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Plastic fuel tank

  • US 9,221,332 B2
  • Filed: 03/19/2010
  • Issued: 12/29/2015
  • Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2009
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A plastic fuel tank having a volume for containing fuel for a motor vehicle comprising:

  • a tank wall arranged to provide a pressure vessel which is hermetically sealed at a given differential pressure relative to ambient pressure, wherein the tank wall is reinforced only in a certain area or certain areas such that only a portion of the tank wall is reinforced without substantially impairing said volume, wherein the tank wall is reinforced with means to increase flexural rigidity in a form of at least one two-dimensionally extended reinforcing layer connected materially and/or positively to the tank wall; and

    wherein the reinforcing layer is connected to the tank wall via a thermoplastic intermediate layer and forms an interspace between said reinforcing layer and said tank wall and comprising a corrugated sheet structure of V-shaped profiles made of thermoplastic and having a plurality of peaks, wherein the peaks are welded and/or adhesively bonded to the tank wall and to the reinforcing layer and wherein fuel can flow through said interspace; and

    wherein the reinforcing layer and intermediate layer provide a directional increase in flexural rigidity of the tank wall such that flexural rigidity of the tank wall is increased in a first direction relative to a second direction through selective alignment of the intermediate layer at selected locations of said tank wall; and

    wherein the tank wall is formed by half-shells; and

    wherein the half-shells comprise half-shell walls joined directly to one another to form the tank wall without the reinforcing layer or intermediate layer disposed between the joined half-shell walls.

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