JP6146195B2 - Fuel tank assembly structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a fuel tank assembly structure, and more particularly to a fuel tank assembly structure disposed in a front fender such as a bus.

  In buses and the like, so-called low floor buses in which the clearance from the ground to the floor panel is set low are often used. Such a low floor bus employs a structure in which a fuel tank or the like is disposed behind the front fender (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2010-149641 A

  By the way, when the fuel tank is disposed behind the front fender, there is a problem that the vehicle interior space is narrowed. Therefore, a structure is known in which a passenger seat is provided on the upper part of the fuel tank in order to effectively utilize the space behind the front fender where the fuel tank is disposed. However, since the fuel tank extends in the vehicle front-rear direction, there is also a problem that only a so-called sideways seat, in which a passenger sits sideways with respect to the vehicle traveling direction, is provided at the upper part of the fuel tank.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a fuel tank assembly structure that can effectively secure a cabin space around a front fender.

  In order to achieve the above object, a fuel tank assembly structure according to the present invention is a fuel tank assembly structure disposed on a front fender that covers a part of a front wheel of a vehicle, and is a floor panel positioned on a side of the front wheel. A vertical plate member extending in the vehicle height direction and having an upper end positioned above the front wheel and covering a side surface of the front wheel facing the passenger compartment, an upper surface of the front wheel, and the vertical plate member A horizontal plate member that is disposed between the upper end of the front wheel and covers an upper surface of the front wheel; a fuel tank that is disposed on an upper portion of the horizontal plate member; and a fuel pipe that supplies fuel from the fuel tank to the engine. A through hole for inserting the fuel pipe is formed in the horizontal plate member, and the fuel pipe is inserted into the through hole and extends downward along the vehicle outer surface of the vertical plate member. And the floor panel Characterized in that it is extended toward the engine below.

  Moreover, you may further provide the cover member which is provided in the vehicle outer side surface of the said vertical board member, and covers the said fuel piping.

  Further, the through hole may be formed at a rear end of the horizontal plate member in the vehicle body, and the fuel pipe may be extended to a vehicle outer side surface of the vertical plate member positioned behind the front wheel.

  Moreover, it is preferable to further include a lid portion that is attached to an upper end portion of the vertical plate member and covers an upper portion of the fuel tank.

  Further, at least one bracket may be provided on the upper end portion of the vertical plate member, and the lid portion may be fixed via the bracket.

  According to the assembly structure of the fuel tank of the present invention, it is possible to effectively secure a vehicle compartment space around the front fender.

It is a typical left view which shows an example of the vehicle which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a typical exploded perspective view showing the front fender concerning one embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a state in which a front fender according to an embodiment of the present invention is assembled to a vehicle. It is a typical longitudinal section showing a horizontal board part and a fuel tank concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is the typical fragmentary sectional view which looked at the front fender which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention from the vehicle outer side. It is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG. It is a typical longitudinal section showing a side bracket concerning one embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, a fuel tank assembly structure according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and their names and functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

  First, a bus 1 that is an example of a vehicle according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. On the left side of the vehicle body of the bus 1, a front entrance / exit 4 is formed in front of the left front wheel 2, and a middle entrance / exit 5 is formed between the left front wheel 2 and the left rear wheel 3. The floor panel 80 constituting the passenger compartment floor surface is provided at substantially the same height as the lower opening edge of the front entrance / exit 4 and the lower opening edge of the middle entrance 5. That is, the bus 1 of the present embodiment is configured as a so-called low floor bus in which the ground clearance of the vehicle body is set low. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 90 denotes a vehicle body side wall panel, and reference character E denotes an engine mounted on the rear of the vehicle body.

  Next, based on FIGS. 2-7, the detailed structure of the assembly structure of the fuel tank which concerns on this embodiment is demonstrated.

  FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the front fender 10, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which the front fender 10 is assembled to a vehicle. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 40 denotes a pair of left brackets fixed to a lateral frame (not shown) of the vehicle body. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 4 denotes a front entrance / exit, reference numeral 80 denotes a floor panel, and reference numeral 90 denotes a vehicle body side panel.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the front fender 10 includes a front vertical plate portion 11 facing the front outer peripheral surface of the left front wheel 2, a rear vertical plate portion 12 facing the rear outer peripheral surface of the left front wheel 2, and the right side of the left front wheel 2. A side vertical plate 13 facing the surface, a horizontal plate 14 facing the upper outer peripheral surface of the left front wheel 2, a fuel tank 15 disposed on the horizontal plate 14, and fuel from the fuel tank 15 to the engine E A fuel pipe 18 to be supplied, a protective cover member 19 (shown in FIGS. 5 and 6) that protects the fuel pipe 18, and a lid portion 16 that covers the upper portion of the fuel tank 15 are provided.

  The front vertical plate portion 11 constitutes a part of the vertical plate member of the present invention, and is formed in a substantially flat plate shape with a metal material such as steel or iron. The front vertical plate portion 11 extends upward from the upper surface of the floor panel 80 (see FIG. 3) in a state where the flat plate surface is substantially parallel to the vehicle width direction. Further, the front vertical plate portion 11 is fixed to the side surface of the vehicle body side wall panel 90 (see FIG. 3) by welding or the like at the left edge. Furthermore, a plurality of bolt insertion holes 11 </ b> A for fixing the front bracket 30 with bolts are formed at the upper end portion of the front vertical plate portion 11. Note that the vertical length of the front vertical plate portion 11 is formed such that the upper end thereof is close to the upper surface edge of the fuel tank 15 placed on the horizontal plate portion 14.

  The rear vertical plate portion 12 constitutes a part of the vertical plate member of the present invention, and is formed in a substantially flat plate shape with a metal material such as steel or iron. The rear vertical plate portion 12 extends upward from the upper surface of the floor panel 80 (see FIG. 3) in a state where the flat plate surface is substantially parallel to the vehicle width direction. Further, the rear vertical plate portion 12 has its left side edge portion fixed to the side surface of the vehicle body side panel 90 (see FIG. 3) by welding or the like. Further, a plurality of bolt insertion holes (not shown) for fixing the rear bracket 31 with bolts are formed at the upper end portion of the rear vertical plate portion 12. The vertical length of the rear vertical plate portion 12 is substantially the same as the length of the front vertical plate portion 11.

  The side vertical plate portion 13 constitutes a part of the vertical plate member of the present invention, and is formed in a substantially flat plate shape with a metal material such as steel or iron. The lateral vertical plate portion 13 extends upward from the upper surface of the floor panel 80 (see FIG. 3) in a state where the flat plate surface is substantially parallel to the vehicle front-rear direction. Further, the side vertical plate portion 13 has its front side edge portion fixed to the right side edge portion of the front vertical plate portion 11 by welding or the like, and its rear side edge portion welded to the right side edge portion of the rear vertical plate portion 12 or the like. And the front vertical plate portion 11 and the rear vertical plate portion 12 are made continuous. Further, a plurality of bolt insertion holes 13 </ b> A for fixing the side bracket 32 with bolts are formed at the upper end portion of the side vertical plate portion 13. In addition, the length of the vertical direction of the side vertical board part 13 is formed in the length substantially the same as the front vertical board part 11 and the back vertical board part 12. FIG.

  The horizontal plate portion 14 is formed in a substantially flat plate shape with a metal material such as steel or iron. The horizontal plate portion 14 has a substantially horizontal horizontal plane portion 14A, a front inclined surface portion 14B inclined downward from the front end of the horizontal plane portion 14A, and a horizontal plane portion 14A so as to follow the shape of the upper outer peripheral surface of the left front wheel 2. And a rear inclined surface portion 14C inclined downward from the rear end. The horizontal plate portion 14 has a left side edge portion fixed to a vehicle compartment side surface of the vehicle body side wall panel 90 (see FIG. 3) by welding or the like, and a front side edge portion thereof is a rear side surface and a rear side edge of the front vertical plate portion 11. The portion is fixed to the front side surface of the rear vertical plate portion 12 and the right edge portion is fixed to the left side surface of the side vertical plate portion 13 by welding or the like. Thereby, the tire arch part which covers a part of outer periphery of the left front wheel 2 is comprised. Note that a through hole 14D is formed in the rear end portion of the rear inclined surface portion 14C through which a fuel pipe 18 described later in detail is inserted.

  The fuel tank 15 is made of, for example, a resin material or the like, and is attached to the upper surface of the horizontal plate portion 14 via a fixing band or the like (not shown). The fuel tank 15 has a top surface portion 15A, a front side surface portion 15B, and a rear side surface portion 15C formed in a substantially rectangular shape, and a bottom surface portion 15F formed by bending it along the top surface of the horizontal plate portion 14. ing. The fuel tank 15 is formed by cutting out the lower edge of the right side surface portion 15D and the left side surface portion 15E along the upper surface of the horizontal plate portion 14.

  That is, inside the fuel tank 15, as shown in FIG. 4, a substantially rectangular parallelepiped storage chamber A positioned above the horizontal plane portion 14A and a front inclined surface portion 14B positioned below the storage chamber A. A storage chamber B that extends and a storage chamber C that is located above the rear inclined surface portion 14C and extends below the storage chamber A are formed. Thus, the fuel tank 15 is configured to effectively secure its capacity by the storage chambers B and C extending downward while suppressing the height from the horizontal plane portion 14A.

  The fuel pipe 18 has an upstream supply end inserted into the fuel tank 15 and a downstream supply side connected to a fuel injection device of an engine E (see FIG. 1) mounted at the rear of the vehicle body.

  More specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the fuel pipe 18 extends rearward along the upper surface portion 15A of the fuel tank 15 and is directed downward of the vehicle along the rear side surface portion 15C. Is inserted into the through hole 14D. Further, the fuel pipe 18 extends downward along the vehicle outer surface of the rear vertical plate portion 12 and is bent toward the rear of the vehicle below the floor panel 80 to be clamped to the lower surface of the floor panel 80 or the lower body frame 95. It is extended to the engine E while being supported by. That is, the fuel pipe 18 is configured so as to be accommodated in the lower part of the vehicle body without using the space outside the vehicle in the tire arch portion without being disposed on the vehicle compartment side. Thereby, it is possible to effectively prevent the space in the passenger compartment from being narrowed by the fuel pipe 18.

  The protective cover member 19 is formed of a metal material such as steel or iron, for example, and extends in the vehicle vertical direction from the lower surface of the lateral plate portion 14 toward the upper surface of the vehicle body lower frame 95. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, the protective cover member 19 includes a pair of opening grooves 19 </ b> A that are disposed on the vehicle outer surface of the rear vertical plate portion 12 to accommodate the fuel pipe 18, and formed at both ends of the opening grooves 19 </ b> A. And a flange portion 19B. The flange portion 19B is fixed to the vehicle outer surface of the rear vertical plate portion 12 by bolts, welding, or the like (not shown). That is, the fuel pipe 18 is configured to be completely covered by the protective cover member 19. This reliably prevents the fuel pipe 18 from being damaged or damaged.

  The lid portion 16 is formed of, for example, a resin material or the like, and is formed in a substantially rectangular shape in a top view as shown in FIG. 2 and has a front edge portion, a left edge portion, and a rear edge portion. A downwardly extending lip portion 16A is integrally formed. The lip portion 16A functions as a blindfold that covers the upper end sides (bolts and the like) of the vertical plate portions 11 to 13. In addition, a plurality of bolt insertion holes 50 are formed in the lid portion 16, and an elastic material such as rubber that seals a gap between the left side edge portion of the lid portion 16 and the vehicle body side wall panel 90 (see FIG. 3). A left seal member 17 formed of a member is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the side bracket 32 includes a lower bracket 33 attached to the side vertical plate portion 13 and an upper bracket 34 to which the lid portion 16 is attached. Note that the front bracket 30 and the rear bracket 31 (both shown only in FIG. 2) have substantially the same structure as the side bracket 32, and thus detailed description thereof will be omitted.

  The lower bracket 33 is formed in a substantially L-shaped cross section having a vertical mounting portion 33A and a horizontal fixing portion 33B. A bolt insertion hole 33D is formed in the attachment portion 33A, and a nut member 33C is provided on the back surface thereof. The lower bracket 33 inserts the bolt 60 into the bolt insertion hole 33D and the bolt insertion hole 13A of the side vertical plate portion 13 and fastens the bolt 60 to the nut member 33C on the back surface to thereby form the side vertical plate portion. 13 is attached to the upper end.

  The upper bracket 34 is formed in a substantially U-shaped cross section including a lateral fixing portion 34A and a mounting portion 34B facing each other. The upper bracket 34 has its fixed portion 34A fixed to the fixed portion 33B of the lower bracket 33 by welding or the like with the opening directed toward the passenger compartment. A bolt insertion hole 34C is formed in the attachment portion 34B, and a nut member 34D is provided on the back surface thereof. The lid 16 is attached to the upper bracket 34 by inserting the bolt 61 into the bolt insertion hole 34C and the bolt insertion hole 50 of the lid 16 and fastening the bolt 61 to the nut member 34D on the back surface. .

  Next, functions and effects of the fuel tank assembly structure according to this embodiment will be described.

  In the fuel tank assembly structure of the present embodiment, the three vertical plate portions 11 to 13 extending upward from the floor panel 80 and the horizontal plate portion 14 fixed to the vertical plate portions 11 to 13 A tire arch portion that covers the front wheel 2 is configured, and a fuel tank 15 is disposed on the upper surface of the lateral plate portion 14. That is, the fuel tank 15 is configured to be accommodated in the front fender 10 without being disposed behind the front fender 10.

  Therefore, according to the assembly structure of the fuel tank of the present embodiment, it is possible to secure a wide cabin space behind the front fender 10 and to effectively provide a forward-facing passenger seat in the cabin space behind the front fender 10. It becomes possible.

  Further, in the fuel tank assembly structure of the present embodiment, the fuel pipe 18 is inserted into the through hole 14D of the horizontal plate portion 14 and extends downward along the vehicle outer surface of the rear vertical plate portion 12. Further, it is bent toward the rear of the vehicle below the floor panel 80 and is supported on the lower surface of the floor panel 80 or the lower body frame 95 by a clamp or the like. That is, the fuel pipe 18 is configured so as to be accommodated in the lower part of the vehicle body while effectively using the space outside the tire arch portion without being disposed on the vehicle compartment side.

  Therefore, according to the assembly structure of the fuel tank of the present embodiment, it is possible to reliably prevent the space in the vehicle interior from being narrowed by the fuel pipe 18 and to improve the interior appearance by exposing the fuel pipe 18 to the vehicle interior side. It is possible to effectively prevent the deterioration.

  Further, in the fuel tank assembly structure of the present embodiment, the fuel pipe 18 extending on the vehicle outer surface of the rear vertical plate portion 12 is configured to be completely covered by the protective cover member 19.

  Therefore, according to the assembly structure of the fuel tank of this embodiment, it is possible to reliably prevent the fuel pipe 18 from being damaged by stones or the like scraped up from the road surface by the left front wheel 2.

  Further, in the fuel tank assembly structure of the present embodiment, when maintenance of the fuel tank 15 and the fuel pipe 18 is performed after the assembly to the vehicle body, the fastening with the bolt 61 is released and the lid portion 16 is simply removed. The fuel tank 15 and the fuel pipe 18 are configured to be easily accessible.

  Therefore, according to the fuel tank assembly structure of the present embodiment, maintenance workability such as repair and replacement of the fuel tank 15 and the fuel pipe 18 can be effectively improved.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, In the range which does not deviate from the meaning of this invention, it can change suitably and can implement.

  For example, the position where the fuel pipe 18 extends downward is not limited to the vehicle outer surface of the rear vertical plate portion 12, and may be the vehicle outer surface of the front vertical plate portion 11 or the side vertical plate portion 13. . Moreover, you may form each vertical board part 11-13 integrally with one board. Further, the front fender 10 is not limited to the one that covers the left front wheel 2 but can be configured as a front fender that covers the right front wheel (not shown). The bus 1 is not limited to a low-floor bus, and can be applied to a high-floor bus in which a step exists between the entrance / exit and the floor panel.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Bus 2 Front left wheel 10 Front fender 11 Front vertical board part 12 Back vertical board part 13 Side vertical board part 14 Horizontal board part 15 Fuel tank 16 Cover part 18 Fuel piping 19 Protection cover member 80 Floor panel 90 Car body side wall panel

Claims (5)

A fuel tank assembly structure disposed on a front fender that covers a part of a vehicle front wheel,
A vertical plate member extending in a vehicle height direction from a floor panel located on the side of the front wheel and having an upper end positioned above the front wheel and covering a side surface of the front wheel facing the cabin side; ,
A horizontal plate member disposed between the upper surface of the front wheel and the upper end of the vertical plate member and covering the upper surface of the front wheel;
A fuel tank disposed on top of the transverse plate member;
A fuel pipe for supplying fuel from the fuel tank to the engine,
A through hole through which the fuel pipe is inserted is formed in the horizontal plate member,
The fuel pipe is inserted into the through hole, extends downward along the vehicle outer surface of the vertical plate member, and extends toward the engine below the floor panel. The fuel tank assembly structure characterized by this. The fuel tank assembling structure according to claim 1, further comprising a cover member that is provided on a vehicle outer surface of the vertical plate member and covers the fuel pipe. The through hole is formed at a rear end of the horizontal plate member;
3. The fuel tank assembly structure according to claim 1, wherein the fuel pipe is extended to a vehicle outer side surface of the vertical plate member located behind the front wheel. The fuel tank assembly structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a lid portion attached to an upper end portion of the vertical plate member and covering an upper portion of the fuel tank. The fuel tank assembling structure according to claim 4, wherein at least one bracket is provided at an upper end portion of the vertical plate member, and the lid portion is fixed via the bracket.

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