Fuel tank filler neck closure

• US 5,435,358 A
• Filed: 02/22/1994
• Issued: 07/25/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: DaimlerChrysler AG (Mercedes-Benz Group AG)
• Original Assignee: Mercedes-Benz AG (Mercedes-Benz Group AG)
• Inventors: Meister, Oliver, Kempka, Karl-Heinz, Kreckel, Uwe
• Primary Examiner(s): JACYNA, J CASIMER
• Application Number:
  US08/199,768
• Time in Patent Office: 518 Days
• Field of Search: 141/94, 141/98, 141/312, 141/346, 141/348-350, 141/368, 141/382-384, 141/386, 220/86.2, 220/336, 220/288, 220/291, 220/292, 220/DIG. 33, 251/162, 251/250.5, 251/351, 251/352, 901/6
• US Class Current: 141/312
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 15/04 Tank inlets B60K15/077 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 15/0406 Filler caps for fuel tanks
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 15/05 Inlet covers
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2015/0429 actuated by the nozzle
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2015/0445 using hinges
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 220/33 Gasoline tank cap

Abstract

A closure for a fuel tank filler neck has a closure cap which is swivel-mounted on the upper side of the said closure and can be opened from the closed position by the effect of force on a lever arm arranged on the far side of the swivel axis. A pawl for locking and unlocking of the closure cap is swivellable and prestressed in the closing sense or direction by spring force and has an outwardly extending lever arm for mechanically lifting the pawl against the spring force. To ensure a permanent and reliable closing function of the closure cap, the filler neck bears an axially accessible adjusting ring which is arranged coaxially with respect to the cap. The ring is mounted rotatably on the outer circumference of the latter and/or on the axial end face of a shoulder thereof, and has on its upper side, at least in a subregion, a spiral toothing. A toothed segment is arranged on the lever arm of the closure cap. The teeth of the toothed segment are in engagement with the spiral toothing of the ring such that a turning of the adjusting ring has the effect that a force acting in the opening or closing sense can be exerted on the closure cap.

Claims

1. A closure for a fuel tank filler neck having a passage, comprising a closure cap arranged to be swivellably-mounted about a swivel axis on an upper side of said closure a lever arm arranged on a side of the swivel axis remote from said closure cap such that said closure cap is openable from a closed position by a force acting on the lever arm, the swivel axis being arranged at a rim of the filler neck and parallel to an axis of the filler neck, a driving element associated with said lever arm and arranged in proximity to the swivel axis which is between said closure cap and the driving element, outside a clear cross-section of the passage for effecting a swivelling movement of the closure cap, and an adjusting ring mounted concentrically with respect to the filler neck, via a corresponding mating form-fit element connected with a form fit to the driving element, for initiating the swivelling movement of said closure cap.

2. The closure according to claim 1, further comprising an opening device by means of which, for opening, while still in the closed position of the closure cap, the contact pressure of the latter against a seal surrounding the passage can at least be discontinued.

3. The closure according to claim 1, wherein the swivel axis is an axis of a bearing bolt on which the closure cap is rotatably arranged, the bearing bolt being received in a support part coupled onto the filler neck.

4. The closure according to claim 3, wherein the adjusting ring surrounds the closure in a housing-like manner, the support part has on an outer circumference thereof a thread on which the adjusting ring is held such that the adjusting ring can be screwed along the filler neck axis, and the closure cap being pressable in the closed position onto the seal by the adjusting ring, in the manner of a union nut, by a protruding collar.

5. The closure according to claim 4, wherein a thread pitch of the thread for the adjusting ring is nonuniform with a small ramp and has a groove in which a pin engages.

6. The closure according to claim 4, wherein the driving element is a toothed segment formed on the outer circumference of the stem, and the mating form-fit element is a toothed segment of a hollow gearwheel formed on the inner circumference of the adjusting ring.

7. The closure according to claim 4, wherein pairing of the driving element is formed by a radial slot on one of the pairing, and as the mating form-fit element, is formed on the other of the pairing by a peg.

8. The closure according to claim 4, wherein at least one prestressed engaging element is arranged in an outer circumference of the support part such that the engaging element can engage in the open position of the closure cap in an engaging groove provided on the inner circumference of the adjusting ring.

9. The closure according to claim 4, wherein at least one tension spring is arranged inside the adjusting ring to act as a restoring spring such that the at least one tension spring stresses the adjusting ring in the closing direction and is fastened at an inner circumference and at the support part.

10. The closure according to claim 4, wherein the adjusting ring includes on an outer side thereof additional form-fit elements which are connectable with a form fit to the fuel-pump nozzle such that a swivelling of the closure cap is initiatable by a turning movement of the fuel-pump nozzle.

11. The closure according to claim 4, wherein the adjusting ring has a slot along the outer circumference thereof and through which the closure cap is protrudable for reaching the open position.

12. The closure according to claim 1, wherein at least one marking is arranged in a passage region on the upper side of the closure cap such that a fuel-pump nozzle can be brought under robotic control using a sensor means up to the filler neck for tank filling.