Sumitomo Riko Company Limited

Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Tomoyuki Fukuyasu

Atsuo Miyajima

Kazuki Hatanaka

Makoto Shimojo

Yoshikazu Kaneyasu

Nao Sato

Tsubasa Suzuki

Fumiya Mizuno

A resin filler tube includes: a tubular body; a flange having a diameter greater than an outer diameter of the tubular body, a thickness greater than a thickness of the tubular body, and a predetermined width in an axial direction, and having a first axial end face forming a weld surface to be welded to an outer circumferential edge of an opening hole of a fuel tank; and a base-end-side reverse tapered portion which connects between an end of the tubular body on the fuel tank side and an end of an outer circumferential surface of the flange on a side opposite to the fuel tank side, and which is reversely tapered so as to increase a diameter toward the flange. The base-end-side reverse tapered portion has an inner diameter that is not less than an inner diameter of the tubular body over an entire range in the axial direction.

Resin filler tube and manufacturing method for the same

A manufacturing process for filler tube includes: a workpiece arrangement step of arranging a workpiece onto an outer peripheral mold not only to axially lock a to-be-locked portion with respect to a locking portion but also so as to make the outer peripheral mold, which is set at a predetermined temperature, support a cylinder-shaped body of the workpiece on the outer peripheral face; and a flare-molding step of flare molding a flange by inserting an inner peripheral mold, which is set at a higher temperature than the predetermined temperature of the outer peripheral mold, into a to-be-molded portion on the inner peripheral side, and by relatively moving the outer peripheral mold and the inner peripheral mold in the axial direction to make a counter-welding-face forming portion and a welding-face forming portion clamp the to-be-molded portion between them in the axial direction.

Manufacturing process for filler tube

The resinous filler port includes: a filler-port body including a nozzle insertion port through which a filler nozzle is insertable, a fuel supply port supplying a fuel supplied from the filler nozzle to a fuel tank by way of a filler tube, and a vapor inlet port letting flow in vapors arising from the fuel and passing through a breather tube from a side of the fuel tank; a joint formed to penetrate through from one of opposite ends thereof to another one of the opposite ends, fitted undetachably into and around the vapor inlet port at the one of the opposite ends, and connected with the breather tube at the other one of the opposite ends; and a flow control valve accommodated inside the joint, and controlling a flow volume of the vapors flowing into the filler-port body from the breather tube.

Resinous filler port

A filler tube, which is capable of satisfying required functions suitably in compliance with the bellows and non-bellows cylindrical base while securing weld strength and fuel-permeation resistance property in the weld face, is provided. A filler tube includes a non-bellows cylindrical base with a total thickness of from 2 to 4 mm, a bellows with a total thickness of from 0.5 to 3 mm, and a flange having a total thickness of from 3.5 to 5 mm, and including an end face to be welded to a fuel tank. The non-bellows cylindrical base, the bellows, and the flange include inner layers formed so as to have a thickness accounting for from 40 to 60% of the total thicknesses, and formed of high-density polyethylene (or HDPE) serving as the major constituent, intermediate layers exhibiting fuel-permeation resistance property, and outer layers protecting the intermediate layers.

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Komaki, Japan

Tomoyuki Fukuyasu