JP2003049730A - Noise eliminator for fuel tank - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a noise eliminator for a fuel tank easily applicable to the fuel tank of a specification without the noise eliminator, and mountable thereon at a relatively free position. SOLUTION: A noise eliminating plate 4 formed of a shape restoring material is inserted through a pump mounting hole 2 into the fuel tank 1 in a contracted state. The noise eliminating plate developed in the fuel tank is joined to the inner face of the fuel tank with fastener means 8. Thus, the noise eliminator can be easily post-mounted and more complicated forming dies or complex manufacturing processes can be avoided. Still, the noise eliminating plate can be mounted in an optional position.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a muffler used for a fuel tank mounted on a vehicle, and more particularly to a muffler suitable for use in a synthetic resin fuel tank.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, it has been generalized that a hollow tank formed by blow molding of a thermoplastic synthetic resin material is used as a fuel tank for automobiles and ships (see JP-A-11-240345, etc.). ).

On the other hand, in a fuel tank of an automobile, when the liquid fuel in the tank greatly swings during a sharp turn, a sudden start, and a sudden stop, the liquid fuel hits the wall of the tank and produces a tapping sound. To do. Since the rocking noise of the liquid fuel significantly deteriorates the quality of the vehicle, it is desirable to prevent it from occurring as much as possible.

Based on this point of view, a fuel tank made of synthetic resin in which the inside is partitioned by a baffle for preventing the rocking of the liquid fuel is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-17160.
It is disclosed in the publication.

However, when the baffle is integrally formed in the tank by blow molding, the die becomes complicated and the manufacturing process becomes complicated, which adversely affects the manufacturing cost.

As a technique for dealing with such an inconvenience, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-30503 discloses a tank in which a support surface is formed on the inner wall of the tank, and one edge of the baffle plate is locked to the support surface. There is disclosed a configuration in which the other end edge of the baffle plate is locked to a retainer provided on the inner surface of the upper wall.

However, even with this structure, a step must be formed on the inner surface of the tank, and the mounting position of the baffle plate is also limited.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been devised to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.
Its main purpose is to provide a silencer for a fuel tank which can be easily adapted to a fuel tank having no silencer and can be attached at a relatively free position. .

[0009]

In order to achieve such an object, in the present invention, a pump mounting hole (2) is provided in a state in which a sound deadening plate (4) made of a material having a shape restoring property is contracted.
To provide a muffling device for a fuel tank, wherein the muffling plate inserted into the fuel tank (1) from the above and expanded in the fuel tank is coupled to the inner surface of the fuel tank by fastener means (8). (Claim 1).

In this way, the sound deadening plate can be easily retrofitted, so that it is possible to avoid complication of the mold and complication of the manufacturing process. Moreover, the sound deadening plate can be attached at any position.

In particular, if both ends of the sound deadening plate are connected to the inner surface of the upper wall of the fuel tank and the middle part of the sound deadening plate is hung in the tank (claim 2), the sound deadening plate is free in liquid fuel. Therefore, it is possible to highly efficiently dump the swing of the liquid surface to suppress the swing back, and to reduce the hitting sound.

Furthermore, if the fastener means is provided integrally with the sound deadening plate and the free end of the fastener means is fitted into the fastener fitting hole (3) provided in the fuel tank (claim 3), the sound deadening is achieved. The mounting state of the plate can be judged from outside the tank.

Further, in this case, if the free end of the fastener means fitted in the fastener fitting hole and exposed on the outer surface of the tank is covered with the cap member (10) (Claim 4), airtightness can be obtained. It can be increased more reliably.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a synthetic resin fuel tank to which a silencer according to the present invention is applied. This tank 1
Is formed by blow molding, and a pump mounting hole 2 for inserting a fuel pump (not shown) into the tank is formed on the upper wall of the tank, and a resin fastener for fixing a silencer plate described later to the inner surface of the upper wall of the tank 1. And a plurality of fastener fitting holes 3 for fitting in.

The sound deadening plate 4 is made of a plate material having a high elasticity and a cushioning action, such as a sheet made of resin fiber in a rough felt shape or a sheet made of a foamed resin material.
It has an appropriate shape adapted to the inner surface of the upper wall of the tank 1, and as shown in FIG. 2, a hole 5 corresponding to the pump mounting hole 2 is formed.
And a hole 6 corresponding to the fastener fitting hole. In addition, the hole 6 corresponding to the fastener fitting hole is provided in the sound deadening plate 4.
Is formed by the inner peripheral surface of the collar 7 mounted so as not to be crushed.

When the muffler plate 4 is assembled into the tank 1, the muffler plate 4 in a rolled or folded and contracted state is inserted into the tank 1 from the pump mounting hole 2 as shown in FIG. The sound deadening plate 4 has a shape restoring property, and after being expanded in the tank 1, a collar 7 is attached to a projecting end of the fastener 8 previously attached to the fastener fitting hole 3 on the upper surface of the tank 1 into the tank 1. 4, the protrusion 8a at the inner end of the fastener 8 is locked to the inner end of the collar 7, and the sound deadening plate 4 is brought into close contact with the inner surface of the upper wall of the tank 1 as shown in FIG. Is installed. Here, the pump mounting hole 2 is sized so that the fastener 8 can be mounted by inserting one arm.

In this case, the fastener 8 has a structure in which the flange 9 integrally formed on the outer end of the fastener 8 is fixed to the outer surface of the upper wall of the tank 1 in advance by heat welding or ultrasonic welding. It is possible to prevent the evaporative gas from leaking from the mounting portion.

The fastener 8 may be a known type of resin clip whose free end can be deformed radially inward by a slit or the like.

The fastener can be integrally attached to the sound deadening plate 4 in advance. In the first embodiment described above, it is difficult to confirm when the sound deadening plate 4 has fallen off the fastener 8, but as shown in FIG. 5, the fastener 18 is integrally connected to the sound deadening plate 4 by using an adhesive, for example. , The free end of which is fitted into the fastener fitting hole 3 from the inside of the tank 1 to provide the free end projection 1
If 8a is locked in the fastener fitting hole 3, since the projection 18a at the free end of the fastener 18 is exposed on the outer surface of the tank 1, it is necessary to visually judge the mounting state of the noise reduction plate 4 from the outside of the tank 1. You can

As shown in FIG. 6, if the cap 10 that covers the projection 18a at the free end of the fastener 18 is welded to the outer surface of the tank 1, it becomes impossible to visually confirm the mounting state of the fastener 18 from the outside. However, it is effective in ensuring the prevention of leakage of evaporative gas.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the cap 10 via the packing 11 is attached to the free end projection 18 of the fastener 18.
If the screw means 12 is coupled to a, the fastener 18 can be prevented from coming off and the vaporized gas can be prevented from leaking at a high level.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, if both ends of the sound deadening plate 4 are connected to the inner surface of the upper wall of the tank 1 and the middle part of the sound deadening plate 4 is hung in the tank 1, the sound deadening plate 4 is Since it can freely swing in the liquid fuel, it is possible to highly efficiently dump the swing of the liquid surface to suppress swingback, and to lower the sound of beating.

According to the conventional structure, it is almost impossible to retrofit a silencer to a tank which has already been mass-produced. However, according to the structure of the present invention, the fastener fitting hole 3 is provided. Since the muffling plate 4 can be additionally installed simply by forming it on the tank 1 by post-processing, it is not necessary to change the design of the tank body depending on the presence or absence of the muffling plate 4, and even for those already on the market It is relatively easy to deal with, so pre-manufactured tanks are not wasted.

Further, in recent years, there is a strong demand for laying out the tank 1 in a narrow space, and the appearance shape of the tank 1 tends to become more complicated. However, it has elasticity and a shape restoring property that can be freely deformed. If the sound deadening plate 4 is formed of a synthetic resin material and preformed according to the shape of the inner surface of the tank 1, it can be easily rolled up, folded, or contracted. Since the shape is restored to conform to, it is possible to adapt to a complicated shape.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, with a very simple structure, a silencer can be easily retrofitted to a tank which originally has no silencer, and a tank having a complicated shape. It is possible to provide a silencer at any position on the inner surface of the. Therefore, the mold for forming the tank is not complicated and the manufacturing process is not complicated, which is a great effect in avoiding a rise in manufacturing cost. Especially, if both ends of the muffler plate are connected to the inner surface of the upper wall of the fuel tank and the middle part of the muffler plate is hung in the tank (Claim 2), the muffler plate freely swings in the liquid fuel. As a result, the fluctuation of the liquid surface can be dumped with high efficiency to suppress the shaking back, and the hitting sound can be lowered.

If the fastener means is provided integrally with the sound deadening plate and the free end of the fastener means is fitted in the fastener fitting hole provided in the fuel tank (claim 3), the sound deadening plate is attached. Since the state can be judged from the outside of the tank, it is effective in simplifying the quality control especially in the case of retrofitting. Further, in this case, if the free end of the fastener means that is fitted into the fastener fitting hole and exposed to the outer surface of the tank is covered with the cap member (claim 4), the airtightness can be more reliably enhanced. You can

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a fuel tank to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view of a sound deadening plate

[Fig. 3] An explanatory view of the installation procedure of the sound deadening plate

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a fastener mounting portion.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of a fastener mounting portion showing another embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a fastener mounting portion showing still another embodiment.

7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a fastener attachment portion showing a modification of the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a mounting state diagram of a sound deadening plate showing another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 tank 2 Pump mounting hole 3 Fastener fitting holes 4 silencer 5 holes (corresponding to pump mounting holes) 6 holes (corresponding to fastener fitting holes) 7 colors 8 Fasteners 8a protrusion 9 flange 10 cap 11 packing 12 Screw means

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A muffler for a fuel tank, wherein the muffler plate made of a material having a shape-restoring property is inserted into the fuel tank from a pump mounting hole in a contracted state, and is expanded in the fuel tank. A silencer for a fuel tank, characterized in that a silencer plate is coupled to the inner surface of the fuel tank with fastener means. 2. The silencer for a fuel tank according to claim 1, wherein both ends of the silencer plate are connected to an inner surface of an upper wall of the fuel tank, and an intermediate portion of the silencer plate is hung in the tank. . 3. The fastener means is integrally provided on the sound deadening plate, and a free end of the fastener means is fitted in a fastener fitting hole provided in the fuel tank. A silencer for a fuel tank according to. 4. The silencer for a fuel tank according to claim 3, wherein a free end of the fastener means, which is fitted into the fastener fitting hole and exposed to the outer surface of the tank, is covered with a cap member. .