Internal-combustion engines – Charge forming device – With fuel pump
Patent
1999-06-18
2000-10-03
Moulis, Thomas N.
Internal-combustion engines
Charge forming device
With fuel pump
123468, 123467, 123510, F02M 3704
Patent
active
061258253
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to the field of fuel drawing assemblies for motor vehicles.
The present invention applies in particular to drawing assemblies comprising an electric pump, immersed in the tank of the motor vehicle.
The pump system of such assemblies is often a source of noise of vibrating or pulsating origin.
In an attempt to limit the pulsating noises, various types of damping devices have already been proposed. For example, proposals have thus been made which include damping components comprising a deformable membrane, damping devices based on a Helmholtz resonator or on hydraulic capacity, or even damping devices formed by a hollow body having a thin wall of flexible and resilient material and containing compressible gas (see for example documents FR-A-2 709 791 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,039).
Document DE-A-3 821 020 describes a flexible connection between two segments of a pump outlet duct comprising a resilient sleeve housed in a stack of support washers, that are themselves placed in an external helical spring.
However, those various known solutions are not entirely satisfactory. Most of them have the drawback of being very bulky and/or not very reliable.
The object of the present invention is to propose a new pulsation-damping device that is adapted to be integrated in a fuel pump assembly.
In the present invention, this object is achieved by means of a pump assembly comprising a plate adapted to be fixed on the top wall of a fuel tank, a support body which is connected to said plate and which houses an electric pump having an outlet formed by a plug endpiece, the plate carrying a socket tube which projects downwards from the plate to co-operate with the plug endpiece, and a damping device formed by a sleeve made of compressible material that is disposed in the connection between the socket tube and the plug endpiece, the assembly being characterized by the fact that the damping sleeve is placed inside the socket tube, and the sleeve is made of a foam material having closed airtight cells.
The present invention also relates to tanks fitted with such a pump assembly.
Other characteristics, objects, and advantages of the present invention appear on reading the following detailed description, and with reference to the accompanying drawing given by way of non-limiting example, and in which:
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view, partially in section, of a pump assembly of the present invention; and
FIG. 2 is a view in longitudinal section of a damping sleeve of the present invention.
Accompanying FIG. 1 shows a pump assembly 10 of conventional general structure comprising a plate 12 adapted to be fixed on the top wall of a fuel tank, and a support body 14 which is connected to said plate 12 and which houses an electric pump 20 having an inlet provided with a filter 22 and having an outlet formed by a plug endpiece 24.
The plate 12 carries electrical contacts 30 and a plurality of socket tubes, one of which socket tubes 32 projects downwards from the plate 12 to receive the plug endpiece 24.
In addition, an annular gasket 40 is interposed between the outside surface of the plug endpiece 24 and the inside surface of the socket tube 32. The annular gasket 40 may be embodied in a wide variety of ways. It is preferably a double-lipped gasket as shown in FIG. 1, with each lip respectively resting on the outside surface of the plug endpiece 24 and on the inside surface of the socket tube 32, said lips being interconnected via a ring-shaped radial partition at one of their axial ends.
A metal cap 34, made of stainless steel for example, is preferably fixed to the base of the socket tube 32, e.g. as a force fit, in order to hold the gasket 40 and the damping sleeve 42 in place.
The general structure described above, conventional in itself, is not described in detail below.
It is noted, however, that in the context of the present invention, a damping sleeve 42 is placed inside the socket tube 32. The sleeve 42 is thus placed inside the fuel duct connecting the outlet of the pump 20 to the outlet in the plate 1
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Bournel Alain
Gouzou Christophe
Sanchez Michel
Marwal Systems
Moulis Thomas N.
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