This invention relates to a filler cap tether which is suitable for supporting a filler cap removably mounted on a fuel oil feeding port for a vehicle and which prevents misplacement of the filler cap during fueling and the like.
A filler cap tether of the subject prevents the loss of a cap removed from an oil feeding port while fueling in a state wherein one end side is connected to a filler cap (hereinafter, abbreviated as a cap) which is removably mounted on the oil feeding port on a vehicle body side, and the other end side is connected to a vehicle body-side corresponding portion. As exemplified in the Japanese Patent Document 1 or 2, various improved products are proposed.
a) is disclosed in the Japanese Patent Document 1, the reference numeral 20 represents the cap mounted on the oil feeding port inside a vehicle body-side concave portion, and the reference numeral 30 represents a tether mechanism disposed between the cap 20 and the vehicle body-side corresponding portion. The tether mechanism 30 is provided with a rotational ring 32 rotatably mounted on a groove-like ring mounted portion 25 on the outer circumference of the cap; connecting members 36; and rotational connecting portions 39. The connecting members 36 include a connecting member main body 36a; a first supporting end 37 provided in one end portion of the connecting member main body 36a and connected to the rotational ring 32; and a second supporting end connected to a fueling lid (outside lid) (not shown) which opens and closes the vehicle body-side concave portion wherein the oil feeding port is disposed. The rotational connecting portions 39 include a U-shaped connecting main body 39a, and the connecting member main body 36a is rotatably attached to the rotational ring 32 around on the axis of the longitudinal direction. Specifically, the characteristic of the mechanism is to improve operability so that the connecting members 36 are not twisted at the time of the rotational operation of the cap 20 through the rotational connecting portions 39.
b) is disclosed in the Japanese Patent Document 2, the reference numeral 1 represents the cap mounted on the oil feeding port inside the vehicle body-side concave portion, and the reference numeral 7 is the tether. The cap 1 forms a handle portion 2 for grabbing; a circular groove portion 3 provided on the outer circumference of the lower side of the handle portion 2; and a threaded portion 4 for screwing into the oil feeding port. In the tether 7, one end portion is connected to a flap (outside lid) (not shown) opening and closing the vehicle body-side concave portion wherein the oil feeding port is disposed, and the other end portion is connected to a circular member 5 rotatably mounted on the handle portion-side circular groove portion 3 through an angle control portion 7E. Specifically, in this structure, the circular member 5 includes an engagement piece 6 with a hole portion projecting from the outer circumference, and the other end portion of the tether 7 rotatably engages with the hole portion of the engagement piece 6 for only a predetermined angle (within a movable range in the same figure). As a result, regardless of the bending of the tether 7, the cap 1 can smoothly and continuously rotate relative to the circular member 5, and also a hinge starting position of the cap can be ensured by always constantly maintaining the positional relationship of the tether 7 and the cap 1.
In the above-mentioned each structure, in the operation of removably mounting the cap at the time of fueling, the operability of the cap can be excellently maintained so that the tether is not be twisted accompanied with the rotation of the cap or be arbitrarily bent. However, a conventional tether is a relationship supporting the cap on a vehicle body side, and for example, due to a rear-end car accident and the like, if the vehicle body-side corresponding portion (outside lid for the concave portion, or near the concave portion) connecting one end side of the tether is forcibly removed or deformed, the cap includes a possibility of being rotated in an opening direction through the tether.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to reliably prevent an element of being rotated in the opening direction through the tether in a sate wherein the cap is mounted by a simple structure.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is a filler cap tether which includes attachment portions on both ends of a string-like member, of which the one end-side attachment portion is connected to a filler cap to be removably mounted on an oil feeding port whereas the other end-side attachment portion is connected to the vehicle body-side corresponding portion. The filler cap tether includes a disengagement portion for enabling the filler cap and the vehicle body-side corresponding portion to assume a disconnected state when a load with a predetermined value or above is applied.
In the above-mentioned present invention, the oil feeding port is an opening supplying a fuel to a fuel tank, and disposed inside, for example, the vehicle body-side concave portion. The vehicle body-side corresponding portion is an outside lid which opens and closes the inner surface or a proximity portion of the concave portion, or the concave portion. Then, the disengagement portion of the present invention is set so that, when the vehicle body-side corresponding portion connecting one end side of the tether is forcibly removed or deformed, for example, due to a rear-end car accident and the like to allow the tether to pull the filler cap in an opening direction, the tether is divided into two by a force smaller than a force which rotates the cap in the opening direction from a mounted state.
Also, the above-mentioned invention is preferred to be realized as follows.
In the present invention, in the mounted state of the filler cap, for example, due to a rear-end car accident and the like, if the vehicle body-side corresponding portion (outside lid or near the concave portion) connecting the one end side of the tether is forcibly removed or deformed, so that the tether tries to pull the filler cap in the opening direction, the tether is divided in two through the disengagement portion, so that the filler cap and the vehicle body side are brought into the disconnected state.
If the present invention is realized as above (1), in a state wherein the circular body is connected to the string-like member through the Connecting means, the circular body is relatively rotatably mounted on the filler cap, so that a problem in which the tether is twisted due to the rotational operation of the filler cap or caught in the circumference of the cap, can be solved. In this case, in the case wherein the present invention is realized as mentioned above (2), by setting so that the engagement is released due to a load with a predetermined value or above by the engaging portion and the engaged portion wherein the connecting means combines with the disengagement portion, i.e., for example, by a concave-convex engagement, the present invention can be used again and improve commodity value in addition to the above-mentioned effects, even if the tether is once divided into two.
If the present invention is realized as above (3), since the circular body is relatively rotatably mounted on the filler cap, the problem in which the tether is twisted by the rotational operation of the filler cap or caught in the circumference of the cap, can be solved. Additionally, due to the breaking portion which is the disengagement portion provided in the circular body or the string-like member, the effects of the present invention can be easily provided.
If the present invention is realized as described in the first half of the above (4), since the connecting means comprises the engaging portion with the male element on a string-like member side and the tube portion on a circular body side, the present invention is concise and can be easily molded. Moreover, due to the slit provided on a tube portion side, it is easy to set so as to be disengaged by the load with the predetermined value or above. In addition, if the present invention is realized as described in the latter half of the above (4), since the slit is provided along an inserting direction of the engaging portion with the male element, for example, as for load setting at the time of the disengagement, a setting value can be satisfied by, for example, the width or number of the slit.
If the present invention is realized as described in the above (5), and the string-like member is additionally provided on the outer circumference of the circular body with an angle at a tilt, when the string-like member is pulled, for example, due to a vehicle body deformation at the time of a rear-end car accident, the pulling force can be easily diverged in the axial direction and the rotational direction of the filler cap, so that the effect wherein unprepared opening of the filler cap can be controlled, can be provided.
If the present invention is realized as described in the above (6), and the filler cap receives the load with the predetermined value or above, the filler cap is divided in the upper part and the lower part near the attachment portion of the circular body. At the time of this separation, the lower side portion of the filler cap remains in a state fastened to the oil feeding port (filler neck). That is, in the above-mentioned structure, the pulling force applied in a cap rotational direction relative to the filler cap, can be responded by dividing the cap by the disengagement of the connecting means, or through the breaking portion which combines with the disengagement portion. Also, the pulling force applied in a cap axial direction relative to the filler cap, can be responded in all directions by dividing the cap itself into the upper side portion and the lower side portion.
a) is a top view of the above-mentioned tether, and
a) is an enlarged view of a B portion of
a), 7(b) are views showing modified examples of the tether corresponding to
a), 8(b) are views showing other modified examples of the tether corresponding to
a), 9(b) are explanatory views showing structures of the Japanese Patent Documents 1 and 2.
Hereinafter, the best mode of the present invention will be explained with reference to figures. In this explanation, after a tether structure and operation of the present invention are explained with
(Tether structure) A tether 1 of the mode is provided with, as shown in
First, the cap 4 of the subject, as the cap in the Japanese Patent Document 1 or 2, includes a convex-shaped operation portion 4a provided on the upper side; a male screw 4b provided on the lower side and hinged at a female screw on an oil feeding port side; and a circular groove 4c provided on the outer circumferential portion between the operation portion 4a and the male screw 4b. Also, the cap 4 is constituted to be dividable to upper and lower portions if the load with the predetermined value or above is applied in a cap axial direction. Specifically, if the load with the predetermined value or above is applied in the cap axial direction, the upper portion forming the operation portion 4a and the circular groove 4c, and the lower portion forming the Male screw 4b are divided. Also, the oil feeding port 12 is an opening supplying a fuel to a fuel tank, and disposed inside the concave portion 11 provided in a vehicle body 10 as for, for example, an automobile. The concave portion 11 is opened and closed by the outside lid 15 which is rotated through a hinge (not shown in the figures). The surface of the outside lid 15 in a closed state is disposed as one surface of the outside surface of the vehicle body 10, and the surface of the outside lid 15 in an open state exposes the cap 4 mounted on the oil feeding port 12.
The string-like member 2 and the circular body 3 are resin-molded products; however, materials besides resin may be used provided that the cap 4 can be supported in the vehicle body-side corresponding portion. In addition to an operation preventing the cap from losing, in the case wherein a static-electricity neutralization operation, flowing static electricity from the cap 4 to a vehicle body side, is provided, for example, a resin material provided with a conductive property is used as a conductive material. Also, the disengagement portion S/P is realized as a connecting means 6 connecting the string-like member 2 and the circular body 3 to be removably mountable.
The string-like member 2 has an approximately thin stick shape (a length of approximately 15 to 25 cm) as a whole, and includes engaging portions 20 with a male element formed in one end, and an attachment hole 24 formed in the other end. The engaging portions 20 comprise an end bulging portion 21, an insertion control portion 22, and a sliding axial portion 23 provided between the end bulging portion 21 and the insertion control portion 22. The end bulging portion 21 is formed in an approximately hemisphere with a round end. The insertion control portion 22 is bulged and formed while maintaining a predetermined space with the end bulging portion 21, and also formed in a shape so that as going to an end side, the diameter expands. The sliding axial portion 23 connects a large diameter-side end surface of the end bulging portion 21 and a large diameter-side end surface of the insertion control portion 22. On the other hand, the clip 25 is assembled to the attachment hole 24.
As shown in
The circular body 3 includes a plurality of longitudinal ribs 30 whose inner diameter corresponds to the circular groove 4c on a cap side and which is projected from portions equally divided in the inner circumference. As shown in
Specifically, the engaged portions 32 include a tube portion 33; a locking projection 34 provided on the inner circumference of the tube portion; and a plurality of slits 35 provided in the tube portion 33. The tube portion 33 is integrated with the circular portion 3 through the joint portion 31 with a predetermined tilt angle. In this example, this is a tilt in which an entrance of the tube portion 33 is located on the upper side than an exit. This tilt is set in view of a vehicle body-side attachment portion and the like of the other end (attachment hole 24) of the string-like member 2. As for an end surface shape of both sides of the locking projection 34, as shown in
Also, as for the above-mentioned engaged portions 32, among the engaging portions 20, the end bulging portion 21 is pressed in from the tube-portion entrance side along the shelving taper portion 34a, and when the end bulging portion 21 passes through the locking projection 34 accompanied with the deformation of an expanded diameter through each slit 35 of the tube portion 32, the tube portion 32 is restored to an original shape, so that the engaging portions 20 are engaged in a retained state, and a connected state of the string-like member 2 relative to the circular body 2 is maintained. Also, as for the engagement, if a stress in a drawing direction on the string-like member 2 reaches a predetermined value or above, the end bulging portion 21 passes through the locking projection 34 and the taper 34a accompanied with the deformation of the expanded diameter through each slit 35 of the tube portion 32, so that the engagement is released. Accordingly, the circular body 2 and the string-like member 2 are separated. That is, as for the connecting means 6, for example, due to a rear-end car accident and the like, when the vehicle body-side corresponding portion connecting one end side of the tether 1 (string-like member 2) is forcibly removed or deformed, so that the string-like member 2 tries to pull the cap 4 in an opening direction, the engagement of the engaged portions 32 and the engaging portions 20 is released by a force smaller than a force when the cap 4 rotates in the opening direction from the mounted state. Accordingly, the tether 1 is set so as to be separated into the circular body 2 and the string-like member 2.
(Operation) The above-mentioned tether 1 is attached to, for example, a corresponding portion (the outside lid 15 or a proximity portion of the concave portion) of the vehicle body 10 in a state of
Also, the cap 4 is removably mounted on the vehicle body-side oil feeding port 12 by a screwing-in operation in a state attached to the outside lid 15 through the tether 1. In this operation, since the circular body 3 is relatively rotatably mounted on (the circular groove 4c) of the cap 4, even if the cap 4 is rotated by holding the operation portion 4a, the string-like member 2 does not rotate together. Thereby, as with the time without the tether 1, the cap 4 can be operated. Incidentally, it is easy to freely rotate the circular body 3 by reducing a sliding resistance to the cap 4 due to the existence of a plurality of longitudinal ribs 30. If the cap 4 is removed from the oil feeding port 12, the cap 4 is supported in a state suspended on the vehicle body side through the tether 1. Thereby, possibility of losing the cap can be eliminated.
Additionally, in this structure, due to a rear-end car accident and the like, if the outside lid 15 or the vicinity thereof among the vehicle body 10 is forcibly deformed, for example, as shown by dashed lines in
a), 7(b) show two examples wherein a connection angle of the string-like member 2 relative to the above-mentioned circular body 3 is modified. Incidentally, in each modified example, the same symbols are assigned to the same members and portions as the above-mentioned embodiments, and overlapped explanations are omitted. Specifically, the structure in
a), 8(b) show the example wherein the above-mentioned string-like member 2 and the circular body 3 are integrally formed. Incidentally, even in the modified example 3, the same symbols are assigned to the same members and portions as the above-mentioned embodiments, and overlapped explanations are omitted. Specifically, in the tether 1, the string-like member 2 and the circular body 3 are formed in an integrated manner by an injection molding die. One end of the string-like member 2 is formed in a connecting piece portion 24, and also is connected and integrated into the joint portion 31 wherein the connecting piece portion 24 is provided in the outer circumference of the circular body 3 through a breaking portion 7. The breaking portion 7 is structured so that a piece portion connecting the connecting piece portion 24 and the joint portion 31 is formed to have a thin width by slits 36, 36 on both sides, and this piece is the easiest portion to break.
Even in the above-mentioned modified example 3, due to a rear-end car accident and the like, if the outside lid 15 or the vicinity thereof among the vehicle body 10 is forcibly deformed, for example, as shown by dashed lines in
Additionally, as another structure, instead of the modified example 3, as shown in the enlarged view of the c portion of
In the above-mentioned each structure, as mentioned above, if the cap 4 receives the load with the predetermined value or above, the cap 4 is divided into the upper side and the lower side at the vicinity (upper side of the male screw 4b) of the attachment portion of the circular body 3. At the time of this separation, the male screw 4b of the cap 4, i.e., the lower side portion remains in a state fastened to the oil feeding port 12 (filler neck). That is, as the above-mentioned structural characteristics, it is designed so that as for a pulling force applied in a cap rotational direction relative to the cap 4, the cap can be divided by the disengagement of the connecting means 6, or divided through the breaking portions 7 to 9 which combine with the disengagement portion S/P, and also, as for a pulling force applied in the cap axial direction relative to the cap 4, the cap can respond by separating itself into the upper side portion and the lower side portion.
Incidentally, details of the present invention can be variously modified as necessary provided that they include technical elements specified in claims.
Incidentally, all contents of the specification, scope of claims, figures, and abstract of Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-214990 filed on Aug. 21, 2007 are cited here and incorporated as the disclosure of the specification of the present invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2007-214990 | Aug 2007 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/JP2008/064725 | 8/19/2008 | WO | 00 | 4/22/2010 |