JPH051648Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <<Industrial Application Field>> This invention relates to an improvement of a sediment trap for removing dust and moisture from fuel.

<<Prior Art>> Sediment traps used in fuel supply systems of vehicles, etc., are also called "sedimentors" and are a type of fuel filter.

This sediment trap is installed in the fuel supply path of the engine, and has the function of taking foreign matter such as dust and moisture contained in the fuel into the trap and separating it.

A drain port is provided on the bottom surface of the sediment trap, and water is drained by removing a plug that closes the drain port.

However, if the plug is installed at the bottom of the sediment trap, it may interfere with other engine parts, making it difficult to reach the plug, which may impede water draining work or make it difficult to check whether the plug is open or closed. Become.

In order to solve this type of drawback, for example, a sediment trap shown in FIG. 3 has been put into practical use (see Japanese Utility Model Application No. 58-6959).

This sediment trap consists of a body 1, a case 2 for a drain reservoir that is flanged to the bottom surface of the body 1, and is screwed through the top and bottom of the body 1, and has a lower end opened on the bottom surface of the case 2. It is provided with a drain bolt 4 that faces the drain port 3 for draining the drain and closes the drain port 3 in a freely openable and closable manner.

According to this structure, the drain port 3 can be opened and closed simply by pinching and rotating the butterfly-shaped operating head 4a of the bolt 4 protruding from the top of the body 1. In other words, with this structure, water can be drained from the upper side of the sediment trap, making it easy to drain water and to check whether the trap is open or closed. In addition, the reference numeral 9 in the figure is a plug for communicating the sediment trap with the outside air, and this plug 9 is removed every time drain is removed to prevent backflow of drained water due to air being sucked in due to internal negative pressure when draining. is prevented.

<<Problems to be solved by the invention>> However, with this structure, if the mounting position accuracy of the body 1 and case 2 is not strict, the lower end of the stay 4b of the bolt 4 passing through both will be inserted into the drain port 3 with precision. This makes it difficult to maintain sealing performance. For this reason, the sediment trap that closes the drain port by inserting the stay 4 requires extremely high machining precision and installation adjustment work.

Therefore, conventionally, instead of the insertion method, the stay 4
A seal rubber 5 having a diameter sufficiently larger than the diameter of the drain port 3 is fixed to the lower end of the drain port 3, and a concave seating surface 3a larger than the diameter of the seal rubber 5 is formed at the upper peripheral edge of the drain port 3.

By doing this, even if there is some misalignment between the body 1 and the case 2 and the axis between the stay 4b and the drain port 3 is misaligned, the seal rubber 5
Since it reliably contacts the seating surface 3a and seals this portion liquid-tight, the drain port 3 can be reliably closed.

However, in reality, not only the drain water but also foreign matter such as dirt is discharged together with the drain water, so that foreign matter that cannot be completely discharged often adheres to the seating surface 3a. For this reason, when the operating head 4a is turned again to close, the seal rubber 5 hits the seating surface 3a with foreign matter attached to the seating surface 3a, resulting in temporary seal failure.

Also, by tightening it tightly in this state,
Since the foreign matter bites into the seal rubber 5, the durability of the seal rubber 5 is also significantly reduced. Therefore, this galling phenomenon has also been a cause of long-term deterioration of sealing performance.

This idea was devised in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to close the drain port using an insertion method, even if the machining tolerances of the body and case are large and the positional accuracy during assembly is not strict. The goal is to be able to do the following.

In other words, this invention focuses on the fact that the insertion method not only eliminates sealing defects due to foreign matter, but also serves to eject foreign matter, and aims to solve technical problems regarding accuracy in the insertion method.

<<Means for Solving the Problems>> In order to achieve the above object, this invention includes a body, a case for a drain reservoir which is flanged to the lower surface of the body, and a case which is screwed through the top and bottom of the body. , and a drain bolt whose lower end faces a drain opening opening in the lower surface of the case and which freely opens and closes the drain opening, the drain bolt has a screw hole opening in the body. It consists of a threaded part that is screwed into the threaded part, a stay integrated in the lower part of the threaded part, a flexible shaft joint interposed in the middle part of the stay, and a seal part formed in the lower side part of the stay, The sealing portion is inserted into the drain port to the inner periphery thereof in response to the screwing operation of the threaded portion, thereby tightly sealing the drain port.

<<Operation>> The flexible shaft joint absorbs the linearity error between the drain bolt and the drain port, and the tip of the seal portion of the drain bolt is reliably inserted into the drain port, thereby closing the drain port. During the closing operation, foreign matter adhering to the inner circumferential wall of the drain port is discharged as the outer circumferential tip of the seal portion is inserted.

<<Example>> Hereinafter, an example of this invention will be described in detail using the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partially sectional side view of a sediment trap according to this invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a threaded portion of a drain bolt.

The sediment trap in the figure consists of a body 10 fixed to the side of an engine etc., and a body 10 fixed to the side of an engine etc.
A cylindrical case 12 for a drain reservoir is flanged to the lower surface of the body 10 via a plurality of bolts B, and a drain bolt 14 is screwed to the periphery of the body 10 passing through the top and bottom of the body 10. We are prepared.

A drain port 16 for draining water is formed in the lower surface of the case 12, and the lower end of the drain bolt 14 is inserted into the drain port 16 to close it liquid-tightly.

A suction/exhaust port 18 is opened at the side of the body 10 and is connected to a fuel supply pipe (not shown). Further, an umbrella-shaped deflector 20 is arranged on the lower surface of the body 10.

Furthermore, a column 22 is vertically installed at the center of the lower surface of the body 10, and a float 2 for detecting the liquid level is mounted on this column 22.
4 is loosely fitted. Then, when water accumulates in the case 12 and the float 24 floats due to the rise in the liquid level, a reed switch (not shown) mounted inside the support column 22 is turned on. The reed switch is connected to a harness 28 that is pulled out to the outside through a conduit port 26 that protrudes from the center of the upper part of the body 10.
It is connected to the alarm unit via. Therefore, when the reed switch is turned ON, an alarm output such as an alarm lamp is generated to notify of a rise in the water level.

The drain bolt 14 includes a male screw portion 32 that is screwed into a screw hole 30 opened in the body 10, and an upper stay 3 that is integrated with the lower portion of the male screw portion 32.
4, a flexible shaft joint 36 joined to the lower part of the upper stay 34, and a lower stay 38 connected to the lower end of the flexible shaft joint 36.

A butterfly-shaped operating head 32a protrudes from the upper part of the male threaded portion 32, and the drain port 16 can be opened and closed by pinching and rotating the butterfly-shaped operating head 32a. Furthermore, a notch 32b is provided on the outer circumference of the male threaded portion 32 for communicating the outside air with the inside of the sediment trap along the axial direction.
is formed.

When the drain bolt 14 is in the closed state, a gasket G is interposed between the lower surface of the operating head 36a and the body 10 to airtightly seal the inside of the sediment trap. In this state, when the male threaded portion 32 is pulled out, the inside and outside of the sediment trap are ventilated through the notch 32b, and the drain can be smoothly discharged.

In the past, a plug 9 was provided as shown in FIG. 3, and the plug 9 was removed every time the drain was removed. Accordingly, this embodiment can also save time and effort.

The flexible shaft joint 36 is made of a material such as springy spiral stainless steel, and has small displacement in the axial direction, that is, expansion and contraction, but sufficient deformation against displacement in the lateral direction, that is, bending.

A seal ring 40 is fitted to the outer periphery of the lower portion of the lower stay 38, and a seal portion 42 having a lower end shaped like a needle valve is formed.

In accordance with the seal portion 42, the upper part of the drain port 16 is formed into a tapered surface 16A to facilitate introduction of the seal portion 42. Further, the lower part of the drain port 16 has a smaller diameter, and a drain pipe 44 is integrally installed in this part.

In the above configuration, the seal portion 42 is attached to the drain port 16 in response to the screwing operation of the operating head 32a.
The drain port 16 is sealed liquid-tightly by the sealing action of the seal ring 40.

When draining in response to alarm output,
When the operating head 32a is turned and the drain bolt 14 is pulled out from the drain port 16, the seal portion 42 is removed from the drain port 16, and air is introduced into the interior, allowing water and foreign matter to be smoothly discharged.

Note that the drain port 16 and the screw hole on the body 10 side are not in a straight line, and the axis of the drain port 16 and the drain bolt 1 are not aligned.
If the axis of 4 is slightly off, the seal part 4
2 is removed from the drain port 16, the misaligned state is corrected. However, at the time of re-insertion, the outer periphery of the seal portion 42 is guided into the drain port 16 due to the engagement between the needle valve-shaped tip and the tapered surface 16a, and the deflection shaft is moved by the amount of displacement caused thereby. The joint 36 is elastically deformed and absorbs the amount of deviation between the axes.

When the drain port 16 is re-inserted, foreign matter adhering to the drain port 16 is automatically discharged to the lower side as the seal ring 40 is lowered.

It should be noted that when assembling the body 10, case 12, and drain bolt 14, as long as there is no extreme deviation from the installation dimensional tolerance, the seal portion 42 may be damaged by the displacement of the flexible shaft joint 36 without special adjustment work. will be automatically inserted into the drain port 16.

<<Effects>> As explained in detail using the embodiments above, in this invention, the coaxiality error between the drain bolt and the drain port is absorbed by the flexible shaft joint, and the tip of the seal portion of the drain bolt is It is inserted securely into the drain and the drain is closed. During the closing operation, foreign matter adhering to the inner circumferential wall of the drain port is discharged as the outer circumferential tip of the seal portion is inserted, thereby making it possible to wipe out damage to the seal portion due to foreign matter and seal failure due to foreign matter.

In addition, the sediment trap of this invention does not require strict machining accuracy for the body and case.
It can be produced at low cost, and there is no need for troublesome adjustment work during assembly, improving productivity.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially sectional side view of a sediment trap according to this invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a threaded portion of a drain bolt, and FIG. 3 is a partially sectional side view of a conventional sediment trap. 10...Body, 12...Case, 14...Drain bolt, 16...Drain port, 30...Screw hole,
32...Male thread part, 32a...Operation head, 32
b... Notch, 34... Upper stay, 36... Flexible shaft joint, 38... Lower stay, 40... Seal ring, 42... Seal portion.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) A body, a case for a drain reservoir connected by a flange to the lower surface of the body, and a case screwed through the top and bottom of the body, the lower end of which is opened on the lower surface of the case. In a sediment trap equipped with a drain bolt that faces a drain port for draining and opens and closes the drain port, the drain bolt has a threaded portion that is threaded into a threaded hole opened in the body, and a threaded portion that is threaded into a threaded hole opened in the body. It consists of a stay integrated at the lower part of the part, a flexible shaft joint interposed in the middle part of the stay, and a seal part formed on the lower side part of the stay, and the seal part is formed in accordance with the screwing operation of the threaded part. 1. A sediment trap characterized in that a drain port is sealed liquid-tightly by inserting a seal portion into the inner periphery of the drain port. (2) The sediment trap according to claim 1, wherein a notch that communicates with the outside air is formed in a part of the outer periphery of the threaded portion along the axial direction.