Fuel tank

Receptacles – Vehicle mountable tank – With baffle

Reexamination Certificate

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Details

C220S564000, C220S501000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06293420

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention concerns a fuel tank for a motor vehicle.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The movements of a motor vehicle which occur when it is traveling mean that fuel in the vehicle tank is constantly in motion, and such movements can result in noise which is perceived as being a nuisance, in particular in acceleration and braking phases. Admittedly, fuel tanks may be provided with internal installation components which damp the movements of the fuel, but that is essentially for the purpose of keeping an adequate amount of fuel in the region of the discharge opening of the tank, under all travel conditions which occur in a practical situation, in order in that way to ensure an uninterrupted supply of fuel to the engine, even when the tank is less than full. Those components in the form of for example calming or surge-resistant pots, rings or the like are however of comparatively small dimensions in relation to the cross-sectional area of the tank so that the major part of the cross-sectional area of the tank remains free and thus a surge movement in the tank in the direction of travel of the vehicle is not substantially damped, for example under vehicle braking. Consequently, when the moving fuel impacts in a more or less unbraked condition and in substantially perpendicular relationship against the wall of the tank, the kinetic energy inherent in the moving fuel results in conversion into sound energy, in particular in those regions in which, upon impact against the tank wall, the fuel cannot escape or can escape only to a slight degree. Such regions of the tank are for example corner regions or other regions which are enclosed on a plurality of sides. It will be appreciated that the distance that the fuel covers within the tank before it impinges against a tank wall also plays a part. For that reason the generation of noise is particularly pronounced in those tanks whose longest extent is parallel to the direction of travel.
Admittedly, to resolve that problem, it has already been proposed that the fuel tank may be provided with a device for absorbing the kinetic energy of the fuel disposed therein, by virtue of a plate-shaped baffle element of plastic material being provided locally at least in an upper comer region of the fuel tank, as in DE 39 05 611 C2. That structure however is comparatively complicated and expensive. In addition it can involve difficulties if the tank is produced in one piece, for example by means of a blow molding process, from plastic material, as is nowadays frequently the case.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a fuel tank for a motor vehicle such that noise caused by surge movements of the fuel is at least substantially reduced.
Another object of the invention is to afford a motor vehicle fuel tank which can at least reduce noise due to fuel surge movements within the tank, using simple means which do not require significantly increased expenditure, which are easy to fit and which, in addition do not noticeably reduce the volume of the tank.
According to the present invention the foregoing and other objects are attained by a fuel tank for a motor vehicle, having a first end and a second end, comprising at least one wall element in the tank interior for reducing fuel surge movement therein, the wall element being arranged within the tank at a spacing from an end of the tank that in the direction of vehicle travel is one of the front end and the rear end respectively. The wall element extends at least over a substantial part of the height and the width of the tank and is of such a shape that its boundary surfaces extend at least predominantly not in planes which extend perpendicularly to said direction of travel. The spacing between the wall element and an adjacent tank wall portion to be shielded thereby is so selected that the volume of the fuel in the respective region between the wall element and said wall portion to be shielded is insufficient to produce undesired sound noises caused by fuel surge movement.
The invention is based on the consideration that, to achieve the desired effect, it is sufficient for the movement of the fuel to be broken, at least shortly before it reaches the respective end wall of the tank, in a manner which results in conversion of the kinetic energy of the fuel into sound energy, only to a slight degree. That can be achieved on the one hand in that the effective boundary surfaces of the respective surge-reducing wall element, at least in portions, extend at an acute angle relative to the direction of travel of the vehicle in which the tank is fitted, in such a way that the fuel which encounters those surfaces at a corresponding angle is deflected, while in any case a part of the fuel flows through the remaining free cross-sectional areas between the wall element and the respectively adjacent region of the wall of the tank, a part of the kinetic energy of the fuel being additionally consumed and dissipated by virtue of the increased flow resistance which occurs in that situation. In that respect it is further possible and possibly desirable for the wall element or installation component inside the tank to be provided with openings such as holes, edge recesses or the like, through which a part of the fuel impinging against the component can also pass. Desirably, those openings in the component can be positioned in the regions at which the fuel, on hitting against the surge-reducing component, finds only few possible ways of escaping, for example, in the case of a component extending in an arcuate configuration, at the apex of the arc which is generally at the center of the component, where the fuel flows which come from both sides in the course of a surge movement come together.
In a preferred feature of the invention the component constituting the wall element may be formed by a ring member or a short, closed profile portion, for example a tube portion, the longitudinal axis of which extends substantially perpendicularly to the direction of travel and thus vertically when the tank is of the usual design configuration. In that arrangement, each half of the tube portion can represent a respective wall element which shields an adjoining region of the wall of the tank.
Such a ring member or tube portion can generally be loosely fitted into the tank. When made from elastic plastic material, there is the possibility that it can be introduced into the tank, possibly in a compressed condition, through a relatively small opening in the wall of the tank. In that respect, depending on the topography of the tank, it will frequently be possible to forego the adoption of particular means for fixing the ring member or tube portion in position, especially as in many cases the tube portion must be adapted at its ends to the configuration of the adjoining parts of the tank, that is to say for example the shape of the bottom wall and/or the top wall thereof, so that inevitably there are positively locking connections between the tank and the tube portion, which hold the tube portion in its position in the tank.
In addition there is also the possibility that the tube portion, or an installation component of another configuration, can not only be introduced into the tank in a condition of being prestressed to a certain degree, but it can also be arranged therein for example in such a way that the diameter of the tube portion in the non-loaded condition is somewhat larger than corresponds to the width or other corresponding dimension of the tank. In that case the tube portion experiences a certain degree of elastic deformation that results in an ellipse-like shape or another shape, that differ from that of a circular ring.
In regard to the arrangement and configuration of the component, the important consideration, irrespective of the configuration and number thereof, is that the component extends at such a small spacing from the respectively associated end of the tank that the amount of fuel which is between the component and the adjacent end of the tank and which also particip

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