Fuel tank structure

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019092160-A1
Application number	US-201816122397-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 5, 2018
Priority date	Sep 25, 2017
Publication date	Mar 28, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

A fuel tank structure including: a fuel tank that is made of resin, and that is structured to include an upper wall portion and a lower wall portion; a supporting pillar portion that is made of resin, that is provided at an inner side of the fuel tank, that has one end portion welded to the upper wall portion and another end portion welded to the lower wall portion, and that connects the upper wall portion and the lower wall portion in a vehicle vertical direction; a sub-cup that is disposed at the inner side of the fuel tank; an urging portion that urges the sub-cup toward the lower wall portion; and a restricting portion that is provided at the supporting pillar portion, and that restricts relative displacement of the sub-cup with respect to the fuel tank in directions orthogonal to the vehicle vertical direction.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A fuel tank structure comprising:
a fuel tank that is made of resin, that is structured to include an upper wall portion that structures a vehicle upper side portion and a lower wall portion that structures a vehicle lower side portion, and that stores fuel that is to be supplied to a power unit mounted in a vehicle; a supporting pillar portion that is made of resin, that is provided at an inner side of the fuel tank, that has one end portion welded to the upper wall portion and another end portion welded to the lower wall portion, and that connects the upper wall portion and the lower wall portion in a vehicle vertical direction; a sub-cup that is disposed at the inner side of the fuel tank, and that stores some of the fuel; an urging portion that urges the sub-cup toward the lower wall portion; and a restricting portion that is provided at the supporting pillar portion, and that restricts relative displacement of the sub-cup with respect to the fuel tank in directions orthogonal to the vehicle vertical direction.

2 . The fuel tank structure of claim 1 , wherein:
a first supporting pillar portion, which serves as the supporting pillar portion and at which a first restricting portion that serves as the restricting portion is provided, and a second supporting pillar portion, which serves as the supporting pillar portion and at which a second restricting portion that serves as the restricting portion is provided, are provided at the fuel tank; and the first supporting pillar portion and the second supporting pillar portion are disposed at positions such that the sub-cup is interposed therebetween as viewed from the vehicle vertical direction.

3 . The fuel tank structure of claim 1 , wherein:
the restricting portion is structured by a body that is separate from the supporting pillar portion; and the restricting portion is structured to include an abutting portion, which restricts the relative displacement by abutting the sub-cup, and a supporting portion, which supports the abutting portion and is mounted to the supporting pillar portion.

4 . The fuel tank structure of claim 2 , wherein:
the restricting portion is structured by a body that is separate from the supporting pillar portion; and the restricting portion is structured to include an abutting portion, which restricts the relative displacement by abutting the sub-cup, and a supporting portion, which supports the abutting portion and is mounted to the supporting pillar portion.

5 . The fuel tank structure of claim 4 , wherein:
the first restricting portion has a pair of first abutting piece portions that serve as the abutting portion; and the second restricting portion has a pair of second abutting piece portions that serve as the abutting portion.

6 . The fuel tank structure of claim 3 , wherein a fuel gauge is mounted to the supporting portion.

7 . The fuel tank structure of claim 4 , wherein a fuel gauge is mounted to the supporting portion.

8 . The fuel tank structure of claim 5 , wherein a fuel gauge is mounted to the supporting portion.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Amano Shinsuke
• Iwata Hideki

Classifications

• B60K15/03177 Primary

  made of non-metallic material, e.g. plastics, or of a combination of non-metallic and metallic material (B60K15/03006 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B60K15/067

  Mounting of tanks · CPC title

• B60K2015/0775

  for reducing movement or slash noise of fuel · CPC title

• B60K15/03 Primary

  Fuel tanks · CPC title

• B60K2015/03111

  Swirl pots · CPC title