WO2014061668A1

WO2014061668A1 - Fuel-tank pipe joint

Info

Publication number: WO2014061668A1
Application number: PCT/JP2013/077994
Authority: WO
Inventors: 純平堀川; 高橋　英明
Original assignee: 株式会社ニフコ
Priority date: 2012-10-16
Filing date: 2013-10-15
Publication date: 2014-04-24
Also published as: JP6054131B2; JP2014080105A; KR20140048809A; KR20150102910A; KR101611800B1

Abstract

The present invention is a fuel-tank pipe joint provided with the following: a flange that is placed up against the rim of an opening provided in the wall of a fuel tank; and a connecting pipe section provided so as to protrude outside the fuel tank from the aforementioned flange. This fuel-tank pipe joint is characterized in that a reinforcing rib extends across the interior of the connecting pipe section.

Description

Pipe joint for fuel tank

The present invention relates to a pipe joint that is attached to a fuel tank and used to connect a pipe such as a fuel supply pipe.

In order to connect a pipe such as a fuel supply pipe to the fuel tank, it has been generally performed to provide a pipe joint in advance in the fuel tank.

As shown in FIG. 5 (based on FIG. 3 of Patent Document 1), a conventional pipe joint 100 of this type includes a flange portion 120 that comes into contact with a peripheral edge of an opening provided on a wall surface of a fuel tank, And a connecting pipe part 130 provided so as to protrude from the flange part 120 to the outside of the fuel tank. A metal reinforcing collar 160 is provided on the inner peripheral side of the connecting pipe portion 130.

Generally, when connecting a pipe P such as a fuel supply pipe to the connecting pipe portion 130, fastening with a fixing tool H such as a hose clamp or a hose band is employed. In order to prevent the piping P from coming off, the tightening force for tightening and fixing is set relatively firmly. Therefore, a metal reinforcing collar 160 is used to avoid breakage of the connecting pipe portion 130 and the like.

JP 2010-111316 A Patent 4253620

The metal reinforcing collar 160 is certainly effective enough to reinforce the strength of the connecting pipe portion 130. However, since it is made of metal, the cost is high. Further, in order to fix the metal reinforcing collar 160, a heat caulking process or the like is necessary, and dedicated equipment for that is required. On the other hand, even if the reinforcing collar 160 is made of resin, it cannot be sufficiently strong.

The present invention has been developed based on the above knowledge. An object of the present invention is to provide a fuel tank pipe joint having a sufficient strength in a connecting pipe portion without using a metal reinforcing collar.

The present invention includes a flange portion that is in contact with a peripheral edge of an opening portion provided on a wall surface of a fuel tank, and a connection pipe portion that is provided so as to protrude from the flange portion to the outside of the fuel tank. A fuel tank pipe joint characterized in that a reinforcing rib is provided inside the pipe part.

According to the present invention, since the reinforcing rib is passed inside the connecting pipe portion, sufficient strength can be realized in the connecting pipe portion without using a metal reinforcing collar. In particular, according to the knowledge of the present inventors, even a resin reinforcing rib can achieve a sufficient strength in the connecting pipe portion. Therefore, it is very advantageous in terms of cost as compared with a conventional fuel tank fitting using a metal reinforcing collar.

The reinforcing rib is preferably provided so as to have a radiation portion extending radially around the central axis of the connection tube portion, and an annular portion that is substantially concentric with the inner cross section of the connection tube portion. In this case, not only is the arrangement balance of the reinforcing ribs good and the reinforcing strength is favorable, but also the advantage that the flow resistance in the connecting pipe portion is low is obtained. Furthermore, in this case, an anti-siphon function can also be achieved.

However, at least at the time of the filing of the present application, the case where the reinforcing rib is composed of only the radiation portion extending radially around the central axis of the connecting tube portion is also included in the scope of the present invention.

Note that the connecting pipe portion may also protrude from the flange portion to the inside of the fuel tank. In this case, the reinforcing rib is preferably provided inside the connecting pipe portion in the region outside the fuel tank with respect to the flange portion. This is because fixing tools such as a hose clamp and a hose band are applied to the connecting pipe portion in the region outside the fuel tank with respect to the flange portion. Further, when the connecting pipe portion protrudes also from the flange portion to the inside of the fuel tank, a valve device can be provided inside the connecting pipe portion in the inner region. As the valve device, for example, a known flap valve device can be applied.

The connecting pipe part preferably has an outer pipe part integral with the flange part and an inner pipe part coupled (fitted, welded, insert-molded, etc.) to the outer pipe part. In this case, the reinforcing rib is provided inside the inner tube portion. In such a case, when the outer pipe unit integrated with the flange part is attached to the fuel tank, the inner pipe unit is not directly involved, and therefore, the inner pipe unit which tends to be expensive due to a large number of parts is damaged. Is significantly reduced.

It is a schematic front view of the pipe joint for fuel tanks of one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the fuel tank fitting in FIG. 1. It is a figure similar to FIG. 3 which shows the modification of a reinforcing rib. It is the schematic of the conventional fuel tank pipe joint.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a fuel tank fitting according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the fuel tank fitting of FIG.

In particular, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the fuel tank fitting 10 according to the present embodiment includes a flange portion 20 that is in contact with a peripheral edge of an opening provided on a wall surface of a fuel tank (not shown), and a flange. And a connecting pipe portion 30 provided so as to protrude from the portion 20 to the outside of the fuel tank (upper side in FIG. 2).

The connecting pipe portion 30 of the present embodiment also protrudes to the inside of the fuel tank (lower side in FIG. 2) with respect to the flange portion 20. As shown in FIG. 2, the connecting pipe part 30 includes an outer pipe part 31 integrated with a small flange 21 constituting a part of the flange part 20, and a fuel tank inner end part (see FIG. 2). And an inner tube portion 32 (also referred to as an insertion portion of the flap case) that is fitted so as to sandwich the lower end portion).

In the present embodiment, the housing portion 33 (also referred to as an attachment portion) integral with the large flange 23 covering the small flange 21 is further provided with two types of resin materials having different properties with respect to the outer tube portion 31. It is integrally formed by color molding. More specifically, the outer pipe portion 31 including the small flange 21 is formed of polyamide, the housing portion 33 including the large flange 23 is formed of polyethylene, and both are integrated.

Further, a reinforcing rib 60 that is a feature of the present invention is provided inside the inner pipe portion 32 at a substantially central position in the vertical direction of the region outside the fuel tank with respect to the flange portion 20. Specifically, the reinforcing rib 60 of the present embodiment includes six radiation portions 61 extending radially around the central axis of the inner tube portion 32, as shown in FIGS. An inner cross section of the pipe portion 32 and an annular portion 62 that is substantially concentric are provided. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, each of the six radiation parts 61 of the reinforcing rib 60 is higher in a part far from the central axis of the inner pipe part 32 than in a part near the central axis of the inner pipe part 32. Is widened in a divergent shape to about twice (the width is uniform as shown in FIG. 3).

In this embodiment, the housing part 33, the outer pipe part 31, the inner pipe part 32, and the reinforcing rib 60 are all made of resin. Specifically, the housing part 33 is formed of the same resin as the fuel tank, for example, a polyolefin-based synthetic resin such as polyethylene (PE), so that the welding to the fuel tank is easy. On the other hand, the inner pipe portion 32 and the reinforcing rib 60 are formed of a resin having high strength and excellent fuel oil resistance, such as polyoxymethylene (POM), polyamide (PA), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), and the like.

In the present embodiment, the valve device 70 is provided inside the inner pipe portion 32 in the region inside the fuel tank with respect to the flange portion 20. The valve device 70 of the present embodiment is a known flap valve device, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

Next, the operation of the fuel tank fitting 10 of the present embodiment as described above will be described.

First, the inner tube portion 32 having the reinforcing rib 60 and the valve device 70 is fitted to the outer tube portion 31 as shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, as described above, the outer tube portion 31 and the housing portion 33 are integrally formed in advance by two-color molding, and the large flange 23 of the housing portion 33 and the small flange 21 of the outer tube portion 31 are flanged. Part 20 is formed. The flange portion 20 is attached to the periphery of the opening provided on the wall surface of the fuel tank, and the housing portion 33 is welded to the wall surface of the fuel tank. Thus, the fuel tank fitting 10 of the present embodiment can be easily attached to the fuel tank without requiring a special process such as heat caulking of the metal member.

In the fuel tank pipe joint 10 of the present embodiment attached to the fuel tank as described above, the reinforcing rib 60 is passed inside the inner pipe portion 32, so that the metal reinforcing collar can be used. Even if it does not use, sufficient intensity | strength can be implement | achieved in the connection pipe part 30. FIG. In particular, in the present embodiment, in order to realize sufficient strength in the connecting pipe portion 30 even though the reinforcing rib 60 is made of resin, a conventional fuel tank pipe joint using a metal reinforcing collar is provided. In comparison, it is very advantageous in terms of cost.

Further, the reinforcing rib 60 of the present embodiment includes a radiation part 61 extending radially about the central axis of the connection pipe part 30, an annular part 62 substantially concentric with the inner cross section of the connection pipe part 30, and Therefore, the arrangement balance of the reinforcing ribs 60 is good, which is preferable in terms of reinforcing strength. In addition, the flow path resistance in the connecting pipe part 30 is low, and there is an advantage that, for example, the pressure loss during fuel supply is small. Furthermore, there is an advantage that an anti-siphon function can be achieved.

Further, the radiation portion 61 of the reinforcing rib 60 of the present embodiment is higher in the portion farther from the central axis of the connecting tube portion 30 than in the portion closer to the central axis of the connecting tube portion 30. This also improves the arrangement balance of the reinforcing ribs 60, which is preferable in terms of reinforcing strength.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the reinforcing rib 60 is passed inside the inner tube portion 32, sufficient strength is provided in the connecting tube portion 30 without using a metal reinforcing collar. Can be realized. In particular, in the present embodiment, in order to realize sufficient strength in the connecting pipe portion 30 even though the reinforcing rib 60 is made of resin, a conventional fuel tank pipe joint using a metal reinforcing collar is provided. In comparison, it is very advantageous in terms of cost.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the connecting pipe part 30 has the outer pipe part 31 integral with the flange part 20 and the inner pipe part 32 fitted to the outer pipe part 31. The inner pipe portion 32 is not directly involved when the outer pipe portion 31 integrated with the flange portion 20 is attached to the fuel tank. For this reason, when attaching the fuel tank pipe joint 10 to the fuel tank, the risk of damaging the inner pipe portion 32, which tends to be expensive due to a large number of parts, is significantly reduced.

In the above embodiment, the reinforcing rib 60 has a radiation part 61 extending radially about the central axis of the connecting pipe part 30, an annular part 61 substantially concentric with the inner cross section of the connecting pipe part 30, and However, the present invention is not limited to such a mode at least at the time of filing this application. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, a fuel tank pipe joint 10 ′ in which the reinforcing rib 60 ′ includes only a radiation portion 61 ′ extending radially about the central axis of the connection pipe portion 30 is also within the scope of the present invention. included. However, the reinforcing rib 60 ′ shown in FIG. 4 is inferior in that the flow path resistance is larger than the reinforcing rib 60 shown in FIG.
It should be noted that the entire content of the specification, claims, drawings and abstract of Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-229129 filed on October 16, 2012 is cited herein as the disclosure of the specification of the present invention. Incorporate.

Claims

A flange portion that comes into contact with the periphery of the opening provided on the wall surface of the fuel tank;
A connecting pipe portion provided so as to protrude from the flange portion to the outside of the fuel tank,
A fuel tank pipe joint, wherein a reinforcing rib is provided inside the connecting pipe part.
The fuel tank pipe joint according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcing rib is made of resin.
The reinforcing rib has a radiation part extending radially about the central axis of the connection pipe part, and an annular part substantially concentric with the inner cross section of the connection pipe part, The pipe joint for fuel tanks according to claim 1 or 2.
3. The fuel tank pipe joint according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcing rib has a radiation portion extending radially about a central axis of the connection pipe portion. 4.
5. The height of the reinforcing rib is higher in a portion far from the central axis of the connecting pipe portion than in a portion near the central axis of the connecting pipe portion. 2. A fuel tank fitting as described in 1.
6. The fuel tank pipe joint according to claim 1, wherein the connection pipe portion protrudes also from the flange portion to the inside of the fuel tank.
The fuel tank pipe joint according to claim 6, wherein the reinforcing rib is provided inside the connection pipe portion in a region outside the fuel tank with respect to the flange portion.
8. The fuel tank pipe joint according to claim 6, wherein a valve device is provided inside the connection pipe portion in a region inside the fuel tank with respect to the flange portion. 9.
The connection pipe part has an outer pipe part integral with the flange part, and an inner pipe part coupled to the outer pipe part,
The fuel tank pipe joint according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the reinforcing rib is provided inside the inner pipe portion.