Fuel device, vehicle, fuel filling device, and fuel filling system

• US 7,896,036 B2
• Filed: 02/01/2006
• Issued: 03/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/16/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Kobayashi, Nobuo, Iida, Yasuyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Maust; Timothy L
• Assistant Examiner(s): NIESZ, JASON KAROL
• Application Number:
  US11/660,980
• Publication Number:
  US 20080035235A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,854 Days
• Field of Search: 141/39, 141/83, 141/94, 141/95, 141/197, 141/198, 141346-350
• US Class Current: 141/94
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 15/00 Arrangement in connection with fuel supply of combustion engines or other fuel consuming energy converters, e.g. fuel cells; Mounting or construction of fuel tanks tanks in general B65D, F17C; supplying combustion engines with combustible mixtures or constituents F02M
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2015/0319 with electronic systems, e.g. for controlling fuelling or venting
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 2221/012 Hydrogen
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 2221/033 Methane, e.g. natural gas, CNG, LNG, GNL, GNC, PLNG
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 2223/0123 gaseous, e.g. CNG, GNC
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 2223/036 Very high pressure (>80 bar)
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 2225/0123 gaseous, e.g. CNG, GNC
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 2225/036 Very high pressure, i.e. above 80 bars
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 2250/032 using computers
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 2270/0105 Ships
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 2270/0178 Cars
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 2270/0189 Planes
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 5/007 for individual gas tanks or containers, e.g. in vehicles filling with liquid fuel not under pressure, B60S5/02, B67D7/00
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 5/06 for filling with compressed gases
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 7/00 Methods or apparatus for discharging liquefied, solidified, or compressed gases from pressure vessels, not covered by another subclass
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/32 Hydrogen storage

Abstract

A fuel device for a mobile body comprises a fuel tank, a power consuming device, a fuel filling connector for receiving a fuel supply, and a power supplying connector for receiving a power supply. A fuel filling system comprises a vehicle having a fuel tank and a tank information processing unit, and a fuel filling device for filling the vehicle with fuel, wherein the tank information processing unit is started at fuel filling or started by power supply from the outside of the vehicle when the fuel tank is filled with fuel based on tank information. The vehicle comprises a fuel tank and a tank information processing unit, and the tank information processing unit is started at fuel filling. The fuel filling device has a filling nozzle which is connected with the fuel filling connector and provided with a feeding side connector for supplying power.

Claims

1. A fuel filling system comprising:

a vehicle having a tank which stores a fuel, and a tank information processing unit which acquires tank information indicating a use state of the tank during fuel filling to subject the tank information to a predetermined processing; and

a fuel filling device which fills the tank of the vehicle with the fuel,

the fuel filling system being configured to fill the tank with the fuel based on the tank information,

wherein the tank information processing unit is started by the supply of power from a power source external to the vehicle during the fuel filling,

wherein the tank information processing unit includes counting means for counting the times the tank has been filled with fuel, and acquires, as the tank information, the number of fuel filling operations counted by the counting means, and

wherein the counting means detects that the nozzle has been connected to the fuel filling connector of the vehicle during the fuel filling, and that power is supplied to the counting means from a power source external to the vehicle, and adds the number of the fuel filling times.

2. The fuel filling system according to claim 1, wherein

the vehicle has a fuel filling connector disposed as a fuel filling port to the tank, and a receiving side connector disposed as a power supply port to the tank information processing unit,

the fuel filling device has a nozzle which is connected to the fuel filling connector of the vehicle during the fuel filling, and

the nozzle is provided with a feeding side connector which is connected to the receiving side connector of the vehicle to perform the power supply from the external power source, so that, during the fuel filling, the nozzle is connected to the fuel filling connector of the vehicle to connect the feeding side connector to the receiving side connector.

3. The fuel filling system according to claim 1, wherein

the tank information processing unit transmits the tank information to the fuel filling device, and

the fuel filling device performs fuel filling based on the received tank information.

4. The fuel filling system according to claim 1, wherein the fuel is in a gaseous state.

7. The fuel filling system according to claim 1, wherein the tank information at least includes the number of filling operations of the tank;

and

a display device that indicates that the number of filling operations has reached a predetermined allowable number when the number of filling operations has reached the predetermined allowable number.

8. The fuel filling system according to claim 7, wherein the display device displays the current number of filling operations of the tank.

5. A vehicle comprising:

a tank which stores a fuel supplied from an external fuel filling device and a tank information processing unit which acquires tank information indicating a use state of the tank during fuel filling to subject the tank information to predetermined processing, the vehicle being filled with the fuel from the fuel filling device based on the tank information,

wherein the tank information processing unit is started by the supply of power from a power source external to the vehicle during the fuel filling,

wherein the tank information processing unit includes counting means for counting the times the tank has been filled with fuel, and acquires, as the tank information, the number of fuel filling operations counted by the counting means, and

wherein the counting means detects that the nozzle has been connected to the fuel filling connector of the vehicle during the fuel filling, and that power is supplied to the counting means from a power source external to the vehicle, and adds the number of the fuel filling times.

6. The vehicle according to claim 5, wherein the fuel is in a gaseous state.

9. The fuel filling system according to claim 5, wherein the tank information at least includes the number of filling operations of the tank;

and

a display device that indicates that the number of filling operations has reached a predetermined allowable number when the number of filling operations has reached the predetermined allowable number.

10. The fuel filling system according to claim 9, wherein the display device displays the current number of filling operations of the tank.