Integrated Filler Neck with Misfuelling Lock
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing filler necks for vehicle fuel tanks are complex and costly to produce due to multiple components and assembly requirements, and they often fail to effectively prevent misfuelling between different types of fuels.
Innovation Solution
A filler neck design where the filler neck body and nozzle guide are formed as a single, cost-effective plastic injection molded part, with a pivoting segment and a misfuelling lock mechanism that prevents diesel nozzles from entering the tank by having a narrower cross-section than diesel nozzles, ensuring correct fueling by matching nozzle diameters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the filler neck is designed with multiple separate components (filler neck body, nozzle guide, closure element) to enable misfuelling protection, then misfuelling prevention capability is improved, but device complexity and production cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the filler neck body, nozzle guide, and closure element into a single integrated component made from a single piece of molded material. This merging eliminates the need for separate manufacturing and assembly of multiple components while maintaining the misfuelling prevention function through the integrated design of the nozzle guide with selective cross-sections and the closure element mechanism.
2Reliability
If the insertion section has a narrow cross-section smaller than diesel nozzle to prevent misfuelling, then misfuelling prevention is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates because petrol nozzles must be precisely sized
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating different cross-sectional dimensions at different locations along the nozzle guide. The insertion section has a first cross-section sized for petrol nozzles, while a second section has a different cross-section that accommodates the specific nozzle dimensions. This localized variation in geometry allows the system to selectively accept or reject nozzle types based on their physical dimensions, preventing misfuelling while maintaining ease of operation for the correct fuel type.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a filler neck (1) for filling an operating fluid, such as fuel or AdBlue® or urea, or an additive, such as water, into a vehicle tank using a dispensing nozzle. The filler neck (1) has a filler neck body (2) which can be received into a filler pipe leading to the vehicle tank. The filler neck (1) further has a dispensing nozzle guide with an insertion section (4) for guiding a dispensing nozzle received or to be received in the filler neck body (2) towards the vehicle tank. According to the invention, it is particularly provided that the filler neck body (2) and the insertion section (4) of the dispensing nozzle guide are together formed as a one-piece molded part, in particular an injection-molded plastic part.