Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Denso Corporation

Mamoru Funabashi

Makoto Kobayashi

Akio Matsuoka

Masashi Tsuneishi

Masao Ohta

In an apparatus for supplying a fuel to a vehicular combustion heater which supplies the fuel from a fuel tank via a fuel pump to the heater which is mounted on an electric vehicle, discharging into atmosphere of fuel vapor from the fuel tank is restricted to the best extent possible. For that purpose, prevention is made of that discharging from the combustion heater of the fuel vapor which is likely to occur when the set pressure for opening a positive pressure valve in a two-way valve for the fuel tank is set high. Interposed in series between the fuel pump and the combustion heater is a one-way valve which opens when the internal pressure in the fuel supply passage has risen to a predetermined set pressure which is higher than the set pressure for opening the positive pressure valve, and a solenoid valve which is opened when the combustion heater is in operation. The solenoid valve is arranged such that the leak pressure to cause the fuel to leak through the solenoid valve at the time when the solenoid valve is kept closed is higher than the set pressure for opening the one-way valve.

Apparatus for supplying fuel to vehicular combustion heater

In an electric vehicle in which a battery container box is disposed under the floor of the vehicle, a fuel tank for a combustion type of heater is easily mounted with a good space efficiency. For that purpose, the fuel tank is formed into a shape of a substantially square column which is elongated in the widthwise direction of the vehicle and which is made of two halves divided along a diagonal plane to connect a bottom line of one of the horizontally opposing planes and an upper line of the other of the horizontally opposing planes. Brackets are attached to side surfaces of the fuel tank, and the fuel tank is mounted under the floor of the vehicle via the brackets behind the battery container box so as to be close thereto.

Growing community of inventors

Tochigi-ken, Japan

Mamoru Funabashi