JP2015131561A - fuel tank - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the workability.SOLUTION: A lower end part region of a fuel storage space 13 of a tank body 10 is divided by a partition part 16 of a bottom wall part 14 into a first tank chamber 17 and a second tank chamber 18. A first oil absorption part 22 at an upstream end of a first suction pipe 21 is disposed in the first tank chamber 17 and a pump 23 attached to the first suction pipe 21 is disposed in the first tank chamber 17. A downstream end of a second suction pipe 24 is connected with the pump 23, and a second oil absorption part 25 at an upstream end of the second suction pipe 24 is disposed in the second tank chamber 18. A weight 27 for holding the second oil absorption part 25 in a position near the bottom wall part 14 is attached to a position near the second oil absorption part 25.

Description

  The present invention relates to a fuel tank.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a fuel tank having a shape that does not interfere with a propeller shaft or an exhaust pipe of an automobile. An interference avoidance portion that is recessed upward to avoid interference is formed on the bottom wall portion of the fuel tank. By this interference avoidance portion, the lower end portion of the fuel storage space in the fuel tank becomes the first tank. It is divided into a chamber and a second tank chamber. In the first tank chamber, an oil absorption part of the first suction pipe and a pump module attached to the first suction pipe are arranged. A second suction pipe for supplying fuel in the second tank chamber to the first tank chamber is routed between the pump module and the second tank chamber.

JP 2008-265451 A

In the one of Patent Document 1, as a means for positioning the oil absorbing portion at the upstream end of the second suction pipe in the vicinity of the bottom wall portion, a chamber pressed against the bottom wall portion of the fuel tank by a spring is provided in the second tank chamber, In this chamber, the oil absorption part (strainer) of the second suction pipe is accommodated. However, this positioning means requires at least two parts, a chamber and a spring. The work of assembling and positioning a plurality of parts in the fuel storage space takes time and effort, and the workability is not good.
The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to improve workability.

The fuel tank of the present invention is
A tank body with a fuel storage space inside,
A partition part that divides a part of the bottom wall part constituting the fuel storage space upward, and divides a lower end part region of the fuel storage space into a first tank chamber and a second tank chamber;
A first suction pipe in which a first oil absorbing portion at an upstream end is disposed in the first tank chamber;
A pump attached to the first suction pipe and disposed in the first tank chamber;
A second suction pipe having a downstream end connected to the pump and a second oil absorbing portion at the upstream end disposed in the second tank chamber;
It is characterized in that it comprises a weight attached in the vicinity of the second oil absorbing portion and holding the second oil absorbing portion in a position in the vicinity of the bottom wall portion.

  According to this configuration, the second oil absorbing portion can be held by the weight of the weight so as not to float in the vicinity of the bottom wall portion. And the component accommodated in fuel storage space as a means to prevent the 2nd oil absorption part from lifting can be completed only with a weight. Therefore, workability is excellent in the assembly process for preventing the second oil absorbing portion from being lifted.

Sectional view of the fuel tank of Example 1 Sectional drawing of the fuel tank of Example 2

  (1) In the fuel tank of the present invention, the bottom wall portion is made of a non-magnetic material, a magnetic holding member is fixed to the bottom wall portion, and at least one of the weight and the magnetic holding member is The permanent magnet may be a permanent magnet or a magnetic material. According to this configuration, since the weight is positioned with respect to the bottom wall portion by the magnetic attraction force between the magnetic holding member, it is possible to reliably prevent the second oil absorbing portion from floating from the bottom wall portion. In this configuration, the magnetic material is defined as a magnetic attractive force that is not generated between the magnetic materials, but is generated between the magnetic materials.

  (2) In the fuel tank according to (1), the magnetic holding member may be fixed to the outer surface of the bottom wall portion. According to this structure, the operation | work which attaches a magnetic holding member to a bottom wall part is easy.

  (3) In the fuel tank according to the present invention (1) or (2), a tank band for fixing the tank body to the vehicle body may also have a function as the magnetic holding member. According to this configuration, the number of parts can be reduced as compared with the case where the magnetic holding member is a part different from the tank band.

  (4) In the fuel tank of the present invention, the bottom wall portion may be made of a magnetic material, and the weight may be a permanent magnet. According to this configuration, since the weight is positioned with respect to the bottom wall portion by the magnetic attraction force between the bottom wall portion, it is possible to reliably prevent the second oil absorbing portion from floating from the bottom wall portion. In this configuration, the magnetic material is defined as a magnetic attractive force that is not generated between the magnetic materials, but is generated between the magnetic materials.

<Example 1>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. The fuel tank A of the first embodiment is attached to a vehicle body 40 of an automobile, and is configured by attaching an oil absorbing device 20 to the tank body 10. The tank body 10 is configured by vertically combining an upper case 11 having a concave bottom surface and a lower case 12 having a concave top surface as a whole. Both the upper case 11 and the lower case 12 are made of a synthetic resin material, that is, a nonmagnetic material. The inside of the tank body 10 is a fuel storage space 13 for storing fuel.

  The bottom wall portion 14 constituting the lower case 12 is formed with a recess 15 having a lower surface recessed upward. The recess 15 extends in the front-rear direction (a direction orthogonal to the paper surface of FIG. 1). The recess 15 accommodates at least a part of the vehicle component 42 arranged in the front-rear direction, such as a propeller shaft or an exhaust pipe. That is, the recess 15 is formed to avoid the tank body 10 (bottom wall portion 14) from interfering with the vehicle component 42.

  By forming the concave portion 15 on the bottom surface of the bottom wall portion 14, the partition portion 16 having a shape that is curved so as to protrude upward in the left-right direction of the bottom wall portion 14 is formed on the top surface of the bottom wall portion 14. Is formed. The partition part 16 is extended in the front-back direction. Thus, by forming the partition part 16 which protrudes inside the tank main body 10 (in the fuel storage space 13), the lower end region of the fuel storage space 13 is the first and second left and right 2 with the partition part 16 as a boundary. It is divided into two tank chambers 17 and 18. A region above the upper end of the partition 16 in the fuel storage space 13 is a communication space 19 that communicates with the first tank chamber 17 and the second tank chamber 18.

  The oil absorbing device 20 includes a first suction pipe 21, a pump 23, a second suction pipe 24, and a weight 27. The upstream end of the first suction pipe 21 is a first oil absorbing part 22 having a strainer. The first oil absorbing part 22 is disposed in the first tank chamber 17. The downstream region of the first suction pipe 21 is routed toward the engine (not shown) outside the tank body 10.

  The pump 23 is disposed in the first tank chamber 17 in a state of being attached in the vicinity of the downstream end of the first suction pipe 21. The pump 23 has a function of sucking up the fuel in the first tank chamber 17 from the first oil absorption part 22 and pumping (supplying) it to the engine side through the first suction pipe 21. The pump 23 also has a function of supplying fuel in the second tank chamber 18 into the first tank chamber 17 via a second suction pipe 24 described later.

  The pump 23 is fixed to the tank body 10, and the downstream end portion of the first suction pipe 21 is fixed to the pump 23. Therefore, the first oil absorbing portion 22 is positioned so as to be in contact with or close to the upper surface of the bottom wall portion 14. That is, the 1st oil absorption part 22 is being fixed so that it may not move relatively to the up-down direction and a horizontal direction with respect to the tank main body 10 (bottom wall part 14).

  The second suction pipe 24 is routed in the left-right direction in a state where the entire second suction pipe 24 is accommodated in the tank body 10. The upstream end of the second suction pipe 24 is a second oil absorption part 25 having a strainer. The downstream end of the second suction pipe 24 is connected to the pump 23. When the pump 23 is driven, the fuel in the second tank chamber 18 is sucked up from the second oil absorbing portion 25 and supplied into the first tank chamber 17 through the second suction pipe 24.

  Since the second suction pipe 24 is in a cantilever shape extending from the pump 23 installed in the first tank chamber 17 to the second tank chamber 18 side, the second oil absorbing portion 25 is connected to the bottom wall portion 14. There is a concern that it will move upwards. When the second oil absorbing portion 25 is separated from the bottom wall portion 14, the fuel in the second tank chamber 18 cannot be sucked up. Therefore, the second oil absorbing portion 25 of the bottom wall portion 14 is provided in the fuel tank A of the first embodiment. A holding means 26 is provided for holding in the vicinity of the upper surface.

  The holding means 26 includes a weight 27 housed inside the tank body 10. Of the pair of tank bands 28 and 29 arranged outside the tank main body 10, the second tank band 29 (magnetic holding member described in claims) also forms a holding means together with the weight 27.

  The weight 27 is made of a permanent magnet. The weight 27 includes a bracket 30 that projects in a cantilevered manner in the left-right direction. The bracket 30 and the weight 27 are integrated so as not to separate or move relative to each other. An end portion of the bracket 30 is fixedly attached to a lower end portion of the second suction pipe 24, that is, a position near the second oil absorbing portion 25. The weight 27 has a weight sufficient to reliably prevent the second suction pipe 24 from being lifted even when the second suction pipe 24 is immersed in the fuel and receives buoyancy. Due to the action of gravity by the weight 27, at least one of the weight 27 and the second oil absorbing portion 25 is held in contact (contact) with the upper surface of the bottom wall portion 14, and the weight 27 and the second oil absorbing portion 25 The other is in contact with the upper surface of the bottom wall portion 14 or is held at a position close to the upper surface of the bottom wall portion 14.

  The pair of tank bands 28 and 29 are made of a magnetic material such as iron. The tank bands 28 and 29 are for fixing the fuel tank A (tank body 10) to the frame 41 of the vehicle body 40. The frame 41 extends in the left-right direction, and the tank body 10 is disposed so as to contact the lower surface of the frame 41. The pair of tank bands 28 and 29 are fastened together so as to surround the frame 41 and the tank body 10 together. Of the pair of tank bands 28, 29, the first tank band 28 is in contact with a region corresponding to the first tank chamber 17 on the lower surface (outer surface) of the bottom wall portion 14. The first tank band 28 is positioned so as not to move relative to the tank body 10 in the left-right direction by positioning ribs 31 formed on the lower surface of the bottom wall portion 14.

  Of the pair of tank bands 28 and 29, the second tank band 29 is in contact with a region corresponding to the second tank chamber 18 on the lower surface (outer surface) of the bottom wall portion 14. Specifically, it is arranged at a position corresponding to the weight 27 in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction, that is, a position directly below the weight 27. Thus, since the weight 27 and the second tank band 29 are positioned so as to sandwich the bottom wall portion 14 in the vertical direction, the weight 27 and the second tank band 29 correspond to the thickness dimension of the bottom wall portion 14. The positional relationship is a small interval (that is, close). The second tank band 29 is positioned so as not to move relative to the tank body 10 in the left-right direction by positioning ribs 31 formed on the lower surface of the bottom wall portion 14.

  As described above, the weight 27 is made of a permanent magnet. As described above, the second tank band 29 is made of a magnetic material such as iron. In the first embodiment, the magnetic material is defined as one that generates a magnetic attraction force between a magnetic material but does not generate a magnetic attraction force even when they are brought close to each other. Therefore, a magnetic attractive force is generated between the weight 27 and the second tank band 29. The magnetic attraction force restricts relative movement of the weight 27 in the vertical direction, the front-rear direction, and the left-right direction with respect to the bottom wall portion 14 and the second tank band 29. Since it is being fixed to the 2nd oil absorption part 25 via the weight 27 and the bracket 30, the 2nd oil absorption part 25 is also hold | maintained so that it may not float up with respect to the bottom wall part 14. FIG.

  As described above, the fuel tank A according to the first embodiment is configured such that the tank body 10 in which the inside is the fuel storage space 13 and a part of the bottom wall portion 14 constituting the fuel storage space 13 are raised upward. There is a partition 16 that partitions (divides) the lower end of the fuel storage space 13 into a first tank chamber 17 and a second tank chamber 18. The fuel tank A has a first suction pipe 21 in which the first oil absorbing portion 22 at the upstream end is disposed in the first tank chamber 17, and the first tank chamber 17 is attached to the first suction pipe 21. The pump 23 arranged and the downstream end is connected to the pump 23, and the second oil absorbing portion 25 at the upstream end is provided with a second suction pipe 24 arranged in the second tank chamber 18.

  Further, a weight 27 that holds the second oil absorbing portion 25 in the vicinity of the bottom wall portion 14 in the vertical direction is fixed to a position near the second oil absorbing portion 25 in the second suction pipe 24 (that is, an upstream end portion). Attached. According to this configuration, the second oil absorbing portion 25 can be held by the weight of the weight 27 so as not to float in the vicinity of the bottom wall portion 14. In the fuel tank A according to the first embodiment, among the means for holding the second oil absorbing portion 25 so as not to be lifted with respect to the bottom wall portion 14, the component housed in the fuel storage space 13 is only the weight 27. Yes. Therefore, in the assembly process for preventing the second oil absorbing portion 25 from being lifted, the weight 27 together with the second suction pipe 24 is fixed to the tank body 10 with the weight 27 fixed at a position near the second oil absorbing portion 25. Workability is good because it only needs to be set inside.

  The bottom wall portion 14 is made of a nonmagnetic material, and a second tank band 29 as a magnetic holding member is fixed to the bottom wall portion 14. The weight 27 is a permanent magnet, and the second tank band 29 is a magnetic material such as iron. According to this configuration, since the weight 27 is positioned with respect to the bottom wall portion 14 by the magnetic attractive force between the second tank band 29, it is ensured that the second oil absorbing portion 25 is lifted from the bottom wall portion 14. Can be prevented.

  In addition, since the second tank band 29 as the magnetic attraction member is fixed to the outer surface of the bottom wall portion 14, attachment work to the bottom wall portion 14 is easy. Further, since the second tank band 29 for fixing the tank body 10 to the vehicle body 40 also has a function as a magnetic holding member, when the magnetic holding member is a separate part from the second tank band 29, Compared to this, the number of parts is reduced.

<Example 2>
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the fuel tank B of the second embodiment, unlike the first embodiment, the material of the bottom wall portion 44 is made of a magnetic material such as iron. In the second embodiment, the magnetic material is defined as one that generates a magnetic attractive force between a magnetic material, although no magnetic attractive force is generated even when the magnetic materials are brought close to each other. Since the other configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, the same reference numeral is given to the same configuration, and the description of the structure, operation, and effect is omitted.

  In the fuel tank B of the second embodiment, a magnetic attractive force is generated between the weight 27 made of a permanent magnet and the bottom wall portion 44. Due to this magnetic attraction force, relative movement of the weight 27 relative to the bottom wall portion 44 in any of the vertical direction, the front-rear direction, and the left-right direction is restricted. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the second oil absorbing portion 25 from floating from the bottom wall portion 44 by the action of the gravity of the weight 27 and the magnetic attractive force between the weight 27 and the bottom wall portion 44.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
(1) In the first embodiment, the weight is a permanent magnet and the magnetic holding member (tank band) is a magnetic material such as iron. However, both the weight and the magnetic holding member may be a permanent magnet, and the weight is iron or the like. The magnetic holding member may be a permanent magnet.
(2) In the first embodiment, the magnetic holding member is attached to the outer surface (lower surface) of the bottom wall portion. However, the magnetic holding member may be attached to the inner surface (upper surface) of the bottom wall portion. It may be embedded in
(3) In the first embodiment, the magnetic holding member has a function as a tank band. However, the magnetic holding member may be a separate member from the tank band.
(4) In the first and second embodiments, the second oil absorbing portion is positioned by the magnetic attractive force in addition to the gravity action by the weight. However, the second oil absorbing portion is only by the gravity action by the weight. You may position.
(5) In the first and second embodiments, the entire second suction pipe is disposed inside the tank body (fuel storage space). However, a part of the second suction pipe may be disposed outside the tank body. .

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS A ... Fuel tank 10 ... Tank main body 13 ... Fuel storage space 14 ... Bottom wall part 16 ... Partition part 17 ... 1st tank chamber 18 ... 2nd tank chamber 21 ... 1st suction pipe 22 ... 1st oil absorption part 23 ... Pump 24 ... 2nd suction pipe 25 ... 2nd oil absorption part 27 ... Weight 29 ... 2nd tank band (magnetic holding member)
40 ... Vehicle body B ... Fuel tank 44 ... Bottom wall

Claims (5)

A tank body with a fuel storage space inside,
A partition part that divides a part of the bottom wall part constituting the fuel storage space upward, and divides a lower end part region of the fuel storage space into a first tank chamber and a second tank chamber;
A first suction pipe in which a first oil absorbing portion at an upstream end is disposed in the first tank chamber;
A pump attached to the first suction pipe and disposed in the first tank chamber;
A second suction pipe having a downstream end connected to the pump and a second oil absorbing portion at the upstream end disposed in the second tank chamber;
A fuel tank comprising: a weight attached in the vicinity of the second oil absorbing portion, and holding the second oil absorbing portion in a position in the vicinity of the bottom wall portion. The bottom wall portion is made of a nonmagnetic material,
A magnetic holding member is fixed to the bottom wall,
2. The fuel tank according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the weight and the magnetic holding member is a permanent magnet, and the other is a permanent magnet or a magnetic body.   The fuel tank according to claim 2, wherein the magnetic holding member is fixed to an outer surface of the bottom wall portion.   4. The fuel tank according to claim 2, wherein a tank band for fixing the tank body to the vehicle body also has a function as the magnetic holding member. The bottom wall portion is made of a magnetic material,
The fuel tank according to claim 1, wherein the weight is a permanent magnet.

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