JPS60253919A - Liquid quantity detecting instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To find a correct residual quantity by constituting a sensor part and a liquid quantity calculating part inducing out an electrical signal according to the detection level of a detection shaft member with receipt of a signal from the sensor part and by detecting always at the gravity center position even when a tank is inclined. CONSTITUTION:A pressure sensing element 7 as a sensor generating a signal according to the liquid surface level is fitted to the lower end of a detection shaft member 2. The balance quantity of the inside of a tank 1 can be correctly displayed by a displaying part 2 by calculating at an arithmetic part 11 the signal detected by a sensor 8 corresponding to the pressure sensor 7 and the signal transmitted from a memory 10. Even if the tank 1 is inclined due to the speed adjusting time of a vehicle and the variation in loading balance of a vehicle, etc. and the liquid surface 13a of a liquid 13 is inclined as per 13b, the gravity center position is hardly changed and inclined centering around the position of the detection shaft member 2, so a correct balance quantity can be found with the sensor 2 provided to the shaft member 2 thereof.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a liquid amount detection device capable of accurately detecting liquid amount.

Conventional technology In general, the method of detecting the amount of remaining fuel in a tank is to extract the position of a float floating on the liquid surface as a change in sliding resistance value, and use the change in sliding resistance value as a change in current to change the meter pointer. I'm letting you take pictures.

However, especially when detecting the remaining fuel in a car's fuel tank, the above method can obtain a detection value that is faithful to the liquid level fluctuation by the float responding faithfully to the liquid level fluctuation, so it is difficult to detect the acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle. When driving on an incline, or when driving on a curve, the tank or the liquid level may tilt, making it impossible to accurately detect the liquid level, resulting in fluctuations in the indication.

In order to solve this problem, a method is known in which the float has a delayed operation to absorb sudden fluctuations in the float, but due to the demand for expanding the space inside the vehicle,
When tanks began to be installed under the seat, the shape of the tank became complex and thin, making it impossible to accurately detect the liquid level using floats alone.

In particular, the tank is made thinner so that changes in the liquid level per unit amount of fuel become extremely small.

This requires high detection resolution of the sensor itself, and furthermore, a problem arises in that fluctuations in the horizontal balance of the vehicle immediately appear as detection errors.

These problems manifest themselves as fluctuations in the displayed value when the fuel amount is displayed digitally.For example, the displayed value changes every time the vehicle tilts depending on the number of passengers, seating conditions, or tire pressure balance.

Therefore, measures have been taken to obtain accurate remaining fuel even when the tank tilt becomes complicated and the liquid level fluctuates due to tilting of the tank (see Utility Model Application Publication No. 101139/1983).
. In this method, the volume corresponding to the shape of the tank is stored in memory in advance, and three floats are placed on the liquid level in the tank to change the conventional point detection to plane detection. The remaining amount of liquid level is calculated by calculating the volume value stored in .

However, in order to install three floats in the tank, not only does it require a fairly large tank internal volume, but also
If the tank shape has a large difference between a wide space and a narrow space, a combination of a float and an arm that can move within the space between the narrow space and the wide space is required, which places significant restrictions on tank capacity and tank shape. There was a drawback that it would become a problem.

Purpose The present invention has been made in order to eliminate the drawbacks of the conventional example, and its purpose is to bend the detection shaft member along the center of gravity of the tank internal volume in a cross section parallel to the installation plane of the tank. By doing this, even if the tank capacity or tank shape is wide, narrow, or changes in a complicated manner, the remaining amount can be detected with relatively high accuracy.
Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid amount detecting device that does not cause large fluctuations in detected values even due to changes in inclination or liquid level, and enables good detection. The present invention will be explained in detail below.

Configuration Figure 1 shows a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.
is a tank whose bottom and top have different cross-sectional areas parallel to the installation plane, and 2 is a detection system consisting of a pipe bent along the center of gravity of the tank's internal volume in a cross section parallel to the installation plane of tank 1. This detection shaft member 2 is a shaft member.
As shown in the side cross section of tank 1 in Figure 2 (a),
An axis 3 bent along the center of gravity of the internal volume of the tank 1, which is obtained by cutting the tank 1 in a cross section parallel to its installation plane;
and an axis 4 bent along the center of gravity of the internal volume of the tank 1, which is obtained by cutting the tank 1 in a cross section parallel to its installation plane, as shown in the front cross section of the tank 1 in FIG.
placed along the Note that the detection shaft member 2 does not necessarily have to coincide with the axis 3.4 in FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b). As shown in FIG. 3, below the pipe of this detection shaft member 2, a communication hole 5 is provided to suppress short-term fluctuations (vibrations) in the liquid level 6 by selecting a diameter.
A pressure sensitive element 7 is attached to the lower end of the detection shaft member 2 as a sensor that generates a signal according to the liquid level.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of the arithmetic unit according to the embodiment of the present invention, and 8 is a sensor corresponding to the pressure sensing element 7 in FIG. A ceramic oscillator plate or the like is used that has a variable value. Reference numeral 9 denotes a signal conversion unit that converts the resistance change or oscillation frequency change of the sensor 8 into an analog voltage level or a binary signal, and 10 corresponds to the detection shaft member 2 in FIG. 2 along line A shown in FIG. 5. For example, the relationship between the liquid level and the remaining amount in tank 1 is
a memory for storing in units of Q; 11 is a calculation unit that derives the remaining amount corresponding to the detection level signal from the signal converter 9 detected by the sensor 7 from the signal stored in the memory 10 and outputs the corresponding remaining amount signal; 12 is a display unit that digitally displays the output of the calculation unit 11.

In the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above, the signal detected by the sensor 8 and the signal from the memory 10 are calculated by the calculation unit 11, so that the remaining amount in the tank 1 can be accurately displayed on the display unit 12.
It can be displayed in

Additionally, as shown in Figure 6, when the vehicle accelerates or decelerates or due to changes in the vehicle's load balance, the tank 1 becomes slanted and the liquid 1
Even if the liquid surface 13a of No. 3 is inclined as shown by the dotted line 13b, the center of gravity of the liquid surface 13a hardly changes, and the detection shaft member 2
The sensor 7 provided on the detection shaft member 2 can be used to accurately measure the remaining amount.

Note that when the sensor 8 is a pressure-sensitive element 6, the pressure applied to the pressure-sensitive element 6 is determined by the height of the liquid level 13a. can be corrected using a correction signal from a tilt angle sensor.

FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional view of a detection shaft member and a pressure sensitive element according to another embodiment of the present invention, in which a large number of reed switches 15 are provided vertically in series within the first pipe 14. In addition, a spherical magnetic float 18 having a magnet 17 mounted therein is provided in a second pipe 16 provided in contact with the first pipe 14 so as to be able to move freely according to the liquid level 13a. A communication hole I9 communicating with the liquid 13 in the tank l is provided near the lower end of the pipe I6.

In the embodiment of the present invention configured in this way, when the liquid level 13a moves up and down, this movement causes the magnetic float 18 to move up and down, and the reed switches 15 corresponding to the magnetic floats 18 are sequentially closed. The remaining amount of liquid in 1 is detected at multiple points. The calculation unit 11 shown in FIG.
It is calculated from the relationship between the detection level and tank capacity stored in the memory 8 shown in the figure.

FIG. 8 shows a cross-sectional view of a detection shaft member and a pressure-sensitive element according to still another embodiment of the present invention, in which a resistor 21 and a conductor 22 are provided facing each other on the side surface of a pipe 20 of a tank 1. In the sensor 23, as shown in FIG. 9, an elastic spring 25 is fixed to a float 24, and this spring 25 is provided so as to be in contact with the resistor 21 and the conductor 22. Furthermore, a communication hole 26 communicating with the liquid 13 in the tank 1 is provided near the lower end of the pipe 20 .

Also in the embodiment of the present invention configured in this way.

Since the sensor 23 moves up and down in response to changes in the liquid level 13a,
Conductor spring 2 of sensor 23 where resistor 21 and conductor 22 are in contact
The resistance detected at terminal 27 changes depending on the position of 5,
Therefore, the remaining amount of the liquid 13 can be detected according to the level of the sensor 23.

Effects As is clear from the above explanation, in the present invention, the detection shaft member is bent and arranged along the center of gravity of the tank internal volume in a cross section parallel to the installation plane of the tank. The position of the center of gravity of the liquid level hardly changes, so there is an advantage that the remaining amount of liquid in the tank can always be detected at the center of gravity position with little variation in the liquid level.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a liquid level detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
The figures are a side sectional view and a front sectional view of the tank shown in Fig. 1 to explain the installation of the detection shaft member, Fig. 3 is a side sectional view of the tank shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a side sectional view of the tank shown in Fig. 1. A block diagram of the arithmetic unit, Figure 5 shows the relationship between the liquid detection level stored in the memory of Figure 3 and the remaining amount, Figure 6 shows the liquid level fluctuation when the tank is tilted. Figures 7 and 7 are sectional views of a liquid level detection device according to another embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Tank, 2... Detection shaft member, 3.4... Axis line, 5... Communication hole, 6... Liquid level, 7... Pressure sensitive element, 8... Sensor, 9... Signal converter, 1o... Memory, 11... Arithmetic unit, 12... Display unit, 13...
・Liquid, 13a, 13b...Liquid level, 14...First pipe, 15...Reed switch, 16.0 Second pipe, 17...Magnet, 18...Magnetic float, 19 ...Communication hole, 20...Pipe, 21.
...Resistance, 22...Conductor, 23...Sensor, 24...
...Float, 25...Spring. Patent applicant Nippon Seiki Co., Ltd. Figure 1 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Saito Sushi 1

Claims (1)

[Claims] A detection shaft member bent and arranged along the center of gravity of the tank internal volume in a cross section parallel to the installation plane of the tank, and a sensor section that transmits an electrical signal according to a liquid level across the detection shaft member. , and a liquid volume calculation unit that receives signals from the sensor unit and derives an electrical signal according to the detection level of the detection shaft member, so that even when the tank is tilted, the liquid level is always at the center of gravity with little fluctuation. A liquid amount detection device characterized by performing detection.