Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60K—ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PROPULSION UNITS OR OF TRANSMISSIONS IN VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PLURAL DIVERSE PRIME-MOVERS IN VEHICLES; AUXILIARY DRIVES FOR VEHICLES; INSTRUMENTATION OR DASHBOARDS FOR VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH COOLING, AIR INTAKE, GAS EXHAUST OR FUEL SUPPLY OF PROPULSION UNITS IN VEHICLES
  • B60K15/00—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
  • B60K15/03—Fuel tanks
  • B60K15/04—Tank inlets
  • B60K15/05—Inlet covers
• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E05—LOCKS; KEYS; WINDOW OR DOOR FITTINGS; SAFES
  • E05B—LOCKS; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR; HANDCUFFS
  • E05B83/00—Vehicle locks specially adapted for particular types of wing or vehicle
  • E05B83/28—Locks for glove compartments, console boxes, fuel inlet covers or the like
  • E05B83/34—Locks for glove compartments, console boxes, fuel inlet covers or the like for fuel inlet covers essentially flush with the vehicle surface
• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E05—LOCKS; KEYS; WINDOW OR DOOR FITTINGS; SAFES
  • E05C—BOLTS OR FASTENING DEVICES FOR WINGS, SPECIALLY FOR DOORS OR WINDOWS
  • E05C19/00—Other devices specially designed for securing wings, e.g. with suction cups
  • E05C19/02—Automatic catches, i.e. released by pull or pressure on the wing
  • E05C19/022—Released by pushing in the closing direction

Definitions

• the invention relates to an arrangement of an opening on a support, comprising a flap pivotally mounted about an axis A between a closed position in which the shutter closes an opening of the support and an open position in which the opening is accessible, and having means for opening and closing the shutter, by pressing on said shutter in a direction substantially perpendicular to the surface of the shutter.
• the invention relates more specifically, in the example described, but in a non-limiting manner, to a motor vehicle fuel door. In the case of motor vehicle fuel traps, most often, a seal is placed on said flap and pressed against the periphery of the opening of said housing when the fuel door is closed, and a spring allows the stable maintenance of said flap in the extreme positions of closing and opening of said fuel door.
• Said flap is however permanently subjected to the reaction of said spring when said fuel door is closed: these two elements must be dimensioned so as to avoid any unwanted opening of said door under the effect of shock or vibration. Moreover, in this case, the aging of the seal can lead to degradation in the quality of the closing of the fuel filler flap.
• Several mechanisms for opening and closing fuel traps have been proposed, so as to achieve both a simple closure and reproducible quality, and easy opening, for the user.
• EP-A-1018588 thus proposes a mechanism in which a suitable blade, whose general shape is substantially that of a T, and of which a part of the periphery is provided with a set of teeth, is rotated by an electric motor: under the effect of this rotation, said peripheral teeth are made to cooperate or not with a set of appropriate housings provided on the inner surface of a sleeve wherein said blade is slidable under the effect of the release or engaging said teeth in said appropriate housings.
• the horizontal branches of the T forming said blade are adapted to cooperate with a groove of appropriate shape provided on said flap to ensure the closure of the fuel door, or to clear said groove to allow partial opening of said hatch fuel, the opening of said fuel door is then manually completed by the user.
• the document WA-2O01 / 29798 proposes, in a simpler way, a mechanism for closing and opening a fuel filler flap in which at least one finger (placed either on a part of the flap offset from the axis d articulation of said flap, on the side of the face of said flap directed towards the inside of the casing, or inside said casing) is able to engage in a guide track made in a central pin of appropriate shape placed in a recess made in said housing or said flap (depending on whether said finger is itself placed on said flap or in said housing).
• the subject of the present invention is an opening type arrangement mentioned above, characterized in that the opening and closing means comprise:
• an attachment means having a median plane and a longitudinal axis and having two flexion zones, one around an axis parallel to the median plane and the other around an axis perpendicular to the median plane, and hook, parallel to the median plane, adapted, when the flap is in the closed position, to be held under stress within a cavity opening into two perpendicular faces of a receiving means, and to be disengaged from said cavity when the shutter is in the open position,
• the guiding means for closing the flap are constituted by an inclined plane formed at one end of the hook, the inclined plane being oriented in a normal manner to median plane and being inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis of the fastening element, said inclined plane being adapted to cooperate with a complementary inclined plane carried by the receiving means, so that, during the relative movement of the means d and hooking the receiving means, the inclined planes, sliding against each other, produce a bending of the attachment means about its axis and allow the movement of the hook in a reverse direction and thus its insertion into the 'footprint.
• the guide means for opening the flap are constituted by an inclined plane carried by the hook and oriented to cut the median plane along a line perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the attachment means and forming an angle with said median plane, the inclined plane being adapted to cooperate with a complementary inclined plane carried by the receiving means, so that, during the relative movement of the attachment means and the receiving means, the inclined planes slide against one the other until the hook is pushed out of the footprint and resume an unstressed rest position. It comprises means for returning the flap from its closed position to its open position.
• the return means are constituted by an elastic blade carried by the attachment means, said blade being adapted to move from a constrained state in contact with the receiving means, when the attachment means is engaged in the means of reception, in a free state when the attachment means is released from the receiving means, so as to induce a repulsion movement between the attachment means and the receiving means to facilitate the passage of the shutter from its closed position in its open position.
• the receiving means comprises at least two protective stops extending substantially in the direction of relative movement of the fastening element and the receiving element intended to limit the movements of the receiving means under the effect of thrusts exerted on the shutter during closing or opening processes.
• the attachment means is carried by an inner face of the flap and in that the receiving means is carried by the support.
• the attachment means is carried by the support and the receiving means by an inner face of the flap.
• the attachment means is an insert by means of a cylindrical frustoconical end pin carried by the end opposite the hook of the means hooking, intended to cooperate with an orifice of the support, a set of flexible washers ensuring the fixed retention of said cylindrical lug in the orifice.
• the attachment means and the receiving means are made of a plastic material having a high resistance to fatigue.
• FIG. 1 is a general schematic view of a fuel door according to the invention shown in the open position.
• FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a fastening means of a mechanism for closing and opening the fuel filler flap according to the invention of FIG. 1.
• FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the attachment means and the receiving means of the closing mechanism and the opening of the fuel door of Figure 1, in a closed position of said fuel door.
• - Figure 4 is a schematic perspective view of the attachment means and a receiving means of the closing mechanism and opening of the fuel door of Figure 1, in an open position of said trap door; fuel.
• an arrangement of a fuel filler 1 of a motor vehicle mainly comprises, on the one hand, a housing 2, mounted on a support such as a bodywork element of the vehicle, having an opening 3 and a bottom wall provided with at least one orifice 4 for supplying the fuel tank. It also comprises, on the other hand, hinged on a portion of the housing 2, a flap 5 adapted to pivot about an axis of rotation A between a closed position in which the outer surface 51 of said flap 5 is flush with the bodywork of said vehicle, said shutter 5 then completely closing the opening 3 of the housing 2, and an open position (represented by FIG. 1), in which the flap 5 completely releases the opening 3 of the housing 2.
• the fuel hatch according to the invention also comprises a push-push type opening and closing mechanism comprising a fastening means 6 carried, in the example described here, by the case 2, and extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of the bodywork.
• the attachment means 6 is connected by one of its ends to the housing 2, by clipping means 12, 13 cooperating with an orifice 7 of the housing 2.
• the attachment means 6 can also come from material with the housing 2, which allows a gain from a point of view economic.
• the other end 10 of the attachment means 6 is adapted to cooperate with a receiving means 8 carried by an inner face 52 of the flap 5 of the hatch and extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of the flap 5.
• the mechanism closing and opening is located in an area at the edge of the opening 3 and opposite the axis A.
• FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 show in more detail the attachment means 6 and receiving 8 of the mechanism for closing and opening the fuel door. Each of these means will firstly be described, then the operation of the closing mechanism and opening of the fuel trap according to the invention will be more precisely exposed.
• the middle plane P and longitudinal axis attachment means 6 comprise a central part 11 connecting its ends 9 and 10.
• the end 9 of the attachment means 6 may be formed of a cylindrical lug 12 frustoconical end, adapted to cooperate with the orifice 7 formed in the housing 2 and comprise a set of washers 13, made of a relatively flexible material and placed substantially perpendicular to the axis X, between said lug 12 and said central portion 11 of the attachment means 6.
• the first washer 13 which comes into contact with a rim of the orifice 7 is deformed to penetrate inside said orifice 7 and then resumes its initial shape.
• the attachment means 6 is clipped onto the housing 2, the rim of the orifice 7 is caught between the two washers 13, so that the attachment means 6 can not detach from the housing 2.
• the opposite end 10 of the attachment means 6 forms a hook 14 extending along the median plane P.
• the end 15 of the hook 14 forms an inclined plane 16 extending substantially perpendicular to the median plane P and having an inclination of an angle ⁇ with respect to the axis X.
• the end 10 of the attachment means 6 further comprises on one of its faces 17, oriented along the plane P, a fin 18, extending in a median plane substantially perpendicular to the plane P.
• face 21 of the fin 18 forms an inclined plane which is oriented so as to cut the median plane P along a line L perpendicular to the axis X.
• the inclined plane 21 also forms an angle ⁇ with the plane P, the opening the angle ⁇ being directed towards the end 9 of the attachment means 6.
• the central portion 11 of the attachment means 6 comprises at least two distinct bending zones 24 and 25: the flexion zone 24 is placed on the side of the end 10 and is formed by an inclined partition for bending the attachment means 9 along an axis B substantially parallel to the median plane P.
• the bending zone 25 is located on the side of the end 9 of the means of 6 and is formed by an inclined partition for bending the attachment means 6 along an axis C substantially perpendicular to the median plane P.
• the attachment means 8 when in the rest position unconstrained, the attachment means 8 is naturally bent around its axis C so that e the end 10 of the attachment means 6 moves in the direction of the arrow F2, parallel to the median plane P.
• the central portion 11 of said means of 6 has a washer 26 provided with an elastic blade 27 extending, from the washer 26, substantially in a direction parallel to the median plane P and opposite the end 9 of the attachment means 6.
• the material forming the blade 27 is sufficiently flexible to allow it some elasticity, the blade 27 can thus be stressed and behave as a spring.
• the receiving means 8 of the mechanism for closing and opening the fuel filler 1, detailed in FIG. 4 has the general shape of a plate in which an impression 29 is formed opening on the one hand in a first face 28 of the plate and secondly in a second face 30 of the plate, perpendicular to the first face 28, wherein it forms an opening 31.
• the shape of the cavity 29 is substantially complementary to the shape of the end 10 of the attachment means 6.
• the impression 29 is, among others, delimited in part by a wall 32 whose shape is complementary to the shape of the concave portion of the hook 14, as well as by a first inclined plane 33 , extending the wall 32 to the second face 30, and being of complementary shape to that of the first inclined plane 16 of the attachment means 6.
• the receiving means 8 further comprises a second inclined plane 34, extending in hollow since the face 28 d receiving means 8 in the direction of the face 30.
• the inclined plane 34 is of complementary shape to that of the second inclined plane 21 of the fin 18 of the attachment means 6.
• the receiving means 8 further comprises, s' extending parallel to the face 28 from the second face 30, at least two stops of protection 35.
• the receiving means 8 is connected to the inner face 52 of the flap 5 by a face 36 opposite to the face 30 of the plate.
• the attachment means 9 then enters the interior of the receiving means 8 through the opening 31.
• the first inclined plane 16 of the attachment means 6 then co-operates with the first inclined plane 33 of the cavity 29 of the receiving means 8 so as to bend the fastening means 6 about the axis C in the opposite direction to the arrow F2, that is to say parallel to the plane P.
• the hook 14 can then be engaged in the cavity 29, until the concave portion of said hook 14 cooperates with the wall 32 of the cavity 29.
• the attachment means 6 is then held under stress according to FIG.
• the second inclined plane 34 of the cavity 29 then slides against the second inclined plane 21 of the attachment means 6 and then has the tendency to repel it.
• said hook 14 of the attachment means 6 is then released from the cavity 29 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane P, and released of said receiving means 8.
• the opening mechanism of the fuel filler 1 is then unlocked.
• the blade 27 of the attachment means 6 then plays, due to its elasticity, the role of spring, and pushes, in the opposite direction to the arrow F1, the receiving means 8.
• the hook 14 of the attachment means 9, once cleared of the cavity 29, is no longer maintained under stress in the direction opposite to the arrow F2 and then resumes its rest position in the direction indicated by the arrow F2.
• the hook 14 is then located more exactly opposite the cavity 29, which prevents it from catching in the cavity 29 when the shutter then moves in the direction opposite to the arrow F1 for is open.
• the fuel hatch 1 being then partially open, the opening can then be manually completed by the user.
• the protective stops 35 allow, by coming into contact for example with the support or the housing, to limit the opening and closing movements, to prevent damage to the receiving means 8 by too large displacements.
• the invention thus allows the simple realization of the closing and the opening of a fuel hatch, thanks to a very small number of components, and by a simple mechanism of "push-push" type.
• the components constituting the mechanism for closing and opening the fuel trap according to the invention will advantageously be made in plastic materials, for example, and in a non-controlled manner. limiting, by molding.
• the selected material must have high fatigue resistance characteristics: for example, and in a non-exhaustive manner said components may be made of a plastic material such as polyoxymethylene (POM).
• POM polyoxymethylene
• the embodiment of the invention set out herein is not limiting: in particular, the invention applies regardless of the general shape of the casing and the shutter constituting the fuel trap, as well as for all external forms of the envelope of the receiving means 8 described above.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Sustainable Development (AREA)
• Sustainable Energy (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Transportation (AREA)
• Cooling, Air Intake And Gas Exhaust, And Fuel Tank Arrangements In Propulsion Units (AREA)
• Extensible Doors And Revolving Doors (AREA)
• Closures For Containers (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=37649539

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Families Citing this family (5)

Family Cites Families (4)

• 2006
  • 2006-04-11 FR FR0651310A patent/FR2899624B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2007
  • 2007-04-06 EP EP07731892A patent/EP2004442A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2007-04-06 WO PCT/FR2007/051091 patent/WO2007116195A2/fr not_active Ceased

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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