Fuel supply devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9951729-B2
Application number	US-201515505647-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 10, 2015
Priority date	Aug 26, 2014
Publication date	Apr 24, 2018
Grant date	Apr 24, 2018

Abstract

A fuel supply device has a cover member which is attached to an opening of a fuel tank, a pump unit comprising a pump, and a connecting portion configured to connect the cover member and the pump unit. A connecting shaft which is formed to one of the two connected members of the connecting portion is inserted into a connecting hole which is formed to the other of the two such that the pump unit is connected to be relatively movable to the connecting portion. The pump unit includes an upper base on which the pump is placed, and a lower base which contacts to the fuel tank. The upper base and the lower base are coupled through attachments whereby an engagement portion of the upper base is fitted into a recessed portion formed on the side of the lower base. The recessed portion has a pair of planes opposing to each other and oriented toward a bottom surface of the lower base from a predetermined position. The recessed portion is further configured such that an interval between a pair of the planes is gradually increased toward the bottom surface.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A fuel supply device comprising:
a cover member which is attached to an opening of a fuel tank;
a pump unit comprising a pump and a base portion;
a connecting portion configured to connect the cover member and the pump unit;
a connecting shaft which connects the pump unit to the connecting portion; and
a connecting hole into which the connecting shaft is inserted to thereby allow the pump unit to move relative to the connecting portion, wherein
the pump unit base portion includes an upper base on which the pump is placed, as well as a lower base,
the upper base and the lower base are coupled together via an engagement portion of the upper base which complementarily fits with a counter engagement portion surrounded by a recessed portion formed on the side of the lower base,
the recessed portion has a pair of planes opposing each other and oriented toward a bottom surface of the lower base from a predetermined position, and
the recessed portion is configured such that the horizontal distance between the pair of the planes is gradually increased as the planes vertically approach the bottom surface.

2. The fuel supply device of claim 1 , wherein
a step is formed on an upper surface side of the upper base, and
a guide portion is configured to prevent the step from being stuck on an edge around the opening of a fuel tank.

3. The fuel supply device of claim 2 , wherein the guide portion has an inclined surface inclined with respect to the bottom surface of the lower base.

4. The fuel supply device of claim 1 , wherein
the connecting portion includes a rod member with one end connected to the cover member and a joint which is connected to the rod member and slidably movable along the rod member in a vertical direction, and
the leading end of the rod member is positioned above a lower end of the joint when the joint is positioned at a lower end position.

5. The fuel supply device of claim 4 , wherein
the joint includes a guide surface inclined with respect to the vertical axis of the rod member, and
when the joint is moved with the guide surface abutting to the fuel tank, the pump unit can be moved toward a predetermined position.

6. The fuel supply device of claim 4 , wherein the leading end of the rod member is always positioned above the lower end of the joint at all times before and after insertion into a fuel tank.

7. The fuel supply device of claim 1 , wherein
the connecting portion includes a rod member with one end connected to the cover member and a joint which is slidably connected to the rod member, and
a lower end of the rod member is formed as a curved surface.

8. The fuel supply device of claim 1 , wherein the fuel supply device is inserted into the fuel tank while being moved in leftward or rightward direction.

9. The fuel supply device of claim 1 , wherein the engagement portion of the upper base comprises a U-shaped flange extending from a lateral surface of the upper base in the XZ plane.

10. The fuel supply device of claim 9 , wherein the U-shaped flange of the engagement portion engages with the counter engagement and the recessed portion where the counter engagement portion comprises a triangular prismatic shaped protrusion in the YZ plane such that said protrusion can be inserted into a hole formed by the U-shape flange of the engagement portion, wherein the engagement portion is fitted fixedly within the cavity formed by the recessed portion when the engagement and counter engagement portions are in a complementary fit configuration.

11. The fuel supply device of claim 10 , wherein the device is configured such that when the engagement and counter engagement portions are in a complementary fit configuration, the protruding length of the counter engagement portion and the flange of the engagement portion correspond to the same length in the outward Y direction perpendicular to the XZ plane, where, the flange and an outward tip of the counter engagement portion are coplanar with each other in the XZ plane, wherein said configuration forms a feature which can prevent the protrusion and the flange from getting caught on an edge around the opening of a fuel tank when the device is moved or inserted relative to the tank.

12. The fuel supply device of claim 1 , wherein the device includes a guide portion in the shape of a bent wire or a plate which has an inclined surface so as to be inclined relative to the bottom surface of the pump unit, which prevents edges and steps on the upper and lower surfaces of the base portion from being caught on an edge around the opening of a fuel tank when the device is moved.

13. The fuel supply device of claim 1 , wherein the device includes a guide portion formed as part of the base portion, extending from a lateral surface of the base portion, where said guide portion has an inclined surface towards the leading end of the base portion in a substantially triangular prismatic shape, preventing steps and other recessed and protruding members on the base portion from protruding upwardly beyond the guide, which serves to prevent the said steps and other recessed and protruding members from getting caught or stuck on the edge around the opening of a fuel tank when the device is moved or inserted relative to the tank.

14. The fuel supply device of claim 1 , wherein a strip support portion is provided circumferentially around the pump of the pump unit in the middle of its longitudinal direction, and is used to fix the pump to the base portion of the pump unit, wherein thus a rectangular parallelepiped guide portion is provided proximately adjacent to the strip support portion on the pump, which prevents the strip support portion and any steps formed therein from being caught or stuck on the edge around the opening of a fuel tank when the device is moved or inserted relative to the tank.

15. The fuel supply device of claim 1 , wherein the width of the recessed portion is formed to increase gradually from a predetermined part along the recessed portion as it vertically approaches the bottom surface of the lower base, wherein said predetermined part is configured to be of an isosceles trapezoidal shape as seen from a side view, where the top of this shape in the Z direction is the same height and corresponds with the lower end position of the flange of the engagement portion, wherein said trapezoidal shape thus minimizes the chances of the recessed portion being caught on the edge around the opening of a fuel tank when the device is moved or inserted relative to the tank.

16. The fuel supply device of claim 1 , wherein an engagement portion is provided at the base portion of the pump unit, configured in approximately a trapezoidal shape extending from a lateral side of the base portion which contacts on a bottom face of a fuel tank when the fuel supply device is inserted into such a tank, wherein an inclination angle formed by one of the legs of the trapezoid proximal to the connecting portion forms an angle of substantially 45 degrees, and the leg non-proximal to the connecting portion forms an angle of substantially 60 degrees with respect to the lateral surface of the lower base portion in the XY plane, wherein due to the specific angle range, the engagement portion is prevented from getting caught or stuck on the edge around the opening of such a fuel tank, when the device is moved or inserted relative to the tank.

17. A fuel supply device comprising:
a cover member which is attached to an opening of a fuel tank;
a pump unit comprising a pump and a base portion, a bottom surface, and an upper surface

Assignees

• Aisan Ind

Inventors

• Fukui Tatsuki
• Yoshida Koji
• Niwa Kensuke
• Higashi Shinya
• Murakoshi Yuichi
• Ishida Hidetomo
• Kariya Hiroyasu
• Tanikawa Hironori
• Fujiwara Takuhito

Classifications

• F02M37/103 Primary

  Mounting pumps on fuel tanks · CPC title

• F02M37/10

  submerged in fuel, e.g. in reservoir · CPC title