Fuel supply device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9850865-B2
Application number	US-201515305171-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 6, 2015
Priority date	Oct 13, 2014
Publication date	Dec 26, 2017
Grant date	Dec 26, 2017

Abstract

A swirling wall structure-extends from a lower side toward an upper side in a sub-tank, and a fuel flow, which is outputted into an inside of the sub-tank from a flow outlet of a diffuser passage opened toward a lateral side, is swirled by the swirling wall structure. The swirling wall structure-includes a curved wall surface and a U-turn wall surface. The curved wall surface is curved about a longitudinal axis, which extends from the lower side toward the upper side in the sub-tank, to bend the fuel flow outputted from the flow outlet. The U-turn wall surface extends continuously from the curved wall surface to make a U-turn of the fuel flow, which is bent by the curved wall surface.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A fuel supply device that supplies fuel from a fuel tank toward an internal combustion engine located at an outside of the fuel tank, the fuel supply device comprising:
a sub-tank that is placed in an inside of the fuel tank and is shaped into a tubular body that has a bottom, wherein an opening of the sub-tank is opened toward an upper side;
a jet pump that is received in an inside of the sub-tank, wherein the jet pump discharges pressurized fuel from a nozzle passage into a diffuser passage in the jet pump and thereby pumps stored fuel, which is stored in the fuel tank, into the inside of the sub-tank through the diffuser passage;
a fuel pump that is received in the inside of the sub-tank, wherein the fuel pump draws the fuel pumped into the sub-tank by the jet pump and discharges the drawn fuel toward the internal combustion engine; and
a swirling wall structure that extends from a lower side toward an upper side in the sub-tank and is spaced from a flow outlet of the diffuser passage opened toward a lateral side, wherein:
a fuel flow, which is outputted into the inside of the sub-tank from the flow outlet of the diffuser passage, is swirled by the swirling wall structure, and the swirling wall structure, which is assumed to have a longitudinal axis extending from the lower side to the upper side of the sub-tank, includes:
a curved wall surface that is curved about the longitudinal axis to bend the fuel flow outputted from the flow outlet; and
a U-turn wall surface that extends continuously from the curved wall surface to make a U-turn of the fuel flow, which is bent by the curved wall surface; and

an opening is located adjacent to the flow outlet of the diffuser passage at a location between the flow outlet of the diffuser passage and the swirling wall structure to enable an inflow of the fuel from an outside of the swirling wall structure into an inside of the swirling wall structure through the opening between the flow outlet of the diffuser passage and the swirling wall structure at a time when the fuel is outputted from the flow outlet of the diffuser passage.

2. The fuel supply device according to claim 1 , wherein the swirling wall structure extends from a lower side of the flow outlet to an upper side of the flow outlet.

3. The fuel supply device according to claim 1 , wherein the swirling wall structure extends upwardly from a bottom portion of the sub-tank in a vertical direction.

4. The fuel supply device according to claim 1 , wherein when a projected area, which is formed by projecting the flow outlet toward the lateral side, is assumed to be present, an adjacent end of the curved wall surface, which is adjacent to the flow outlet in a top view taken from a top side of the curved wall surface, is located at an outside of the projected area, and a spaced curved portion of the curved wall surface, which is curved and is further spaced from the flow outlet in comparison to the adjacent end of the curved wall surface in the top view, is located in the projected area.

5. The fuel supply device according to claim 1 , wherein the curved wall surface is curved into a form of an arcuate concave surface that circumferentially extends equal to or lager than ¼ turn about the longitudinal axis.

6. The fuel supply device according to claim 5 , wherein the U-turn wall surface includes a continuous curved portion that extends continuously from the curved wall surface and is curved toward the flow outlet.

7. The fuel supply device according to claim 1 , wherein:
the swirling wall structure includes a guide wall surface that guides the fuel flow, which is outputted from the flow outlet, to the curved wall surface; and
the curved wall surface extends continuously from the guide wall surface and is curved about the longitudinal axis, so that the curved wall surface bends the fuel flow, which is guided from the flow outlet.

8. The fuel supply device according to claim 1 , wherein:
when a transverse axis, which extends from the nozzle passage toward the lateral side, is assumed to be present, the fuel flow, which is swirled about the transverse axis in a counterclockwise direction, is generated in the diffuser passage in a view taken from the nozzle passage through the discharging of the fuel from the nozzle passage; and
the curved wall surface is curved in a clockwise direction from an adjacent end of the curved wall surface, which is adjacent to the flow outlet, in a top view taken from a top side of the curved wall surface.

9. The fuel supply device according to claim 1 , wherein:
when a transverse axis, which extends from the nozzle passage toward the lateral side, is assumed to be present, the fuel flow, which is swirled about the transverse axis in a clockwise direction, is generated in the diffuser passage in a view taken from the nozzle passage through the discharging of the fuel from the nozzle passage; and
the curved wall surface is curved in a counterclockwise direction from an adjacent end of the curved wall surface, which is adjacent to the flow outlet, in a top view taken from a top side of the curved wall surface.

10. The fuel supply device according to claim 1 , wherein:
the jet pump is a first jet pump, which pumps the stored fuel of the fuel tank from a location on a lower side of the sub-tank into the inside of the sub-tank;
the fuel supply device comprises a second jet pump that is received in the inside of the sub-tank;
the second jet pump discharges pressurized fuel from a nozzle passage into a diffuser passage in the second jet pump and thereby pumps the stored fuel of the fuel tank from a corresponding location of the fuel tank, which is other than the location on the lower side of the sub-tank, into the inside of the sub-tank through the diffuser passage of the second jet pump; and
the swirling wall structure includes a confluence opening, through which a fuel flow outputted from a flow outlet of the diffuser passage of the second jet pump is merged with the fuel flow outputted from the flow outlet of the diffuser passage of the first jet pump.

Assignees

• Denso Corp

Inventors

• Hayashi Norihiro
• Kobayashi Kiyomori

Classifications

• F02M37/0088

  Multiple separate fuel tanks or tanks being at least partially partitioned · CPC title

• F02M37/106

  the pump being installed in a sub-tank · CPC title

• F02M37/025 Primary

  Feeding by means of a liquid fuel-driven jet pump (jet pumps per se F04F) · CPC title

• B60K2015/0325

  Jet pumps · CPC title

• B60K2015/03144

  Fluid connections between the tanks · CPC title