JP2007010004A - Gas container and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a gas cylinder having improved gas tightness by properly suppressing gas leak over time, and to provide its manufacturing method. <P>SOLUTION: The gas cylinder 1 comprises a resin liner 11 having at least part joined to a plurality of hollow cylindrical liner structural members 21, and a reinforcing layer 12 arranged on the outer periphery of the resin liner 11. A cover member 4 is joined to the resin liner 11 for covering a joint boundary 40 between the liner structural members 21, 21. The cover member 4 covers the joint boundary 40 at its outside. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a gas container having a resin liner and a reinforcing layer disposed on the outer periphery thereof, and a manufacturing method thereof.

  Conventionally, as a gas container for storing hydrogen and CNG (compressed natural gas), from the viewpoint of weight reduction, the inner shell is composed of a resin liner, and the outer peripheral surface of the resin liner is reinforced with a reinforcing layer (outer shell) such as FRP. Have been developed (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 4).

  The resin liner of the gas container described in Patent Document 1 is a sealed cylindrical shape as a whole by joining a pair of bowl-shaped liner constituent members. In this case, the pair of liner constituent members are formed of a thermoplastic resin such as polyethylene, and the end portions of the pair of liner constituent members are welded to each other by hot plate to constitute an integrated resin liner. Further, a die is insert-molded in the end wall portion of the liner constituting member having a reduced diameter.

In the gas containers described in Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3, a resin liner and a base are integrally joined during blow molding. And in order to raise the joint strength of a resin liner and a nozzle | cap | die, a clamping member is provided in a nozzle | cap | die, or uneven | corrugated shape is provided between a nozzle | cap | die and a resin liner.
JP 2004-211783 A (FIGS. 2 and 5) JP-A-8-210388 JP-A-8-219389 JP 2004-197812 A

However, since the gas container described in Patent Document 1 is manufactured by joining resin liners by welding, depending on the positioning and welding time at the time of welding, gas may flow from the joining boundary (welding line) between the liner constituent members. There was a risk of leakage.
In addition, it is considered that the problem relating to the gas leak also occurs at the boundary between the resin liner and the die described in Patent Documents 1 to 3.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a gas container and a method for manufacturing the same that can appropriately suppress gas leakage over time and improve airtightness.

  In order to solve the above problems, the gas container of the present invention comprises a resin liner formed by joining a plurality of hollow cylindrical liner constituent members, a reinforcing layer disposed on the outer periphery of the resin liner, And a covering member that is bonded to the resin liner and covers a bonding boundary between the liner constituent members.

  The gas container manufacturing method of the present invention includes a resin liner formed by joining a plurality of liner components each having a hollow cylindrical shape, and a gas container having a reinforcing layer disposed on the outer periphery of the resin liner. In this manufacturing method, after a plurality of liner constituent members are joined together to form a resin liner, a joining boundary between the liner constituent members is covered with a covering member, and then the covering member and the resin liner are joined, A reinforcing layer is disposed on the outer periphery of the resin liner.

  According to these configurations, since the joining boundary between the liner constituent members is covered with the covering member, the leakage of gas from the joining boundary can be blocked or the leak path can be lengthened. Thereby, the time-dependent gas leak from a gas container can be suppressed appropriately, and the airtightness of a gas container can be improved. Further, the strength of the joining boundary can be increased by the covering member.

  Here, the “liner constituent member having at least a part (one end side) of a hollow cylindrical shape” includes that the liner constituent member has a cylindrical shape, an annular shape, a bowl shape, a dome shape or the like as a whole. For example, when a resin liner is constituted by a pair of (half-split) liner constituent members, each liner constituent member is formed in a bowl shape as a whole. Further, when the resin liner is constituted by three or more liner constituent members, the liner constituent members at both ends of the resin liner are each formed in a bowl shape as a whole, and the liner constituent members located between them are hollow as a whole. It is formed in a cylindrical shape or an annular shape.

  According to one aspect of the gas container of the present invention, it is preferable that the covering member is located between the resin liner and the reinforcing layer and covers the joint boundary between the liner constituent members from the outside.

  According to this configuration, the covering member can be bonded to the resin liner with good workability.

  In this case, it is preferable that the covering member is bonded to the outer peripheral surfaces of the liner constituent members on both sides including the bonding boundary.

  According to this configuration, gas leakage can be further suppressed.

  According to one aspect of the gas container of the present invention, the covering member is preferably made of the same kind of resin material as the liner constituting member.

  According to this configuration, the bondability between the covering member and the liner component member can be improved. For example, the weldability and adhesion between the covering member and the liner constituting member can be improved.

  From another viewpoint of the present invention, it is preferable that the expansion coefficient of the covering member is smaller than the expansion coefficient of the liner constituting member.

  According to this configuration, even if the resin liner expands with the internal pressure of the gas container, the covering member expands with an expansion amount smaller than that of the resin liner. Thereby, the adhesive force of a resin liner and a coating | coated member can be raised, and airtightness can be improved.

  According to one aspect of the gas container of the present invention, the covering member is preferably an annular member.

  According to this structure, the joining boundary between liner structural members can be covered with a covering member over the circumferential direction.

  According to one aspect of the gas container of the present invention, it is preferable that the covering member is bonded to the bonding portion between the liner constituent members by laser welding.

  According to this configuration, the joining portion between the liner constituent members and the covering member can be joined in a short time and at a low cost while minimizing the thermally affected portion.

  In this case, it is preferable that the covering member has laser transparency and the liner constituent member has laser absorption.

  According to this configuration, since the covering member or the liner constituting member has the property of transmitting or absorbing the laser, it is possible to appropriately join them.

  According to one aspect of the preferred gas container of the present invention, the covering member may be bonded to the bonding portion between the liner constituting members by an adhesive.

  According to this configuration, the joining portion between the liner constituent members and the covering member can be easily joined. Note that the adhesive is preferably a material having low gas permeability.

  According to one aspect of the gas container of the present invention, it is preferable that an engagement structure for engaging the covering member and the joint portion between the liner constituent members is provided.

  According to this configuration, in the manufacturing process, the covering member and the joining portion of the liner constituent members can be engaged with each other by the engaging structure, and both can be joined. Thereby, even if it does not use a jig | tool etc., both position shift can be suppressed suitably. In addition, even after manufacturing, the joint portion between the covering member and the liner constituting member is engaged by the engagement structure, so that the strength can be increased. In addition, what is necessary is just to comprise an engagement structure with the concave engagement part provided in the coating | coated member, and the convex engagement receiving part provided in the junction part of liner component members, for example.

  According to one aspect of the gas container of the present invention, it is preferable that a sealing member for sealing between the covering member and the joint portion between the liner constituent members is interposed.

  According to this configuration, gas leakage can be further suppressed.

  In this case, it is preferable that the seal member is located on both sides of the joining boundary between the liner constituting members or in a state in contact with the joining boundary.

  According to this configuration, for example, in the case of the latter position, the joining boundary can be directly sealed with the seal member.

  Another gas container of the present invention is a gas container having a resin liner, a reinforcing layer disposed on the outer periphery of the resin liner, and a base provided at one end of the resin liner, wherein at least the resin liner and the base are provided. It is provided with a covering member that is joined together and covers the boundary between the resin liner and the die.

  According to this configuration, since the boundary between the resin liner and the base is covered with the covering member, the leakage of gas from the boundary can be blocked or the leakage path can be lengthened. Thereby, the time-dependent gas leak from a gas container can be suppressed appropriately, and the airtightness of a gas container can be improved. Further, the strength of the boundary portion can be increased by the covering member. In addition, it is preferable that a coating | coated member is joined to both of these, covering the boundary of a resin liner and a nozzle | cap | die.

  According to another aspect of the gas container of the present invention, the covering member preferably covers the boundary between the resin liner and the base from the outside of the gas container.

  According to this configuration, the covering member can be bonded to the resin liner and / or the die with good workability.

  According to another aspect of the gas container of the present invention, the covering member is preferably made of the same resin material as that of the resin liner.

  According to this configuration, the bondability between the covering member and the resin liner can be improved.

  From another viewpoint of the present invention, it is preferable that the expansion coefficient of the covering member is smaller than that of the resin liner.

  According to this configuration, the adhesive force between the resin liner and the covering member is increased by the internal pressure of the gas container, and the airtightness can be improved.

  According to another aspect of the gas container of the present invention, the covering member is preferably an annular member.

  According to this configuration, the boundary between the resin liner and the base can be covered with the covering member in the circumferential direction.

  According to another aspect of the gas container of the present invention, the covering member is preferably bonded to at least one of the resin liner and the base with an adhesive.

  According to this configuration, the covering member can be easily joined.

  According to another aspect of the gas container of the present invention, the covering member is preferably bonded to the resin liner by laser welding.

  According to this configuration, the covering member and the resin liner can be joined in a short time and at a low cost while minimizing the portion affected by heat.

  According to another aspect of the gas container of the present invention, it is preferable that a sealing member for sealing between the covering member and the vicinity of the boundary is interposed.

  According to this configuration, gas leakage can be further suppressed.

  In this case, it is preferable that the seal member is located on both sides including the boundary or in a state in contact with the boundary.

  According to the gas container and the manufacturing method thereof of the present invention described above, it is possible to appropriately suppress the gas leak over time and improve the airtightness.

  Hereinafter, a gas container and a method for manufacturing the same according to preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. This gas container suppresses gas leakage by covering the joining boundary between liner constituent members, which are constituent elements of the resin liner, and the boundary between the resin liner and the base with a covering member. In the following first to third embodiments, a gas container in which a joining boundary between liner constituent members is covered with a covering member will be described. In the fourth and subsequent embodiments, a gas container having a covering member on the base side will be described. In the second and subsequent embodiments, portions common to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

<First Embodiment>
As shown in FIG. 1, the gas container 1 includes a sealed cylindrical container body 2 as a whole, joints 3 and 3 attached to both ends of the container body 2 in the longitudinal direction, and a joint between liners of the container body 2. And a patch 4 (covering member) provided on the surface. The inside of the container body 2 is a storage space 5 for storing various gases. The gas container 1 can be filled with a normal pressure gas, or can be filled with a gas whose pressure is increased as compared with the normal pressure. That is, the gas container 1 of the present invention can function as a high-pressure gas container.

  For example, in a fuel cell system, the fuel gas prepared in a high pressure state is decompressed and used for power generation of the fuel cell. The gas container 1 of the present invention can be applied to store high-pressure fuel gas, and can store hydrogen as fuel gas, compressed natural gas (CNG) as raw fuel, and the like. The pressure of hydrogen filled in the gas container 1 is, for example, 35 MPa or 70 MPa, and the pressure of CNG is, for example, 20 MPa. Hereinafter, a high-pressure hydrogen gas container will be described as an example.

  The container body 2 has a two-layer structure of an inner resin liner 11 (inner shell) having gas barrier properties and a reinforcing layer 12 (outer shell) disposed on the outer periphery of the resin liner 11. The reinforcing layer 12 is made of, for example, FRP containing carbon fiber and an epoxy resin. The reinforcing layer 12 is wound around the outer surface of the resin liner 11 and the outer surface of the patch 4 so as to cover them.

  The base 3 is made of a metal such as stainless steel, and is provided at the center of the hemispherical end wall portion of the container body 2. A female thread is engraved on the inner peripheral surface of the opening of the base 3, and functional parts such as piping and valve assembly 14 (valve body) can be screwed into the base 3 via this female thread. ing. In FIG. 1, the valve assembly 14 provided only on one base 3 is indicated by a two-dot chain line.

  For example, the gas container 1 on the fuel cell system is connected between the storage space 5 and an external gas flow path (not shown) via a valve assembly 14 in which piping elements such as valves and joints are integrated. The Then, through the valve assembly 14 and the gas flow path, the storage space 5 is filled with hydrogen and hydrogen is released from the storage space 5.

  The resin liner 11 is configured by joining a pair of liner constituent members 21 and 21 (split bodies) divided into two at the center in the longitudinal direction. That is, the resin liner 11 is formed in a sealed container shape (excluding the opening on the base 3 side) by joining a pair of liner constituent members 21 and 21 made of a substantially hollow hollow body having the same shape. . Examples of the resin constituting the resin liner 11 include polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon 66, and the like.

  The liner constituting member 21 can be formed by various molding methods such as rotational molding and blow molding. In this embodiment, the liner constituent member 21 is formed by injection molding with good molding accuracy. At the time of injection molding, the liner constituting member 21 and the base 3 can be integrally joined (joined). That is, the liner constituting member 21 is insert-molded (integrally molded) on the base 3.

  The liner constituting member 21 has a body portion 31 extending in a predetermined length in the axial direction of the resin liner 11. Both end sides in the axial direction of the body portion 31 are open, and one end side 32 where the base 3 is insert-molded has a reduced diameter compared to the substantially cylindrical joint portion 33 on the other end side. In addition, although the bases 3 and 3 were provided in the two liner structural members 21 and 21, respectively, when the base 3 of one liner structural member 21 was abbreviate | omitted, the one end side 32 of the trunk | drum 31 becomes a closed end.

  Here, in this specification, the liner constituting member 21 refers to a member constituting the resin liner 11 having a split structure, and as described above, at least one end (part) has a hollow cylindrical shape. Say. Therefore, the shape of the liner constituting member 21 includes that the entire shape is a cylindrical shape, an annular shape, a bowl shape, a dome shape, or the like.

  The pair of liner constituting members 21 and 21 are brought into contact with each other at the end faces of the joint portions 33 and 33, and the end faces are joined by a predetermined welding method. As the predetermined welding method, various methods such as hot plate welding and electron beam welding can be used. In this embodiment, it is possible to join in a short time while minimizing the thermally affected portion around the joint 33. Laser welding is used.

  By laser welding, the end surfaces of the joint portions 33 and 33 are melted and solidified, and a weld portion is formed by integrally joining the end surfaces over the circumferential direction of the resin liner 11. This welded portion can be rephrased as a joint boundary between the liner constituent members 21 and 21 or a joint. In the following description, this welded portion is mainly described as “joining boundary 40”. Further, in the following description, a region including the joint boundary 40 and the joint portions 33 and 33 sandwiching the joint boundary 40, that is, a region of the resin liner 11 facing the patch 4 is described as a joint portion 41 between the liner constituent members 21 and 21. .

  In addition, it is preferable that the joining end surface of one joining part 33 is made into a taper shape, and the joining end surface of the other joining part 33 is made into a reverse taper shape. By carrying out like this, a fusion | melting area can be ensured suitably and the joining strength of the resin liner 11, etc. can be improved.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the patch 4 as a covering member is located between the resin liner 11 and the reinforcing layer 12 and covers the joining boundary 40 from the outside in the circumferential direction. The patch 4 is made of an annular member and has an inner diameter corresponding to the outer diameter of the joint portion 41. For this reason, when the resin liner 11 is inserted into the patch 4 from its axial direction, the inner peripheral surface of the patch 4 is brought into close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the joint portion 41.

  For example, the patch 4 is in close contact with the liner constituent members 21 and 21 on both sides including the joining boundary 40 and joined thereto. That is, the half of the patch 4 in the axial direction (half in the width direction) is in close contact with the joint 33 of the one liner constituting member 21, and the other half of the patch 4 in the axial direction is joined to the other half. The liner constituent member 21 is joined in close contact with the joint portion 33.

  The length of the patch 4 in the axial direction is not limited as long as it can cover the joint boundary 40 and the vicinity thereof, and is, for example, 1 cm to 2 cm, and preferably 1.5 cm. Further, the thickness of the patch 4 is preferably smaller than the thickness of the resin liner 11 or the reinforcing layer 12, preferably 0.1 cm or 1/5 of the resin liner 11, more preferably 0.25 cm or the resin liner 11. 1/2 of this.

  The patch 4 can be formed of a metal such as aluminum, a glass fiber cloth, or a hard resin. An epoxy resin can be used as this hard resin. The patch 4 of this embodiment is formed of the same kind of resin material as the resin liner 11. That is, the resin patch 4 is made of polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon 66, or the like. Thus, by using the same kind of resin material, it becomes possible to improve the bonding property between the patch 4 and the resin liner 11.

  The patch 4 is joined to the joining portion 41 by, for example, a welding method. As the welding method, an appropriate method such as ultrasonic welding or spot welding can be used. In the present embodiment, laser welding is used as in the case of joining the liner constituent members 21 and 21 to each other. The patch 4 and the resin liner 11 in the preferred embodiment have predetermined characteristics with respect to the laser so that laser welding is suitably performed.

  Specifically, the patch 4 is formed of a laser-transmitting thermoplastic resin, and the liner constituent member 21 is formed of a laser-absorbing thermoplastic resin. The laser-transmitting thermoplastic resin only needs to be transparent to the laser so that the energy necessary for laser welding reaches the bonding portion 41 on the laser absorption side. Therefore, even a laser-transmitting thermoplastic resin may have a slight laser-absorbing characteristic.

  Examples of the laser transmissive thermoplastic resin include the above-described polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon 66, and the like, but may be those obtained by adding a reinforcing fiber such as glass fiber or a colorant to these. For example, the laser transmissive patch 4 is formed in white, translucent or transparent.

  The laser-absorbing thermoplastic resin only needs to have an absorptivity with respect to the laser and may be any one that generates heat and melts with the absorbed laser. Examples of the laser-absorbing thermoplastic resin include the above-described polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon 66, and the like, but those obtained by adding a reinforcing fiber such as glass fiber or a colorant may be used. For example, when the laser-absorbing thermoplastic resin is the same resin as the laser-transmitting thermoplastic resin, it is formed by adding more carbon than the laser-transmitting thermoplastic resin. In this case, the joining portion 41 is formed in black, for example.

  The patch 4 and the joint portion 41 are joined to each other by laser welding over the circumferential direction. Laser welding is performed by irradiating a laser from the outside of the patch 4 with a laser torch (not shown) to heat and melt the resin on the outer peripheral surface of the joint portion 41 and to transfer the resin on the inner peripheral surface of the patch 4 by heat transfer from the outer peripheral surface. This is done by heating and melting.

  Therefore, after laser welding, a welded portion in which both laser-absorbing and laser-transmitting resins are entangled exists between the patch 4 and the joint portion 41. The welded portion may be a portion where the entire area of the inner peripheral surface of the patch 4 is welded to the joint portion 41, or may be a portion where the inner peripheral surface of the patch 4 is partially welded to the joint portion 41. . In this embodiment, partial welding is performed, and the inner peripheral edge portions on both sides of the patch 4 are laser-welded to the joint portion 41 as shown in FIG.

  In consideration of the characteristics for laser welding, it is preferable that at least one of the patch 4 and the joining portion 41 contains a heat generating material. By doing so, melting of the resin during laser welding can be promoted, and bonding can be performed more appropriately. The exothermic material may be at least one of ceramics, graphite, resin and metal. The exothermic material may be provided by coating, or may be provided by sticking a sheet containing the exothermic material.

In consideration of characteristics for laser welding, the entire liner constituting member 21 may not have laser absorbability, but only the joint portion 41 may have laser absorbability.
For example, when one of the liner constituent members 21 and 21 is formed of a laser-absorbing resin and the other is formed of a laser-transmitting resin, the joining portion 41 formed by the liner constituent members 21 and 21 is half of The part becomes laser transmissive. In this case, before laser welding the joining portion 41 and the patch 4, an absorbent having laser absorptivity is applied to the outer peripheral surface of the joining portion 41 or a sheet containing this kind of absorbent is stuck. In other words, the entire outer peripheral surface of the joint portion 41 may be provided with a laser-absorbing characteristic.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an example in which the patch 4 and the joint portion 41 are joined by another joining method.
The patch 4 is bonded to the outer peripheral surface of the bonding portion 41 with an adhesive. For this reason, an adhesive layer 50 made of an adhesive is interposed between the patch 4 and the joint portion 41. The adhesive layer 50 joins the entire inner peripheral surface of the patch 4 to the joint portion 41.

  As the adhesive of the adhesive layer 50, a thermosetting type mainly composed of epoxy or the like, or a liquid gasket (FIPG: Formed In Place Gasket) type can be used. It is preferable to use a liquid gasket having a small seal thickness so that the cross-sectional area after bonding is as small as possible. The adhesive preferably uses a material having low gas permeability, and the gas permeability is preferably lower than that of the resin liner 11 or the patch 4. The adhesive may be a material having hydrogen adsorption performance. This type of adhesive may contain, for example, epoxy as a main component and at least one kind of hydrogen storage alloy, activated carbon fiber, activated carbon powder, carbon nanotube, and the like.

Here, the manufacturing method of the gas container 1 is demonstrated easily.
First, for example, one preformed base 3 is placed in a mold, a predetermined thermoplastic resin is injected into the mold, and the liner constituting member 21 and the base 3 are integrally formed. Two sets of the liner constituting member 21 with the base 3 are manufactured. Next, the joint portions 33 and 33 of the liner constituent members 21 and 21 are brought into surface contact with each other, and this portion is laser welded in the circumferential direction. The joining portion 41 after laser welding is covered with the patch 4 from the outside, and the joining portion 41 and the patch 4 are joined by laser welding or an adhesive. Then, the gas container 1 is manufactured by forming the reinforcing layer 12 on the outer surface of the resin liner 11 and the patch 4 by a filament winding method or the like.

  Prior to laser welding of the liner constituting members 21 and 21 and laser welding of the joining portion 41 and the patch 4, it is preferable to preheat them. Thereby, while being able to suppress the surface burning at the time of laser welding, laser welding can be performed in a short time. In addition, when laser welding the joining portion 41 and the patch 4, a pressure difference may be applied to the inside and outside of the resin liner 11 so that the gap between them is more closely adhered. The application of the pressure difference may be performed by, for example, reducing or pressurizing the sealed space inside the resin liner 11 using the opening of the base 3. Further, laser welding may be performed in a low oxygen atmosphere.

Here, the operation of the gas container 1 of the present invention will be described in comparison with the conventional gas container 1 ′.
FIG. 5 is an enlarged view showing a joint portion 41 ′ of a conventional gas container 1 ′. Generally, at the joining boundary 40 ′, the gas pressure tends to increase locally due to the concentration of hydrogen gas in the gas container 1 ′. For this reason, hydrogen gas may leak over time starting from the junction boundary 40 ′. Further, stress concentration or the like acts on the joining boundary 40 ′, and there is a fear that the strength of the resin liner 11 ′ is reduced.

  FIG. 6 is an enlarged view showing the joint portion 41 of the gas container 1 of the present invention. As described above, the patch 4 that covers the joining portion 41 so as to block the leakage of hydrogen gas over time starting from the joining boundary 40 can be blocked. Even if it cannot be completely shut off, the hydrogen gas leak path becomes long, so that the amount of leak per unit time can be reduced.

  That is, compared with the conventional leak path shown in FIG. 5 (corresponding to the thickness of the resin liner 11 ′), the leak path of the present invention shown in FIG. The hit hydrogen gas leak can be appropriately suppressed. Further, since the thickness of the joint portion 41 is increased by the thickness of the patch 4, the rigidity around the joint portion 41 is increased, and the strength of the resin liner 11 can be improved.

  As described above, according to the gas container 1 of the present embodiment, since the bonding boundary 40 is covered with the patch 4, it is possible to appropriately suppress the leakage of hydrogen gas over time, and to improve airtightness and strength. be able to.

  The patch 4 may have an appropriate split ring shape such as a half ring shape or a 1/3 ring shape. By doing so, it is possible to improve workability particularly when the patch 4 is bonded to the bonding portion 41 with an adhesive. In this case, after joining the divided patches 4 (patch pieces) to the joining portion 41, it is preferable that the patches 4 (patches pieces) are joined together with an adhesive or the like.

  Moreover, the gas container 1 of this invention does not exclude the aspect which covers the junction part 41 with the patch 4 from the inner side. In this case, the patch 4 may be formed by a split ring, and the patch 4 may be inserted into the resin liner 11 from the opening of the base 3 and bonded to the bonding portion 41. In addition, although the case where there were two liner structural members 21 was demonstrated, three or more are the same. That is, the present invention can be applied to the resin liner 11 in which a plurality of liner constituent members arranged in the axial direction are joined.

  The modified examples described above can be applied to other embodiments described below without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Second Embodiment
Next, with reference to FIG. 7, the gas container 1 which concerns on 2nd Embodiment is demonstrated centering on difference. The difference from the first embodiment is that an engagement structure 60 for engaging the patch 4 and the joint portion 41 is provided.

  The engagement structure 60 includes a groove-shaped engagement portion 61 formed on the inner peripheral surface of the patch 4 and a convex engagement receiving portion 62 formed on the joint portion 41. The engaging portion 61 is formed in the center of the inner peripheral surface of the patch 4 over the circumferential direction. The patch 4 may be a single annular member, but considering the engagement structure 60, the split ring structure described above is preferable.

  The engagement receiving portion 62 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the joint portion 41 in the circumferential direction corresponding to the engagement portion 61. In other words, the engagement receiving portion 62 is formed by an annular protrusion formed at each joint portion 33, 33 of the pair of liner constituting members 21, 21. In a state in which the engaging portion 61 is engaged with the engaging receiving portion 62, the patch 4 is configured so that the bottom surface 65 of the engaging portion 61 contacts and covers the joining portion 41, and the inside of both outer sides of the engaging portion 61 is also covered. The peripheral surfaces 66 and 67 are in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the resin liner 11. In this state, the patch 4 and the joint portion 41 are joined by laser welding, an adhesive, or the like.

  According to this embodiment, since the patch 4 comes to hold | maintain the junction part 41 by the engagement structure 60, the intensity | strength of the junction part 41 can be raised. Moreover, when joining the patch 4 to the joining part 41, the position shift of both can be suppressed suitably by the engagement structure 60, and joining precision can be improved. Furthermore, since the leak path becomes longer starting from the junction boundary 40 than in the first embodiment, the leakage of hydrogen gas (high pressure gas) over time can be appropriately suppressed.

  Further, when hydrogen gas is filled in the gas container 1, radial stress, axial stress, and circumferential stress act due to the internal pressure. Therefore, a force that causes the resin liner 11 to expand in the radial direction acts in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure, and a force that separates the liner constituent members 21 and 2 from each other at the joining interface 40. According to the patch 4 including the engagement structure 60 described above, separation of the liner constituent members 21 and 21 at the joint interface 40 can be structurally suppressed.

  Considering the deformation of the gas container 1 due to the internal pressure during gas filling, it is preferable to use a material having a smaller expansion coefficient than the resin liner 11 for the patch 4. By doing so, the expansion amount of the patch 4 becomes smaller than the expansion amount of the resin liner 11. That is, the patch 4 does not expand more in the radial direction than the joint portion 41. Thereby, the adhesive force of the patch 4 at the time of gas filling and the junction part 41 can be raised, and the airtightness of the gas container 1 can be improved further. In this respect, the same applies to the first embodiment, and the patch 4 of the first embodiment also preferably has a smaller expansion coefficient than the resin liner 11.

  In addition, although the uneven structure was demonstrated to the example as the engaging structure 60, it is not restricted to this. For example, a screwing structure may be used as the engagement structure 60. In that case, a female screw may be engraved on the inner peripheral surface of the patch 4 and a screw may be engraved on the outer peripheral surface of the joint portion 41.

<Third Embodiment>
Next, with reference to FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, the gas container 1 which concerns on 3rd Embodiment is demonstrated centering on difference. The difference from the first embodiment is that the seal member (71, 72, 91) is located between the patch 4 and the joint portion 41 of the resin liner 11 and seals between the patch 4 and the joint portion 41. It is that it was intervened.

  As shown in FIG. 8, a pair of seal members 71 and 72 are provided at positions on both sides of (including) the joining boundary 40. Each seal member 71, 72 is formed of an O-ring. On the other hand, the patch 4 is formed with a pair of annular grooves 81 and 82 for mounting the seal members 71 and 72. In the patch 4, the inner peripheral surface 84 between the pair of annular grooves 81 and 82 is joined to the resin liner 11 in surface contact at the position of the joining boundary 40, and the inner peripheral surface 85 outside the annular grooves 81 and 82 is joined. 86 are brought into surface contact with the resin liner 11 in the vicinity of the joining boundary 40 and joined. With such a configuration, even if hydrogen gas leaks from the joint boundary 40, further leakage can be blocked by the pair of seal members 71 and 72.

FIG. 9 shows another aspect of the seal member.
As shown in FIG. 9, the seal member 91 is provided in contact with the joining boundary 40. An annular groove 92 for arranging the seal member 91 is formed in the patch 4. The sealing member 91 may be made of rubber having a sealing function, and is fixed to the annular groove 92 by baking or the like. The patch 4 is joined with the inner peripheral surfaces 94 and 95 outside the annular groove 92 in surface contact with the resin liner 11 in the vicinity of the joining boundary 40. Therefore, since the joining boundary 40 is directly pressed from the outside by the seal member 91, the leakage of hydrogen gas from the joining boundary 40 can be blocked.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, hydrogen gas leakage over time can be further suppressed in any of the sealing members (71 and 72 or 91). In particular, the expansion of the resin liner 11 due to the internal pressure during gas storage causes the seal members (71, 72, 91) to collapse more. Therefore, the higher the internal pressure of the container, the higher the sealing performance. . In addition, you may use together the seal structure of this embodiment, and the engagement structure 60 of Embodiment 2. FIG.

<Fourth embodiment>
Next, with reference to FIG. 10, the gas container 1 according to the fourth embodiment will be described focusing on the differences. The difference from each of the above embodiments is that a patch 101 as a covering member as described above is provided on the side of the base 3, and leakage of hydrogen gas from between the base 3 and the resin liner 11 is suppressed.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the patch 101 covers a boundary 110 (a joint) between the resin liner 11 and the base 3 in the circumferential direction from the outside of the gas container 1 in the circumferential direction. The patch 101 can be formed of a metal such as aluminum, a glass fiber cloth, or a hard resin such as an epoxy resin. For example, the patch 101 is formed of the same kind of thermoplastic resin material as that of the resin liner 11 and has laser transparency. Correspondingly, the resin liner 11 (liner constituent member 21) has laser absorptivity. The contents described in the first embodiment can be applied to the characteristics with respect to the laser.

  The patch 101 is made of an annular member, and is configured such that the base 3 can be inserted therein. The patch 101 has an annular first joint surface 121 joined to the outer peripheral surface of the resin liner 11 and an annular second joint surface 122 joined to the outer peripheral surface of the base 3.

  Specifically, the first joining surface 121 is formed corresponding to the outer peripheral surface of the hemispherical end wall portion 32 of the resin liner 11 and is in close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the end wall portion 32 in a joined state. The second bonding surface 122 is formed corresponding to the outer peripheral surface of the tapered portion 3a of the base 3 and is in close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the base 3 in a bonded state. The first bonding surface 121 is formed by the end surface of the patch 101, and the second bonding surface 122 is formed by the inner peripheral surface that forms the hollow portion of the patch 101.

  The outer peripheral edge of the first bonding surface 121 is bonded to the outer peripheral surface of the end wall portion 32 in the circumferential direction by laser welding. The laser weld portion is indicated by reference numeral 131. In addition, you may join the 1st joining surface 121 and the end wall part 32 with another welding method or an adhesive agent.

  The entire surface of the second bonding surface 122 is bonded to the outer peripheral surface of the tapered portion 3a with an adhesive in the circumferential direction. An adhesive layer made of the adhesive is indicated by reference numeral 132. As the adhesive, a thermosetting adhesive or a liquid gasket can be used similarly to the adhesive of the adhesive layer 50 described in the first embodiment, and the seal thickness is preferably small. The adhesive is preferably a material having a lower gas permeability than the resin liner 11 and the patch 101.

  In the manufacturing process of the gas container 1 of the present embodiment, the patch 101 is fitted on the outer peripheral side of the base 3 before and after the laser welding for joining the liner constituent member 21 with the base 3 to each other, and the base 3 and the liner constituent member 21. The boundary 110 is covered with the patch 101. Then, the first joining surface 121 of the patch 101 is joined to the base 3 by laser welding, and the second joining surface 122 of the patch 101 is joined to the liner constituting member 21 with an adhesive. Moreover, the joining boundary (40) between the liner structural members 21 and 21 is covered with a patch (4). Finally, the reinforcing layer 12 is formed on the outer surface of the resin liner 11 by a filament winding method or the like. The patch 101 of the present embodiment and the patch (4) of the first embodiment are positioned between the reinforcing layer 12 and the resin liner 11, and the gas container 1 is manufactured.

  Note that, similarly to the first embodiment, the patch 101 and the liner constituting member 21 may be preheated so that laser welding is performed satisfactorily. Similarly, a pressure difference may be applied to the inside and outside of the resin liner 11 at the time of laser welding so that the patch 101 and the liner constituting member 21 are more closely adhered, or laser welding may be performed in a low oxygen atmosphere. You may make it perform.

Here, the operation of the gas container 1 of the present invention will be described in comparison with the conventional gas container 1 ''.
FIG. 11 is a view showing a conventional gas container 1 ″. In manufacturing the gas container 1 ″, hydrogen gas may leak over time starting from the boundary 110 ″. Further, stress concentration or the like acts on the boundary 110 ″, which may adversely affect the strength.

  FIG. 12 is a view showing the gas container 1 of the present invention. As described above, the patch 101 that covers the boundary 110 can block the leakage of hydrogen gas over time starting from the boundary 110. Even if it cannot be completely shut off, the leak path of the hydrogen gas becomes longer by the length of the tapered portion 3a, so that the leak amount per unit time can be reduced. Furthermore, the patch 101 increases the rigidity around the base 3 and can improve the strength of this portion. In general, the base 3 may loosen due to vibration or external force from the piping element, but since the patch 101 is joined over both the base 3 and the resin liner 11, loosening of the base 3 is also suitably suppressed. be able to.

  As described above, according to the gas container 1 of the present embodiment, since the boundary 110 between the base 3 and the liner constituting member 21 is covered with the patch 101, it is possible to appropriately suppress the leakage of hydrogen gas over time. Airtightness and strength can be increased. In particular, if a material having a smaller expansion coefficient than the material of the resin liner 11 is used as the material of the patch 101, the adhesive force between the patch 101 and the liner constituting member 21 is increased during the expansion of the resin liner 11 during gas storage. Can be increased. Thereby, airtightness can be improved further.

  In addition, the gas container 1 of this invention does not exclude the aspect which covers the boundary 110 with the patch 101 from the inner side. The patch 101 may be bonded only to the resin liner 11 or the patch 101 may be bonded only to the base 3. However, as described above, the gas leak is appropriately suppressed when the patch 101 is bonded to both. be able to.

<Fifth Embodiment>
Next, with reference to FIG. 13 and FIG. 14, the gas container 1 which concerns on 5th Embodiment is demonstrated centering on difference. The difference from the fourth embodiment is that seal members (141, 142, 150) for sealing between the patch 101 and the vicinity of the boundary 110 are interposed.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the two seal members 141 and 142 are O-rings and are provided at positions on both sides of the boundary 110. One seal member 141 is attached to an annular groove 145 formed on the end surface of the patch 101, and seals between the patch 101 and the end wall portion 32. The other seal member 142 is attached to an annular groove 146 formed on the inner peripheral surface of the patch 101, and seals between the patch 101 and the tapered portion 3a.

  In the patch 101, the end surface portion (for example, the outer peripheral edge portion) excluding the annular groove 145 is joined to the end wall portion 32 by, for example, laser welding, and the inner peripheral surface portion excluding the annular groove 146 is bonded to the tapered portion 3a. Are joined together. With such a configuration, even if hydrogen gas leaks from the boundary 110, further leakage can be blocked by the two seal members 141 and 142.

FIG. 14 shows another aspect of the seal member.
As shown in FIG. 14, the seal member 150 is provided in contact with the boundary 110, and further extends to both sides sandwiching the boundary 110. The sealing member 150 may be made of rubber having a sealing function, and is fixed to the patch 101 in advance by baking or the like. That is, the seal member 150 is configured by connecting a first seal layer 151 fixed to the first bonding surface 121 and a second seal layer 152 fixed to the second bonding surface 122. The intersection of the first seal layer 151 and the second seal layer 152 is in contact with the boundary 110.

  In this case, the patch 101 is bonded to both the end wall portion 32 and the taper portion 3a with an adhesive via the seal member 150. Therefore, since the boundary 110 is directly pressed from the outside by the sealing member 150 and blocked, the leakage of hydrogen gas from the boundary 110 can be reliably blocked.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the leakage of hydrogen gas over time can be further suppressed regardless of the aspect of any seal member (141 and 142, or 150). In particular, if the material of the patch 101 is a material having a smaller expansion coefficient than the material of the resin liner 11, the seal members (141, 142, 150) are more crushed when the resin liner 11 expands due to the internal pressure during gas storage. The sealing performance is improved. The higher the internal pressure of the container, the higher the sealing performance, and the airtightness of the gas container 1 can be improved.

  The above-described gas container 1 of the present invention is suitable for use in a vehicle equipped with a fuel cell system. Moreover, the gas container 1 of this invention can be applied suitably also to the transport system which uses the gas stored in the gas container 1 as a motive power source, such as an aircraft other than a vehicle, and a ship.

It is sectional drawing of the gas container which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a disassembled perspective view which decomposes | disassembles and shows the resin liner and coating | coated member of the gas container which concern on 1st Embodiment. It is sectional drawing which cuts and shows a part of gas container which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is sectional drawing which expands and shows a part of gas container which concerns on the modification of 1st Embodiment. It is sectional drawing explaining the leak of the gas of the conventional gas container. It is sectional drawing explaining the leak of the gas of a gas container in 1st Embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the engagement structure of the gas container which concerns on 2nd Embodiment, (a) The state before engagement and (b) The state after engagement are shown. It is sectional drawing which expands and shows a part of gas container which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. It is sectional drawing which expands and shows a part of gas container which concerns on the modification of 3rd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the gas container which concerns on 4th Embodiment, (a) Sectional drawing around a nozzle | cap | die, (b) Side view around a nozzle | cap | die. It is sectional drawing explaining the leak of the gas of the conventional gas container. It is sectional drawing explaining the leak of the gas of the gas container which concerns on 4th Embodiment. It is sectional drawing which expands and shows a part of gas container which concerns on 5th Embodiment. It is sectional drawing which expands and shows a part of gas container which concerns on 5th Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1: Gas container, 3: Base, 4: Patch (coating member), 11: Resin liner, 12: Reinforcement layer, 21: Liner component, 40: Joining boundary, 41: Joining part, 50: Adhesive layer, 60: Engagement structure 60, 71, 72, 91: seal member, 101: patch (cover member), 141, 142, 150: seal member

Claims (15)

A gas container having at least a resin liner formed by joining a plurality of hollow cylindrical liner constituent members, and a reinforcing layer disposed on an outer periphery of the resin liner,
A gas container including a covering member that is bonded to the resin liner and covers a bonding boundary between liner constituent members.   The gas container according to claim 1, wherein the covering member is located between the resin liner and the reinforcing layer and covers a joint boundary between the liner constituent members from the outside.   The gas container according to claim 2, wherein the covering member is bonded to outer peripheral surfaces of liner constituent members on both sides including the bonding boundary.   The gas container according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the covering member is made of the same kind of resin material as the liner constituting member.   The gas container according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an expansion coefficient of the covering member is smaller than an expansion coefficient of the liner constituting member.   The gas container according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the covering member is an annular member.   The gas container according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the covering member is joined to a joining portion between the liner constituent members by laser welding. The covering member has laser transparency,
The gas container according to claim 7, wherein the liner constituting member has laser absorbability.   The gas container according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the covering member is bonded to a bonding portion between the liner constituent members by an adhesive.   The gas container according to any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising an engagement structure for engaging the covering member and a joint portion between the liner constituent members.   The gas container according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein a sealing member that seals between the covering member and the liner-joining portion is interposed.   The gas container according to claim 11, wherein the seal member is located on both sides of a joining boundary between liner constituent members or in a state in contact with the joining boundary. A gas container manufacturing method comprising: a resin liner configured by joining a plurality of liner components having a hollow cylindrical shape; and a reinforcing layer disposed on an outer periphery of the resin liner,
After the plurality of liner constituting members are joined together to form the resin liner, a joining boundary between the liner constituting members is covered with a covering member, and then the covering member and the resin liner are joined together, and the resin liner is joined. The manufacturing method of the gas container which arrange | positions the said reinforcement layer in the outer periphery of this. A gas container having a resin liner, a reinforcing layer disposed on an outer periphery of the resin liner, and a base provided at one end of the resin liner,
A gas container comprising a covering member joined to at least one of the resin liner and the base and covering a boundary between the resin liner and the base. The gas container according to claim 14, wherein the covering member covers a boundary between the resin liner and the base from the outside of the gas container.