JPH11254979A - Fuel filler neck bracket fixing device for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the appearance quality of a vehicle by preventing a positional deviation of a fuel filler neck bracket so as to eliminate occurrence of strain in an outer panel during spot-welding. SOLUTION: A pair of upper and lower weld flanges 22a, 22b which are bent inward of a vehicle body are provided at a fuel opening of a side outer panel 2. A fuel filler neck bracket 10 is formed with joint surfaces 24a, 24b which are in substantial parallel with each other, corresponding to the weld flanges 22a, 22b. During spot-welding for the fuel filler neck bracket 10, the weld flanges 22a, 22b, and the joint flanges 24a, 24b are pressed in the direction of the arrow by a welding gun 48, and accordingly, the fuel filler neck bracket 10 can be precisely positioned and welded with no deviation from an regular locating position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automobile fuel filler neck bracket fixing device for fixing a fuel filler neck bracket to an outer panel of a vehicle body.

[0002]

Related Background Art A fuel filler neck for supplying fuel to a fuel tank of an automobile is usually provided with a fuel filler neck.
The fuel filler neck bracket is attached to the vehicle body via a fuel filler neck bracket, and has a fuel filler opening opened in the fuel filler neck bracket. As is well known, the fuel filler neck bracket has a bowl shape with one end opened, and is fixed to the inside of the outer panel in a state in which the opening matches the oil supply opening provided in the outer panel of the vehicle body. .

[0003] More specifically, for example, flanges which are bent toward the inside of the vehicle body are provided at the upper and lower sides of the fuel supply opening of the outer panel, and these flanges are inserted into the openings of the fuel filler neck bracket to provide fuel. The fuel filler neck bracket is superimposed on the inner peripheral wall of the filler neck bracket from the inside, and in this state, the fuel filler neck bracket is simultaneously spot-welded to the upper and lower flanges.

[0004] Such a fuel filler neck bracket is formed by press-drawing from a single sheet metal blank material, and the whole is widened toward the opening side at one end in order to secure a draft of the punch for press working. It has a shape. Accordingly, the interval between the upper and lower inner peripheral walls of the fuel filler neck bracket overlapped with the above-mentioned upper and lower flanges gradually increases toward the opening end.

[0005]

The above-mentioned welding step of assembling the fuel filler neck bracket to the outer panel includes firstly opening one end of the fuel filler neck bracket with respect to the oil supply opening of the outer panel mounted on the jig. And the upper and lower inner peripheral walls of the fuel filler neck bracket are overlapped with the upper and lower flanges of the fuel supply opening. Then, the flange and the fuel filler neck bracket are sandwiched between the welding gun and the back electrode and spot-welded.

[0006] However, the pressing force of the welding gun at this time may displace the fuel filler neck bracket to the inside of the vehicle body because the upper and lower inner peripheral walls of the fuel filler neck bracket are not parallel to each other. On the other hand, it is very difficult to accurately position and assemble the fuel filler neck bracket. Also, if the fuel filler neck bracket is displaced inside the car body and welded,
The outer panel is also drawn into the vehicle body via the flange, so that the outer panel surface of the outer panel is distorted, and the appearance quality of the vehicle may be significantly impaired.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to enable a fuel filler neck bracket to be assembled to an outer panel by welding with high accuracy, thereby improving the appearance quality of a vehicle. It is an object of the present invention to provide a fuel filler neck bracket fixing device for a vehicle which can be maintained.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for fixing a fuel filler neck bracket of a vehicle, wherein the fuel filler neck bracket is provided with upper and lower flat surfaces which are joined to upper and lower flanges of an oil supply opening. Surface portions are provided, and the upper and lower flat surface portions are substantially parallel to each other.

Therefore, according to the fixing device of the first aspect, when the flange on the oil supply opening side and the flat surface portion of the fuel filler neck bracket are overlapped, they are located between the back electrode for spot welding and the welding gun. The fuel filler neck brackets are not displaced relative to the outer panel even when pinched and pressed at the same time, and they are assembled by welding in a precise positional relationship.

Further, in the fuel filler neck bracket fixing device according to the second aspect, when the lower flat surface portion of the fuel filler neck bracket extends over the entire opening width, the lower flat surface portion drains the liquid to the lower flat surface portion. It has a transverse groove. In this case, the transverse groove guides drainage from the fuel filler chamber formed inside the fuel filler neck bracket to the outside of the vehicle body. That is, even if the upper and lower parallel flat surfaces are inclined toward the lower inside of the vehicle body, water and fuel do not continue to stay in the fuel filler neck bracket.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a fuel filler neck bracket fixing device will be described below with reference to the drawings. Referring to FIG. 1, a rear portion of a passenger-type vehicle 1 is shown as an example, and a fuel opening 4 as a refueling opening is provided in a side outer panel 2 of the vehicle 1. Also, in the fuel opening 4,
A hinge lid type fuel filler door 6 is provided, and FIG. 2 shows the fuel filler door 6 in an open state. The present invention is applicable not only to passenger cars as in the embodiments but also to other types of automobiles such as trucks and buses.

As is well known, a tubular fuel filler neck 8 (both not shown) is connected to the fuel tank via a filler hose, and the fuel filler neck 8 has a fuel opening formed at a fuel opening. 4 and is fixed to the fuel filler neck bracket 10. In FIG.
The fuel opening 4 and the fuel filler neck bracket 10 of the side outer panel 2 are shown in an enlarged manner, and FIG. 3 shows the side outer panel 2 and the fuel filler neck bracket 1 along the line III-III in FIG.
0 and a vertical cross section of the side inner panel 12 are shown. 2 and 3, the fuel filler door 6 is not shown.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the fuel filler neck bracket 10 has a bowl shape with one end opened, and is positioned between the side outer panel 2 and the side inner panel 12 and has one end opening. The portion is arranged so as to match the fuel opening 4 from the inside of the vehicle body. More specifically, the fuel opening 4 is formed of a rectangular opening whose corner is formed in an arc shape, and is fitted into the fuel opening 4 by being bent toward the inside of the vehicle body along the opening edge. A flange 14 is provided. On the other hand, the opening edge 16 of the fuel filler neck bracket 10 is formed with a stepped portion 1 formed along the inner peripheral surface of the fuel filler neck bracket 10.
It is separated from the main body part 18 of the fuel filler neck bracket 10 through 7, and this opening edge 16 is fitted on the outer periphery of the fitting flange 14 of the fuel opening 4.

Fuel filler neck bracket 10
The main body portion 18 has a rectangular cylindrical shape connected to the opening edge portion 16, and the vertical cylindrical width is greatly narrowed toward the bottom portion 19 in the cross section of FIG. 3. The bottom 19 has an outer surface in contact with the side inner panel 12, and the fuel filler neck bracket 10 is spot-welded to the side inner panel 12 at the bottom 19.

The bottom portion 19 of the fuel filler neck bracket 10 is provided with an insertion hole 20 at the center thereof.
Is inserted through this insertion hole 20 and a similar insertion hole provided in the side inner panel 12, and is fixed to the fuel filler neck bracket 10.

Here, welding flanges 22a and 22b which are bent integrally with the side outer panel 2 and extend into the vehicle body are provided from above and below the fitting flange 14 which forms the opening edge of the fuel opening 4. The welding flanges 22a and 22b form the flange of the present invention. These welding flanges 22a, 22b
Each of the bases is provided so as to protrude further into the vehicle body from the fitting flange 14, and has a base formed with a stepped portion 17 of the fuel filler neck bracket 10 as viewed in the cross section of FIG.
It is bent into a crank shape to match the stepped shape of. Therefore, the fuel filler neck bracket 1
0 is fitted to the fitting flange 14 of the fuel opening 4, the welding flanges 22a and 22b
The upper and lower inner peripheral walls 8 are superimposed on and in close contact with each other.

On the other hand, the upper and lower inner peripheral wall portions of the main body portion 18 in the fuel filler neck bracket 10 include:
Joint surface 24 with corresponding welding flange 22a, 22b
a and 24b are provided. In addition, these joining surfaces 24a and 24b form a flat surface portion of the present invention. Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown a horizontal cross section of the side outer panel 2 and the fuel filler neck bracket 10 along the line IV-IV in FIG. 2, where the lower welding flange 22b and the joining surface 24b are shown. Are shown in detail. As shown in FIG.
b consists of a pair of projecting pieces, and therefore, the welding flange 22a paired with these welding flanges 22b also consists of a pair of projecting pieces.

The joining surfaces 24a, 24b are also formed in pairs of upper and lower surfaces corresponding to the welding flanges 22a, 22b, respectively, and these joining surfaces 24a, 24b are formed with the corresponding welding flanges 22a, 22b. Are formed by the depth of the thickness of the welding flanges 22a and 22b in the overlapped area of. Therefore, the welding flanges 22a, 22
When “b” is superimposed on the joining surfaces 24a and 24b, these superposed portions are in a so-called spine-cut state on the inner surface of the fuel filler neck bracket 10,
As shown in FIG. 2, there is no step due to the overlapping of the welding flanges 22a and 22b.

A transverse groove 28 is formed between the two lower joining surfaces 24b. FIG. 5 shows V in FIG.
-Fuel filler neck bracket 10 along the -V line
The cross-sectional groove 28 is continuous with the lower surface 26 of the main body portion 18 as is apparent from FIG.
One end of the fuel filler neck bracket 10 extends toward the opening. In addition, these main body parts 1
Both the lower surface 26 and the transverse groove 28 of 8 are inclined downward toward the outside of the vehicle body. Therefore, water or fuel that has entered or spilled into the fuel filler chamber formed inside the fuel filler neck bracket 10 is discharged to the outside of the vehicle body through the transverse groove 28.

Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the opening width of the fuel filler neck bracket 10 is, as shown in FIG. 2, the area of the lower opening edge excluding the portions rising in an arc from both ends of the horizontal portion. Stipulated, transverse grooves 28
If there is no, the lower bonding surface 24b can be formed over the entire opening width. Therefore, the transverse groove 28
Is provided across the lower joint surface 24b.

Next, a process of assembling the fuel filler neck bracket 10 to the side outer panel 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 shows a step of spot welding the side outer panel 2 and the fuel filler neck bracket 10 placed on the assembly jig to each other. At this time, the side outer panel 2
Is positioned at the location post 40 and is fixed on a jig by a clamp (not shown). On the other hand, the fuel filler neck bracket 10
The pin is located by the location pin 44 of the locator 42, and is positioned in a state where the opening edge 16 is fitted to the fitting flange 14 of the side outer panel 2.

When the positioning of the side outer panel 2 and the fuel filler neck bracket 10 is completed, the back electrode 46 with the transfer mechanism moves to the position shown in FIG. 6, and in this state, both terminals of the back electrode 46 The fuel filler neck 10 comes into contact with the upper and lower joining surfaces 24a and 24b of the bracket 10 respectively. Two welding guns 48 from the inside of the fuel filler neck bracket 10 are connected to the upper and lower welding flanges 22a, 22a.
2b is pressed in the direction of the arrow in FIG.
2a and 22b are spot-welded to the corresponding joint surfaces 24a and 24b, respectively. The welding flanges 22a, 22
The joint between the b and the joint surfaces 24a and 24b is spot-welded at both upper and lower positions.

Here, the above-mentioned upper and lower joint surfaces 24a, 2
4b are substantially parallel to each other when viewed in the cross section shown in FIG. That is, the fuel filler neck bracket 10 has a shape in which the opening edge 16 and the main body portion 18 are open toward the one opening side in order to secure the draft of the press punch during molding by press drawing as described above. That is, it is formed in a tapered shape.

However, in the case of this embodiment, substantially parallel surfaces are formed at the joint surfaces 24a and 24b, and the pressing direction of the welding gun 48 shown in FIG. The fuel filler neck bracket 10 is displaced with respect to the locate position of the locator 42 when the welding gun 48 is pressurized because it is set in a direction perpendicular to the parallel plane, and deviates from its regular assembly position. There is no welding.

After the drawing of the fuel filler neck bracket 10, it is possible to provide a slight opening angle between the joining surfaces 24a and 24b so that the pressing punch can be extracted properly. In this case, the inventor of the present invention has confirmed that if the opening angle is set within 2 °, for example, the fuel filler neck bracket 10 will not be displaced when the welding gun 48 is pressed. ing. However, especially the bonding surface 24
Needless to say, a complete parallel plane can be obtained without providing such an opening angle between the points a and 24b.

According to the fuel filler neck bracket fixing device of the above-described embodiment, when the fuel filler neck bracket 10 is spot-welded, the upper and lower joining surfaces 2 are formed.
4a and 24b can be pressed in the vertical direction by the welding gun 48, respectively, so that the displacement of the fuel filler neck bracket 10 due to the pressing force can be effectively prevented. Therefore, the fuel opening 4
, The distortion of the side outer panel 2 does not occur, and the appearance quality of the completed vehicle is not impaired.

In addition, at the time of spot welding, the welding flange 2
Since the superimposed state of the joining surfaces 24a, 24b and the joining surfaces 24a, 24b can be favorably maintained, the workability of spot welding the fuel filler neck bracket 10 can be greatly improved. Further, since the fuel filler neck bracket 10 is provided with the transverse groove 28, rainwater and fuel can be quickly discharged from the fuel filler chamber, which is advantageous for preventing the fuel filler neck bracket 10 from rusting.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. For example, the fuel opening 4 may be provided not only in the side outer panel 2 but also in other outer panels. Also, the welding flanges 22a and 22b do not need to be a pair of two pieces, and the welding flanges 22a and 22b of the embodiment can be connected and integrated. In this case, the respective joining surfaces 24a, 24b can be integrated with the welding flanges 22a, b. And the transverse groove 28 can be provided in both sides of the lower joining surface 24b, respectively.

Further, it is possible to provide not only one crossing groove 28 as in the embodiment, but also a plurality of crossing grooves.
Further, the cross section of the groove may be formed in a semicircular shape or a U shape.

[0030]

As described above, according to the fuel filler neck bracket fixing device for an automobile according to the first aspect, the fuel filler neck bracket can be assembled with high accuracy, and the outer panel surface of the outer panel is distorted. Does not occur. In addition, since the workability of spot welding is also improved, the appearance quality of the vehicle can be maintained with higher reliability.

Further, according to the fuel filler neck bracket fixing device of the second aspect, it is possible to reliably prevent rust from being generated in the fuel filler neck bracket, which is advantageous in maintaining the appearance quality of the vehicle.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a rear portion of a vehicle 1 to which a fuel filler neck bracket fixing device according to an embodiment is applied.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view showing a fuel opening.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the fuel filler neck bracket along the line III-III in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of the fuel filler neck bracket taken along line IV-IV in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of a lower portion of the fuel filler neck bracket along a line VV in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a spot welding step of a fuel filler neck bracket.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Side outer panel (outer panel) 4 Fuel opening (fueling opening) 10 Fuel filler neck bracket 22a, 22b Welding flange (flange) 24a, 24b Joining surface (flat surface) 28 Crossing groove

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A fuel supply opening provided in an outer panel of a vehicle body, a flange extending integrally with the outer panel from above and below an opening edge of the fuel supply opening into the vehicle body, and one end opening from the vehicle body to the fuel supply opening. The fuel filler neck bracket is disposed in a state where the parts are matched, and protrudes and holds the fuel filler neck inside, and is formed on the upper and lower inner peripheral wall portions of the fuel filler neck bracket, respectively, and is superimposed on the corresponding flange. A fuel filler neck bracket fixing device for an automobile, comprising: flat surface portions substantially parallel to each other to be joined. 2. The lower flat surface portion extends over the entire opening width of the fuel filler neck bracket, and the lower flat surface portion extends from the inside of the fuel filler neck bracket to the one end opening. The fuel filler neck bracket fixing device for a motor vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a transverse groove for drainage extending toward the vehicle.