Pumps – Motor driven – Pump and motor unitarily adjustable relative to fixed support
Reexamination Certificate
1998-08-24
2001-09-25
Thorpe, Timothy S. (Department: 3746)
Pumps
Motor driven
Pump and motor unitarily adjustable relative to fixed support
C417S360000, C417S313000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06293770
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel tank cap body unit which is fitted to a fuel tank for storing fuel to be supplied to mainly an internal combustion engine and equipped with a filter for filtering fuel supplied to the engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicles such as automobiles are generally mounted with fuel tanks for storing fuel for use in, for example, internal combustion engines and as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 51564/1979, such a fuel tank is equipped with a fuel pump for sucking and feeding fuel to an engine and arranged so that the space between the suction port of the fuel pump and the base of the fuel tank is maintained at a predetermined value by mounting thin short leg portions in the axial position of the base of the fuel pump and disposing the fuel pump in such a way that the leg portions are brought into contact with the base of the fuel tank.
However, the aforesaid means for setting the space between the suction port of the fuel pump and the base of the fuel tank using the leg portions by mounting the thin short leg portions in the axial potions of the base of the fuel pump with the base of the fuel tank as a reference may cause the product quality of the fuel tank cap body unit to vary in a case where the base of the fuel tank is uneven or tilted because the leading ends of the leg portions are not brought into contact with the base of the fuel tank stably, thus differentiating the tank-to-tank contact condition, and the space between the suction port of the fuel pump and the base of the fuel tank using the leg portions cannot be maintained at the predetermined value.
Particularly when the recessed portion formed on the base of the fuel tank conforms to the leading end portion of the leg, the contact portion is unable to contact the base portion of the fuel tank and the problem is that the space between the suction port and the base of the fuel tank cannot be maintained at the predetermined value.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention intended to solve the foregoing problems is to provide a fuel tank cap body unit capable of holding a space necessary for the base of a fuel tank at a predetermined value.
In order to solve the above problems a fuel tank cap body unit according to the present invention is characterized in that: a fuel pump portion is integrated with a fuel filter portion to form a filter-equipped pump; the filter-equipped pump is fixedly contained in a rotary tank having a flat base with which the base of a fuel tank is brought into contact to integrate the rotary tank with the filter-equipped pump; a fuel tank cap body through which a fuel discharge flow channel portion is passed is provided; the fuel tank cap body is provided with a rotary-tank mounting wall which can be fitted to a combination of two component parts including the rotary tank and the filter-equipped pump; and the rotary-tank mounting wall provided for the rotary tank and fuel tank cap body is fitted in so that the rotary-tank mounting wall can be made flexibly movable via a flexible mechanism.
In the present invention, the base of the rotary tank of the fuel tank cap body unit is formed flat and the area of the base is wide. Therefore, the fuel tank cap body unit is easy to handle when it is conveyed and assembled as it can be held as a single unit body in an upright condition.
When the fuel tank cap body unit is inserted in the fuel tank, moreover, the flat base of the rotary tank is brought into contact with the base of the fuel tank and this results in causing the flexible mechanism to effect the shrinking movement of the rotary tank and the fuel tank cap body, so that the whole length of the fuel tank cap body unit is adjusted in harmony with the depth of the fuel tank. Thus, the fuel tank cap body unit can correspond to various fuel tanks even though the position of the recessed or stepped portion formed in the base of the fuel tank deviates from what is initially intended. Since the positional relation between the rotary tank and the filter-equipped pump is held constant, the filter-equipped pump is prevented from failing to suck fuel.
Furthermore, the fuel tank cap body unit can readily be assembled because the fuel tank cap body is mounted in such a state that the rotary tank and the filter-equipped pump have been integrated into a compact body.
The invention is further characterized in that the filter-equipped pump is constituted of the columnar fuel pump portion and the fuel filter portion is concentrically and integrally overlaid on the outer periphery of the fuel pump portion.
In the present invention, the filter-equipped pump can be made compact, in other words, it can be formed into a simple columnar body by disposing the filter portion on the outer periphery of the fuel pump portion. Moreover, high filter efficiency can be secured because a larger capacity is securable for the filter portion while the total height of the filter-equipped pump is kept smaller.
The invention is further in that: the flexible mechanism comprises a plurality of cylindrical guide portions provided in one of the rotary tank and the rotary-tank mounting wall of the fuel tank cap body, guide members each of which is formed on the other side of the rotary-tank mounting wall and can slidably be fitted in each cylindrical guide portion, and an elastic member installed between the cylindrical guide portion and the guide member; a flexible tube which can be coupled to the inner end portion of the fuel tank in a fuel discharge flow channel portion passed through the fuel tank cap body is connected to the outlet of the fuel filter portion of the filter-equipped pump; an opening for facilitating the coupling of the joint of the flexible tube to the inner end portion of the fuel tank in the fuel discharge flow channel portion is formed between the cylindrical guide portions of the rotary-tank mounting wall or the guide members provided for the fuel tank cap body.
In the present invention, the plurality of cylindrical guide portions is provided in one of the rotary tank and the rotary-tank mounting wall and the guide members each of which is formed on the other side thereof can slidably be fitted in each cylindrical guide portions, whereby the juxtaposition of the elastic material is facilitated and the flexible movement of the rotary tank and the fuel tank cap body is stably carried out. It is thus possible to secure a wider opening in between the cylindrical guide portion of the rotary-tank-mounting wall or the guide member. While the inside is visually inspected through the opening, the joint of the flexible tube and the inner end portion of the fuel discharge flow channel portion are coupled together to ensure that the coupling state of the piping system is maintained and that the fuel tank cap body unit can easily be assembled.
The invention is further in that: a level meter is mounted in one of the fuel tank cap body and the rotary tank.
In the invention constituted as claimed in claim
4
according to the present invention, the positional relation of the level meter to the base of the fuel tank is fixed constantly since the level meter is mounted in one of the fuel tank cap body and the rotary tank to ensure that the quantity of the liquid can be measured with accuracy.
In the present invention, a fuel tank cap body structure comprises integral fuel-supply-related equipment for sucking fuel in a fuel tank toward the inner side of a cap body disposed in the opening portion of the fuel tank and supplying the fuel outward is provided, in which the fuel tank cap body further comprises a flange mounted in the fuel tank and a fuel-supply-related equipment mounting wall which is integrally formed with the flange, the fuel-supply-related equipment mounting wall is formed in such a way as to surrounding a piping connecting portion passed through the flange; extending in the inward direction of the fuel tank from the flange; having a substantially circular shape in cross section in
Aoyama Taiki
Hashimoto Takashi
Matsumoto Kazuhiko
Calsonic Kansei Corporation
Solak Timothy P.
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
Thorpe Timothy S.
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