JPS6031707B2 - fuel tank cap - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to a fuel tank cap.

More specifically, the present invention relates to a lock-type cap used, for example, in the filling port of a fuel tank of an automobile or the like.
Conventionally, lock-type fuel tank caps with keys have been made using zinc die-casting or aluminum die-casting for the cap body because the material has excellent heat resistance and gasoline resistance, and because the cap has a complicated shape. Dynamic cast is used. However, when such die-cast metal is used, it weighs 3 to 5 times as much as a general keyless non-locking cap, and is less operable, so the cap must be removed before refueling. If the cap is accidentally dropped during the operation, the vehicle body may be deformed or damaged, and if a valve mechanism such as a positive pressure valve or negative pressure valve is attached to the bottom of the cap, This caused the valve mechanism to be damaged or deformed, causing the cap to malfunction. Furthermore, since the cap is made of die-cast metal, it is inevitably expensive. The present invention has been made in order to eliminate the various drawbacks of the conventional art as described above. a cylindrical cover having a through hole in a portion thereof; a valve holding portion having an air introduction hole in a central portion fixed to the bracket and fitting the through hole; and a valve mechanism provided within the valve holding member; A main body that covers the cover and is inserted into the inside thereof, a cover holding means provided at the lower green portion of the side wall of the main body, a lock piece inserted into the main body and slidable by a key cylinder, and a flange of the cover. This fuel tank cap with a key is characterized by comprising a locking mechanism consisting of intermittent protrusions provided at the portion.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the bottom part 1 of a cylindrical bracket 5 has a closing opening 2 in the bottom part 1 and an engaging claw 4 in the side wall 3 that projects in a direction substantially perpendicular to the side wall. To,
A cylindrical cover 8 having a through hole 7 is inserted into the center of the bottom 6, and the bottom 6 and the bottom 1 of the cylindrical bracket 5 are fixed by spot welding or the like. Further, on the bottom surface of the bracket 5, a valve holding member 11 having an air introduction hole 10 at the top 9 is provided.
The central through hole 7 of the cover 8 connects to the bottom surface of the bracket 5.
And the lotus will stick to suit. As shown in FIG. 1, the fixing method is to insert the bulge at the top of the valve holding member 11 into the opening 2 of the bottom 1 of the bracket 5 and abut against the bottom of the cover 8, and then fix the bottom 1 of the bracket 5. This is done by sandwiching the cover 8 and the valve holding member 11 and applying ring projection welding or the like to the abutting portion. Further, when the opening □2 of the bottom portion 1 of the bracket 5 is small, the bracket 5 and the valve holding member 11 may be directly fixed to each other by IJ projection welding or the like. This valve holding member is provided with a valve mechanism such as a positive pressure valve and a negative pressure valve, as will be described later. The cylindrical cover 8 is integrally provided with a flange portion 12 at its upper end. The flange portion 12 of the cylindrical cover 8 is provided with an annular intermittent protrusion 13 as shown in FIGS. It must be wide enough to pass through.

The upper surface of the cover 8 is covered with a lid-shaped synthetic resin cap body 17 having a cylindrical portion 16 protruding downward from the center. is inserted into. On the other hand, a groove is provided at the inner lower end of the side wall 18 of the main body 17, and a snap ring 19 is fixed to the groove, and the flange portion 12 of the cover 8 is held on the main body 17 by the snap ring 19. In addition, since the main body is made of synthetic resin, heat caulking, spin welding,
It can also be maintained by high frequency or the like. As the synthetic resin constituting the main body 17, engineering plastics such as polyacetal, nylon, polybutylene terephthalate, and polyphenylene oxide are used. Inside the cylindrical portion 16 of the main body 17 are
As shown in the figure, a metal case 48 is fitted with iron, and this case is provided with windows 49, 49 at the positions of the tumblers that pop out when the key is turned on or off. Also,
This case 48 is provided with partially bent parts 50 and 51 at the upper and lower parts to prevent vertical sliding.
Further, in order to prevent the case itself from rotating, a groove 52 is provided in the cap body 17, and bent portions 53, 53 of the case are inserted into this groove 52. The key cylinder 20 is inserted into the case 48 and is locked to the cap body 17 by a stopper 54.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a cam plate 21 is provided on the upper part of the key ring 20, and is in contact with the end of the lock piece 15 provided within the main body 17. lock piece 15
As shown in Fig. 1, it is bent into an L shape and has a claw portion 22 at the tip, and a stopper 2 at the middle part of the upper surface.
3 is installed protrudingly. The lock piece 15 has a main body 17
The stopper 23 is slidably inserted into a guide groove 24 bored inside the main body 17, and is always biased by a spring 26 inserted into a groove 25 bored inside the main body 17.
The end of the lock piece 15 is always pressed against and in contact with the cam plate 21. The key cylinder 20' is configured to rotate in accordance with the rotation of the key 28 inserted through the keyway of the cylinder 20, and at the same time, the cam plate 21 also rotates. Note that an annular packing 29 is provided on the outer periphery of the cylindrical cover 18, and is held by a retainer 30'. Further, a spring 27 is inserted between the main body 16 and the cover 8, and constantly presses the flange 12 against the holding means 19. Until the sudden delivery; 0.
, A seat plate 32 having an annular bulge 31 facing downward is attached, and a through hole 33 is bored in the central flat part 32a of the seat plate 32 at a position offset from the center. .

A diaphragm 35 made of a flexible material such as rubber and having a through hole 34 in the center is provided at the lower part of the seat plate 32, and the valve is held by the upper end of the bowl body 36 from the lower part at the green part around the diaphragm 35. It is attached by being pressed against the section 11 and the seat plate 32 and being held therebetween. The shape of the diaphragm 35 is almost the same as that of the seat plate 32, but an annular protrusion 37 is formed around a through hole 34 in the center thereof. Further, on the lower surface of the diaphragm 35, there is a through hole 38 in the center which is connected to the through hole 34 of the diaphragm 35.
A valve plate 39 having a hole therein is brought into contact with the valve plate 39 and the bowl body 36.
The diaphragm 35 is always pressed against the lower surface of the seat plate 32 by the four springs interposed between the two springs. The valve plate 39 has a skirt portion on the outer peripheral edge thereof, and is adapted to hold the spring 40 therein. A through hole 41 is bored in the bottom of the bowl body 36. The upper end of the bowl body 36 is enlarged and bent outward, and the cylindrical part 42 is iron-fitted and caulked to the inner surface of the skirt part 43 of the valve holding member 11, so that the seat plate 32 and the diaphragm 35 are It is firmly clamped by the gap formed by these. Although the negative pressure valve has been described above as the valve mechanism, it goes without saying that a positive pressure valve can also be attached depending on the purpose, and various valve mechanisms can be adopted as appropriate. The cap of the present invention constructed as described above is used in the following manner.

That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the upper end is bent inward to form a substantially horizontal guide surface 45, and at least two notches (not shown) are provided at an interval of 18 mm.
are further folded inward and formed from engaging cam walls 47, 47 obliquely extending from the notch, respectively, toward the other notch,
Place the cap on the upper end of the fuel tank filler neck 44, which has a stopper (not shown) at its end point, with the key turned on, and turn the cap clockwise. The engaging claws 4, 4 of the cap, which have been sliding on the guide surface 45, are inserted into the filler neck 44 when they reach the notch, and the seal 29 comes into contact with the guide surface 45. Further rotation in the clockwise direction causes the engaging claws 4, 4 to move along the lower surfaces of the cam walls 47, 47, so that the gap between the guide surface 45 and the packing 29 gradually becomes airtight, and finally the claws 4, 4 hits the stopper and stops. When the key 28 is turned in this state, the cam plate 21 rotates as the key cylinder 20 rotates, so the lock piece 15 slides within the guide groove 24 and the claw portion 22 at the tip engages the flange portion 12. Annular protrusions 13,1 formed intermittently on the top
Move outward from the position of the interrupted part 14 between 3 and 2 to 3.
Since the position shown in the figure is reached, the key is turned off. In this state, the cap body 17 is free from the cover 8, so even if the body 17 is rotated, the cover 8 and the portion fixed thereto remain fixed to the filler neck 44 and simply rotate idly. As a result, a sealed state is achieved as shown in FIG. Therefore, the fuel tank (not shown)
When the pressure inside the tank is higher than the outside air, the valve mechanism creates a sealed state; on the other hand, when the pressure inside the tank becomes lower, the valve opens and air flows into the tank. When removing the cap mounted in this manner, by rotating the key 28, the lock piece 15 is biased by the spring 26, and as the cam plate 21 rotates, the lock piece 15 slides inward and its claw portion 22 is the interrupted part 1 between the protrusions 13, 13
When the key reaches 4, the key is turned on.

Therefore, when the cap is rotated counterclockwise, since the cap body 17 is locked to the cover 8 by the protrusions 13, 13, the engaging claws 4, 4 move the cam walls 47, 47 upward. It moves freely and becomes free in the notch, so if you raise the cap, it will separate from the filler neck. Since the fuel tank cap according to the present invention has the above-mentioned configuration, it has a main body made of synthetic resin, which is lighter and cheaper than the conventional metal die-casting cap, so that it is superior to the conventional product. We were able to resolve the various shortcomings. In addition, the strength and fuel resistance, which have been said to be shortcomings of synthetic resins, have been solved because the resin body is entirely covered with a cover to prevent it from coming into contact with hydrocarbon fuel such as gasoline in the tank. In addition, by continuously oxidizing the cover that covers the resin main body and the valve holding member, we have created a structure that allows the main body and cover, the cover and the holding part, the main body and the key cylinder, and the valve holding member to be separated from each other, as seen in conventional caps. Rubber parts or screws used as sealing materials for parts and valves, etc. have been abolished, the number of parts has been significantly reduced, and the number of leakage areas has been reduced in terms of airtightness, improving functional reliability and improving quality. It is possible to obtain a stable product. Moreover, the cap according to the present invention includes:

A semicircular cam plate on which the lock piece slides is provided on the upper side of the key insertion side of the key cylinder rotor, and the locking position is located outside the filler neck, so there is no need for any sealing mechanism for airtightness. be. In addition, although the cap is extremely easy to attach and detach, it is equipped with a locking mechanism, so there is no need to worry about the cap falling off or being stolen in the key-off state.

Furthermore, by inserting a metal case, the inserted part of the key cylinder comes into contact with the metal tumbler and the resin, so when inserting a very similar key depending on the key combination, the tumbler will not protrude and will be different. There is no problem where the key is inserted and rotated forcibly, the resin is gouged out, and the part that contacts the sunburst becomes concave, causing the key to spin idly.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a fuel tank cap according to the present invention;
2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line D in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line mm in FIG. 1. 1...Bracket bottom, 2...Closing,
4... Engagement pawl, 5... Placket,
7, 10...hole, 8...cover, 11
... Valve holding member, 12 ... Flange,
13... Intermittent annular projection, 14...
Intermittent portion, 15... Lock piece, 16... Body cylindrical part, 17... Cap body, 18... Body side wall, 19... Locking member, 20... ...Key cylinder, 21...Cam plate, 22...
・Claw part of lock piece, 26... Spring, 29...
Patchkin, 44... Filler neck, 45... Guide surface, 47... Cam wall. Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 1

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A bracket having an opening at the bottom and an engaging claw on the side wall, a cylindrical cover having a through hole at the center of the bottom that is inserted into and fixed to the bracket, and fixed to the bracket. a valve holding member having an air introduction hole communicating with the through hole in a central portion thereof, and a valve mechanism provided within the valve holding member;
A main body that covers the cover and is inserted into the inside thereof, a cover holding means provided at the lower edge of the side wall of the main body, a lock piece that is fitted into the main body and is slidable by a key cylinder, and a flange portion of the cover. A fuel tank cap with a key, comprising a locking mechanism consisting of intermittent protrusions provided on the cap. 2. The cap according to claim 1, wherein the cap body is made of synthetic resin. 3. Claim 2, comprising a metal case with a diagonal window provided in the central hole into which the key cylinder of the synthetic resin cap body is inserted, at a position where the tumbler of the key cylinder pops out when the key is on. Cap described in. 4 The lock mechanism includes a cam plate provided on the upper side of the key cylinder, a lock piece that contacts the cam plate and is equipped with a return means and can reciprocate on the flange of the cover, and a ring-shaped lock piece that is disposed intermittently on the flange. A cap according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising a protrusion provided on the cap, and a discontinuous portion provided at a distance between the protrusions such that the lock piece can be inserted. 5. The cap according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the cover holding member is a snap ring provided at the lower end edge of the side wall of the cap main body. 6. The cylindrical part of the cap body is inserted into the cylindrical cover, and a spring is inserted between the two, and the spring presses the peripheral edge of the flange part of the cover against the holding member on the lower edge of the side wall of the main body. A cap according to any one of claims 1 to 5. 7. An annular packing is fitted onto the outer periphery of the cylindrical cover. A cap according to any one of claims 1 to 6.