle 6, etc., as shown in Figure 1. This refueling mechanism is provided on both the front and back sides of the refueling system 1, with three separate systems for, for example, high-octane gasoline, regular gasoline, and diesel fuel.

A fuel supply hose 7 (see Figure 1) is connected to the discharge port 14a of the flow meter 14 via piping 27. The fuel supply nozzle 6, attached to the end of the fuel supply hose 7, is hung on a nozzle holder 16 formed on the front panel 15, which is located on the front and rear surfaces of the lower case 23.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, inside the lower case 23, fuel pumps 12 for supplying different fuel systems are mounted on a U-shaped base plate 26, and above each fuel pump 12, a corresponding fuel motor 13 is positioned. The base plate 26 is attached to the bed 20. These fuel pumps 12, fuel motors 13, and base plate 26 are integrated and unitized as a pump unit to facilitate assembly.

A flow meter 14 is positioned above the fuel supply motor 13, and this flow meter 14 is attached to the beam plate 30 that forms the upper part of the lower case 23. The discharge port of the fuel supply pump 12 is connected to the inlet of the corresponding flow meter 14 via piping 28. Piping 27 is connected to the discharge port of the flow meter 14, and the other end of piping 27 is led from the lower case 23 through the left and right support columns 21 and 22 to the top case 25.

Support members 29 for fixing the oil supply motor 13 with bolts B are connected to the left and right support columns 21 and 22 via brackets 31 to 33, etc. The inclusion of these support members 29 is one of the features of the present invention. By fixing the oil supply motor 13 with the support members 29, the amplitude of the pump unit during transport of the oil supply device 1 can be reduced, preventing damage to the piping 28 and improving safety during transport.

The front panel 15 shown in Figure 1 covers the front of the pump unit and flow meter 14, and, as shown in Figure 4, is equipped with a nozzle holder 16 for hanging the fuel nozzle 6 (see Figure 1). A reinforcing member 36 is provided horizontally on the back surface of the front panel 15, and the sides of both ends of this reinforcing member 36 are fastened to the sides of the front panel 15 at two points by rivets 37 and 38.

The reinforcing member 36 reduces the force applied to the front panel 15 when the fuel nozzle 6 is attached to the nozzle holder 16, thereby preventing damage to the front panel 15. Furthermore, by riveting the front panel 15 and the reinforcing member 36 in two places, the force applied linearly to the front panel 15 is distributed across a surface, preventing the front panel 15 from deforming into a V-shape.

As shown in Figure 1, the front panel 15 is provided with keys 40 at its left and right upper ends, used for attaching and detaching the front panel 15 to the lower case 23. As shown in Figure 5, the keys 40 have plate-shaped levers 41. Meanwhile, the lower case 23 is provided with a stopper 42 that engages with the levers 41. The stopper 42 has an engagement hole 42a that is narrower at the top and wider at the bottom.

When attaching the front panel 15 to the lower case 23, from the state shown in Figure 5(a), the lever 41 of the key 40 is inserted into the engagement hole 42a of the stopper 42. By positioning the lever 41 above the engagement hole 42a, as shown in Figure 5(b), upward movement of the lever 41 can be prevented. This prevents the front panel 15 from moving upward and detaching from the lower case 23.

Furthermore, conventionally, as shown in Figure 6(a), when only one side of the lock was opened, the lever 41P would come into contact with the stopper 42P fixed to the lower case 23P, potentially causing the lever 41P to bend due to the stopper 42P. In this invention, by changing the shape and mounting method of the stopper 42 as described above, the front panel 15 can be opened with greater flexibility than before. Therefore, stress is no longer applied to the lever 41 when it contacts the stopper 42, thus preventing deformation of the lever 41.

Next, the procedure for attaching the front panel 15 to the bed 20 will be explained. Figure 6 shows the conventional method, in which, when attaching the front panel 55 to the bed 20, a hole (not shown) formed in the bottom of the front panel 55 was inserted into a protrusion 51 formed in the upper part of the bed 20. At that time, the lower end 55a of the front panel 55 would enter the inside of the protrusion 51, causing the front surface of the front panel 55 to come into contact with the protrusion 51. The protrusion 51 would then scrape the paint on the front surface of the front panel 55, sometimes resulting in scratches on the front surface of the front panel 55.

Therefore, in this invention, as shown in Figure 7, a projection 15a is provided at the lower end of the front panel 15, projecting toward the rear. By lowering the front panel 15 while bringing its lower end into contact with the downpipe (downpipe) 52 connected to the side of the support column 22 (and support column 21), the lower end of the front panel 15 does not enter the inside of the protrusion 51. The hole 15b formed in the bottom of the front panel 15 is then inserted into the protrusion 51, allowing the front panel 15 to be easily attached to the bed 20. This prevents the protrusion 51 from scraping the paint on the design surface of the front panel 15, thus preventing damage to the design surface and improving ease of assembly.

The illustrated embodiments are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the technical scope of the present invention.

1 Fueling device 2 Housing body 3 Fittings 5 Display 6 Fuel nozzle 7 Fueling hose 12 Fueling pump 13 Fueling motor 14 Flow meter 15 Front panel 16 Nozzle holder 20 Bed 21, 22 Support column 23 Lower case 24 Upper case 25 Top case 26 Base plate 27, 28 Piping 29 Support member 30 Beam plate 31-33 Bracket 36 Reinforcement member 37, 38 Rivet 40 Key 41 Lever 42 Stopper 51 Protrusion 52 Rain gutter

Claims (6)

A pump unit comprising multiple fuel pumps and multiple fuel motors positioned above the multiple fuel pumps and driving the multiple fuel pumps,
A flow meter connected to each of the aforementioned multiple fuel pumps via piping,
A refueling hose connected to the flow meter and having a refueling nozzle at its tip,
The housing body has support columns on both the left and right sides and houses the pump unit,
A lubrication device characterized by comprising a support member connected to the left and right support columns of the housing body and for fixing only the plurality of lubrication motors. A front panel covering the front of the pump unit and the flow meter,
The front panel is provided with a nozzle holder for hanging the fuel nozzle,
The refueling device according to claim 1, further comprising a reinforcing member disposed on the back surface of the front panel to which the nozzle holder is fixed. The lubrication device according to claim 2, characterized in that the side surface of the reinforcing member and the side surface of the front panel are riveted together at two locations. A lever attached to the aforementioned front panel, which is rotated by a key,
The main body housing is equipped with a stopper that engages with the lever,
The lubrication device according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the stopper prevents the lever from moving upward. The lubrication device according to claim 4, characterized in that the lever engages with the stopper on the left and right sides of the main housing from the pivot point of the lever. Rain gutters formed on the left and right sides of the main housing and in contact with the front panel, and a hole formed at the lower end of the front panel,
A protrusion is provided at the lower end of the main body housing and is inserted through the hole,
The refueling device according to claim 2, further comprising a protrusion provided at the lower end of the front panel and in contact with the rain gutter.