JP3047931B2 - Refueling device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fuel supply device for automatically determining the type of fuel oil based on vapor in a vehicle fuel tank.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There are two types of automobiles, one using gasoline as fuel oil and the other using gas oil. If the type of fuel to be used is wrong, the engine will be seriously hindered. . Therefore, prior to refueling, the vapor in the vehicle fuel tank is guided to the gas sensor in the refueling device via an air tube attached to the refueling nozzle, and the type of fuel oil is determined from the degree of increase in the organic gas concentration in a predetermined time. There has been proposed a refueling device with an oil type determination function that permits refueling when the fuel type matches a fuel type registered in the refueling device.

[0003]

According to such an apparatus, the same fuel oil as the fuel oil contained in the vehicle tank can be reliably supplied. And semiconductor type are used. When these gas sensors are exposed to an extremely high concentration of organic gas such as vapor in an automobile fuel tank for a long time, they deteriorate and shorten their life, or transport the vapor from the automobile tank to the gas sensor of the fueling device main body. There is a problem that a waiting time is required.

In order to solve such a problem, the present applicant has housed an ultrasonic transducer in a chamber provided with a gas inlet at one end of a cylindrical container and a through-hole connected to an intake means at the other end. A refueling nozzle equipped with a gas sensor was proposed earlier. According to the oil supply nozzle equipped with such an ultrasonic transducer, not only high durability is exhibited, but also the waiting time until oil type determination can be reduced, but there is a fear that an oil type determination error may occur due to the influence of environmental temperature. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a temperature detecting means such as a thermistor in the chamber to correct the temperature. For this reason, if the temperature detecting means is arranged in the chamber in order to increase the temperature compensation accuracy, not only an extra line connecting the thermistor and the control circuit is required, but also an explosion-proof treatment for this line is required. New problems arise. The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a purpose thereof is to determine an oil type with high accuracy using ultrasonic waves without using a temperature sensor for detecting environmental temperature. It is to provide a new refueling nozzle.

[0005]

In order to solve such a problem, according to the present invention, a chamber provided with a vapor suction port at one end and a through hole connected to a negative pressure generating means at the other end is provided with an ultra-high pressure chamber. Refueling nozzle provided with a gas sensor accommodating an acoustic wave transducer, and the refueling nozzle is provided with a refueling tank
Said actuates the negative pressure generator sucked clean air to said chamber before being inserted into the ultrasonic Trang
Temperature calculation based on the sound speed measured by the transducer
Step detects the temperature and subsequently the ultrasonic transducer when vapor is sucked into the chamber.
The difference in the signal, the control means by the detected temperature by the oil type determining means <br/> correction to thereby determine the type of oil of the object oil tank
And, was prepared.

[0006]

The temperature of the environment is measured by the temperature calculating means based on the speed of sound when the clean air is sucked into the chamber by the negative pressure generating means. The sound speed when the nozzle is inserted into the vehicle fuel tank and the vapor flows into the chamber is measured, and the sound speed is corrected based on the measured temperature to determine the oil type. This makes it possible to control the temperature without requiring special temperature calculation means.
It is possible to accurately determine the type of oil .

[0007]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. FIG. 2 shows an example of a refueling device in which the refueling nozzle of the present invention is used. In FIG. An oil supply hose 4 is connected to the flow meter 3, and a signal from a flow rate pulse transmitter 5 attached to the flow meter 3 is output to the control device 6. The control device 6 is configured by a microcomputer, drives the pump motor 2 and the air pump 9 based on signals from the nozzle switch 7 and the lever switch 8, and based on signals from the flow rate pulse transmitter 5. A program for calculating the flow rate, displaying the refueling amount on the display device 10, and operating the alarm 11 when the oil type is different is stored. Numeral 12 denotes a nozzle connected to the end of the refueling hose 4, the body of which is provided with a lever switch 8, an air valve 14, and a sensor 15 for determining an oil type, both of which are linked to a refueling lever 13. I have. The lever switch 8 and the sensor 15 are connected to the control device 6 by a cord 18 provided along the oil supply hose.
The air valve 14 is connected to the air pump 9 by an air tube 19 provided along the oil supply hose.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the above-mentioned fuel supply nozzle. The main valve 22 which is opened by pulling up the fuel supply lever 13 and sends out the fuel oil from the fuel supply hose 4 to the cylinder tip 21 has a body part. 23, and a vapor suction port 24 is provided near the tip of the cylinder tip. 14
Is an air valve as described above, which has an operating rod 25 which comes into contact with the tip of the refueling lever 13. When the refueling lever 13 is in the initial state, the operating rod 25 pops out and b shown in FIG. In the state where the fuel supply lever 13 is pulled and the operating rod 25 is pushed in, the position a is taken. In the position a, air is supplied to the negative pressure generating means 26 and the vapor suction port 2 is supplied.
4, air is sucked from the air pump 9 to the sensor 15, and air is supplied from the air pump 9 to the sensor 15 to scavenge the chamber 30 at the position b.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of the gas sensor 15 mounted on the body 23 of the nozzle 12. Reference numeral 30 in the drawing denotes openings 33 and 34 formed in both side walls 31 and 32, respectively. In the cylindrical chamber, one opening 33 is connected to the pipe 27 communicating with the vapor suction port 24, and the opening 34 is connected to the air valve 14. An ultrasonic transducer 35 is housed at one end of the chamber 30, and is connected to the control device 6 via a cord 18.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a signal processing apparatus. In the figure, reference numeral 40 denotes a timing signal generating means which is activated when the lever switch 11 is turned on and has a constant period T. To operate the high-frequency oscillation means 41 to output the pulsed high-frequency power from the ultrasonic transducer 35 to the ultrasonic transducer 35, and to use the reflected wave received by the ultrasonic transducer 35 as an echo signal at the time of completion of transmission as a temperature calculating means. 43 or the temperature correction means 44. The high-frequency oscillator 41 is suitable for discriminating between organic gas and air, and has a frequency capable of generating a highly directional ultrasonic beam, for example, 400
It is configured to generate high frequency power of about KHz. 43 is the above-mentioned temperature calculating means,
Is turned on, the time ΔT until the reflected wave arrives
The configuration is such that the temperature in the chamber 30 is calculated based on the data in the calculation formula storage means 45 storing a temperature calculation formula that defines the relationship between the transmission time of ultrasonic waves and the temperature. 44 is a temperature correction calculating means, which is based on the temperature data calculated by the temperature calculating means 43 and the ultrasonic wave propagation time Δ
T ′ and ΔT ″ (III and IV in FIGS. 7A and 7B) are corrected to values at the reference temperature and output to the determination unit 46. Reference numeral 46 denotes a determination unit that determines the type of vapor based on the sound velocity data or the arrival time data output from the temperature correction calculation unit 44 based on the data stored in the oil type determination data storage unit 47. Is output.

Next, the operation of the apparatus constructed as described above will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG. 7 and the timing chart shown in FIG. When the nozzle 12 is removed from the refueling device and the nozzle switch 7 is turned on (step
B) The control device 6 returns the indicator 10 to zero and operates the air pump 9 (step b). At the same time, since the timing generating means 40 operates, the ultrasonic transducer 35 receives the supply of high-frequency power from the high-frequency oscillating means 41 via the switching means 42. As a result,
An ultrasonic pulse is generated from the ultrasonic transducer 35 every time T. In this case, since the refueling lever 13 is not pulled and the air valve 8 is at the position b, the air generated by the air pump 9 and supplied to the nozzle 12 through the air tube 19 is supplied to the gas sensor 15. Vapor that is sent and remains in the chamber 30 is scavenged. Next, the cylinder tip 21 of the nozzle 12 is inserted into the fuel tank of the automobile, the fuel supply lever 13 is pulled up, and the air valve 14 is set to a
When moved to the position, air is supplied to the negative pressure generating means 26 and the negative pressure is transmitted to the chamber 30 of the gas sensor 15.

Immediately after the fuel supply lever 13 is pulled up, the vapor sucked from the vapor suction port 24 is still in the chamber 30.
, The chamber 30 is filled with clean air. When the oil supply lever 13 is pulled up, the lever switch 8 is turned on and a signal is generated (step c), so that the temperature calculation means 43 is operated. That is, the ultrasonic pulse generated from the ultrasonic transducer 35 upon receiving the high-frequency power from the high-frequency oscillator 41 is
The light propagates to the wall 31 at a sound speed determined by the temperature of the clean air in the chamber 30, and is partially reflected by the wall 31 and similarly reflected by the ultrasonic transducer 35 at a sound speed determined by the air temperature in the chamber 30. . This reflected wave is converted into an electric signal by the ultrasonic transducer 35 and input to the temperature calculating unit 43 via the switching unit 42. The temperature calculating means 43 includes a timing signal generating means 40.
The time ΔT until the reflected wave is input and the time ΔT until the reflected wave is input, based on the time when the timing signal is output from, that is, the time when the ultrasonic wave is emitted from the ultrasonic transducer 35, Sound velocity and temperature (t)
T = {(2L / ΔT) −331.45} × 1 / 0.607 where L represents the length of the chamber 30, and the temperature of the chamber 30 is calculated based on Step d).

When the calculation of the temperature is completed, the vapor in the automobile tank reaches the chamber 30 from the vapor suction port, and the ultrasonic pulse from the ultrasonic transducer 35 generates the vapor, that is, the atmosphere in the automobile tank and its temperature. The light propagates through the space of the chamber 30 at a sound speed determined by the following equation, is reflected by the wall 31 of the chamber 30, and enters the transducer 35 at a sound speed determined by the atmosphere in the chamber 35. As a result, an echo signal based on the ultrasonic wave reflected from the transducer 35 is output, and this signal is output to the temperature correction calculator 44. The temperature correction calculating means 44 corrects the propagation time to a value at the reference temperature based on the temperature data from the temperature calculating means 43, and
6 is output. The judging means 46 includes a temperature correction calculating means 44
The vapor component constituting the atmosphere is determined on the basis of the sound velocity data from the controller and the data of the oil type determination data storage means 47 (step E).

That is, when light oil is stored in the vehicle fuel tank and the concentration of vapor is low, the time ΔT 'until the generation of an echo is shortened due to the high sound speed (II). When the density is high, the time until the echo is generated from the decrease in sound speed ΔT ''
Becomes longer (III). After converting these times ΔT ′ and ΔT ″ into values at the reference temperature, the type of oil is determined based on the magnitude. If the result of the determination is that the oil type matches the oil type registered in the refueling device (to step), the control device 6 stops the air pump 9 and sets the pump motor 2
Activate (Step). As a result, fuel oil is discharged from the nozzle main valve 22 to start refueling. When a predetermined amount of fuel is supplied and the fuel supply lever 13 is returned, the main valve 22 is closed, and the discharge of fuel oil from the nozzle stops. When the nozzle 12 is returned to the nozzle hook and the nozzle switch 7 is turned off, the control device 6
Stop (step re). The refueling lever 13
If the operator notices that the oil type is clearly different before pulling up, or after refueling, the nozzle 12 is returned to the nozzle hook and the nozzle switch 7 is turned off before the erroneous oil type is notified. When turned off (step
Nu, yo). Thereby, the control device 6 stops the air pump 9 (step ta). On the other hand, for a certain time, for example, 5
If the oil type does not match even after the lapse of seconds (step
), The operation of the air pump 9 is stopped, and at the same time, an alarm indicating that the oil type is different is issued from the alarm 11 (step).
E). When the nozzle 12 is returned to the nozzle hook after the refueling lever 13 is pulled down by this alarm, the nozzle switch 7 is turned off (Step Y) and the notification is stopped (Step Ta).

In this embodiment, an air pump is provided on the fueling device main body side and is connected to the chamber by an air tube. However, a small pump is provided on the body of the fueling nozzle, or operated by the movement of the fueling lever. It is apparent that the same effect can be obtained even if the piston pump is applied to a piston pump accommodated in the body. In addition, in this embodiment, the propagation time of the ultrasonic wave, or the propagation speed is determined based on the calculation formula temperature,
Obviously, the same effect can be obtained even if the temperature is obtained from a dictionary in which the relationship between the propagation time or the propagation speed of the ultrasonic wave and the temperature is stored.

[0016]

As described above, in the present invention, the ultrasonic transducer is housed in a chamber provided with a vapor suction port at one end and a through hole connected to the negative pressure generating means at the other end. A refueling nozzle with a gas sensor and a negative pressure before the refueling nozzle is inserted into the refueling tank
Activate the generator to draw clean air into the chamber.
The sound speed measured by the ultrasonic transducer.
The temperature is then detected by the temperature calculation means and
Ultrasonic Trang when vapor is sucked into the chamber Te
The signal of the inducer is calculated based on the temperature detected by the oil type determination means.
Control means for determining the oil type of the supplied tank by correcting the temperature in the oil tank, so that the temperature of the environment can be calculated based on the speed of sound when clean air is sucked into the chamber by the negative pressure generating means. The oil type can be determined by correcting the sound speed of the vapor based on the calculated temperature, and the oil type can be accurately determined without requiring any special temperature detecting means.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a means for driving a gas sensor in a fueling device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an oil supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing one embodiment of a fueling nozzle used in the fueling device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a pipeline configuration diagram showing a connection relationship of air valves provided in a fueling nozzle.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the structure of the gas sensor of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the fueling device of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a waveform chart showing the operation of the gas sensor of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pump 2 Pump motor 3 Flow meter 5 Flow rate pulse transmitter 6 Control device 7 Nozzle switch 8 Lever switch 9 Air pump 10 Indicator 11 Alarm 14 Air valve 15 Sensor 30 Chamber 35 Ultrasonic transducer

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A refueling nozzle having a gas sensor containing an ultrasonic transducer in a chamber provided with a vapor suction port at one end and a through hole connected to a negative pressure generating means at the other end, and the refueling nozzle Before the oil is inserted into the lubrication tank,
Activating the pressure generating means to inhale clean air into the chamber and measure the air with the ultrasonic transducer.
The temperature is detected by the temperature calculation means based on the sound speed
Then, the signal of the ultrasonic transducer when the vapor is sucked into the chamber is determined by oil type determining means.
The oil-supplied tank is corrected by the temperature detected by
Lubrication device and a control means for determining the types of oil.