Fuel tank opening and closing device

Abstract

A fuel tank opening and closing device is equipped with a flap valve mechanism having an opening and closing member for opening and closing an inlet inside a tank opening forming member. The nozzle positioning guide mechanism has a first support mechanism of an opening peripheral edge of an introduction port of an insertion path of a tank opening forming member, a second support mechanism having an introduction guide surface formed on the top surface of the pressing member of the opening and closing member, and a positioning ridge line that has a curvature almost the same but slightly larger than the outer diameter of the fueling nozzle and which touches by line contact on the outer peripheral surface of the fueling nozzle at the insertion completion position, and a third support mechanism having a valve positioning member which regulates the degree of openness of the opening and closing member by touching the inner wall of the tank opening forming member.

Description

[0001]This application claims the benefit of and priority from Japanese Applications No. 2010-80258 filed Mar. 31, 2010, and No. 2010-80261 filed Mar. 31, 2010, and the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates to a fuel tank opening and closing device for opening a flap valve using the insertion force of a fueling nozzle to fuel a fuel tank.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]A example of a related fuel tank opening and closing mechanism includes a flap valve mechanism provided at the fuel cap, disclosed in JP-A 2007-331518. The flap valve mechanism is sealed by closing the inlet of the fuel path using the flap valve as well as by energization using a spring. The flap valve mechanism opens the inlet by pressing the flap valve against the spring energization force using the fueling nozzle during fueling. When fuel is injected from the fueling nozzle, the fuel rises in ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007]An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to provide a fuel tank opening and closing device that can realize positioning of the fueling nozzle during fueling with a simple constitution.

[0011]Therefore, when doing fueling, the fueling nozzle is guided by the nozzle positioning guide mechanism until the opening and closing member is opened from the insertion path and it reaches the insertion completion position, without swaying, so it is possible to do a simple insertion task smoothly. In fact, the fueling nozzle is positioned in relation to the insertion direction at three locations by the insertion completion position, so there is no imprudent operation of the auto stop due to contact of the fuel within the fuel path.

[0013]The valve positioning member of the third support mechanism of application example 3 can have a constitution having a curved abutting part that touches the inner wall of the cylinder of the aforementioned tank opening forming member. With this constitution, the valve positioning member is supported in a state with its abutting part closely adhered to the tank opening forming member, so the fueling nozzle is reliably supported on the opening and closing member, and it is possible to further prevent shakiness at the insertion completion position.

[0014]Equipped with an opening and closing activation mechanism for putting the flap valve mechanism of the application example 4 in the locked position as well as putting the aforementioned flap valve mechanism at the unlocked position when pressed by the aforementioned fueling nozzle, the aforementioned opening and closing activation mechanism can be constituted to be equipped with a nozzle detection mechanism arranged in the aforementioned insertion path and having an introduction pressing part for receiving the movement force in the insertion direction by the aforementioned fueling nozzle, and a lock mechanism having a lock member that selectively takes a locked position for locking the opening operation of the aforementioned opening and closing member and an unlocked position for allowing the opening operation of the aforementioned opening and closing member, and that couples with the aforementioned introduction pressing part and moves the aforementioned lock member from the aforementioned locked position to the aforementioned unlocked position. This kind of nozzle positioning guide mechanism can be optimally handled regardless of whether or not there is a nozzle detection mechanism.

[0017]With application example 2, the aforementioned pressing member and the tank opening forming member can be formed from conductive resin. When forming the tank opening forming member and the pressing member using resin in this way, charging occurs easily, but by forming part of the pressing member or the like using conductive resin, it is possible to realize a grounding path that can remove the charge reliably.

Problems solved by technology

With the fuel tank opening and closing device, because the opening operation is done by pressing the flap valve with the tip of the fueling nozzle, the fueling nozzle sways easily during insertion, and there are times when the insertion work cannot be done smoothly.

During fueling, as the fueling nozzle is insufficiently positioned at the outer edge of the inlet, the fueling nozzle sways easily, the sensor erroneously operates auto stop due to airborne droplets of fuel, and there were cases of trouble with fueling.