JPS5848423B2 - Fuel tank locking cap - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvement in a locking cap for a fuel tank of a motorcycle or the like.

As shown in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 53-82619, for example, in the conventional cap, when the cap is detached from the fuel tank, the locking piece is elastically held in the protruding position by a spring, and the locking piece is held in the protruding position by a spring, so that the locking piece is held in the protruding position by the spring. When installing, simply push the shaft of the cap body together with the locking piece into the fuel filler port without using a key, and the locking piece will lock onto the lower edge of the filler port with the elastic force of the spring. Therefore, when attaching the cap, it was necessary to check each time whether the locking piece maintained the proper locking state. It is desirable that the cap be attached and that it can be easily engaged and detached.In addition, in conventional caps, the key can be pulled out as long as the cap is unlocked, so when the cap is removed, the key naturally comes off and is easily lost.

In view of the above, the present invention prevents the key for locking and unlocking the cap from being pulled out from the cap unless the locking piece is in the proper locking state when the cap is attached, so that the key can be pulled out. The purpose is to obtain a locking cap for a fuel tank with a simple structure that allows you to confirm the normal operation of the locking piece when the locking piece is in the correct position.The main features of this cap are: At the center of the lower surface of the cap, there is a protruding shaft that protrudes into the fuel filler port when the cap is closed, and this shaft can be rotated between the locked position and the unlocked position by inserting a key. A key rotor that allows the key to be removed only in the locked position is fitted, and a locking piece located below the rotor is set in a protruding position where it locks to the lower edge of the fuel filler port. The locking piece is supported so as to be movable between the retracted position and the retracted position, and a spring is connected to the locking piece to constantly push the locking piece toward the extended position, and the rotor is moved to the locked position and the unlocked position. The locking piece moves to the protruding position and the retracted position as the user rotates, and when the locking piece is held at the protruding position and the retracted position, the rotor moves to the locking position and the unlocking position. The locking pieces are always engaged with the rotor in both the locking and unlocking directions so that the locking pieces are held in place, and the packing is pushed down by the elastic force of the seal spring to the upper edge of the fuel filler port. An elevating tube having a flange that can be brought into close contact is slidably fitted to the outer periphery of the shaft at the upper part of the locking piece, and the elevating tube is engaged with the locking piece at the unlocked position of the rotor. and a stopper surface for holding it in the retracted position.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. T indicates a part of the top plate of the fuel tank of a motorcycle;
A locking cap C of the present invention is applied to the fuel filler port O opening there.

The above fuel filler port O is an annular mouthpiece Ta welded to the tank top plate T.
Illustrated by.

The cap C has a cap body 1 consisting of a flange portion 1a having a sufficiently larger diameter than the mouthpiece Ta and a shaft portion 1b protruding from the lower surface of the center and having a sufficiently smaller diameter than the oil filler port O. An elevating tube 2 having an outer circumferential shape that matches the opening O is slidably fitted, and a sealing coil spring 3 is compressed between the flange 1a and the elevating tube 2 to urge it downward.

The elevating tube 2 has an outward flange 2a at its upper end that faces the upper surface of the base Ta with a packing 4 interposed therebetween, and its lower end is provided with two sliding grooves 5, 5 at symmetrical positions. Stopper surfaces 6, 6 are formed on the inner upper edge of 5 and are inclined outwardly and downwardly.

In addition, two vertical protrusions 7, 7 are protruded at symmetrical positions on the outer circumferential surface of the elevating tube 2, and these are engaged with the same longitudinal detent grooves 8, 8 on the inner surface of the base Ta, respectively. It is designed to match.

The packing 4 can be moved up and down together with the elevating cylinder 2, and the shaft portion 1b has a diaphragm portion 4a on its outer circumference fixed to the lower surface of the collar portion 1a by a retaining ring 9, and has a horizontal hole 10 at the lower end. Cylinder hole 1 in the shaft center
1, and a pair of locking pieces 13, 13 are slidably fitted into the horizontal hole 10, sandwiching the spring 12 and having their rear ends facing each other, and their tips can be moved up and down. Sliding groove 5 of cylinder 2
, 5ICs can be engaged with each other and retracted from the outer peripheral surface of the elevating tube 2, and the stopper surfaces 6, 5ICs are provided at their tips.
6 and locking steps 14, 14 that can be engaged with the lower end of the base Ta.
is formed.

A lock 15 for controlling the protrusion and retraction of the locking pieces 13, 13 is provided on the shaft portion 1b as follows.

That is, the rotor 17 with the keyhole 16 of the lock 15 is fitted into the cylinder hole 11 of the shaft portion 1b, and the rotor 17 has a pair of eccentric pins 18, 18 protruding from its lower end surface. are engaged with the cutout recesses 19, 19 on the upper surface of the locking piece 13, 13, respectively.

Further, the rotor 17 has a stopper pin 20 protruding from the side surface of its upper end, and the pin 20 is engaged with a restriction groove 21 on the upper surface of the shaft portion 1b so that rotation is restricted within a range of approximately 90°. .

A locked position L and an unlocked position U of the rotor 1T are determined by restricting the rotation of the stopper pin 2o.

A plurality of tamplers 22.2 provided on the rotor 17
2' is always biased by a tumbler spring (not shown) so that its tip protrudes toward the outer surface of the rotor 17, and when the rotor 17 is rotated to the locked position L, the vertical groove 23 on the inner surface of the cylinder hole 11 , 23', respectively.

Therefore, only when the rotor 17 is in the locked position L, the key 24 can be extracted from the keyhole 16, and by inserting the key 24, all the tumblers 22, 22' are removed from the vertical grooves 23, 23/ and rotated. Allows for 170 rotations.

Reference numeral 25 in the figure is a decorative plate attached to the upper surface of the flange 1a, which prevents the rotor 1T from coming out of the cylinder hole 11.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. When the cap C is removed, the rotor 17 is rotated to the unlocked position U by the key 24 as shown in FIG.
From 81C, the locking pieces 13, 13 are respectively moved backward while compressing the elastic spring 12, and their tips are inserted into the sliding grooves 5, 5 of the elevator tube 2, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Be completely immersed.

At the same time, the elevating cylinder 2 is lowered by the pressing force of the spring 3, and the stopper surfaces 6, 6 are brought into contact with the locking step portions 14, 14 of the locking pieces 13, 13, respectively, and the locking pieces 13, 13 are moved downward. maintain the above-mentioned immersed position.

Moreover, in such an unlocked position U of the rotor 17, the key 24
The tumbler 22 is completely immersed in the rotor 17,
22' is displaced from the position of the vertical grooves 23, 23' and is prevented from protruding outward by the cylindrical inner surface of the cylinder hole 11, thereby preventing the key 24 from being pulled out from the keyhole 16.

To close the fuel filler port O by attaching the cap C to the mouthpiece Ta of the fuel tank, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,
Align the positions of the anti-rotation protrusions 7, 7 and the grooves 8, 8 with each other, fit the lifting tube 2 into the oil filler port O, and then close the cap C.
When pressed from the top surface, the barb 3 is compressed, and the compressive force causes the flange 2a of the elevating tube 2 to push the packing 4 into the base T.
a Close the fuel filler port O by pressing it against the top surface.

On the other hand, if the shaft portion 1b of the cap body 1 is sufficiently lowered due to the compression of the spring 3, leaving the elevating tube 2 on the base Ta, the locking pieces 13, 13 will be released from the stopper surfaces 6, 6 of the elevating tube 2. They are separated and protruded out of the sliding grooves 5, 5 by the action of the resilient spring 12, respectively, and the respective locking step portions 14, 14 are engaged with the lower end of the base Ta.

Such protruding movement of the locking pieces 13, 13 is caused by the eccentric pin 18.
．． The rotor 17 is rotated through the rotor 18 to bring it to the locking position L, and the tumblers 22, 22' are moved into the vertical grooves 23,
23', so insert the key 24 into the keyhole 1.
It can be extracted from 6.

In this case, the key 24 can also assist in turning the rotor 17 to the locked position L.

If you pull out the key 24 from the keyhole 16, the tumbler 22.22
The tip of ' is projected into the vertical grooves 23, 23' by the elastic force of a tumbler spring (not shown), and the rotor 11 is restrained at the locked position L, and the operation of attaching the cap C is thus completed.

What is particularly noteworthy here is that if the rotor 17 does not rotate reliably to the locking position L, that is, unless the locking pieces 13 and 13 fully protrude to the proper locking position with respect to the base Ta, It is impossible to remove the key 24. Therefore, if the key 24 can be removed, it means that both the locking pieces 13, 13 are in a proper locked state.

To remove the cap C for refueling the fuel tank T, the above operation is performed in reverse, that is, insert the key 2 into the keyhole 16.
4 to immerse the tumblers 22, 22' into the rotor 17, then rotate the rotor 17 to the unlocked position U, retreat the locking pieces 13 and 13, and pull up the cap C together with the key 24. Bye.

When the cap C is attached to the base Ta, if the fuel in the fuel tank T passes through the gap between the elevating tube 2 and the base Ta due to ripples, etc., the packing 4 prevents the fuel from leaking to the outside. Even if it passes through the gap with the elevating tube 2, the diaphragm portion 4a of the packing 4 similarly prevents leakage.

Therefore, there is no need to provide any sealing member on the sliding surface of the elevator tube 2 that would cause sliding resistance.
can be raised and lowered smoothly whenever necessary.

As described above, according to the present invention, the fuel filler port O of the fuel tank T
At the center of the bottom surface of the cap C that can be opened and closed,
A shaft portion 1b that protrudes into the fuel filler port O when the fuel filler port O is closed is provided in a protruding manner. The key 240 is fitted with a rotor 17 that allows the key 24 to be removed only when the locking piece 13 is located below the rotor 17.
It supports the locking piece 13K so that it can move between a protruding position where it locks on the lower edge of the fuel filler port O and a retracted position where it separates therefrom, and includes the locking piece 13K and a spring 12 that constantly urges it toward the protruding position. With the rotation of the rotor 17 to the locked position L and the unlocked position U, the locking piece 13 moves to the protruding position and the retracted position, respectively, and the locking piece 13 moves from the protruding position to the retracted position. The locking piece 13 is applied to the rotor 17 with rotational force for locking and unlocking so that the rotor 17 is held in the locked position L and the unlocked position U when the rotor 17 is held in the locked position L and the unlocked position U, respectively. A flange 2a that can be constantly engaged in the opposite direction and further press down the packing 4 by the elastic force of the seal spring 3 to bring it into close contact with the upper edge of the fuel filler port O.
The elevator cylinder 2 having a
(b) A stopper surface 6 is formed on the elevating tube 2, which is slidably fitted on the outer periphery and engages with the locking piece 13 at the unlocked position of the rotor 117 to hold it at the retracted position. So,
When the locking piece 13 is in the protruding position and the retracted position, the key 240 and the rotor 17 are always located in the locked position and the unlocked position, respectively. Since the key 24 can be pulled out, when the cap C is attached to the fuel tank T, the normal locking state of the locking piece 13 can be easily confirmed by the pullable state of the key 24.

Furthermore, when the cap C is removed, the stopper surface 6 of the elevating tube 2, which is lowered by the seal spring 3, is automatically engaged with the locking piece 13, and the locking piece is brought into the retracted position, and the rotor 17 can be held in the unlocked position, it is impossible to pull out the key 24 when the cap C is removed, and the key 24 can be prevented from getting lost.

Further, the elevating cylinder 2, which is conventionally provided in order to bring the packing 4 into close contact with the upper edge of the fuel filler port O when the cap C is attached, is also used as a stopper member for holding the locking piece 13 in the retracted position. Therefore, the structure is simple and the cost is reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The figures show one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a plan view of a cap attached to a fuel tank, and FIG.
1-line vertical front view, Figure 3 is the 1-line vertical view of Figure 2,
FIG. 4 is a semi-vertical front view of the cap removed from the fuel tank, FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line -V in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the rotor and the locking piece. C... Cap, L... Locked position, O... Fuel filler port, T... Fuel tank, U... Unlocked position, 1... Cap body, 1b... Shaft, 2 ...Elevator, 3...
・Spring, 4... Packing, 6... Stopper surface, 1
2... Spring, 13... Locking piece, 15... Lock, 17
...Rotor, 24...Key.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A shaft portion 1b that protrudes into the fuel filler port O of the cap C when the fuel filler port O of the cap C is closed is provided protrudingly in the center of the lower surface of a cap C that can open and close the fuel filler port O of the fuel tank T, and this shaft portion 1b is fitted with a rotor 17 of the key 24 which can be rotated between a locked position and an unlocked position by inserting the key 24, and which allows the key 24 to be removed only in the locked position. The locking piece 13 located below is supported so that it can move between a protruding position where it locks on the lower edge of the fuel filler port O and a retracted position where it separates therefrom. A spring 12 that is always resilient is connected to the protruding position side, and as the rotor 17 rotates to the locking position L and unlocking position U, the locking piece 13 moves to the protruding position and the retracted position. The locking piece 13 is moved to the rotor so that when the locking piece 13 is held at the protruding position and the retracted position, the rotor 17 is held at the locked position and the unlocked position U, respectively. 17 is always engaged in both the locking and unlocking rotation directions, and further has a flange 2a that can press down the packing 4 by the elastic force of the seal spring 3 and bring it into close contact with the upper edge of the oil connection port O. The elevating tube 2 is slidably fitted to the outer periphery of the shaft portion 1b at the upper part of the locking piece 13, and the elevating tube 2 is engaged with the locking piece 13 at the unlocked position of the rotor 17. A locking cap for a fuel tank, comprising a stopper surface 6 for holding the fuel tank in the retracted position.