Opening/closing apparatus for fuel tank

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10399436-B2
Application number	US-201715835522-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 8, 2017
Priority date	Dec 27, 2016
Publication date	Sep 3, 2019
Grant date	Sep 3, 2019

Abstract

An opening/closing apparatus for a fuel tank of a vehicle includes: a fuel passage forming portion; an insertion-side opening/closing valve mechanism; a fuel tank-side opening/closing valve mechanism; a liquid discharge path; and an opening/closing valve mechanism that opens and closes the liquid discharge port by a valve body disposed in the fuel passage forming portion, and that includes a moving body movable from a first position where a closing force exerts on the valve body to close the liquid discharge port to a second position where the closing force decreases, the moving body positioned at the first position in a state where the vehicle is stopped, and moving from the first position to the second position when receiving an inertial force due to traveling of the vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An opening/closing apparatus for a fuel tank of a vehicle, the opening/closing apparatus comprising:
a fuel passage forming portion that forms a fuel passage configured to guide a supplied liquid fuel to the fuel tank;
an insertion-side opening/closing valve mechanism that is disposed in the fuel passage forming portion, and that is configured to open and close a filler port of the fuel passage;
a fuel tank-side opening/closing valve mechanism that is disposed in a portion of the fuel passage forming portion, the portion closer to the fuel tank than the insertion-side opening/closing valve mechanism, the fuel tank-side opening/closing valve mechanism that is configured to open and close the fuel passage;
a liquid discharge path that is configured to allow an internal region of the fuel passage forming portion to communicate with the outside of the opening/closing apparatus through a liquid discharge port formed in the fuel passage forming portion between the insertion-side opening/closing valve mechanism and the fuel tank-side opening/closing valve mechanism; and
an opening/closing valve mechanism that is configured to open and close the liquid discharge port by a valve body disposed in the fuel passage forming portion, and that includes a moving body which is movable from a first position where a closing force exerts on the valve body to close the liquid discharge port to a second position where the closing force decreases, the moving body which is positioned at the first position in a state where the vehicle is stopped, and which is configured to move from the first position to the second position when receiving an inertial force due to traveling of the vehicle.

2. The opening/closing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the moving body has a spherical shape, and the opening/closing valve mechanism includes a moving rail extending from the first position to the second position.

3. The opening/closing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein
the opening/closing valve mechanism further includes a liquid discharge path-side rail extending from the first position to the second position.

4. The opening/closing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the opening/closing valve mechanism includes a weight fence that is configured to accommodate the moving body so that the moving body is movable from the first position to the second position.

5. The opening/closing apparatus according to claim 3 , further comprising:
a valve body regulating mechanism that is configured to regulate movement of the valve body, wherein
the valve body regulating mechanism includes: a first engaging portion that is configured to engage with an insertion-side opening/closing member which is included in the insertion-side opening/closing valve mechanism and which is configured to open and close the filler port; and a second engaging portion that is configured to engage with the valve body, and,
in a state where the insertion-side opening/closing member opens the filler port, the valve body regulating mechanism is configured to release engagement between the first engaging portion and the insertion-side opening/closing member to cause the second engaging portion to engage with the valve body, and is configured to regulate the valve body to close the liquid discharge port.

6. The opening/closing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a valve body regulating mechanism that is configured to regulate movement of the valve body, wherein
the valve body regulating mechanism includes: a first engaging portion that is configured to engage with an insertion-side opening/closing member which is included in the insertion-side opening/closing valve mechanism and which is configured to open and close the filler port; and a second engaging portion that is configured to engage with the valve body, and
in a state where the insertion-side opening/closing member opens the filler port, the valve body regulating mechanism is configured to release engagement between the first engaging portion and the insertion-side opening/closing member to cause the second engaging portion to engage with the valve body, and is configured to regulate the valve body to close the liquid discharge port.

Assignees

• Toyoda Gosei Kk

Inventors

• Hagano Hiroyuki

Classifications

• F16K17/366

  the closure member being a movable ball (F16K17/38 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B60K2015/047

  Manufacturing of the fuel inlet or connecting elements to fuel inlet, e.g. pipes or venting tubes · CPC title

• B60K2015/0464

  comprising a flexible or extendable filler pipes, e.g. corrugated, foldable or with bellows · CPC title

• B60K2015/0461

  comprising a filler pipe shutter, e.g. trap, door or flap for fuel inlet · CPC title

• B60K2015/0448

  comprising spherical valve type closures · CPC title