WO2010122368A1 - Dispositif d'alimentation en liquide pour un véhicule - Google Patents

Dispositif d'alimentation en liquide pour un véhicule Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2010122368A1
WO2010122368A1 PCT/IB2009/005752 IB2009005752W WO2010122368A1 WO 2010122368 A1 WO2010122368 A1 WO 2010122368A1 IB 2009005752 W IB2009005752 W IB 2009005752W WO 2010122368 A1 WO2010122368 A1 WO 2010122368A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
liquid
supply device
tank
pipe
suction pipe
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/IB2009/005752
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Alain Brolh
Original Assignee
Renault Trucks
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Renault Trucks filed Critical Renault Trucks
Priority to PCT/IB2009/005752 priority Critical patent/WO2010122368A1/fr
Publication of WO2010122368A1 publication Critical patent/WO2010122368A1/fr

Links

Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60K—ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PROPULSION UNITS OR OF TRANSMISSIONS IN VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PLURAL DIVERSE PRIME-MOVERS IN VEHICLES; AUXILIARY DRIVES FOR VEHICLES; INSTRUMENTATION OR DASHBOARDS FOR VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH COOLING, AIR INTAKE, GAS EXHAUST OR FUEL SUPPLY OF PROPULSION UNITS IN VEHICLES
    • B60K15/00—Arrangement in connection with fuel supply of combustion engines or other fuel consuming energy converters, e.g. fuel cells; Mounting or construction of fuel tanks
    • B60K15/03—Fuel tanks
    • B60K15/077—Fuel tanks with means modifying or controlling distribution or motion of fuel, e.g. to prevent noise, surge, splash or fuel starvation

Definitions

  • the invention pertains to the field of liquid supply systems for vehicles, especially for trucks. Such systems are used for supplying a liquid contained in a tank of said vehicle to a liquid-consuming system, such as fuel supply systems and urea supply systems.
  • the invention relates more precisely to a liquid supply device which is intended for fitting on an upper surface of a liquid-containing tank, said supply device comprising at least a supply head which is to be fitted on an upper surface of the tank, and, connected to the supply head, a liquid suction pipe having a lower extremity which is intended to come close to or in contact with a tank lower surface.
  • a system may also have at least one auxiliary pipe for sucking liquid from said tank or for returning liquid to said tank.
  • the suction pipe has a length adjustable portion where the pipe side-wall is accordion-like.
  • the accordion-like portion can expand or contract to vary the total length of the suction pipe.
  • the length-varying capacity of such a structure is quite limited, and it is indeed intended to adapt the length only to slight variations in height of a given tank, for example due to deformation of the tank under load, or due to production discrepancies.
  • FR-2.583.684 is shown a device having a chimney section and a suction chamber which are connected by a telescopic rod.
  • a metal spring is arranged around the telescopic rod to press the suction chamber downwardly against the lower tank surface.
  • a suction pipe and a return pipe are provided in parallel to the telescopic rod.
  • the pipes both exhibit a length adjustable portion where the pipe side-wall is accordion-like. This device is relatively complex because of the number of parts it requires, and it is also able to compensate only for very moderate height variation of the tank.
  • a liquid supply device for a vehicle for supplying a liquid contained in a tank of said vehicle to a liquid-consuming system, said supply device being intended for fitting on an upper wall portion of a liquid- containing tank, said supply device comprising at least a supply head which is to be fitted on an upper wall portion of the tank, and, connected to the supply head, at least one pipe having a lower extremity which is intended to come in contact with or close to a tank lower wall portion for sucking liquid from said tank or for returning liquid to said tank, characterized in that said at least one pipe is arranged as a coil and has elastic properties such that the elastic coiled pipe tends to expand and such that the lower extremity of the elastic coiled pipe tends to extend downwardly.
  • the supply device requires a reduced number of parts.
  • the elastic coiled pipe is a main suction pipe for sucking liquid from the tank
  • a liquid supply device characterized in that the suction pipe is telescopic with at least an upper part connected to the supply head and a lower part which can slide with respect to said upper part.
  • the lower part of the telescopic suction pipe carries the lower extremity of the suction pipe independently from the upper part of the telescopic suction pipe.
  • the supply device can easily be designed to adapt to big discrepancies in fuel tanks heights in which it can be installed. It can be designed to adapt to tanks having largely varying nominal heights.
  • Figures 1 and 2 are two schematic views representing one embodiment of a liquid supply device according to the invention installed in two tanks of different heights.
  • Figure 3 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a liquid supply device according to the invention.
  • Figure 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a liquid supply device according to the invention.
  • FIGS. 1 and 2 are represented two tanks 10, each having an upper wall portion 12 and a lower wall portion 14.
  • a liquid supply device 16 according to the invention is intended to be at least partly received within the internal volume of both tanks.
  • the liquid supply device 16 is intended to be affixed to the upper wall portion 12 of the tank and to extend within the tank so the lower extremity of a liquid suction pipe is in contact with the lower wall portion 14 or at least near said lower wall portion.
  • the upper and wall portions 12, 14 will be respectively the uppermost and/or the lowermost wall portions of the tanks.
  • these upper and lower wall portions are located vertically one over the other. Accordingly, the liquid supply device 16 depicted on those figures extends essentially vertically.
  • these surfaces are not necessarily so arranged, as they could also be offset horizontally one with the other.
  • the liquid supply device would extend essentially along an inclined direction compared to the vertical.
  • the upper and lower wall portions are shown in Figures 1 and 2 as being substantially horizontal, but the tanks could be arranged so that at least one of these surfaces is inclined with respect to said horizontal.
  • the upper wall portion of the tank, on which the liquid supply device is to be fitted could be vertical, thus being an upper side surface of the tank.
  • the difference between the tanks which are shown on figures 1 and 2 lies essentially in the distance H between their upper and lower wall portions between which the liquid fuel supply device extends. It will be seen that, thanks to the invention, a same liquid supply device can be used with both tanks.
  • the tanks shown in Figures 1 and 2 are fuel tanks pertaining to a fuel supply system of a vehicle, for supplying fuel mainly to an internal combustion engine of the vehicle.
  • the fuel supply system can also supply other fuel-consuming systems of the vehicle such as a cabin heater.
  • the tanks could also pertain to other liquid supply systems of the vehicle.
  • the tanks could pertain to a urea precursor supply system for feeding urea precursor to an exhaust gases after-treatment system.
  • the liquid supply system to which the liquid supply device pertains can comprise, in addition to said device and to the above mentioned tank, one or several of the following items:
  • a liquid pump for pumping liquid from said tank through said liquid supply device;
  • a main liquid feed conduit having a first part connecting the liquid supply device to the liquid pump, and a second part connecting the liquid pump to the main liquid consuming system;
  • the liquid supply device 16 represented on Figures 3 and 4 comprise a supply head 18 by which it is to be fitted on the tank 10.
  • the supply head 18 may be fully external to the tank or could be at least partially received within the internal volume of the tank, thus being received through a corresponding hole in the upper wall portion 12.
  • the supply head could also be entirely received inside the internal volume of the tank, thus being affixed to the lower surface of the upper wall portion.
  • the supply head can be affixed to the upper wall portion by any suitable fixing means, including snap-on connecting means, screw, rivets, gluing, welding etc...
  • the liquid supply device comprises a liquid suction pipe 20 which extends from the supply head into the internal volume of the tank.
  • a lower extremity 22 of the liquid suction pipe 20 is intended to come in contact with or close to a tank lower wall portion.
  • said supply device comprises at least one auxiliary pipe for sucking liquid from said tank or for returning liquid to said tank, and the auxiliary pipe has elastic properties and presses the lower extremity of the suction pipe downwardly.
  • the auxiliary pipe which extends inside the tank, can for example be a main liquid return pipe 24, a secondary liquid suction pipe 26 or a secondary liquid return pipe which can be connected to a corresponding conduit outside the tank through the supply head 18.
  • Several auxiliary pipes having elastic properties can be used jointly to press the lower extremity of suction pipe downwardly.
  • the main liquid suction pipe can be a flexible pipe while the auxiliary pipe can be a semirigid pipe having elastic properties.
  • the auxiliary pipe is connected to the main pipe near the lower extremity of the latter so that this lower extremity is effectively located in the tank near the lower wall portion thanks to the elasticity of the auxiliary pipe.
  • the main suction pipe 20 is telescopic with at least an upper part 28 connected to the supply head 18 and a lower part 30 which can slide with respect to said upper part.
  • the lower part 30 of the telescopic suction pipe 20 carries the lower extremity 22 of the suction pipe independently from the upper part of the telescopic suction pipe.
  • the weight of the lower part of the telescopic pipe insures by the mere action of gravity that the telescopic pipe extends itself to the maximum permitted either by the depth of the tank of by the maximum length of the telescopic pipe.
  • the telescopic pipe will preferably be fitted with an elastic device which acts on its lower part to press the lower extremity of the suction pipe downwardly.
  • an elastic device can be a dedicated spring, for example a coiled metallic compression spring which is compressed between the upper and the lower parts of the telescopic pipe.
  • auxiliary pipe 24, 26 having elastic properties presses the lower extremity of the suction pipe downwardly.
  • the auxiliary pipe can be any of the pipes described above, and several pipes can be configured to elastically press the lower extremity 22 of the suction pipe downwardly.
  • at least one of said auxiliary pipes 24, 26 is arranged as a coil and has elastic properties such that the elastic coiled pipe tends to expand and such that the lower extremity of the elastic coiled pipe tends to extend downwardly.
  • the auxiliary pipe(s) 24, 26 can be coiled around the telescopic suction pipe 20 and can press on a surface of the lower part of the suction pipe downwardly.
  • the auxiliary pipe 24, 26 can be a tube of plastic material. It can be open at its lower end, or anywhere along its length for sucking or returning liquid from/to the tank.
  • the suction pipe 20 itself is arranged as a coil and has elastic properties such that the elastic coiled pipe tends to expand and such that the lower extremity of the elastic coiled pipe tends to extend downwardly.
  • the suction pipe is here connected to the supply head 18 through its upper extremity, and its lower extremity will tend to reach the lower wall portion of the tank as the coil expands.
  • the liquid supply device is not fitted with any auxiliary pipe. Nevertheless, if at least one such auxiliary pipe were present, it could advantageously also be formed as an elastic coil pipe.
  • the pipe can be coiled along a cylinder, as shown on the figures, with a substantially constant diameter of the coil along its length, or can be coiled as cone, with a varying diameter of the coil along its length.
  • the diameter of the cone can increase from its upper extremity to its lower extremity, or it can decrease from its upper extremity to its lower extremity.
  • the lower extremity 22 of the main suction pipe 20 is fitted with a filter 32 for filtering the liquid which is sucked by the suction pipe.
  • the filter can be external, i.e. surrounding the lower extremity of the pipe, as shown on the Figures. It can also be internal to the lower extremity of the pipe.
  • the lower extremity of the main suction pipe can also be equipped with an anti-obstruction device for preventing the lower extremity of the pipe through which the liquid is to be sucked-in from becoming obstructed by the mere contact with the lower wall portion of the tank.
  • the liquid supply device comprises a sensor device 34 for evaluating the volume of liquid contained in the tank, based on an electromagnetic wave reflection sensor.
  • a sensor will preferably be an ultrasonic sensor, although other equivalent sensors such as radars or lidars could be contemplated. More precisely the sensor can be used to evaluate the position of the surface of the liquid in the tank.
  • the sensor 34 is able to measure the distance toward the surface of the liquid contained in the tank. Knowing the geometry of the tank, it is then possible to evaluate the volume of the liquid contained in the tank at a given time.
  • An example of such ultrasonic sensor device for evaluating the volume of liquid contained in the tank is described in document US-4.535.627.
  • the ultrasonic sensor 34 is located on the supply head. It can be connected to an electronic module (not shown) which can communicate with other electronic devices of the vehicle.
  • the information communicated by the electronic module which is integrated on the supply head can be representative only of the distance measured by the ultrasonic sensor. In such a case, the conversion of this distance into a value indicative of the remaining volume of liquid will be computed by another electronic module, remote from the supply head.
  • the electronic module which is integrated in the supply head is able to compute the remaining volume so that the information which is communicated to the other electronic module(s) is directly indicative of the remaining volume.
  • Such communication can be analog, but it will preferably be digital.
  • this communication can be performed over a dedicated wire or set of wires, it is preferred that the communication is performed over a shared databus, such as a LIN-bus or a CAN-bus well known in the vehicle industry.
  • the fuel supply device according to the invention is designed to be used with different tanks, it will be necessary to be able to calibrate the electronic module to perform the right conversion from distance to volume.
  • Such calibration can be performed externally when the liquid supply device is installed on a vehicle, or it can involve an auto-calibration procedure whereby the liquid supply device is able on its own to recognize the tank on which it is fitted and to retrieve a corresponding conversion algorithm.
  • the supply device comprises a temperature sensor, especially for taking into account the variations in the propagation of ultrasonic waves according to the temperature of the medium in which such waves propagate.
  • a temperature sensor will optimally be located on the supply head and will be used to measure the temperature of the gas which is trapped in the tank above the liquid contained in the tank.
  • the liquid supply device according to the invention may be fitted in all sorts of vehicles, most particularly in commercial vehicles, including trucks and construction equipment machines such as haulers, loaders, excavators, and road machinery
  • a liquid supply device which can be used in vehicle tanks having very different heights, while still be very easy and cheap to produce, with a minimum number of parts.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Sustainable Development (AREA)
  • Sustainable Energy (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Transportation (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Loading And Unloading Of Fuel Tanks Or Ships (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention porte sur un dispositif d'alimentation en liquide pour un véhicule pour distribuer un liquide contenu dans un réservoir dudit véhicule à un système de consommation de liquide, ledit dispositif d'alimentation (16) étant destiné à s'adapter sur une partie de paroi supérieure d'un réservoir contenant un liquide, ledit dispositif d'alimentation (16) comprenant au moins une tête d'alimentation (18) qui peut être adaptée sur une partie de paroi supérieure du réservoir et, relié à la tête d'alimentation, au moins un tuyau (20, 24, 26) ayant une extrémité inférieure (22) qui est destinée à venir en contact avec ou à proximité d'une partie de la paroi inférieure du réservoir pour aspirer un liquide à partir dudit réservoir ou pour ramener un liquide vers ledit réservoir, et caractérisé en ce que ledit au moins un tuyau (20, 24, 26) est configuré sous la forme d'une bobine et a des propriétés élastiques de telle sorte que le tuyau enroulé élastique a tendance à se dilater et de telle sorte que l'extrémité inférieure du tuyau enroulé élastique a tendance à s'étendre vers le bas.
PCT/IB2009/005752 2009-04-23 2009-04-23 Dispositif d'alimentation en liquide pour un véhicule WO2010122368A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/IB2009/005752 WO2010122368A1 (fr) 2009-04-23 2009-04-23 Dispositif d'alimentation en liquide pour un véhicule

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/IB2009/005752 WO2010122368A1 (fr) 2009-04-23 2009-04-23 Dispositif d'alimentation en liquide pour un véhicule

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2010122368A1 true WO2010122368A1 (fr) 2010-10-28

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Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE3206721A1 (de) * 1982-02-25 1983-09-01 Vdo Adolf Schindling Ag, 6000 Frankfurt Saugvorrichtung
FR2583684A2 (fr) * 1983-04-25 1986-12-26 Thibonnet Bernard Dispositif d'alimentation en carburant monte dans le reservoir d'un vehicule
JPS62155130A (ja) * 1985-12-27 1987-07-10 Nissan Motor Co Ltd 燃料吸込装置
EP0532427A1 (fr) * 1991-09-12 1993-03-17 Compagnie Plastic Omnium Dispositif pour aspirer du carburant au fond d'un reservoir deformable

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE3206721A1 (de) * 1982-02-25 1983-09-01 Vdo Adolf Schindling Ag, 6000 Frankfurt Saugvorrichtung
FR2583684A2 (fr) * 1983-04-25 1986-12-26 Thibonnet Bernard Dispositif d'alimentation en carburant monte dans le reservoir d'un vehicule
JPS62155130A (ja) * 1985-12-27 1987-07-10 Nissan Motor Co Ltd 燃料吸込装置
EP0532427A1 (fr) * 1991-09-12 1993-03-17 Compagnie Plastic Omnium Dispositif pour aspirer du carburant au fond d'un reservoir deformable

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