JP4094969B2 - Reserve tank - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a reserve tank that circulates cooling water in a radiator.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A radiator for cooling the engine coolant is installed in front of the automobile. The radiator is connected to the reserve tank through a hose, and the coolant is circulated through the reserve tank to absorb the change of the coolant in the radiator.
[0003]
The reserve tank is attached to a mounting surface set on a radiator core panel (vehicle body), a fan shroud (vehicle equipment), or the like. The mounting surface for mounting the reserve tank is generally set at an upper part of the radiator fan, and is inevitably elongated in the lateral direction in order to avoid interference with the fan opening. Therefore, the reserve tank attached thereto also has a horizontally long container shape.
[0004]
In order to securely attach the horizontally long container-shaped reserve tank, a pair of attachment points spaced apart in the lateral direction are set on the attachment surface of the reserve tank. For example, a pair of claw portions spaced apart in the lateral direction are formed as attachment points, and are engaged with attachment holes formed in the attachment surface.
[0005]
The hose connecting the reserve tank and the radiator is taken out from the lowest lower part of the reserve tank and extends to the upper part, and is connected to the upper part of the radiator. The hose is accommodated in a concave groove formed on the mounting surface of the reserve tank so as not to flutter due to vibration. The housed hose is held in the recessed groove because the inlet side of the recessed groove is blocked by the mounted surface (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
[0006]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-174122
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in such a conventional technology, because of the structure in which the recessed groove is formed on the mounting surface of the reserve tank, the cross-sectional area of the portion where the recessed groove is formed is inevitably reduced and the state is reduced. Overall rigidity decreases. In particular, when liquid is put in the reserve tank and becomes heavy, the reserve tank that is long in the lateral direction may be deformed so that it breaks around the concave groove due to engine vibration or the like.
[0008]
The present invention has been made paying attention to such a conventional technique, and provides a reserve tank in which a groove forming path is devised so that the overall rigidity is not reduced as much as possible.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, at least a pair of attachment points with respect to the attachment surface of the vehicle body or the vehicle body accessory is formed on the attachment surface of the container body that is long in the lateral direction in a state of being separated in the lateral direction. A reserve tank in which a concave groove for accommodating a hose extending from the lower part to the upper part of the container body is formed, wherein the concave groove forms a separation region between a pair of attachment points on the attachment surface of the container main body in the lateral direction. It is characterized by being formed in a state where it is not completely divided.
[0010]
The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the concave groove is formed so as to avoid the minimum cross-sectional area portion in the container main body.
[0011]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, a vertically long portion having the lowest lower end portion is formed in a part of the container body, a hose is taken out from the lower end portion of the vertically long portion, and a pair is formed in the vertical direction on the mounting surface of the vertically long portion. While setting an attachment point, the lower end of the ditch | groove formed in an attachment surface is located in the outer side of a separation area at least.
[0012]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the case of a reserve tank that is long in the lateral direction, the most important aspect of securing the overall rigidity of the reserve tank is that the separation area between the pair of attachment points set on the attachment surface of the container body For this reason, the groove forming path is made not to completely divide this separation region in the lateral direction. That is, the concave groove entered from the lower end of the separation area so as not to come out to the upper end. By doing so, even if the liquid is put into the container body and becomes heavier, there is no possibility that the container body will be deformed such that it breaks around the concave groove.
[0013]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the concave groove is formed avoiding the minimum cross-sectional area portion that is the weakest portion of the container body, the influence of the concave groove further weakening the minimum cross-sectional area portion. Never give.
[0014]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, even if the container body is long in the lateral direction, the bottom portion is formed on a part of the container body so that the liquid inside can be easily collected by the hose at the lowest position. A vertically long portion is formed by partially lowering. And the attachment point which becomes a pair in the vertical direction is added to the vertically long part, and the attachment strength with respect to the to-be-attached surface of a container main body is raised. In addition, the hose extending from the lower part to the upper part can generally shorten the connection path with the radiator if it is taken out from the vicinity of the center in the horizontal direction at the upper part of the container body. Even in this state, at least the lower end of the concave groove is positioned outside the separation region, so that the separation region is not divided by the concave groove.
[0015]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The front end panel 1 is disposed in front of a well-known engine room (not shown), and is an integrally molded product made of a synthetic resin material. The front end panel 1 has a rectangular and flat center panel 2. Fastening portions 3 having a U-shaped cross section are formed at the left and right ends of the center panel 2, and the front ends of the side members 4 are fixed thereto.
[0016]
From the upper end of the center panel 2, a radiator core support upper 5 protruding forward is formed along the lateral direction. Further, above the radiator core support upper 5, cover panels 6 having a T-shaped cross section projecting from the front and rear of the center panel 2 and being longer on the left and right sides than the radiator core support upper 5 are formed. Further, an open / close hood 7 is located on the upper portion of the cover panel 6.
[0017]
A radiator 8 that circulates engine cooling water and cools it with air is assembled in front of the center panel 2. Therefore, two fan openings 9 for allowing air to pass through are formed side by side in the center panel 2. An electric fan (not shown) for forcibly sucking air is attached to the fan opening 9.
[0018]
In this embodiment, the upper right corner area of the center panel 2 is the surface to be attached 10, and the reserve tank 11 is attached from the rear side. The reserve tank 11 includes a container body 12 that is long in the lateral direction and extends in the left direction along the upper portion of the left fan opening 9 in FIG. The left end of the container body 12 is a vertically long portion 13 that extends downward along the side of the fan opening 9 and has a generally upside down L shape. On the other hand, the right end of the container body 12 is formed with a water supply portion 15 extending upward and exposed from the opening 14 of the cover panel 6, and a water supply port 16 is provided at the upper end thereof. The bottom surface portion of the container body 12 is curved along the arc shape of the fan opening 9, and the root of the water supply portion 15 is the smallest cross-sectional area portion M. With this shape, the reserve tank 11 is attached while ensuring the internal capacity by effectively utilizing the dead space of the fan opening 9 in the center panel 2.
[0019]
A pair of claw portions 20 and 19 are formed in a protruding state on the front surface, which is the attachment surface 17 of the container body 12, as a pair of “attachment points” that are laterally and obliquely separated in the horizontal direction. A space R between the pair of claw portions 20 and 19 is a lateral direction. Further, another claw portion 18 that forms a pair with the claw portion 20 on the left side in FIG. 3 in the vertical direction is formed above the vertically long portion 13. Each of the claw portions 18, 19, 20 is engaged with an attachment hole 21 (see FIG. 4) formed at a corresponding position of the attachment surface 10 in the center panel 2, so that the reserve tank 11 is in an attachment state. In particular, since the claw portion 18 is added above the vertically long portion 13 and attachment is performed at three points, the attachment strength of the reserve tank 11 to the center panel 2 is increased. In addition, the nail | claw part 18 and the nail | claw part 19 are the horizontal height substantially the same height position.
[0020]
A lower end portion of the vertically long portion 13 is a portion having the lowest position in the container main body 12, and a hose 22 connected to the radiator 8 protrudes from this portion. A drain hose 32 is connected along the hose 22 to a connection pipe 30 that protrudes in the vicinity of the water inlet 16 of the reserve tank 11 and leads the cooling water overflowing from the reserve tank 11 to the lower end in an open state. Is arranged. The mounting surface 17 of the container main body 12 is formed with a concave groove 23 serving as a passage for the hoses 22 and 32. The concave groove 23 passes from the lower end portion of the vertically long portion 13 to the lower claw portion 20 on the left side in FIG. 3 (outside the separation region R), and then passes between the upper and lower claw portions 18 and 20, On the right side of the claw 18, it passes through a part of the separation region R obliquely and then comes out to the upper end. The hoses 22 and 32 that have come off to the upper side are further directed to the right and connected to the laterally central portion of the radiator 8. The concave groove 23 is formed so as to pass through the shortest path as much as possible.
[0021]
As described above, according to the reserve tank 11 according to this embodiment, the concave groove 23 does not divide the separation region R that is most important in securing the overall rigidity of the container body 12, and thus the concave groove 23 is formed. It is possible to minimize a decrease in rigidity due to this. Therefore, even if a liquid is put into the container body 12 and becomes heavy, there is no possibility that the container body 12 will be deformed such that it breaks around the concave groove 23.
[0022]
The phrase “the groove 23 does not completely divide the separation region R in the lateral direction” means that the groove 23 enters from the lower end of the separation region R and does not come out to the upper end side. In this embodiment, since the lower end portion of the groove 23 is located outside the separation region R and the groove 23 only obliquely grabs the upper left corner of the separation region R, the separation region R is completely divided in the lateral direction. It wo n’t happen. That is, the mounting surface 17 between the claw part 19 and the claw part 20 does not have a sudden change in shape that becomes a starting point of deformation, unlike the concave groove 23.
[0023]
For example, as a bad example, if a virtual concave groove 24 is formed as shown by a dotted line in FIG. 3, the cross-sectional area of the portion corresponding to the concave groove 24 is partially reduced and constricted. Therefore, the overall rigidity is lowered, and there is a possibility of causing a deformation that breaks around the concave groove 24.
[0024]
Further, in this embodiment, the portion of the concave groove 23 that passes through the separation region R is located far from the minimum cross-sectional area portion M that is the weakest portion of the container body 12, so the concave groove 23 has the minimum cross-sectional area. There is no influence that further weakens the portion M.
[0025]
In the above embodiment, an example in which the reserve tank 11 is attached to the center panel 2 of the resin front end panel 1 has been described. However, even if the reserve tank 11 is attached to a metal body panel (a radiator core support panel or the like), You may attach to equipment (fan shroud etc.).
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a reserve tank is attached to a front end panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a reserve tank is attached to the front end panel of FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the reserve tank of FIG. 1;
4 is a sectional view taken along the line SA-SA in FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Front end panel 8 Radiator 10 Mounted surface 11 Reserve tank 12 Container main body 13 Vertically long part 17 Mounting surface 18, 19, 20 Claw part (mounting point)
22 Hose 23 Groove 24 Groove (Bad example)
R Spacing area M Minimum cross-sectional area

Claims (3)

At least a pair of attachment points (20, 19) with respect to the attachment surface (10) of the vehicle body or the vehicle equipment is formed on the attachment surface (17) of the container body (12) which is long in the lateral direction, while being separated in the lateral direction. And a reserve tank (11) having a recessed groove (23) for accommodating a hose (22) extending from the lower part to the upper part of the container body (12),
The concave groove (23) is formed in a state where the separation region (R) between the pair of attachment points (20, 19) on the attachment surface (17) of the container body (12) is not completely divided in the lateral direction. A reserve tank characterized by The reserve tank according to claim 1,
The reserve tank, wherein the concave groove (23) is formed so as to avoid a minimum cross-sectional area portion (M) in the container main body (12). The reserve tank according to claim 1 or 2,
A part of the container body (12) is formed with a vertically long portion (13) having a lowest lower end,
Take out the hose (22) from the lower end of the vertically long part (13),
While setting a pair of attachment points (18, 20) in the longitudinal direction on the attachment surface (17) of the vertically long portion (13), the lower end of the concave groove (23) formed on the attachment surface (17) is: A reserve tank, which is located at least outside the separation region (R).

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