Oil level detector, oil tank and vehicle

Abstract

The utility model provides an oil level detector, an oil tank and a vehicle, and relates to the technical field of oil level detection. The oil level detector comprises a shell, wherein an oil liquid containing cavity is formed in the shell; the two electrode plates are arranged in the oil liquid containing cavity, and the two electrode plates are oppositely arranged in the width direction of the shell so as to jointly form a capacitor used for detecting the oil level in the oil liquid containing cavity. The oil level detector can improve the accuracy of oil level detection, and is simple in structure and good in reliability.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of oil level detection, and in particular to an oil level detector, an oil tank and a vehicle. Background Art

[0002] At present, there are mainly two schemes for oil level detection. Scheme 1 is the sliding rheostat scheme, which uses a float plus a mechanical connecting rod to connect the sliding rheostat. The buoyancy generated in the oil tank pushes the float and the mechanical connecting rod to change the resistance of the sliding rheostat. By detecting the change in the resistance of the sliding rheostat, the oil level in the tank can be detected. However, the sliding rheostat scheme is prone to inaccurate detection caused by the float or connecting rod getting stuck. In addition, the float and mechanical connecting rod push the sliding rheostat, which is a mechanical movement, and is prone to structural damage caused by wear, mechanical fatigue, etc.

[0003] Solution 2 is a reed switch or Hall solution, which adds a magnet to the float. The float suspended on the oil surface changes the state of the reed switch or Hall device through the magnet. The current oil level can be determined by detecting the state of the reed switch or Hall device. However, during the refueling process, some substances in the oil will be attracted by the magnet on the float, causing the weight of the float to change, thereby affecting the accuracy of oil level detection. In addition, too much impurities adsorbed on the float can also cause the float to get stuck and malfunction. Summary of the invention

[0004] Some embodiments of the present application provide an oil level detector, an oil tank and a vehicle. The present application is introduced from multiple aspects below, and the embodiments and beneficial effects of the following aspects can be referenced to each other.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present application provides an oil level detector, comprising: a shell, an oil containing chamber is formed inside the shell; two electrode plates, the two electrode plates are arranged in the oil containing chamber, the two electrode plates are arranged opposite to each other and spaced apart along the width direction of the shell, so as to jointly form a capacitor for detecting the oil level in the oil containing chamber.

[0006] According to the implementation mode of the present application, the oil level can be determined by detecting the capacitance of the capacitor. In the solution provided by the present application, the problem of inaccurate oil level detection caused by mechanical structure failure or float weight change can be avoided to improve the accuracy of oil level detection. In addition, the oil level detector provided by the present application also has the advantages of simple structure and high reliability.

[0007] In some embodiments, an air inlet hole connected to the oil containing chamber is provided on the top wall of the shell, and an oil inlet hole connected to the oil containing chamber is provided on the bottom wall of the shell, wherein the aperture of the air inlet hole is smaller than the aperture of the oil inlet hole.

[0008] According to the embodiment of the present application, since the aperture of the air inlet hole is smaller than the aperture of the oil inlet hole, a pressure difference is formed inside and outside the oil receiving chamber, generating air pressure resistance, which hinders the outflow of the internal oil, so that the oil level inside the oil receiving chamber can remain unchanged when the oil level shakes, thereby making the capacitance value of the capacitor unchanged. In this case, the current oil level can be accurately detected by measuring the capacitance value of the capacitor, ensuring the accuracy of oil level detection when the oil shakes.

[0009] In some embodiments, the diameter of the air inlet hole is one third to one half of the diameter of the oil inlet hole.

[0010] In some embodiments, the air inlet and the oil inlet are disposed between the two electrode plates along the width direction.

[0011] In some embodiments, two electrode plates are connected to the top wall of the housing.

[0012] In some embodiments, the two electrode plates are suspended in the oil receiving chamber of the shell.

[0013] In some embodiments, the surfaces of the two electrode plates are insulating materials.

[0014] In some embodiments, the oil level detector further includes: a detection unit for detecting a current capacitance value of the capacitor and determining a current oil level in the oil containing chamber according to the current capacitance value.

[0015] In a second aspect, the present application provides an oil tank, including the oil level detector provided by the embodiment of the first aspect. The beneficial effects that can be achieved in the second aspect can refer to the beneficial effects of the oil level detector provided by any embodiment of the first aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0016] In a third aspect, the present application provides a vehicle, including the oil level detector provided by the embodiment of the first aspect or the oil tank provided by the embodiment of the second aspect. The beneficial effects that can be achieved in the third aspect can refer to the beneficial effects of the oil tank provided by any embodiment of the second aspect, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the structure of a fuel tank provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0018] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of an oil level detector provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0019] Figure 3A A schematic diagram of the structure of the electrode plate provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0020] Figure 3B A schematic diagram of the structure of another electrode plate provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the structure of another oil level detector provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0022] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a flow chart of an oil level detection method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the process of establishing a fuel tank data model provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] As described in the background technology section, the current oil level detection scheme has the problem of inaccurate oil level detection. To this end, an embodiment of the present application provides an oil level detector, in which a capacitor is provided in an oil containing chamber, and when the oil level in the oil containing chamber changes, the capacitance of the capacitor changes accordingly. Therefore, the oil level can be determined by detecting the capacitance of the capacitor. In the scheme provided by the present application, the problem of inaccurate oil level detection caused by mechanical structure failure or change in float weight can be avoided to improve the accuracy of oil level detection. In addition, the oil level detector provided by the present application also has the advantages of simple structure and high reliability.

[0025] The specific embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the various figures herein, the X direction is the width direction of each component (eg, the oil level detector), and the Y direction is the height direction of each component (eg, the oil level detector).

[0026] It should be noted that the directional terms such as "upper", "lower", "top", and "bottom" herein are exemplary directions of the oil level detector, which are relative directions determined according to the working state of the oil level detector, and do not indicate or imply that the components referred to must have a specific direction. They may change accordingly according to the actual use scenario and cannot be understood as limitations on this application.

[0027] Figure 1 The oil tank 100 provided in the embodiment of the present application is exemplarily shown, and the oil tank 100 includes an oil level detector 200, and the oil level detector 200 can be used to detect the oil level in the oil tank 100. Exemplarily, the oil level detector 200 can be located at the bottom of the oil tank 100.

[0028] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the oil level detector 200 provided in this embodiment. Figure 2 The oil level detector 200 includes a housing 210 and two electrode plates (electrode plate 221 and electrode plate 222). An oil receiving chamber 230 is formed inside the housing 210. The electrode plates 221 and 222 are disposed in the oil receiving chamber 230 and are arranged opposite to each other along the width direction of the housing 210 to form a capacitor 240 together.

[0029] The capacitor 240 can be used to detect the oil level in the oil containing chamber 230. Specifically, the calculation formula of the capacitance value of the capacitor 240 can be:

[0030]

[0031] Wherein, C is the capacitance value of the capacitor 240, ε is the dielectric constant of the medium between the electrode plates 221 and 222, S is the overlapping area of ​​the electrode plates 221 and 222, and k is the electrostatic force constant, k=9.988×10 9 Nm / C, d is the distance between the electrode plates 221 and 222 in the width direction.

[0032] The overlapping area S is specifically: the projection area of ​​one of the electrode plates 211 and 222 on the other electrode plate along the width direction. It can be understood that in some embodiments, when the electrode plates 221 and 222 have the same area and the electrode plates 221 and 222 are aligned with each other along the width direction, the overlapping area S is equal to the area of ​​the electrode plate 221 or the electrode plate 222.

[0033] In some embodiments, the electrode plates 221 and 222 may be of the same shape and size. Optionally, the electrode plates 221 and 222 may be made of metal. In addition, the electrode plates 221 and 222 may be parallel to each other and may be perpendicular to the width direction of the oil level detector 200.

[0034] It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present application, the overlapping area S and the distance d of the electrode plates 221 and 222 can be set according to the actual scene requirements, and no restrictions are imposed here. For example, the distance d can be 0.3 to 0.8 times the width of the oil level detector 200.

[0035] The oil and air between the electrode plates 221 and 222 are the medium of the capacitor 240. It can be understood that the dielectric constant ε between the electrode plates 221 and 222 changes with the change of the oil level between the electrode plates 221 and 222, and accordingly, the capacitance value of the capacitor 240 changes with the change of the dielectric constant ε. Among them, the higher the oil level between the electrode plates 221 and 222, the greater the dielectric constant ε, and the greater the capacitance value C of the capacitor 240. Conversely, the lower the oil level between the electrode plates 221 and 222, the smaller the dielectric constant ε, and the smaller the capacitance value C of the capacitor 240. Therefore, the oil level between the electrode plates 221 and 222 can be determined by measuring the capacitance value of the capacitor 240.

[0036] In the embodiment of the present application, the oil level is detected by using the capacitance change of the capacitor 240. Compared with the sliding rheostat solution, there is no relative movement between the structures, so the problem of inaccurate oil level detection caused by structural failure can be avoided; compared with the reed switch / Hall solution, the problem of inaccurate oil level detection caused by the change of the float weight can be avoided. Therefore, the solution of the present application can improve the accuracy of oil level detection.

[0037] In addition, the solution of the present application realizes oil level detection through capacitor 240, and there is no structural problem such as wear and fatigue, and the structure is simple and the reliability is high.

[0038] Furthermore, an air inlet hole 211 communicating with the oil containing chamber 230 is provided on the top wall of the shell 210, and an oil inlet hole 212 communicating with the oil containing chamber 230 is provided on the bottom wall of the shell 210, wherein the aperture of the air inlet hole 211 is smaller than the aperture of the oil inlet hole 212.

[0039] When the oil in the oil tank 100 sways, the oil in the oil tank 100 enters or flows out of the oil containing chamber 230 of the oil level detector 200 from the oil inlet hole 212. Since the aperture of the air inlet hole 211 is smaller than the aperture of the oil inlet hole 212, the speed at which the oil in the oil containing chamber 230 flows outward is limited by the speed at which the air flows inward, and the speed at which the oil in the oil containing chamber 230 flows inward is limited by the speed at which the air flows outward. That is to say, when the oil outside the oil containing chamber 230 flows into the oil containing chamber 230 from the oil inlet hole 212 or the oil inside the oil containing chamber 230 flows out from the oil inlet hole 212, the air pressure inside the oil containing chamber 230 cannot quickly reach air pressure balance due to the restriction of the air inlet hole 211, thereby generating air pressure resistance, hindering the outflow of oil from the oil containing chamber 230 and the inflow of oil from the outside of the oil containing chamber 230, causing the speed at which the oil flows in or out of the oil inlet hole 212 to be relatively slow.

[0040] Therefore, when the oil in the oil tank 100 shakes, the oil in the oil tank 100 cannot quickly flow into the oil containing chamber 230 from the oil inlet hole 212, or the oil in the oil containing chamber 230 cannot quickly flow out from the oil inlet hole 212, thereby ensuring the stability of the oil level inside the oil containing chamber 230, and further ensuring the accuracy of the oil level detection by the oil level detector 200 when the oil shakes.

[0041] It should be noted that the diameter of the air inlet 211 and the diameter of the oil inlet 212 can be set according to the capacity and shape of the oil receiving chamber 230, and no limitation is made here. In some embodiments, the diameter of the air inlet 211 can be one third to one half of the diameter of the oil inlet 212.

[0042] In some embodiments, along the width direction, the air inlet 211 and the oil inlet 212 are disposed between the electrode plates 221 and 222. Thus, when the oil level in the oil tank 100 changes, the oil level between the electrode plates 221 and 222 changes first, thereby improving the detection sensitivity of the oil level detector 200.

[0043] In some embodiments, the electrode plates 221 and 222 are not connected to the bottom wall of the housing 210. Figure 2 Since the electrode plates 221 and 222 are not connected to the bottom wall of the shell 210, the oil can flow into the space on both sides of the electrode plates 221 and 222 from the oil inlet hole 212. The oil in the space on both sides can stabilize the oil level between the electrode plates 221 and 222.

[0044] In some embodiments, the electrode plates 221 , 222 are connected to the top wall of the housing 210 to simplify the fixing method of the electrode plates in the housing 210 .

[0045] In some embodiments, the oil level detector 200 may be placed at the bottom of the oil tank 100. In this embodiment, the oil level between the electrode plates 221 and 222 is used as the oil level of the oil tank 100 where the oil level detector 200 is located.

[0046] An exemplary structure of the electrode plate is described below.

[0047] refer to Figure 3A In some embodiments, the electrode plates 221 and 222 are made of conductive materials, such as metal, to have better conductive properties.

[0048] refer to Figure 3B In other embodiments, if the surfaces of the electrode plates 221 and 222 are made of conductive materials, when the oil shakes, the electrode plate 120 may rub against impurities in the oil to generate magnetism, and then adsorb the impurities after generating magnetism. The impurities adsorbed by the electrode plate 120 serve as the medium of the capacitor 240, causing the dielectric constant of the capacitor 240 to change, thereby affecting the accuracy of oil level detection.

[0049] To this end, in the embodiment of the present application, the electrode plate 221 includes a metal inner core 221a and an insulating material 221b coated on the outside of the metal inner core 221a, and the electrode plate 222 includes a metal inner core 222a and an insulating material 222b coated on the outside of the metal inner core 222a. That is, the surfaces of the electrode plates 221 and 222 are made of insulating materials, which prevents the electrode plates 221 and 222 from generating magnetism after friction with impurities in the oil, and adsorbing impurities after generating magnetism, thereby ensuring the accuracy of oil level detection. In addition, the surfaces of the electrode plates 221 and 222 are made of insulating materials, which can also prevent the electrode plates from being corroded in the case of long-term use, thereby causing inaccurate oil level detection.

[0050] Optionally, the insulating material on the surface of the electrode plates 221, 222 is a plastic material. In some embodiments, the metal core of the electrode plates 221, 222 may be placed in an injection mold for injection molding in advance, so that the surface of the electrode plates 221, 222 is a plastic material (as an example of insulating material).

[0051] Further, refer to Figure 4 The oil level detector 200 may further include a detection unit 260 for detecting a current capacitance value of the capacitor 240 and determining a current oil level in the oil containing chamber 230 according to the current capacitance value.

[0052] In the embodiment of the present application, the detection unit 260 may include a capacitance detection device, such as a capacitance detector, a multimeter, etc. Electrodes are provided on the electrode plates 221 and 222, and the detection unit 260 may be connected to the electrode plates 221 and 222 through the electrodes to detect the current capacitance value of the capacitor 240 formed by the electrode plates 221 and 222.

[0053] In some embodiments, a mapping relationship between the capacitance value of the capacitor 240 and the oil level in the oil containing chamber 230 is preset in the detection unit 260. The detection unit 260 can determine the current oil level in the oil containing chamber 230 based on the current capacitance value of the capacitor 240 and the mapping relationship.

[0054] Specifically, the oil level detector 200 can be installed in the oil tank 100 in advance, and then the oil is injected into the oil tank 100. During the process of injecting the oil, the oil level of the oil tank 100 when injecting different volumes of oil can be detected by an oil level detector of the prior art (e.g., a float type oil level detector, a reed switch type oil level detector, a Hall type oil level detector, etc.). In addition, the capacitance value of the capacitor 240 corresponding to different oil levels is detected by the detection unit 260 to determine the mapping relationship between the capacitance value of the capacitor 240 and the oil level in the oil containing chamber 230.

[0055] After the detection unit 260 detects the current capacitance value of the capacitor 240, it can determine the current oil level corresponding to the current capacitance value based on the mapping relationship between the capacitance value of the capacitor 240 and the oil level in the oil holding chamber 230, thereby detecting the current oil level of the oil tank 100.

[0056] In other embodiments, since different types of oil have different dielectric constants, the current oil level corresponding to the current capacitance of the capacitor 240 can also be determined according to the type of oil in the oil tank 100 .

[0057] Specifically, different grades (types) of oil can be injected into the oil tank 100 in advance, for example, 95 or 92 gasoline can be input into the oil tank. When each grade of oil is input into the oil tank 100, the capacitance value of the capacitor 240 at different oil levels of the oil tank 100 is detected, wherein the oil level of the oil tank 100 is the oil level of the oil containing chamber 230. After detecting each grade of oil, a mapping relationship between the grade of the oil, the capacitance value of the capacitor 240 and the oil level of the oil containing chamber 230 is established, and the mapping relationship between the grade of the oil, the capacitance value of the capacitor 240 and the oil level of the oil containing chamber 230 is stored in the detection unit 260. After the detection unit 260 of the oil level detector 200 detects the current capacitance value of the capacitor 240, the current oil level corresponding to the oil grade and the current capacitance value in the oil tank 100 can be determined based on the mapping relationship between the oil grade, the capacitance value of the capacitor 240 and the oil level in the oil holding chamber 230.

[0058] Several exemplary methods for the detection unit 260 to determine the oil grade are described below.

[0059] In some embodiments, the grade of the oil in the oil tank 100 may be predetermined. For example, the grade of the oil is preset in the detection unit 260 .

[0060] In other embodiments, it is possible to detect in advance when the oil level of each oil grade reaches the maximum value, that is, when the oil tank 100 is full, the maximum capacitance value of the capacitor 240 is detected, and a mapping relationship between the oil grade and the maximum capacitance value of the capacitor 240 is established. When the oil tank 100 is full, the detection unit 260 detects the current capacitance value (that is, the maximum capacitance value) of the capacitor 240, and determines the oil grade corresponding to the current capacitance value based on the mapping relationship between the oil grade and the maximum capacitance value of the capacitor 240.

[0061] In other embodiments, since only one type of oil is added to the oil tank 100 of each type of vehicle, the oil type can be predetermined according to the vehicle type. After the oil type is determined, the oil type can be stored in the vehicle's microcontroller unit (MCU), and when detecting the oil level, the detection unit 260 of the oil level detector 200 can obtain the oil type from the MCU. Alternatively, after the oil type is predetermined according to the vehicle type, the oil type is directly stored in the detection unit 260 for direct use by the detection unit 260.

[0062] In some embodiments of the present application, a fuel tank data model may be pre-established. After the detection unit 260 of the fuel level detector detects the current capacitance value of the capacitor 240, the current capacitance value is input into the fuel tank data model, and the fuel tank data model outputs the current fuel level of the fuel tank 100 according to the current capacitance value. The fuel tank data model includes a mapping relationship between the capacitance value of the capacitor 240 and the fuel level in the fuel containing chamber 230. Alternatively, the fuel tank data model includes a mapping relationship between the oil number, the capacitance value of the capacitor 240, and the fuel level in the fuel containing chamber 230.

[0063] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a flow chart of oil level detection provided in an embodiment of the present application, referring to Figure 5 , oil level detection includes the following steps:

[0064] S410, installing the oil level detector 200 in the oil tank 100 of the vehicle.

[0065] S420, establishing a fuel tank data model.

[0066] The oil tank data model can be established based on the mapping relationship between the capacitance value of the capacitor 240 and the oil level in the oil holding chamber 230, or based on the mapping relationship between the oil grade, the capacitance value of the capacitor 240 and the oil level in the oil holding chamber 230.

[0067] S430, deploying the fuel tank data model in the vehicle's MCU.

[0068] In some implementations, the corresponding oil label is pre-stored in the MCU.

[0069] S440, inputting the current capacitance value of the oil level detector 200 into the oil tank data model, and the oil tank data model outputs the current oil level.

[0070] If the oil tank data model includes a mapping relationship between the capacitance value of the capacitor 240 and the oil level in the oil containing chamber 230, the current capacitance value of the oil level detector is input into the oil tank data model, and the oil tank data model outputs the current oil level corresponding to the current capacitance value.

[0071] If the oil tank data model includes the mapping relationship between the oil grade, the capacitance value of the capacitor 240 and the oil level in the oil holding chamber 230, the current capacitance value of the oil level detector and the oil grade in the MCU are input into the oil tank data model, and the oil tank data model outputs the current capacitance value and the current oil level corresponding to the oil grade.

[0072] refer to Figure 6 In some embodiments, S420, establishing a fuel tank data model includes the following sub-steps:

[0073] S421, detecting the basic capacitance value of the capacitor 240 in the oil level detector 200 when the oil tank 100 is empty.

[0074] S422, detecting the basic capacitance value of the capacitor 240 in the oil level detector 200 when the oil tank 100 is full of oil.

[0075] S423, draining the oil when the oil tank 100 is full of oil, recording the capacitance value of the capacitor 240 of the oil level detector 200 at different oil levels, and generating an oil tank data model based on the recording results.

[0076] It should be noted that the above Figure 1 The explanation and technical effects of the illustrated embodiment are also applicable to the fuel tank 100 of the embodiment of the present application and will not be described in detail here.

[0077] An embodiment of the present application also provides a vehicle, including the fuel tank 100 provided in the above embodiment of the present application.

[0078] It should be noted that the above Figure 1 The explanation and technical effects of the illustrated embodiment are also applicable to the vehicle of the embodiment of the present application and will not be repeated here.

[0079] In the accompanying drawings, some structural or method features may be shown in a specific arrangement and / or order. However, it should be understood that such a specific arrangement and / or order may not be required. Instead, in some embodiments, these features may be arranged in a manner and / or order different from that shown in the illustrative drawings. In addition, the inclusion of structural or method features in a particular figure does not mean that such features are required in all embodiments, and in some embodiments, these features may not be included or may be combined with other features.

[0080] It should be noted that in the examples and description of this patent, relational terms such as first and second, etc. are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "include", "comprise" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, the elements defined by the sentence "including one" do not exclude the existence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the elements.

[0081] Although the present application has been illustrated and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application.

Claims

1. An oil level detector, characterized in that: include: A housing, wherein an oil containing chamber is formed inside the housing; Two electrode plates are arranged in the oil containing chamber, and the two electrode plates are arranged opposite to each other and spaced apart along the width direction of the shell to jointly form a capacitor for detecting the oil level in the oil containing chamber.

2. The oil level detector according to claim 1, characterized in that: An air inlet hole connected to the oil containing chamber is provided on the top wall of the shell, and an oil inlet hole connected to the oil containing chamber is provided on the bottom wall of the shell, wherein the aperture of the air inlet hole is smaller than the aperture of the oil inlet hole.

3. The oil level detector according to claim 2, characterized in that: The diameter of the air inlet hole is one third to one half of the diameter of the oil inlet hole.

4. The oil level detector according to claim 2, characterized in that: Along the width direction, the air inlet hole and the oil inlet hole are arranged between the two electrode plates.

5. The oil level detector according to claim 1, characterized in that: The two electrode plates are connected to the top wall of the shell.

6. The oil level detector according to claim 1, characterized in that: The two electrode plates are suspended in the oil containing cavity of the shell.

7. The oil level detector according to claim 1, characterized in that: The surfaces of the two electrode plates are made of insulating material.

8. The oil level detector according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The oil level detector also includes: The detection unit is used to detect the current capacitance value of the capacitor and determine the current oil level in the oil containing chamber according to the current capacitance value.

9. A fuel tank, characterized in that: The invention comprises an oil level detector as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A vehicle, characterized in that: Comprising the oil tank as claimed in claim 9.

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