JPH0439519Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] This invention relates to a safety device for a gas tank, and particularly to a safety device applied to an LPG tank for a vehicle, etc.

[Prior Art] Vehicle LPG tanks are equipped with a safety device that releases leaked gas to the outside of the vehicle body in order to prevent dangers such as fire caused by LP gas leaking from the tank flowing into the vehicle interior. .

As a safety device for this vehicle LPG tank, for example, the entire tank 1 including the safety valve 2 is covered with a container 7 to make it airtight from the inside of the vehicle, etc., and a remote control valve 8 is installed in the container 7. At the same time, an exhaust tube 4 whose tip extends outside the vehicle body 9 is installed, and the safety valve 2 of the tank 1 is activated, or the gas filling valve, gas take-out valve, and liquid level gauge (not shown) installed in the tank 1 are activated. The LP gas leaking from the container 7 and filling the container 7 is guided to the outside of the vehicle body 9 through the exhaust tube 4 (see Fig. 5),
On the tank side, simply attach an exhaust tube to the safety valve to guide leaking gas to the outside of the vehicle.
On the vehicle body side, it is known that an airtight and strong partition wall is used to partition the vehicle interior from, for example, a trunk room where a tank is attached.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] However, in the case of the former safety device, the entire tank 1 is covered with the container 7, and the exhaust tube 4 extending outside the vehicle body 9 is attached to the container 7. A relatively large exhaust port 7a can be formed in the container 7, thereby preventing the pressure inside the container 7 from becoming extremely large even if the safety valve 2 is activated and a large amount of LP gas leaks. Although this has the advantage of allowing leakage gas to escape safely to the outside of the vehicle body, covering the entire tank 1 airtight with the container 7 significantly increases the manufacturing cost, and furthermore, when the safety valve 2 is activated, this container Since the container 7 is normally subjected to a pressure of about 0.1 to 0.3 Kgf/cm ² , it is necessary to have at least enough strength to withstand this pressure, which significantly increases the weight of the container 7. There is a problem in that it worsens the fuel efficiency of vehicles equipped with tanks.

In addition, even with the latter safety device, even if the manufacturing cost and weight of the LPG tank itself can be minimized, the interior and trunk space of the vehicle equipped with this LPG tank may be It becomes necessary to provide a partition wall to airtightly partition the space between the two, which not only causes an increase in the weight of the vehicle body, but also poses a problem in that it restricts ventilation within the vehicle interior.

The present invention was devised in view of this point of view, and provides a gas tank safety device that is lightweight and can safely and reliably guide leaking gas to a safe location.

[Means for Solving the Problems] That is, in the present invention, the tank is provided with an airtight case that covers at least its safety valve, and an exhaust tube is connected to this airtight case to guide gas leaking from the tank to a safe place. In addition, this is a gas tank safety device in which a leakage gas guide path is formed in the airtight case to guide leaked gas leaked from the safety valve to the exhaust port of the airtight case to which the exhaust tube is connected.

In the present invention, the airtight case attached to the tank covers at least the safety valve of the tank, assuming that there is no possibility of gas leaking from other parts.
Any equipment that can be airtightly sealed against the vehicle interior etc. is acceptable, but preferably equipment that is attached to the tank and may cause gas leaks, such as gas filling valves, gas outlet valves, liquid level gauges, etc. It is good to cover the necessary range, preferably to the necessary minimum range. The exhaust port formed in this airtight case is preferably formed so as to open near the safety valve.

The leakage gas guiding path formed in the airtight case may be any path that can guide the gas leaking from the safety valve toward the exhaust port of the airtight case when the safety valve is activated. It may be formed of a protective cap made of resin or metal that is fixedly or non-fixably attached and covers part or all of this safety valve,
Further, a flow direction control means attached to the airtight case side and having a flat plate shape, a U-shaped cross section, a cylindrical shape, or any other suitable shape for controlling the flow direction of part or all of the gas flow leaking from the safety valve. It may be formed of.

[Function] According to the present invention, when the safety valve of the tank is activated and gas leaks, this leaked gas is guided to the exhaust port of the airtight case by the leakage gas guide path, and is directly connected to this exhaust port. Since it is guided to a safe place via the exhaust tube, even if a large amount of leaked gas occurs due to the activation of the safety valve, this leaked gas is smoothly guided to the exhaust port of the airtight case, and the pressure inside the airtight case becomes extremely high. There is no such thing as
The exhaust port of this airtight case can be made smaller accordingly, and as a result, the size of the airtight case itself can be reduced, and a large pressure resistance is not required, so the degree of freedom in design is significantly improved.

[Example] Hereinafter, the gas tank safety device of the present invention will be specifically described based on the example shown in the accompanying drawings.

1 to 3 show a safety device for a vehicle LPG tank according to an embodiment of this invention.

This safety device is attached to the mounting part 1 of the tank 1.
an airtight case 3 that covers the safety valve 2, gas filling valve 10, gas take-off valve 11, and liquid level gauge 12 attached to the airtight case 3; , the mounting parts of the gas filling valve 10, the gas take-out valve 11, the liquid level gauge 12, etc., and the exhaust that guides the LP gas leaking into the airtight case 3 from the safety valve 2 to the lower part of the car body 9 when the safety valve 2 is activated and releases it. tube 4 and
A substantially hemispherical hollow sheathing part 6a is attached to the safety valve 2 at one end and covers the safety valve 2, and a tip thereof protrudes from the hollow sheathing part 6a, and its tip is attached to the airtight case 6a.
A guide portion 6b in the shape of a hollow pipe facing the exhaust port 3a of the safety valve 2 guides the LP gas leaking from the safety valve 2 to the exhaust port 3a of the airtight case 3 to which the exhaust tube 4 is connected when the safety valve 2 is activated. A protective cap 6 made of resin forms a gas guide path 5.

In this embodiment, the airtight case 3 is airtightly attached to the mounting portion 1a of the tank 1 via a gasket 13, and includes a case body 3b having an exhaust port 3a, and a case body 3b that is airtightly attached to the case body 3b via a gasket 14. The case body 3b is provided with a through hole 15 through which tubes connected to the gas filling valve 10 and the gas extraction valve 11 pass airtightly. A handle 16 connected to a crank arm 18 provided at the upper end of the gas take-off valve 11 and used to remotely control the gas take-off valve 11 and a viewing window 17 for viewing the liquid level gauge 12 are provided. ing.

Therefore, according to the safety device for a vehicle LPG tank according to this embodiment, the safety valve 2, the gas filling valve 1
0. A small amount of LP gas leaked into the airtight case 3 from the mounting parts of the gas take-off valve 11 and the liquid level gauge 12, etc., is stored in the protective cap 6 or the airtight case 3.
The air reaches an exhaust port 3a from inside, and is exhausted from the exhaust port 3a to the outside of the vehicle body 9 through an exhaust tube 4. Furthermore, the flow of the LP gas that leaks in a relatively large amount when the safety valve 2 is activated is guided toward the exhaust port 3a by the hollow covering portion 6a and the guide portion 6b of the protective cap 6, and is smoothly flowed from the exhaust port 3a. The air is exhausted to the outside of the vehicle body 9 guided inside the exhaust tube 4. At this time, since the protective cap 6 is only non-fixedly attached to the safety valve 2, the protective cap 6 may come off from the safety valve 2 due to a relatively large amount of LP gas leaking from the safety valve 2.
For example, by increasing the height of the hollow covering part 6a and inserting the tip of the guide part 6b into the exhaust port 3a, even if it comes off, it will not be blown away to other places. leaked
LP gas from safety valve 2 to exhaust port 3 of airtight case 3
The leak gas guide path 5 that guides the gas to the point a is effectively formed.

Next, FIG. 4 shows a modification of the protective cap 6 forming the leakage gas guiding path 5, which is used when the safety valve 2 is formed integrally with the gas filling valve 10. Unlike the case of the above embodiment, the hollow covering part 6a is formed in a shape to cover the gas filling valve 10.

[Effect of the invention] According to the gas tank safety device according to this invention, when the safety valve of the tank is activated and a large amount of gas leaks, this leaked gas is guided to the exhaust port of the airtight case by the leaking gas guide path. Since the leaked gas can be released to a safe place via the exhaust tube, the leaked gas is smoothly and reliably guided to a safe place from the exhaust port and exhaust tube of the airtight case, and the pressure inside the airtight case is prevented from becoming extremely high. The exhaust port of this airtight case can be made smaller, and as a result, the size of the airtight case itself can be reduced, and large pressure-resistant parts are no longer required, which significantly improves the degree of freedom in design. ,
It is possible to reduce the weight of the gas tank.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a partial sectional view showing a safety device for an LPG tank according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the protective cap of Fig. 1 together with a safety valve. , FIG. 4 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 3 showing a modification of the protective cap, and FIG. 5 is a partially sectional view showing a conventional safety device for an LPG tank. Explanation of symbols, 1...Tank, 2...Safety valve, 3
...Airtight case, 3a...Exhaust port, 4...Exhaust tube, 5...Leak gas guideway, 6...Protection cap.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] (1) The tank is provided with an airtight case that covers at least its safety valve, and an exhaust tube is connected to this airtight case to guide gas leaking from the tank to a safe place. A safety device for a gas tank, characterized in that a leakage gas guide path is formed therein to guide leakage gas leaking from a safety valve to an exhaust port of an airtight case to which an exhaust tube is connected. (2) The gas tank safety device according to claim 1, wherein the leakage gas guiding path is formed of a resin protective cap attached to a safety valve.