Fuel tank

• US 20090133762A1
• Filed: 11/17/2008
• Published: 05/28/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Watanabe, Hiroaki, Murabayashi, Shinya, Shida, Kiyofumi
• Granted Patent: US 8,590,565 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 137/565.10
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 15/077 with means modifying or controlling distribution or motion of fuel, e.g. to prevent noise, surge, splash or fuel starvation
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2015/0344 comprising baffles
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2015/0775 for reducing movement or slash noise of fuel
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/85978 With pump
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/86043 Reserve or surge receiver
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/86212 Plural compartments formed by baffles
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/86284 With antisplash means not in flow passage
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/1352 Polymer or resin containing [i.e., natural or synthetic]

Abstract

An improved fuel tank is disclosed. In the fuel tank, a shock-absorbing member comprising a plurality of foam members is mounted to an in-tank functional component provided inside a resin fuel tank body. When the fuel inside the tank sloshes up and down, the fuel strikes the shock-absorbing member, causing the force of the waves to be dispersed, and reducing the fuel sloshing sound created by the sloshing of the fuel.

Claims

1. A fuel tank comprising:

a resin tank body;

an in-tank functional component provided inside the tank body; and

a shock-absorbing member formed into a shape mountable to the in-tank functional component.

2. The fuel tank of claim 1, wherein the in-tank functional component comprises a resin pipe member having both ends thereof fixed inside the tank body.

3. The fuel tank of claim 1, wherein the in-tank functional component comprises a supply pump for pumping fuel from inside the tank body.

4. The fuel tank of claim 1, wherein the shock-absorbing member is fixed by a fixing wire and is incorporated into the tank body from an opening formed in the tank body in order to mount the in-tank functional component.

5. The fuel tank of claim 1, wherein the fixing wire is ring-shaped.

6. A fuel tank comprising:

a resin tank body; and

a shock-absorbing member,

wherein the shock-absorbing member is provided on a vertical weld that connects a bottom plate of the tank body and a top plate facing the bottom plate.

7. The fuel tank of claim 6, wherein the vertical weld comprises a first shock-absorbing part protruding in a substantially cylindrical shape into the tank body from the top plate, and a second shock-absorbing part protruding in a substantially cylindrical shape into the tank body from the bottom plate.