JP5963859B2 - Fuel supply device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a fuel supply device of a type that uses an in-vehicle brushless fuel pump and a capacity-type fuel level gauge, and relates to a fuel supply device that is devised in its arrangement and configuration to reduce its size.

In a conventional on-vehicle brushless fuel pump, a controller including a controller and a drive circuit for driving a brushless motor of the fuel pump is disposed at the top of the high pressure filter cover (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
In addition, as a capacitance type fuel level gauge, one that is not integrated with a fuel pump is known, and a control unit including a transmitter of a capacitance type fuel level gauge and a liquid level calculation unit is a fuel tank. It is arranged outside the sensor unit soaked in fuel, and the sensor unit and the control unit are connected by a U-shaped flat wire (for example, Patent Document 2). reference.).

JP 2007-189889 A JP-A-5-223624

  In the conventional brushless fuel pump and the capacitive fuel level gauge configured as described above, since the control units are individually provided, the configuration is complicated and the arrangement space is large. In addition, the capacitive fuel level gauge is susceptible to the stray capacitance of the wiring connecting the sensor unit and the control unit because of its principle. Under the influence of wiring fluctuation, there is a problem that the S / N ratio is deteriorated and the detection accuracy of the liquid level is lowered.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and by integrating a brushless fuel pump having a control unit and a control unit of a capacitive fuel level gauge, without lowering the liquid level detection accuracy. It aims at providing the fuel supply apparatus which realized the simplification of a structure and size reduction.

A fuel supply device of the present invention includes a brushless fuel pump held in a fuel tank via a flange portion,
A capacitive fuel level gauge attached to the brushless fuel pump with the sensing unit immersed in the fuel in the fuel tank; and
A first control unit that is connected to the brushless fuel pump via a connector fixed to the flange portion and controls the brushless fuel pump;
A second control unit that is integrated with the first control unit and is connected to the capacitive fuel level gauge via the connector and controls the capacitive fuel level gauge independently of the first control unit And comprising
The sensing unit of the capacitive fuel level gauge is composed of a conductive pipe connected to a ground and a center electrode, and these are integrated into the connector and plugged into the connector with a single touch. .

  According to this invention, since the control unit of the brushless fuel pump and the capacitive fuel level gauge is integrated, the configuration of the control unit is miniaturized, and the fuel tank with the fuel gauge can be easily attached to and detached from the fuel tank. Become. Further, by making the capacitive fuel level gauge a plug-in that is less affected by wiring, instability factors (S / N ratio deterioration) due to stray capacitance can be reduced.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the state which mounted | wore the fuel tank with the fuel supply apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of the fuel supply apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention. FIG. 3 is a bottom view taken along arrow A in the fuel supply apparatus of FIG. 2 . It is a functional block diagram of the control part in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of the control part in Embodiment 2 of this invention.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
1 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the fuel supply apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention is mounted on a fuel tank, FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the fuel supply apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a fuel supply apparatus of FIG. FIG. Next, the mounting shape and external structure of the fuel supply device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

The brushless fuel pump 100 having no electrical contact portion between the movable portion and the fixed portion is disposed in a fuel tank 102 that stores the fuel 101 of the internal combustion engine. A flange portion 103 is provided at an upper portion of the brushless fuel pump 100, and is thereby held and fixed to the fuel tank 102. A hole 104 having a diameter ΦL is formed in the fuel tank 102, and a flange portion 103 is fixed around the hole 104 with a screw or the like (not shown) to provide a sealing function as well as holding.

During the operation of the internal combustion engine, the fuel 101 removes foreign matters of a certain size or more in the fuel 101 by a filter 105 provided on the suction side of the brushless fuel pump 100, and is sucked by rotation of the fuel pump 100 and a motor (not shown). Then, it is sent out from the discharge pipe 106 to an injector (not shown).

The remaining amount of fuel 101 in the fuel tank 102 is measured by a capacitive fuel gauge 110, and a signal is sent to a display in the vicinity of the driver (not shown) to inform the driver. The sensing part 111 of the capacitive fuel gauge 110 is composed of a conductive pipe 112 and a center electrode 113 connected to the ground, and these are integrally plugged into the connector 114 fixed to the flange part 103 with one touch. It has a structure.

The pipe 112 is inserted into a part (cylindrical part) of the connector 114, and the claw part 116 formed in the pipe 112 is fixed by fitting into the claw hole part 117 (see FIG. 2) of the cylindrical part. Thereafter, the holder 115 is attached to the brushless fuel pump 100. The connector 114 is also a connection portion for wires from the U phase, V phase, and W phase that are connected to the motor portion of the brushless fuel pump 100.

  The control unit 120 has a control function that combines the control unit of the brushless fuel pump 100 and the control unit of the capacitive fuel gauge 110. The case 121 is for mounting and storing the control unit 120 and other electronic components, and the substrate 122 is placed in the case 121. The substrate 122 shown in the figure shows a state before electronic parts and the like are mounted, and shows a state of the hole 124 into which the terminal 123 coming out of the connector 114 is inserted.

  Three of the five holes 124 are for terminals for power supply and signal detection to the U phase, V phase, and W phase, and the remaining two are from the center electrode 113 of the sensing unit 111 and the pipe 112 that is the ground. These connection holes are all fixed to the substrate 122 with solder and do not have a structure that easily moves due to vehicle or fuel fluctuations. Moreover, the terminal 123 is formed in the flange part 103 by methods, such as insert molding, and it considers keeping the airtightness of a tank. Since the wiring from the sensing unit 111 to the substrate 122 is preferably the shortest distance in order to reduce the influence of the stray capacitance of the wiring described later, the hole 124, the connector 114, and the sensing unit 111 are on a straight line that extends substantially vertically. It is desirable to be disposed in the area.

  Such an attachment structure and configuration of the capacitance type fuel gauge 110 can minimize the influence on the stray capacitance of the wiring, which is often a problem in the detection body using the capacitance as a principle. By making the electrode paired with the center electrode 113, that is, the pipe 112 into a conductive material, noise from the surroundings can be shielded.

  FIG. 4 shows a functional block diagram of the control unit 120 integrated with the upper portion of the flange portion 103. In the figure, IC1 is an IC for controlling the fuel pump 100, and IC2 is for a capacitive fuel gauge, and each is supplied with electric power from a power supply 130. Signals are independently sent to the brushless fuel pump 100 and the gasoline remaining amount indicator 140 according to the logic incorporated in advance under each input information.

  Although the fuel tank 102 is provided with a hole 104 having a diameter of ΦL, the fuel tank of the fuel supply apparatus is designed so that the maximum diameter Φm in the view seen from the bottom of the fuel supply apparatus shown in FIG. The workability of attaching / detaching to / from 102 is remarkably improved.

As described above, the fuel supply apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention has two control functions for the brushless fuel pump 100 and the capacitive fuel gauge 110 on the upper flange portion 103 of the brushless fuel pump 100. Since it is configured with an IC and the sensing part 111 of the capacitive fuel gauge 110 can be plugged into the connector 114 of the flange part 103 part, a small fuel supply device with a simple structure and high reliability is realized. There is an effect that can be done. In the above description, the control unit 120 is provided on the upper part of the flange part 103, but may be provided on the lower part of the flange part 103.

  In the first embodiment, the description has been given of measuring the remaining amount of the fuel 101 with the capacitance type fuel gauge 110. However, the property of the fuel can be measured using the capacitance type in the same shape. In addition, by having two sensing units 111, it is possible to simultaneously measure the fuel amount and the fuel properties.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
FIG. 5 shows a functional block diagram of the control unit 120 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.
In the first embodiment, the function of the brushless fuel pump 100 and the function of the capacitive fuel gauge 110 are integrated with each control unit 120 on the flange upper part 103, and the control ICs are independently established as IC1 and IC2. However, in the present embodiment, both are combined to form a single IC 150.

By controlling with one IC 150, further performance improvement can be achieved as compared with the single IC 150. The relative dielectric constant (ε) of regular gasoline is usually as low as 2 to 3, and it is difficult to take a complicated structure because it is installed in the fuel tank, and the opposing area (S) that determines the capacitance value (C) is increased. Since it is difficult to reduce the gap and gap (d), it is necessary to detect a small capacity with high accuracy and reproducibility. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the influence of stray capacitance, and shortening the wiring on the substrate 122 as much as possible affects the performance. Controlling with a single IC helps improve performance, including cost reduction and space saving.

  100 Brushless Fuel Pump, 101 Fuel, 102 Fuel Tank, 103 Flange, 104 Hole, 105 Filter, 106 Discharge Pump, 110 Capacitive Fuel Gauge, 111 Sensing Unit, 112 Pipe, 113 Center Electrode, 114 Connector, 115 Holder 116 claw part, 117 claw hole part, 120 control part, 121 case, 122 substrate, 123 terminal, 124 hole, 130 power supply, 140 gasoline remaining amount indicator.

Claims (4)

A brushless fuel pump held in the fuel tank via the flange,
A capacitive fuel level gauge attached to the brushless fuel pump with the sensing unit immersed in the fuel in the fuel tank; and
A first control unit that is connected to the brushless fuel pump via a connector fixed to the flange portion and controls the brushless fuel pump;
A second control unit that is integrated with the first control unit and is connected to the capacitive fuel level gauge via the connector and controls the capacitive fuel level gauge independently of the first control unit And comprising
The sensing unit of the capacitive fuel level gauge is composed of a conductive pipe connected to a ground and a center electrode, and these are integrated into the connector as a single-touch plug-in structure. . The conductive pipe is inserted into a cylindrical portion of the connector, the claims claw portion formed on the pipe of the conductivity, characterized in that it is fixed by fitted into the pawl hole portion of the cylindrical portion the fuel supply device according to 1. Sensing portions of the capacitive fuel level gauge, a fuel supply device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that disposed on the part and the connector substantially collinear to be the plug. The fuel supply apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first control unit and the second control unit are configured by one IC .

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