Fuel Additive Bottle With Threadless Paths For Capless Diesel Systems
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current fuel additive bottles are incompatible with capless fuel systems, leading to difficulties in introducing additives into diesel fuel tanks, resulting in spillage and potential damage, as they cannot properly align with the self-sealing mechanism's tabs and often require cumbersome funnel-like devices.
Innovation Solution
A fuel additive bottle with a cylindrical neck and specific thread pattern interruptions, allowing for spill-free pouring by aligning threadless paths with the system's tabs, enabling easy insertion and extraction without the need for separate funnels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If standard fuel additive containers are used, then conventional pouring is simple, but they cannot enter capless fuel systems and cause spillage
Solution Approach 1:
The bottle neck features a localized modification with a smooth section and groove positioned at the insertion end, while the rest of the bottle maintains conventional structure. This local change enables compatibility with capless systems without redesigning the entire container, preserving manufacturing simplicity while achieving system-specific adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The neck structure is segmented into distinct functional zones: a smooth section for tab alignment, a groove for tab engagement, and a threaded section for cap attachment. This segmentation allows each portion to perform its specific function independently, enabling both capless system compatibility and conventional cap closure.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional bottles with continuous threads are used, then manufacturing is simple, but tabs cannot align properly causing insertion difficulty
Solution Approach 1:
The thread pattern is modified locally at the insertion end with a smooth section and groove, while maintaining conventional threading elsewhere. This localized precision feature ensures accurate tab alignment without requiring high-precision manufacturing across the entire bottle, balancing manufacturability with alignment precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The groove acts as an intermediary feature that mediates between the tab and the bottle neck, providing a precise alignment reference. This intermediate structure guides the tab into proper position during insertion, achieving accurate alignment through a simple geometric feature rather than complex precision manufacturing.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If bottles are designed for capless systems, then spillage is reduced, but they may require specialized manufacturing methods
Solution Approach 1:
Only the insertion end of the bottle neck is modified with smooth section and groove features, while the rest of the bottle uses conventional manufacturing. This localized modification minimizes the impact on manufacturing processes, allowing most of the bottle to be produced using standard, cost-effective methods while achieving spillage prevention at the critical interface.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of designing a completely new specialized bottle for capless systems, the invention inverts the approach by making minimal modifications to the conventional bottle design. The smooth section and groove are added to the existing neck structure, reversing the traditional approach of designing from scratch and thereby simplifying manufacturing.
Data Source
AI summary
A fuel additive bottle has a neck and thread pattern that allows insertion into a capless diesel fuel system so the bottle's contents can be poured by gravity into a fuel tank. The neck of the bottle is elongated and has a diameter of approximately 0.932 inches, and the novel thread pattern includes thread interruptions that form two or four threadless paths. In use, the spring loaded tabs of a capless fuel system are depressed by the threadless path portion of bottle, thereby triggering the self-sealing mechanism to open, so the fluid receiving aperture is exposed. The use of the threadless paths facilitates the safe and easy entry and removal of the bottle from the capless fuel system.