A new type of internal box support for high-pressure plastic fuel tank

Abstract

The present invention relates to a novel internal box body support component of a high-pressure plastic fuel tank, wherein the support component comprises a column assembly for supporting and a welding assembly for connecting with the inner wall of the fuel tank, wherein the welding assembly is mounted to the column assembly by mechanical assembly; the technical solution realizes the detachable assembly of the box body support rod, and the molding is simple; the cross section of the box body support rod of the technical solution is set to be Y-shaped, which occupies a small volume and reduces the rated volume loss of the fuel tank; the technical solution shares the assembly parts, and increases the modularity and flexibility of the design.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a support component, in particular to a new type of internal box body support component of a high-pressure plastic fuel tank, belonging to the technical field of fuel tank structural components. Background Art

[0002] With the popularity of plug-in hybrid vehicles, the requirements for the high-pressure resistance of fuel tanks are getting higher and higher. When plug-in hybrid vehicles are driven by electric motors for a long time, that is, when the engine is not working for a long time, the fuel tank is sealed for a long time and cannot be vented. Under the conditions of the temperature difference between day and night and the long-term sealing of the fuel tank, the accumulation of fuel vapor will generate a large pressure inside the fuel tank, and the positive pressure can reach about 35kPa and the negative pressure can reach about -15kPa. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a fuel tank with high-pressure resistance for use in the fuel system of hybrid vehicles.

[0003] The structure and performance of traditional high-pressure resistant fuel tanks are as follows: Metal fuel tanks can meet the functional requirements of plug-in hybrid vehicle fuel tanks for high pressure resistance, but metal fuel tanks have poor fuel corrosion resistance, are heavy, have low design freedom, and cannot adapt to the trend of lightweight vehicles and increasingly complex vehicle chassis space.

[0004] In the field of plastic fuel tanks, the high-pressure resistance requirement of the fuel tank is usually achieved by using a mold to squeeze and connect the upper and lower surfaces of the plastic parison during the blow molding process. This structure is commonly known as KISS-OFF in the industry, but the connection strength of this structure is low, and the rated volume of the fuel tank is greatly sacrificed, which is less economical.

[0005] As the installation technology of internal parts of plastic fuel tanks matures, it is possible to consider increasing the rigidity of plastic fuel tanks by placing tank support rods inside the plastic fuel tanks to achieve high-pressure resistance of plastic fuel tanks. However, the traditional plastic fuel tank support rods have complex structures, high requirements for the one-piece molding process, and occupy a large internal volume of the tank. They cannot be designed universally and cannot be well matched with tanks of different heights. The traditional fuel system has the following problems: 1) The shortcomings of traditional high-pressure resistant tanks; 2) Metal high-pressure resistant tanks have poor fuel corrosion resistance, heavy weight, and low design freedom; 3) The KISS-OFF plastic high-pressure tank connection strength is low, which has a great impact on the rated volume of the tank; the traditional plastic fuel tank support rods have poor universality and design flexibility. Therefore, a new solution is urgently needed to solve this technical problem. Summary of the invention

[0006] The present invention is aimed at the technical problems existing in the prior art and provides a new type of internal box support for a high-pressure plastic fuel tank. The technical solution is cleverly designed and compact in structure. The technical solution realizes the detachable assembly of the box support rod and is easy to form. The box support rod of the technical solution occupies a small volume, reducing the rated volume loss of the fuel tank. The technical solution shares assembly parts, which increases the modularity and flexibility of the design.

[0007] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the technical solution of the present invention is as follows: a new type of high-pressure plastic fuel tank internal box support, characterized in that the support includes a column assembly for support and a welding assembly for connecting to the inner wall of the fuel tank, and the welding assembly is installed to the column body assembly through mechanical assembly.

[0008] As an improvement of the present invention, the column assembly includes a column body and end ribs arranged at both ends of the column body. The column body and the end ribs are connected by integral molding.

[0009] As an improvement of the present invention, the end of the end rib is provided with an end clamping claw for assembly and fixing in an assembly groove of the welding body.

[0010] As an improvement of the present invention, the cross section of the column body is set to a Y-shaped cross section, and the end rib is set to an end Y-shaped rib. In addition, the end rib can also be designed into other shapes according to actual needs, mainly for assembling welding components and fixing them inside the oil tank.

[0011] As an improvement of the present invention, a notch groove is provided at the root of both ends of the column body, and the angle of the notch groove is 30°-60°. A notch feature is designed at the root of the column body. When the oil tank is in a condition such as falling or colliding, stress concentration at the notch at the root of the column body causes fracture, which can absorb the impact energy and prevent leakage of the oil tank. The notch angle is generally designed within the range of 30° to 60°, and a notch angle of 40° is recommended. Since the notch structure is designed in three directions at the end of the Y-shaped cross-section of the column body, collision in any direction can form stress concentration at the notch, which is convenient for fracture and ensures that the oil tank body is not damaged.

[0012] As an improvement of the present invention, the welding assembly includes a welding body and pits arranged on the welding body, the welding body is provided with an assembly groove and a welding body rib, and the welding body rib is arranged in the middle of the assembly groove. A cylindrical pit structure is designed on the upper part of the welding body. Through the pit structure, the welding body can be welded to the inner wall of the plastic fuel tank. The claws at the end of the column body are pressed into the assembly groove of the welding body by their own elastic deformation. When the claws reach the end of the assembly groove, the claws return to their original state. The welding body can be assembled to the column body through this assembled structure connection method. The assemblable method of the welding body reduces the design difficulty of the support rod, simplifies the molding process, and shortens the development cycle of the support rod. In order to ensure the flatness of the pit structure and facilitate the welding of the support rod to the inner wall of the fuel tank, a rib structure is designed in the middle of the assembly groove of the welding body.

[0013] As an improvement of the present invention, the number of the welding assemblies is at least 2, which are respectively fixed at two ends of the column assembly.

[0014] As an improvement of the present invention, the number of the welding assemblies is 6, which are respectively fixed on the upper Y-shaped ribs at both ends of the column assembly.

[0015] As an improvement of the present invention, the angle of the notch groove is 40°.

[0016] As an improvement of the present invention, the column body is configured as a plastic part or a metal part covering a plastic part structure.

[0017] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages: 1) The overall structural design of the technical solution is compact and ingenious, and the solution can improve the performance and quality of the fuel system: the technical solution realizes the detachable assembly of the box support rod, and the molding is simple; 2) The box support rod occupies a small volume, reducing the rated volume loss of the fuel tank; 3) The solution designs a notch structure in three directions at the end of the Y-shaped cross-section of the column body, that is, a notch groove is provided, and collision in any direction can form stress concentration at the notch, which is convenient for fracture and ensures that the fuel tank body is not damaged; 4) The claw at the end of the column body of the solution is pressed into the assembly groove of the welding body by its own elastic deformation. When the claw reaches the end of the assembly groove, the claw returns to its original state. In this way, the welding body can be assembled to the column body; the assembleable method of the welding body reduces the design difficulty of the support rod, simplifies the molding process, and shortens the development cycle of the support rod. The assembly parts of the solution are shared, which increases the modularity and flexibility of the design. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the support rod explosion;

[0020] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the column body structure;

[0021] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the cross-sectional structure of the column body;

[0022] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the notch structure at the root of the column;

[0023] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the welding body structure;

[0024] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the structure after the welding body is assembled;

[0025] Figure 8-Figure 11 It is a schematic diagram of the forming state of the oil tank provided with the support member;

[0026] In the figure: 1. welding assembly, 2. column assembly, 21. end claw, 22. column body cross section, 23. end rib, 24. notch groove, 25. column body, 11. pitting, 12. assembly groove, 13. welding rib, 14. welding body, 3. mold, 4. blank, 5. intermediate mold, 6. support. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] In order to deepen the understanding of the present invention, the present embodiment is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0028] Example 1: See Figure 1 , Figure 2 , a new type of internal tank support for a high-pressure plastic fuel tank, the support includes a column assembly 2 for support and a welding assembly 1 for connecting to the inner wall of the fuel tank, the welding assembly 1 is installed to the column assembly by mechanical assembly, and the plastic fuel tank support consists of a welding assembly and a column assembly. The column assembly 2 includes a column body 25 and end ribs 23 arranged at both ends of the column body. The column body 25 can be a plastic part, made of materials such as POM, PA, PPA, PBT, PPS, PEEK, etc.; the column body 25 can also be made of metal parts and plastic parts through processes such as rubber coating. Generally, the metal parts are inside and the plastic parts are outside. The metal parts coated inside play a role in enhancing the strength and rigidity of the support rod. See Figure 6 , Figure 7The welding assembly 1 includes a welding body 14 and pits 11 arranged on the welding body. The welding body is generally made of HDPE or other materials that can be welded to the inner wall of the plastic fuel tank. The welding body 14 is installed on the column body 25 through mechanical assembly, and the support rod is fixed to the inner wall of the fuel tank by welding the welding bodies at both ends to the inner surface of the plastic fuel tank. When the plastic fuel tank is under excessive positive pressure or negative pressure, the plastic fuel tank can be supported to prevent the plastic fuel tank from deformation and ensure the normal use of the plastic fuel tank. A cylindrical pitting structure is designed on the upper part of the welding body, and the welding body can be firmly welded to the inner wall of the plastic fuel tank through the pitting structure.

[0029] Example 2: See Figure 3 , Figure 4 , Figure 6 , Figure 7 As an improvement of the present invention, the end of the end rib plate 23 is provided with an end claw 21, the cross section 22 of the column body is set as a Y-shaped cross section, and the end rib plate 23 is set as an end Y-shaped rib plate. The welding body 14 is provided with an assembly groove 12 and a welding body rib plate 13, and the welding body rib plate is arranged in the middle of the assembly groove; the column body cross section of the support rod adopts a Y-shaped design, which not only meets the strength requirements of the support rod, but also does not occupy too much internal volume of the fuel tank, and can meet the rated volume design of the fuel tank to the maximum extent. Y-shaped rib plates are designed in the circumferential direction of the end of the column body, and claw structures are designed on the Y-shaped rib plates, and the welding body is assembled to the column body by relying on the elastic deformation of the claws. By installing the welding body in three directions of the Y-shaped rib plate at the end of the column body, and then welding the welding body and the inner wall of the plastic fuel tank, it can be ensured that the column body will not fall off inside the fuel tank. In the development process of plastic high-pressure fuel tanks of different heights, the welding body can be developed as a universal part. In addition, by simply adjusting the mold, the development of column bodies with the same cross-sectional shape and different heights can be easily achieved. This design allows for detachable assembly of the support rod, reduces the design difficulty and development cycle of the column body, and can be quickly applied to the development of plastic high-pressure fuel tanks of different heights. The claw at the end of the column body is pressed into the assembly groove of the welding body by virtue of its own elastic deformation. When the claw reaches the end of the assembly groove, the claw returns to its original state. In this way, the welding body can be assembled to the column body. The assemblable method of the welding body reduces the design difficulty of the support rod, simplifies the molding process, and shortens the development cycle of the support rod. In order to ensure the flatness of the pitting structure and facilitate the welding of the support rod to the inner wall of the fuel tank, a rib structure is designed in the middle of the assembly groove of the welding body. The structure of the welding body and the state after assembly are shown as follows. Figure 7 The remaining structures and advantages are exactly the same as those of embodiment 1.

[0030] Example 3: See Figure 5As an improvement of the present invention, a notch groove 24 is provided at the root of both ends of the column body, and the angle of the notch groove is 30°-60°, and preferably, the angle of the notch groove is 40°. A notch feature is designed at the root of the column body. When the oil tank is in a condition such as falling or colliding, stress concentration at the notch at the root of the column body causes fracture, which can absorb the impact energy and prevent leakage of the oil tank. The notch angle is generally designed within the range of 30° to 60°, and a notch angle of 40° is recommended. Since the notch structure is designed in three directions at the end of the Y-shaped cross-section of the column body, collision in any direction can form stress concentration at the notch, which is convenient for fracture and ensures that the oil tank body is not damaged. The remaining structures and advantages are exactly the same as those in Example 1.

[0031] Example 4: See Figure 1 , Figure 2 As an improvement of the present invention, the number of the welding assemblies is at least 2, which are respectively fixed at the two ends of the column assembly. In this technical solution, the number of the welding assemblies is 6, which are respectively fixed on the upper Y-shaped ribs at the two ends of the column assembly. The rest of the structure and advantages are exactly the same as those of Example 1.

[0032] Set up the tank molding process of this support: see Figure 8-Figure 11 , the plastic fuel tank support rod placement process, the entire process of installing the support rod inside the plastic fuel tank requires blow molding machines, molds, intermediate molds, manipulators and other equipment, as follows:

[0033] a. The blow molding machine forms two pieces of parisons between the left and right half molds 3 and the middle mold 5. The schematic diagram of the blow molding machine unloading process is as follows Figure 8 As shown;

[0034] b. The left and right half molds and the middle mold are combined to preform the fuel tank, such as Fig. 9 As shown;

[0035] c. After the fuel tank is preformed, the left and right half molds are opened, the middle mold is moved to the other side, and the support rod 6 is placed on the fuel tank shell in the left and right half molds by the robot arm. Fig.10 As shown;

[0036] d. The robot arm moves out, the left and right half molds are closed, and the fuel tank is finally formed. Fig.11 As shown, the plastic support rod can be installed inside the plastic fuel tank through the above method.

[0037] The present invention can also combine at least one of the technical features described in Examples 2, 3, and 4 with Example 1 to form a new implementation manner.

[0038] It should be noted that the above embodiments are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention, and equivalent changes or substitutions made on the basis of the above technical solutions all fall within the protection scope of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A new type of high-pressure plastic fuel tank internal box support, characterized in that: The support member includes a column assembly for supporting and a welding assembly for connecting with the inner wall of the oil tank, and the welding assembly is installed to the column assembly by mechanical assembly. The column assembly includes a column body and end ribs arranged at both ends of the column body. The end of the end rib is provided with an end claw, and the roots of the two ends of the column body are provided with a notch groove, and the angle of the notch groove is 30°-60°. The welding assembly comprises a welding body and pits arranged on the welding body, the welding body is provided with an assembly groove and a welding body rib plate, and the welding body rib plate is arranged in the middle of the assembly groove, The number of the welding assemblies is 6, which are respectively fixed on the Y-shaped ribs at both ends of the column assembly; The fuel tank molding process of setting up the support part: the plastic fuel tank support rod placement process, the entire process of installing the support rod into the plastic fuel tank requires a blow molding machine, a mold, an intermediate mold, and a manipulator, as follows: a. The blow molding machine forms two pieces of parison between the left and right half molds and the middle mold; b. The left and right half molds and the middle mold are combined to preform the fuel tank; c. After the fuel tank is preformed, the left and right half molds are opened, the middle mold is moved to the other side, and the support rods are placed on the fuel tank shells in the left and right half molds by the robotic arm; d. The robotic arm moves out, the left and right half molds are closed, and the fuel tank is finally formed.

2. The new high-pressure plastic fuel tank internal box support according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The cross section of the column body is set to be a Y-shaped cross section, and the end rib plate is set as an end Y-shaped rib plate as a whole.

3. The new high-pressure plastic fuel tank internal box support according to claim 2 is characterized in that: The angle of the notch is 40°.

4. The new high-pressure plastic fuel tank internal box support according to claim 3 is characterized in that: The column body is configured as a plastic part or a metal part covering a plastic part structure.

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