Fuel tank unit of motorcycle

• US 6,616,187 B2
• Filed: 11/28/2001
• Issued: 09/09/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Suzuki Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Suzuki Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: Nagasaka, Munenori
• Primary Examiner(s): Johnson, Brian L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): SHRIVER II, JAMES A
• Application Number:
  US09/994,699
• Publication Number:
  US 20020063004A1
• Time in Patent Office: 650 Days
• Field of Search: 280/835, 280/834, 180/69.4, 137/565.17, 137/565.34, 137/574, 123/509, 123/514
• US Class Current: 280/835
• CPC Class Codes: B62J 35/00 Fuel tanks specially adapted for motorcycles or engine-assisted cycles; Arrangements thereof fuel tanks forming part of cycle frames B62K11/00; tanks in general B60K ; closure caps for fuel tanks B60K15/0406
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/86043 Reserve or surge receiver
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/86212 Plural compartments formed by baffles

Abstract

A fuel tank unit of a motorcycle, in which an air cleaner and a fuel tank unit are disposed above an engine, comprises a fuel tank body having a front half portion having a recess to receive the air cleaner therein and a rear half portion serving as a substantial capacity section of the fuel tank body, a fuel pump disposed inside the substantial capacity section, and a fuel level gauge device mounted on a top portion of the fuel pump to detect a fuel level in the fuel tank body. The fuel level gauge includes a gauge body and an arm member pivoted on a gauge body, and the arm member having a free end swingable above the fuel pump.

Claims

1. A fuel tank unit of a motorcycle in which an air cleaner and the fuel tank unit are disposed above an engine, said fuel tank unit comprising:

a fuel tank body having a front half portion and a rear half portion, said front half portion being provided with a recess portion in which said air cleaner is received, said recess portion being provided on a front side of a bottom of the fuel tank body so as to have an opening opened downward, said rear half portion of the fuel tank body serving as a substantial capacity section;

a fuel pump disposed inside the substantial capacity section of the fuel tank body; and

a fuel level gauge device mounted on a top portion of the fuel pump to detect a fuel level in the fuel tank body, said fuel level gauge including a gauge body disposed above the fuel pump and an arm member pivoted on the gauge body and having a free end swingable above the fuel pump,

said arm member having, at a free end thereof, a float and being pivotable so as to be swingable up and down on a plane which is in parallel with a vertical plane connecting a ground surface and a longitudinal axial line of the motorcycle in an advancing direction thereof.

2. A fuel tank unit of a motorcycle in which an air cleaner and the fuel tank unit are disposed above an engine, said fuel tank unit comprising:

a fuel tank body having a front half portion and a rear half portion, said front half portion being provided with a recess portion in which said air cleaner is received, said recess portion being provided on a front side of a bottom of the fuel tank body so as to have an opening opened downward, said rear half portion of the fuel tank body serving as a substantial capacity section;

a fuel pump disposed inside the substantial capacity section of the fuel tank body; and

a fuel level gauge device mounted on a top portion of the fuel pump to detect a fuel level in the fuel tank body, said fuel level gauge including a gauge body disposed above the fuel pump and an arm member pivoted on the gauge body and having a free end swingable above the fuel pump,

said arm member having an axial line, which is set to be inclined upward from the center of the swing motion of the arm member at an upper limit position of a measuring range of the fuel gauge body, and said fuel tank body having an upper rear portion including an inclined surface, which is inclined upward so as to be substantially in parallel with the axial line of the arm member at said limit position thereof.

3. A fuel tank unit of a motorcycle in which an air cleaner and the fuel tank unit are disposed above an engine, said fuel tank unit comprising:

a fuel tank body having a front half portion and a rear half portion, said front half portion being provided with a recess portion in which said air cleaner is received, said recess portion being provided on a front side of a bottom of the fuel tank body so as to have an opening opened downward, said rear half portion of the fuel tank body serving as a substantial capacity section;

a fuel pump disposed inside the substantial capacity section of the fuel tank body; and

a fuel level gauge device mounted on a top portion of the fuel pump to detect a fuel level in the fuel tank body, said fuel level gauge including a gauge body disposed above the fuel pump and an arm member pivoted on the gauge body and having a free end swingable above the fuel pump,

said fuel pump mounted on an axial line in an advancing direction of the motorcycle and in said fuel tank body so that a longitudinal axis of the fuel pump is inclined with a rear end thereof lifted higher than a front end thereof, and said fuel level gauge device is provided for a fuel filler opening on a rear side portion of the motorcycle.