JPH0233142Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to an improved structure of a liquid level detection device in a vehicle fuel gauge. In particular, it detects the upper and lower limits of the amount of gasoline in the tank with high precision, and thereby (Empty) and F (Full) display reliability.

Generally, in this type of device, as shown in FIG. 1, a variable resistor (not shown) is housed in a casing 4 fixed from the top wall 2 of the tank 1 to the bottom wall 3 inside the tank. A movable arm 5 connected to a sliding member of the container is pivotally connected to the casing 4 so as to be able to rotate angularly between a pair of stoppers 6, and extends inside the tank 1. A float 7 is attached that moves up and down depending on the change in the amount of gasoline in the tank.
The arm 5 is angularly rotated in response to the amount of displacement of the resistor to change the resistance value of the resistor, thereby converting the quantitative change in gasoline into an electrical signal, and converting the quantitative change in gasoline into an electrical signal, such as a well-known bimetal type meter (not shown). The instructions are provided by a meter.

As shown in FIG. 2, the above device has a float 70 pivotally attached to the free end of the arm 50 and is rotatable using this pivoted portion as a fulcrum, or as shown in FIG. Float 71 at the end
There are some that have been fixed.

In this case, the former arm 5 responds to changes in the liquid level.
Since the float 70 rotates relative to the arm 50 using the pivot point between 0 and the float 70 as a fulcrum, the float 70 always maintains the same alignment as the water level changes and rises and falls. This has the advantage that the buoyancy acting on the float 70 is always constant and the operating speed of the arm 50 is constant, thereby making it possible to stabilize the response sensitivity of the instrument. Since the upper and lower inner walls 20, 30 and the upper and lower surfaces of the float 70 can be approached parallel to each other by a distance l ₁ , the rotation angle θ ₁ of the arm 50 is increased, and the detection accuracy on the E side and F side of the fuel amount with respect to the tank 10 is increased. However, on the other hand, the float 70 responds to the changing liquid level by moving the inner wall 20 or 3 of the tank 10.
When the temperature approaches 0, the float 70 moves due to wave motion of the liquid level due to the vibration applied by the vehicle, and the inner wall 2
0 or 30, and at this time the tank 10 acts as a resonance box, amplifying the collision sound and producing a considerably unpleasant sound.

Therefore, if the rotation range of the arm 50 is determined so that the float 70 and the upper and lower inner walls 20, 30 of the tank 10 do not collide, the distance _l1 from the float 70 to the inner walls 20, 30 becomes large, and therefore the liquid There is a problem in that the detection accuracy of the lower and upper limits of the position is poor.

In the latter case, since the float 71 is fixed to the arm 51, the float 71 moves against the upper and lower inner walls 2 of the tank 11 even when the liquid level waves due to vibrations in the tank 11 occur.
1 and 31, but because the shape of the float 71 differs each time in response to changes in the liquid level, there is a difference in the volume below the liquid surface that sinks from the water line of the float 71, and this occurs. Therefore, the buoyant force acting on the float 71 differs depending on the changing liquid level, and this causes the problem that the arm 51 does not operate smoothly.This affects the response sensitivity of the instrument, especially when changing the lower and upper limits of the liquid level. In other words, there is a problem in that the response sensitivity is greatly different between the E side and the F side of the meter reading.

In order to solve each of the above-mentioned drawbacks, the float 72 is made into a cylindrical shape as shown in FIG. 4, and the arm 52 is pivotally attached to the center of the circular cross section. inner wall 2
2 and 32, and its shape can always be kept constant even with changing liquid levels, and the buoyant force acting on it can also be kept constant, but if the cross section of the cylinder is circular. Since it is necessary to make the float 72 small in diameter and approach the upper and lower inner walls 22, 32 of the tank 12 to increase the buoyancy force on the float 72, which is intended to expand the range of rotation of the arm 52, it has to be made into an elongated cylindrical shape that extends considerably in the axial direction. Not necessarily,
There is a problem that it is cumbersome to accommodate this in the narrow tank 12, and therefore the circular cross-section of the float 72 must be made relatively large in diameter, so that the float 72 and the inner walls 22, 32 of the tank 12 end up There is a problem in that the distance l ₂ between the tank 12 and the tank 12 becomes large, which limits the range of rotation of the arm 52, and the upper and lower limit values indicated for the tank 12 become ambiguous.

The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problem by inserting one side of the L-shaped arm along the end of one side wall of the flat-shaped float and pivoting the float to this arm. A stopper is formed on the side wall of the float on the side through which the arm is inserted to engage with the other side where the arm bends and extends, thereby restricting and regulating the rotational angle of the float with respect to the arm, and the arm and the stopper are engaged. The fuel tank is characterized by being formed so that a constant gap is maintained between the float and the inner wall of the fuel tank when the fuel tank is opened.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7 of the accompanying drawings.

The float 73 is formed in a shape similar to a flat rectangular parallelepiped, and is molded, for example, from a hard sponge mixed with vinyl chloride acrylonitrile rubber. One side wall of the float 73 forms an arc 8 in the width direction along its longitudinal direction, and arcs 8 are formed on both side walls in the direction orthogonal to the side wall forming the arc 8.
A hole 9 is formed through the center of the circle drawn by.

In this case, the meat part of the float 73 is cut out on one of the side walls forming the hole 9, and the circular arc 8
A stopper 14 is formed with a locking step portion extending in a V-shape toward the opposite side and functioning as will be described later.

In this case, the stopper 14 is formed in a V-shape on a line that bisects the side wall in the longitudinal direction and on a line that diagonally intersects this line and the center of the circular arc 8 from the upper side of the side wall.

The arm 53 is formed of a round bar and is attached to the casing 4.
It is formed from a descending portion 54 extending from 0 and each side of a horizontal portion 55 which is bent into an L-shape near its tip. A flat head is formed at the end with a ring (not shown) interposed therebetween, and a float 73 is pivotally connected to the lowering portion 54 to prevent it from coming off.

In this case, the float 73 is allowed to rotate around the horizontal portion 55 in the range where the descending portion 54 of the arm 53 comes into contact with the V-shaped stopper 14 formed on its side wall, that is, between the stoppers 14. The angle formed by the V-shaped stopper 14 is set to substantially match the rotation angle of the arm 53.

The upper end of the arm 53 is connected to a sliding member of a variable resistor (not shown) housed in the casing 40, and a stopper 60 formed in the casing 40
The rotation angle of the arm 53 is determined in the same way as in FIG.

Such a casing 40 is attached to the upper wall 23 of the tank 13.
A piece is attached on the inside thereof facing toward the bottom wall 33.

That is, in the present invention, a stopper 14 is formed on one side wall of a float 73 having a flat, substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the horizontal portion 55 of the arm 53 is connected to the other side of the float 73 in order to restrain the descending portion 54 of the arm 53 between the stoppers 14. By penetrating and pivoting on the end side, the stopper 14 sets a rotation angle θ ₂ of the float 73 with respect to the arm 53, and this rotation angle θ ₂ is set by a stopper 6 protruding from the casing 40 in a V-shape.
By making the rotation angle θ ₃ of the arm 53 substantially the same as the rotation angle θ 3 set between 0 and 0, the float 73 can always be operated in a constant posture in response to changes in the liquid level in the tank 13. 13 Internal liquid level E
side and F side can be detected and displayed with high accuracy.

In this case, even if waves occur on the liquid level, the descending portion 54 of the arm 53 can eventually come into contact with and lock with the stopper 14, so the float 73 and the tank 13 can
The float 73 can be prevented from colliding with the upper and lower inner walls 23, 33, thereby preventing the generation of unpleasant noises, and since the float 73 can be rotated within a certain angle range with respect to the arm 53, the wave movement of the liquid level can be prevented. This can be absorbed by the free movement of the float 73, which has the advantage of preventing the rotation from being transmitted to the arm 53, thereby avoiding any influence on the instrument indication.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a structural diagram of the main parts of the conventional device, Figs. 2 to 4 are operational explanatory diagrams of the main parts of the conventional device, Fig. 5 is a structural diagram of the main parts of the proposed device, and Fig. 6 is the proposed device. FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of the operation of the main parts of the present device. Tank...1, 10, 11, 12, 13, Arm...5, 50, 51, 52, 53, Float...7,
70, 71, 72, 73.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] At the end of one side wall of the flat float that responds to changes in the liquid level in the fuel tank, the L arm is connected to the sliding member of the variable resistor in a direction substantially parallel to this side wall.
One side of the shape is inserted and pivotally mounted, and the other side of the arm that bends and extends from one side of the arm is locked to the other side wall of the float, thereby regulating the rotation range of the float with respect to this arm at a certain angle. 1. A liquid level detection device for a fuel gauge for a vehicle, characterized in that a stopper is formed to maintain a constant gap between the float and the inner wall of the tank when the arm and the stopper are engaged with each other.