JPH0633120B2 - Refueling nozzle - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an improvement of a refueling nozzle used in a suspension type or a fixed type refueling device.

[Conventional technology]

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, an oil supply nozzle used in a gasoline metering machine or the like communicates with an oil passage and a nozzle body provided with a valve mechanism including a main valve and an auxiliary valve provided in the middle of the oil passage and the oil passage. And a discharge pipe protruding from the nozzle body. A nozzle locking spring as a nozzle locking member is spirally wound around the outer circumference of the discharge pipe at a predetermined interval from the base end to the distal end side, and the engagement property with respect to the oil supply port of the oil supply target is provided. By providing the above, the refueling nozzle is prevented from accidentally coming off from the refueling port during automatic refueling.

Furthermore, at the tip of the discharge pipe of the refueling nozzle, the liquid level of the fuel tank to be refueled is detected, and when the so-called "full tank" state is reached, the pump motor is automatically stopped or a solenoid valve in the middle of the piping Is provided to close the valve and stop refueling. The sensor is adapted to detect the liquid surface by means of ultrasonic waves, light, etc. For this purpose, an ultrasonic sensor or an optical sensor is provided at the tip of the discharge pipe of the oil supply nozzle.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, as described above, in the oil supply nozzle having the liquid level detection sensor, the insertion sensor, etc. at the tip of the discharge pipe, the discharge pipe is provided with the locking spring and the signal line such as the ultrasonic sensor or the optical sensor. However, there is a disadvantage in that the whole fueling nozzle becomes large in size.

Also, if the signal line is wound around the outer circumference of the discharge pipe, there is a risk of disconnection due to wear, etc.On the other hand, if the signal line is inserted inside the discharge pipe, it will be pushed out by the liquid flow, causing a disconnection. There is a drawback that it is easy to cause.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art. An optical sensor is configured by using a tip end portion of a nozzle locking spring that is a nozzle locking member, and the inside of the locking spring is an optical fiber. It is an object of the present invention to provide a refueling nozzle that can be used as an optical transmission line.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to solve the above problems, the feature of the means adopted by the refueling nozzle according to the present invention is that the optical fiber is inserted inside the outer circumference of the discharge pipe protruding from the nozzle body to cover the optical fiber. A nozzle locking member made of a metal tube is spirally wound from the base end in the direction of the distal end and is spirally wound around the discharge pipe, and the distal end portion of the metal tube of the nozzle locking member is wound around the discharge pipe. In other words, the sensor unit is configured by exposing the optical fiber.

[Action]

With this configuration, the metal tube of the nozzle locking member functions as a locking spring for the fueling port to be lubricated, and the sensor is configured by exposing the optical fiber at the tip of the metal tube. The portion functions as a liquid level detection sensor and an insertion sensor, and the metal tube functions as a protection member for the optical fiber inserted therein. As a result, in the nozzle locking member having the above-described structure, the locking spring and the optical sensor portion act as a unit.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, as an embodiment of the present invention, a case where a sensor unit is used as a liquid level detection means will be described as an example and described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In the figure, 1 is a refueling nozzle, 2 is a nozzle body of the refueling nozzle 1, and an oil passage is provided in the nozzle body 2.
A valve mechanism (not shown) including a main valve and a sub valve is provided in the middle of the oil passage, and an operation lever 3 for operating the valve mechanism is provided outside the nozzle body 2.
Reference numeral 4 denotes a joint communicating with the upstream side of the oil passage and connected to one side of the nozzle body 2, and the joint 4 is connected to an oil supply device body (not shown) provided with a pump and a flow meter via an aus. It is connected. Reference numeral 5 denotes a discharge pipe communicating with the downstream side of the oil passage and protrudingly provided on the other side of the nozzle body 2. The discharge pipe 5 has a base portion 5A connected to the nozzle body 2 and the base portion 5A.
A bent portion 5B that is bent in a substantially V shape at a position near it, and a straight portion 5C that is linearly formed from the bent portion 5B to the tip.
It consists of

6 is a nozzle locking spring as a nozzle locking member for providing the discharge pipe 5 of the fueling nozzle 1 with engaging properties when the fueling port to be refueled is inserted,
In the case of this embodiment, the nozzle locking spring 6 is composed of a pair of spiral springs 7, 7 which also serve as optical fiber signal lines.

Here, of the spiral springs 7, 7, one spring 7 is composed of an optical fiber 8A for optical transmission and a metal tube 9 whose outer periphery is covered to protect the fiber 8A. The other spring 7 is also composed of a light-receiving optical fiber 8B and a metal tube 9 whose outer circumference is covered to protect the optical fiber 8B.

The pair of spiral springs 7 are wound around the outer circumference of the discharge pipe 5 in parallel with each other until reaching the middle of the straight portion 5C through the bent portion 5B on the base portion 5A and spirally wound at a predetermined axial interval. The nozzle body 2 is provided and fixed to the tip portion 2A of the nozzle body 2 by a fixing means such as fitting or press fitting.

On the other hand, in FIG. 3, 10 is a photoelectric converter which is provided in the nozzle body 2 and is connected to one end of each spiral spring 7. The photoelectric converter 10 is an optical transmission optical fiber 8A of one spring 7. A light-emitting body 10A such as a lamp or a light-emitting diode, a light-receiving body 10B such as a photodiode or a phototransistor connected to the light-receiving optical fiber 8B of the other spring 7, and each light-emitting body 10A or light-receiving body 10B. It is composed of a holder 10C for supporting.
Then, the photoelectric converter 10 sends a current signal to a control device (not shown) according to the amount of light received by the light receiving body 10B, and when the voltage based on the current signal falls below a predetermined value, it is provided in the middle of piping from the control device. A signal is sent to the solenoid valve.

Further, the tip ends of the springs 7 wound in parallel on the outer circumference of the discharge pipe 5 are bent and separated from each other, and the tip surfaces 11A and 11B thereof are arranged to face each other with a predetermined gap 12 therebetween. ing.

Further, 13 is a sensor unit as a liquid level detecting means for detecting the liquid level of the oil liquid when the fuel tank to be refueled is in a "full" state due to the liquid supply.
Is the tip surfaces 11A, 11 of the pair of springs 7 described above.
At the position of B, the optical fibers 8A. The tip of 8B is exposed through the gap 12 so as to face each other.

This embodiment is constructed as described above, and its operation will be described next.

First, in order to refuel the fuel tank to be refueled, the fuel tank is inserted from the fueling port of the discharge pipe 5 of the fueling nozzle 1. Then, each spiral spring 7 of the nozzle locking spring 6 spirally wound around the discharge pipe 5 at an interval engages with the edge of the fuel supply port, and the fuel supply nozzle 1 is securely connected to the fuel supply port. Be locked.

After that, the operating lever 3 of the refueling nozzle 1 is operated to open the valve mechanism in the nozzle body 2, and fuel is supplied from the discharge pipe 5 into the fuel tank. Further, as the operation lever 3 is operated, the light emitter 10A of the photoelectric converter 10 is energized to emit light, and the emitted light is transmitted from the optical transmission optical fiber 8A through the sensor unit 13 to the light receiving optical fiber 8B. The light is propagated to the light-receiving body 10B, and a light amount of the light-emitting body 10A is almost equal to that of the light-emitting body 10A.

Then, when the inside of the fuel tank reaches a "full" state with the oil liquid, the gap 12 of the sensor portion 13 provided near the tip of the discharge pipe 5 of the oil supply nozzle 1 is filled with the oil liquid. As a result, the amount of light propagating from the front end surface 11A of the optical transmission optical fiber 8A to the front end surface 11B of the light receiving optical fiber 8B is reduced due to absorption by oil liquid, diffuse reflection, etc., and is received by the light receiving body 10B. The photoreceptor 10B sends a current signal according to the amount of received light to the control device, and when the voltage based on the current signal becomes a predetermined value or less, the control device sends a signal to a solenoid valve provided in the middle of the pipe to close the valve,
Stop the liquid supply.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, as the nozzle locking spring 6, a pair of spiral hoops 7, 7 made of a metal tube 9 respectively covering the optical fiber 8A for light transmission and the optical fiber 8B for light reception. By arranging each of the spiral springs 7 around the discharge pipe 5 of the oil supply nozzle 1 in a spiral shape, the spiral springs 7 can also serve as locking springs of the prior art, thus simplifying the structure of the entire oil supply nozzle. Turned into
Can be miniaturized.

Further, the sensor portion 13 as the liquid level detecting means is provided with the tip surfaces 11A of the pair of metal tubes 9 via the gap 12.
11B and the tips of the optical fibers 8A and 8B covered with the metal tubes 9 are arranged so that their exposed states face each other, and the liquid level is optically detected. Compared with the one used, the disconnection of the signal line,
There is no risk of a fire accident due to static electricity, and there is no risk of disturbance or noise due to inductive obstacles, and liquid level detection accuracy can be improved. At this time, since the pair of metallic tubes 9 also serve as protective members for the optical fibers 8A and 8B, there is no fear of disconnection due to impact or the like.

Furthermore, the optical fiber 9A for optical transmission and the optical fiber 9 for receiving light
Since it is arranged so as to face B with a gap 12 therebetween, the tip end surface 11 of the light-receiving optical fiber 10B is in the non-lubricated state.
When external light is incident from B and is inserted into the fueling port of the fuel tank of the discharge pipe 5 during refueling, the amount of external light incident on the light-receiving fiber 10B is reduced. Therefore, the sensor unit 13 is detected by detecting the decrease in the incident light. Can also be used as means for detecting the insertion of the refueling nozzle 1.

Furthermore, since each spiral spring 7 of the nozzle locking spring 6 is only roughly arranged around the outer circumference of the discharge pipe 5 at a predetermined axial interval, the discharge pipe 5 according to the prior art is used. Can be used, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

In the present embodiment, the phototransducer 10 is described as being provided in the nozzle body 2, but it may be provided in a hand switch box in a suspension type oil supply device, for example.
A suspension type or a fixed type may be provided in the main body of the oil supply device. In this case, the optical fiber for light transmission and the optical fiber for light reception are placed between the oil supply nozzle and the oil supply device along the hose. It may be arranged at. Further, although the liquid level detection sensor is taken as an example of the sensor unit 13 in the present embodiment, the present invention is also applicable to a nozzle insertion sensor that detects insertion of a fuel filler port of a nozzle.

Next, FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention. The feature of this embodiment is that the discharge pipe 5 of the refueling nozzle 1 has one optical fiber 2 whose outer periphery is covered with a metal tube 21.
The two are arranged in a double winding, and the folded portion of the optical fiber 22 located near the tip of the discharge pipe 5 is used as the sensor portion 23.

That is, as shown in the figure, the coating of the folded portion near the tip of the metal tube 21 is removed to expose the optical fiber 22, and then the coating 22A of the optical fiber 22 and the cladding 2 are removed.
By removing each part of 2B and exposing the core 22C to the outside, the exposed part is configured as a sensor part 23 as a liquid level detecting means.

With this configuration, the inside of the fuel tank reaches a "full" state due to the oil liquid, the discharge pipe 5 of the refueling nozzle 1 is immersed in the oil liquid, and the oil liquid adheres to the exposed portion of the core 22C of the optical fiber 22. Then, the oil liquid exhibits the same effect as the removed clad 22B, the diffusion of the output light from the exposed portion of the core 22C is prevented, and the transmission amount of the input light is increased, so that the liquid surface can be detected. it can.

According to the present embodiment configured as described above, only one spiral spring coated with an optical fiber as the nozzle locking spring is sufficient, and the gap 12 is set as in the first embodiment described above. Since it is not necessary, the work of spirally winding the optical fiber around the discharge pipe 5 becomes easy.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, a nozzle locking member made of a metal tube having an optical fiber inserted therein and covering the optical fiber is provided on the outer circumference of the discharge pipe of the fueling nozzle, and the proximal end or the distal end thereof is provided. The optical fiber is exposed at the tip of the metal tube of the nozzle locking member wound around the discharge pipe and spirally wound around the discharge pipe to form a sensor unit. Therefore, it is possible to integrally configure the sensor unit for detecting the liquid level or for detecting the insertion, which also serves as the nozzle locking spring according to the related art, and since the optical fiber is protected by the metal tube, There is no fear of disconnection due to impact, abrasion, etc., and the structure of the entire oil supply nozzle can be simplified and downsized, and manufacturing efficiency can be improved and cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a fueling nozzle according to an embodiment of the present invention,
2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing the entire structure of a nozzle locking spring, and FIG. 4 is a main part showing another embodiment of the present invention. It is an expanded sectional view. 2 ... Nozzle body, 5 ... Discharge pipe, 6 ... Nozzle locking spring (nozzle locking member), 8A, 8B, 23
...... Optical fiber, 9,21 …… Metal tube, 13,
23 ... Sensor part.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An oil supply nozzle having a nozzle main body and a discharge pipe projecting from the nozzle main body, wherein a metal made of an optical fiber inserted inside the discharge pipe to cover the optical fiber. A nozzle locking member made of a tube is spirally wound and arranged from the base end in the direction of the distal end, and the nozzle locking member wound around the discharge pipe is provided at the distal end of the metal tube. A refueling nozzle, wherein a sensor unit is configured by exposing the optical fiber. 2. A metal tube of a nozzle locking member wound around the discharge pipe is made up of a pair, and the sensor section opposes by exposing the tip of an optical fiber covered by the pair of metal tubes. The refueling nozzle according to claim 1, which is configured by 3. The nozzle locking member, which is wound around the discharge pipe, has only one metal tube, and the sensor section removes the coating in the middle of the metal tube to expose the optical fiber. The refueling nozzle according to claim 1, wherein the exposed optical fiber clad is removed to expose the core.