Modular Fuel Tank with Universal Passages
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Solution Overview
Problem
The complexity of motor vehicle fuel tank designs due to varying pollution control standards and engine types leads to difficulties in simplification, installation constraints, and supply chain issues, resulting in a lack of centralized information and increased production risks.
Innovation Solution
A modular fuel tank design with a adaptable casing and passages for routing and holding pipes and electrical harnesses, compatible with multiple engine types, including gasoline and diesel engines, allowing for interchangeable components and diverse functional modules, ensuring compatibility and reducing installation volume and supply chain bottlenecks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a fuel tank design is customized for each engine type and pollution standard, then compatibility with specific engines is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing variety increase
Solution Approach 1:
The fuel tank is designed as a universal platform that can accommodate multiple engine types (gasoline, diesel, hybrid) and pollution standards (Euro 5, 6, 6.1, 6.2) through standardized mounting points, passage configurations, and attachment interfaces. The tank shell includes pre-defined passages for routing pipes and electrical harnesses that can be activated or deactivated depending on the specific engine application, eliminating the need for completely different tank designs for each engine variant.
Solution Approach 2:
The fuel tank system is divided into modular components including the tank shell, functional modules (vapor absorption device, heating unit, filters), and attachment elements. This segmentation allows different combinations of modules to be attached to the same basic tank structure, enabling adaptation to various engine requirements without redesigning the entire tank system.
2Ease of operation
If multiple specialized tank designs are maintained for different engine types, then specific installation requirements are met, but ease of manufacture and supply chain simplicity deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
A single standardized tank design serves multiple engine types and market requirements, allowing manufacturers to produce one base tank model that can be configured for different applications through selective attachment of functional modules and routing of passages. This universality simplifies manufacturing processes, inventory management, and supply chain operations while maintaining installation compatibility across various vehicle platforms.
Solution Approach 2:
The tank shell is pre-equipped with standardized mounting points, pre-formed passages for pipe and harness routing, and attachment interfaces for functional modules during the manufacturing process. This preliminary preparation enables rapid and straightforward installation in different vehicle applications without requiring complex post-manufacturing modifications or custom fabrication steps.
3Productivity
If passage routes are optimized for specific engine types, then installation efficiency is improved, but adaptability to other engine types decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The passage system is designed with dynamic configurability, where multiple passage routes are pre-formed in the tank shell and can be selectively activated or deactivated depending on the specific engine application. This allows the same tank structure to provide optimized passage routing for different engine types, maintaining installation efficiency while achieving broad adaptability across gasoline, diesel, and hybrid powertrains.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2a~2c
Figure 2d~3b
AI summary
The invention relates mainly to a fuel tank (10) that can be adapted to several types of motor vehicle engines comprising: - a casing (11) defining a fuel filling space, - a fuel filler pipe (12), and - a gauge/pump module (13), characterised in that the shape of the casing (11) is designed to cover different types of petrol and diesel engines, and in that the casing (11) comprises passages (15) for routing and holding pipes and/or electrical harnesses, the passages (15) formed in advance in the casing (11) being capable of covering routes for pipes and/or electrical harnesses of different types of petrol and diesel engines, such that some passages (15) used for the pipes and/or electrical harnesses of a given engine are present for an engine of another type but not used.