Fluid handling – With casing – support – protector or static constructional... – Vehicle
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-27
2001-10-23
Chambers, A. Michael (Department: 3753)
Fluid handling
With casing, support, protector or static constructional...
Vehicle
C137S587000, C137S588000, C137S592000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06305408
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel feeding mechanism that connects a filler opening formed in an outside plate of a vehicle with a fuel tank and leads a supply of fuel to the fuel tank.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 41
shows a prior art fuel feeding mechanism FS for feeding a supply of fuel into a fuel tank of an automobile (not shown). The fuel feeding mechanism FS connects a fuel inlet unit attached to an outer side member
210
, which is a constituent of an outside plate of a vehicle, to the fuel tank. The fuel feeding mechanism FS includes an inlet filler pipe
220
attached to the end of the fuel inlet unit and a hose (not shown) connecting with the inlet filler pipe
220
. While a filler cap FC is removed, a supply of fuel is fed from a filler gun (not shown) into the inlet filler pipe
220
. One end of the inlet filler pipe
220
is attached to the outer wheel house
230
, which faces the outer side member
210
across a predetermined space. An electric system is laid in the space between the outer side member
210
and the outer wheel house
230
. There is a closed lower space defined by the outer side member
210
and the outer wheel house
230
. The fuel feeding mechanism FS has a seal cup
240
. A seal end
241
extends from one end of the seal cup
240
and is press fit in a support recess
221
of the inlet filler pipe
220
. The seal cup
240
prevents water trapped in the space between the outer side member
210
and the outer wheel house
230
from damaging the electric system and causing rust.
In this prior art structure, at the bottom of the seal cup
240
, an opening peripheral part of the outer wheel house
230
is press fit into a fixation recess
242
a
, and a fixation ring
251
is inserted into a ring recess
242
b
. At the opening of the seal cup
240
, an opening peripheral part of the outer side member
210
is press fit into a fixation recess
244
a
, and a fixation ring
252
is inserted into a ring recess
244
b
. This enables the inlet filler pipe
220
to be attached to the vehicle body.
The prior art technique carries out the attachment work of the fuel feeding mechanism FS at the bottom of the vehicle, and thereby has poor workability.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide a fuel feeding mechanism that facilitates attachment of an inlet filler pipe through which a supply of fuel is fed into a fuel tank.
At least part of the above and other related objects are attained by a fuel feeding apparatus that connects a filler opening arranged in an outside plate of a vehicle and a tank main body of a fuel tank and leads a supply of fuel to the tank main body. The fuel feeding apparatus includes an inlet filler pipe that has a pipe main body inserted from outside of the vehicle through the filler opening towards the tank main body and a pipe attachment secured to the pipe main body. The pipe attachment is detachably attached to a body attachment member disposed inside the outside plate.
The fuel feeding apparatus of the present invention connects the filler opening formed in the outside plate of the vehicle with the tank main body to lead a supply of fuel to the tank main body. The fuel feeding apparatus is attached to the vehicle by inserting the inlet filler pipe from outside of the vehicle through the filler opening toward the tank main body and attaching a pipe attachment of the inlet filler pipe to a body attachment member disposed inside the outside plate. This arrangement enables the inlet filler pipe to be attached to the vehicle from the outside of the vehicle through the filler opening of the outside plate. This does not require the attachment work at the bottom of the vehicle body unlike the prior art technique, and thereby has excellent workability.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the fuel feeding apparatus further includes a seal cup that seals the vicinity of a flow inlet of the inlet filler pipe. The seal cup has an opening and a cup bottom, wherein the opening of the seal cup is attached to the outside plate of the vehicle to surround the filler opening and the cup bottom of the seal cup has a hole through which the inlet filler pipe passes. A peripheral part of the cup bottom of the seal cup is held between the body attachment member and the pipe attachment to be attached to the body attachment member.
This arrangement obtains a seal in the vicinity of the flow inlet of the inlet filler pipe, simultaneously with the attachment of the seal cup to the body attachment member. The cup bottom of the seal cup also functions as a sealing member to seal the pipe attachment of the inlet filler pipe against the body attachment member. This arrangement does not require any separate sealing member for this purpose and thus simplifies the structure of the fuel feeding apparatus.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the pipe attachment is linked with the body attachment member with a clip that is elastically deformable. This arrangement enables the quick attachment of the inlet filler pipe to the body attachment member and thereby improves the workability.
In the above embodiment, linking the pipe attachment with the body attachment member by the clip may be released to prevent part of the inlet filler pipe from being broken, when a load of not less than a predetermined level is applied to separate the pipe attachment from the body attachment member. Even when a large external force is applied to the vehicle attachment member, for example, due to a sideways fall of the vehicle, this configuration effectively reduces the external force applied to the inlet filler pipe. Other methods to release the link between the body attachment member and the pipe attachment include for example, breaking the clip or elastically deforming the clip.
As another embodiment for attaching the pipe attachment to the body attachment member, the pipe attachment may have an engagement element that is rotated at a predetermined angle relative to the body attachment member to be attached to the body attachment member. This arrangement also enables quick attachment without any special tools.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the inlet filler pipe has a volume resistivity that enables conduction of static electricity and is connected to ground.
In this application, since the inlet filler pipe is made of a conductive material having a volume resistivity that enables conduction of static electricity, possible accumulation of static electricity during the flow of fuel through the inlet filler pipe during fuel supply is quickly eliminated by grounding. This does not require wiring to ground to ensure grounding of the inlet filler pipe and thereby simplifies the structure of the fuel feeding apparatus.
In accordance with still another embodiment of the present invention, a support member is mounted on the inlet filler pipe from the outside thereof, prior to the attachment of the fuel feeding apparatus to the vehicle. The inlet filler pipe forms a fuel conduit running from the filler opening to the tank main body. Part of the fuel conduit where the support member is mounted forms a curved portion that runs along a curved locus, which is defined by the shape of the support member. The shape of the support member is designed according to the positional relationship between the filler opening and the tank main body. This arrangement enables the fuel conduit having the curved locus according to the positional relationship between the filler opening and the tank main body to be formed by the simple attachment of the support member to the inlet filler pipe. This configuration does not require any special skills for the attachment of the fuel feeding apparatus to the vehicle and facilitates the attachment. The support member also absorbs a possible shock applied externally.
In one embodiment, the inlet filler pipe with the support member attached thereto is inserted from the outside of the vehicle through t
Aoki Tomohide
Goto Hisatsugu
Hori Tomokazu
Chambers A. Michael
Pillsbury & Winthrop LLP
Toyoda Gosei Co,., Ltd.
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