JP5370326B2 - Level gauge guide structure - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To integrally manufacture a level gauge guide from a hard resin by die molding at one time. <P>SOLUTION: The level gauge guide made of the hard resin comprises: a cylindrical upper end part; a cylindrical lower end part; and a guttered middle connecting part comprising a bottom part and an opening part, wherein a guide seal part is formed on the lower end part for sealing between an attachment hole and the part. A level gauge has a gauge sealing part closely contacting to an inner peripheral surface of the lower end part in a ring form at an upper part of a gauge part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2012,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a level gauge guide structure used to detect the amount and dirt of engine oil or the like of an automobile.

  An automobile is provided with an oil level gauge in order to detect the amount of engine oil stored in the oil pan and the degree of contamination. The oil level gauge is inserted into the oil pan through a level gauge guide provided in the engine body. The amount of engine oil and the degree of contamination can be detected by pulling out the oil level gauge from the level gauge guide and visually observing the engine oil adhering to the tip.

  The level gauge guide is generally formed of a metal pipe, and a lower end portion is inserted and fixed in a mounting hole formed in a boundary portion between the crankcase and the oil pan. And it is being fixed to the engine main body etc. via the bracket welded to the upper terminal part or the intermediate part. However, when such a level gauge guide is used, there is a problem that the weight is large and the number of parts is large. Further, the level gauge guide is often bent to avoid interference with peripheral parts.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-002211 describes that a timing chain guide having a U-shaped back surface is used as a level gauge guide. Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-003632 describes that the posture in the rotational direction at the time of insertion into the level gauge guide is regulated by forming a predetermined bent portion in the oil level gauge.

  Further, from the viewpoint of weight reduction, it is desirable to make the level gauge guide resin. In order to convert a conventional level gauge guide made of a metal pipe into a bent shape as it is, there is a method in which a pair of half-shaped divided bodies are formed by molding and then joined by welding or the like. However, in order to ensure strength, the wall thickness must be increased, which reduces the weight reduction effect by half. In addition, the number of manufacturing steps is also great.

  Therefore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-161724 describes a level gauge guide formed from a flexible resin tube. However, it is necessary to form the resin tube from a soft resin, which is disadvantageous in that it is more expensive than a hard resin. Moreover, in order to fix to an engine main body, it has to fix through a metal bracket etc., and a number of parts increases. Furthermore, in the level gauge guide formed of a flexible soft resin, there remains anxiety about the insertion property into the mounting hole and the sealing performance with the mounting hole.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-002211 JP 2005-003632 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-161724

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and enables a level gauge guide to be integrally manufactured from a hard resin by a single mold forming, which is lightweight and inexpensive and has a sealing property with a mounting hole. Is the main issue.

A feature of the level gauge guide structure of the present invention that solves the above problems is that the upper terminal portion and the lower terminal portion are formed in a tubular shape composed of a cylindrical upper terminal portion and a lower terminal portion, and a bottom portion and an opening portion. An intermediate connecting part, a level gauge guide made of hard resin integrally formed by molding, and a level gauge having a rod part that is elastically deformable and having a gauge part at the tip part,
The level gauge guide is inserted and fixed from the lower end to a mounting hole provided in a tank in which liquid is stored, and is fixed in a liquid-tight manner via a guide seal portion formed in the lower end. The level gauge is inserted from the upper end of the level gauge guide, and the level of the liquid in the tank is detected by the gauge that protrudes from the lower end. The level gauge is in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the lower end in a ring shape above the gauge. It is in having a gauge seal part.

  According to the level gauge guide structure of the present invention, the level gauge guide has a cylindrical shape with the upper end portion and the lower end portion, and the intermediate connection portion has a bowl shape composed of a bottom portion and an opening portion. It can be integrally formed by mold forming. Even a bent level gauge guide can be integrally manufactured by using a plurality of slide cores or by heating and bending after molding. Further, the mounting bracket and the like can be formed integrally with the level gauge guide body. Therefore, a light and inexpensive level gauge guide can be obtained. Also, since it is made of hard resin, it is easy to insert the lower end part into the mounting hole, and it is easy to ensure high sealing performance with the mounting hole, and coloring is also possible, so the design is also improved. To do.

  In addition, when the level gauge guide has a bent portion that bends in a "<" shape, the bent portion is brought into contact with the intermediate connecting portion on the lower end side of the bent portion, with the tip of the gauge portion coming into contact with the bottom portion. It is desirable to have a guide bottom part that is inserted while being guided by the level gauge. By doing so, it is possible to prevent a problem that the level gauge protrudes from the opening of the intermediate connecting portion when the level gauge is inserted, and the level gauge can be reliably guided into the tank.

  And since the sealing performance between the level gauge guide and the mounting hole can be secured by the guide seal portion, and the sealing performance between the level gauge and the level gauge guide can be secured by the gauge sealing portion, the leakage of the liquid from the tank can be prevented.

It is a disassembled perspective view of the level gauge guide structure which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the level gauge guide structure which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a principal part expanded sectional view of the level gauge guide structure which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a perspective view of the level gauge guide used for the level gauge guide structure concerning the 2nd example of the present invention. It is a principal part disassembled perspective view of the level gauge guide structure which concerns on 3rd Example of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the intermediate | middle connection part in the level gauge guide which shows the other aspect of the Example of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the intermediate | middle connection part in the level gauge guide which shows the other aspect of the Example of this invention.

  The level gauge guide structure of the present invention includes a level gauge guide and a level gauge. The level gauge guide is composed of a cylindrical upper terminal portion and a lower terminal portion, and an intermediate connecting portion that connects the upper terminal portion and the lower terminal portion, and is made of a hard resin. The intermediate connecting portion has a half-cylindrical saddle shape and includes a bottom portion and an opening portion. Therefore, using the slide core, the level gauge guide composed of the upper terminal portion, the lower terminal portion, and the intermediate connecting portion can be integrally manufactured by molding such as injection molding. Furthermore, a mounting bracket or the like can be integrally formed at the same time.

  Further, when the intermediate connecting portion has a bent shape, it can be integrally formed by an injection molding method using a plurality of slide cores. Or what was formed in the linear shape by the injection molding method etc. is heat-softened, and it is good also as a bent shape by changing it.

  The mounting bracket may be formed on both the upper terminal portion and the lower terminal portion, but the lower terminal portion is held in the mounting hole via the guide seal portion, so the mounting bracket is formed at least on the upper terminal portion. It is preferable.

  The kind of the hard resin is not particularly limited as long as it is not affected by the liquid stored in the tank, or is not softened by the maximum temperature of the liquid, and can be selected from PP, polyamide, PET, PPS and the like. It is also preferable to use a resin reinforced with glass fiber or the like. In addition, although engine oil is illustrated typically as a liquid stored, if it is a liquid which can detect the amount of storage using a level gauge, it will not restrict to engine oil.

  The lower end portion of the level gauge guide is a portion that is inserted into an attachment hole communicating with the tank, and the lower end portion has a guide seal portion that seals the interface with the attachment hole. The guide seal portion can be, for example, a ring groove for mounting an O-ring. Since the guide seal portion can be formed integrally when the level gauge guide is molded, it can be formed without increasing the number of steps.

  In order to prevent interference with peripheral members such as the engine body, the level gauge guide may have a bent shape that is bent in a “<” shape at the middle portion. In such a case, a bent portion will be formed in the intermediate connecting portion. Then, when the level gauge is inserted, the tip of the level gauge protrudes from the opening of the intermediate connecting portion, and the lower end portion It may be difficult to guide up to. In order to prevent such inconveniences, a guide that is inserted while the level gauge is guided along the bent portion by the tip of the level gauge coming into contact with the bottom of the intermediate connecting portion on the lower end side of the bent portion. It is desirable to have a bottom.

  The lower terminal part of the level gauge guide generally extends perpendicular to the liquid level in the tank, and the gauge part of the level gauge to be guided is perpendicular to the liquid level. The upper terminal part is preferably parallel to the lower terminal part. Therefore, since the bent portions are generally formed at two places, it is desirable to form the above-described guide bottom portion on the lower terminal side of each bent portion. In this case, it is preferable that the bottom part and the opening part of the bowl-shaped intermediate coupling part are formed in a substantially spiral shape that is continuous from the upper terminal part to the lower terminal part. When the gauge portion abuts against the guide bottom portion and elastically deforms, the insertion direction of the level gauge is changed, and the gauge portion is inserted while being guided by the bottom portion of the intermediate coupling portion, so that it can be reliably inserted to the lower terminal portion.

  The level gauge has a rod shape that can be elastically deformed, and has a gauge portion at the tip. This level gauge can be made of metal or resin. The level gauge is inserted from the front end opening of the upper terminal portion, extends through the intermediate connecting portion and protrudes from the front end opening of the lower end portion, and the gauge portion is immersed in the liquid in the tank. The level gauge is generally held in a state of being inserted into the level gauge guide except when detecting the liquid level position or the like. Therefore, when the level gauge is inserted into the level gauge guide, it is necessary to seal between the level gauge and the level gauge guide.

  Therefore, in the present invention, the level gauge has a gauge seal portion in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the lower end portion of the level gauge guide in a ring shape at the upper portion of the gauge portion. Since this gauge seal portion is in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the lower end portion of the level gauge guide in a ring shape, it is possible to prevent liquid from leaking from the opening of the bowl-shaped intermediate coupling portion. The gauge seal portion can be, for example, a ring groove for mounting an O-ring.

  In order to accurately detect the liquid level position, it is necessary to regulate the insertion depth when the level gauge is inserted into the level gauge guide. For example, a step portion that contacts the gauge seal portion of the level gauge can be formed on the inner peripheral surface of the lower end portion of the level gauge guide. Alternatively, the front end opening of the upper end portion of the level gauge guide may be formed in a predetermined shape, and a portion that engages with the front end opening of the upper end portion may be formed at the end opposite to the gauge portion of the level gauge. Since the level gauge guide is manufactured by die molding, the front end opening of the upper end portion of the level gauge guide can be easily formed into a predetermined shape.

  The level gauge may have a flat plate shape as a whole (excluding the seal part and the engaging part) as well as the gauge part. When inserting such a level gauge into a level gauge guide having a bent portion, the tip of the gauge portion abuts against the bottom of the guide on the lower end side of the bent portion, and the level gauge is inserted while elastically deforming due to its resistance. Will be. At this time, if the long side of the tip surface of the flat gauge portion is in contact with the guide bottom portion, elastic deformation is facilitated and insertion along the bottom portion of the intermediate coupling portion is facilitated. On the contrary, if the short side of the tip surface of the flat gauge portion faces and contacts the guide bottom, elastic deformation becomes difficult and insertion may be difficult.

  Therefore, it is desirable that the inner peripheral surface of the upper terminal portion or the inner peripheral surface of the intermediate connecting portion has a guide portion that regulates the posture in the rotational direction of the level gauge by engaging with the level gauge. In this way, the long side of the tip surface of the flat gauge portion can be reliably opposed to the guide bottom portion, and the elastic deformation of the level gauge is facilitated. Easy insertion.

  Further, since the level gauge guide is formed by molding, ribs and flanges can be easily and integrally formed on the outer surface of the intermediate connecting portion at the time of molding. In this way, the intermediate connecting portion can be further reinforced.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described specifically by way of examples.

  FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of members constituting the level gauge guide structure of this embodiment, and FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are cross-sectional views of the state in which the level gauge guide structure of this embodiment is assembled to an oil pan. The level gauge guide structure of this embodiment includes a level gauge guide 1 and a level gauge 2.

  The level gauge guide 1 has a linear shape, and includes a cylindrical upper terminal portion 10, a cylindrical lower terminal portion 11, and an intermediate connecting portion 12 that connects the upper terminal portion 10 and the lower terminal portion 11, and is made of glass. It is formed by injection molding from fiber reinforced PP. Mounting brackets 13 and 14 are integrally formed on the upper terminal portion 10 and the lower terminal portion 11, respectively. Further, a ring groove 15 that holds the O-ring 3 is formed in the lower terminal portion 11. The intermediate connecting portion 12 is formed in a half-cylindrical bowl shape and includes a bottom portion 120 and an opening 121.

  When the level gauge guide 1 is formed by molding, the outer peripheral surfaces of the upper terminal portion 10 and the lower terminal portion 11, the outer peripheral surfaces and inner peripheral surfaces of the intermediate connecting portion 12, the mounting brackets 13 and 14, and the ring groove 15 are Each can be formed by a pair of split mold surfaces, and the inner peripheral surfaces of the upper terminal portion 10 and the lower terminal portion 11 can be formed by a slide core. Therefore, the whole can be formed by one injection molding, and man-hours can be reduced.

  The level gauge 2 is made of PP. A plate-like gauge portion 20 is formed at the tip, and a ring portion 21 for hooking a finger on the opposite end is formed. A ring groove 22 for holding the O-ring 4 is formed in the upper part of the gauge part 20, and a stopper 23 is formed in the lower part of the ring part 21.

  The level gauge guide 1 is inserted into a mounting hole 5 having a lower end portion 11 formed at the upper portion of the crankcase and communicating with the inside of the oil pan. Then, the O-ring 3 held in the ring groove 15 is brought into pressure contact with the inner peripheral wall surface of the mounting hole 5, thereby sealing the interface between the level gauge guide 1 and the inner wall of the mounting hole 5 and preventing engine oil from leaking out. . That is, a guide seal portion is formed at a site where the O-ring 3 is pressed against the inner peripheral wall surface of the mounting hole 5. The level gauge guide 1 is fixed by attaching the mounting brackets 13 and 14 to peripheral members (not shown).

  Next, the gauge portion 20 of the level gauge 2 is inserted from the tip opening of the upper terminal portion 10, passes through the bowl-shaped intermediate coupling portion 12, and then protrudes from the tip opening of the lower terminal portion 11. The insertion depth is regulated at a position in contact with the tip surface. In this state, the tip of the gauge portion 20 enters below the level of engine oil stored in the oil pan, and the O-ring 4 held in the ring groove 22 is pressed against the inner peripheral wall surface of the lower terminal portion 11. A gauge seal portion is configured. Accordingly, by pulling out the level gauge 2 and visually observing the gauge portion 20, the amount of engine oil and the degree of contamination can be detected. Further, since the O-ring 4 is pressed against the inner peripheral wall surface of the lower terminal portion 11 in the gauge seal portion, the interface between the lower terminal portion 11 and the level gauge 2 is sealed, and leakage of engine oil is prevented.

  Therefore, according to the level gauge guide structure of the present embodiment, the level gauge guide 1 is made of hard resin, and the whole including the mounting brackets 13 and 14 can be formed by a single injection molding. It can be. Furthermore, since the level gauge guide 1 is made of resin, it can be reduced in weight compared to a metal one, and the intermediate connecting portion 12 has a half-cylindrical saddle shape so that the overall weight can be further reduced compared to the case where it is entirely cylindrical. Can be achieved.

  FIG. 4 shows a level gauge guide used in the level gauge guide structure of this embodiment. The level gauge guide 6 includes a cylindrical upper terminal portion 60, a cylindrical lower terminal portion 61, and an intermediate connecting portion 62 that connects the upper terminal portion 60 and the lower terminal portion 61. Mounting brackets 63 and 64 are integrally formed on the upper terminal portion 60 and the lower terminal portion 61, respectively. The lower terminal portion 61 is formed with a ring groove 65 for holding the O-ring. The intermediate connecting portion 62 is formed in a bowl shape and includes a bottom portion 620 and an opening 621. The level gauge guide 6 is formed by a single injection molding using a mold using a plurality of slide cores using glass fiber reinforced PP as a molding material.

  The intermediate connecting portion 62 has bent portions 66 and 67 bent in a “<” shape at two locations, and the bottom portion 620 and the opening 621 are substantially extended from the first bent portion 66 toward the second bent portion 67. It has a spiral shape.

  The level gauge 2 similar to that of the first embodiment is inserted into the level gauge guide 6. At that time, the tip of the gauge portion 20 inserted into the upper terminal portion 60 first comes into contact with the bottom portion 620 (first guide bottom portion) of the first bent portion 66, and the level gauge 2 is elastically deformed by the resistance. The level gauge 2 is inserted along the bottom portion 620 extending in a substantially spiral shape with the gauge portion 20 guided by the first guide bottom portion.

  Next, when the gauge portion 20 reaches the second bent portion 67, the tip of the gauge portion 20 comes into contact with the bottom portion 620 (second guide bottom portion) of the second bent portion 67, and the level gauge 2 is elastically deformed by its resistance. To do. Then, the level gauge 2 enters the lower terminal portion 61 with the gauge portion 20 being guided by the second guide bottom portion.

  In other words, according to the level gauge guide structure of the present invention, a bent level gauge guide having a plurality of bent portions can also be adopted, and therefore it can be applied to various types of level gauge guide structures.

  In the level gauge guide structure according to the second embodiment described above, when the gauge part 20 is inserted into the upper terminal part 60, the gauge part 20 with respect to the bottom part 620 (first guide bottom part) in the first bent part 66. It is desirable that the long sides of the cross-sections face each other. This is because if the short sides face each other, the elastic deformation of the gauge portion 20 becomes difficult and insertion becomes difficult. In some cases, the level gauge 2 automatically rotates due to resistance and the long sides face each other, but it is desirable that the long sides face each other by restricting the insertion direction.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, a pair of guide grooves 68 (guide portions) are formed on the inner peripheral surface of the upper end portion 60 of the level gauge guide 6 so as to engage with and guide the side surfaces of the gauge portion 20. doing. The guide groove 68 is formed simultaneously with the molding of the upper terminal portion 60 when the level gauge guide 6 is injection molded.

  Therefore, according to the level gauge guide structure of the present embodiment, the posture of the level gauge 2 can be regulated at the time of insertion, and the gauge portion 20 can be controlled with respect to the bottom portion 620 (first guide bottom portion) of the first bent portion 66. The long side of the cross section can be reliably inserted so as to face each other.

  In the present embodiment, the guide portion is formed in the upper terminal portion 60, but may be formed in the intermediate connecting portion 62 depending on circumstances.

  If the strength of the intermediate connecting portion 62 is insufficient, ribs 69 extending along the intermediate connecting portion 62 are formed as shown in FIG. 6, or flange portions are formed on both sides of the intermediate connecting portion 62 as shown in FIG. 69 'can also be formed. This is due to the fact that the level gauge guide 6 can be formed by molding.

  The level gauge guide structure of the present invention can be used not only to detect the amount of engine oil and the degree of contamination, but also to detect the amount of various liquids.

1: Level gauge guide 2: Level gauge 3, 4: O-ring 10: Upper end
11: Lower terminal part 12: Intermediate connection part
13, 14: Mounting bracket 15: Ring groove (guide seal part)
20: Gauge 22: Ring groove (gauge seal)
66, 67: Bent part (guide bottom part) 68: Guide groove (guide part)

Claims (5)

Both cylindrical upper terminal part and lower terminal part, and an intermediate connecting part that connects the upper terminal part and the lower terminal part, formed in a bowl shape consisting of a bottom part and an opening part, are integrally formed by molding. Level gauge guide made of hard resin formed on,
It consists of a level gauge that has a bar shape that is elastically deformable and has a gauge part at the tip,
The level gauge guide is inserted into an attachment hole provided in a tank in which liquid is stored from the lower end portion and fixed in a liquid-tight manner via a guide seal portion formed in the lower end portion. Is inserted from the upper end portion of the level gauge guide and detects the liquid level position in the tank by the gauge portion protruding from the lower end portion,
The level gauge has a gauge seal part in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the lower terminal part in a ring shape at the upper part of the gauge part.   The intermediate connecting portion of the level gauge guide has a bent portion that bends in a “<” shape, and the intermediate connecting portion closer to the lower terminal portion than the bent portion has a tip of the gauge portion at the bottom. The level gauge guide structure according to claim 1, further comprising a guide bottom portion that is inserted while being guided along the bent portion.   The level gauge guide structure according to claim 1, wherein the liquid is engine oil.   The level gauge guide structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a mounting bracket fixed to a peripheral member is integrally formed on at least the upper terminal portion of the upper terminal portion and the lower terminal portion.   The level gauge guide structure according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a guide portion that regulates a posture in a rotation direction of the level gauge by engaging with the level gauge on an inner peripheral surface of the upper terminal portion.

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